Bruce Maylath, professor of English, published the article, “Field Convergence Between Technical Writers and Technical Translators,” in the June issue of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-Transactions in Professional Communication.
The article was co-written with Marusca Gnecchi of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, Birthe Mousten of Denmark’s Aarhus University, Federica Scarpa of Italy’s University of Trieste and Sonia Vandepitte of Belgium’s University College Ghent.
It includes results from a first-of-its-kind survey, providing evidence that technical writers and translators in both North America and Europe are seeking cross training in each other’s fields. Results suggest they are motivated by the desire to capture the work, and pay, of the full spectrum of technical documentation. Earlier such work was distinctly divided between writers at the first stage of development and translators at the second.
IEEE-Transactions in Professional Communication is a quarterly journal devoted to applied research on professional communication, including, but not limited to, technical and business communication. It is peer-reviewed by the Professional Communication Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. For more information about the journal, visit http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pcs/?q=node/24.