TIAIBA Imane
University Setif 02
Abstract
This study is a fieldwork exploration about using Business English in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for electronic industries in Bordj Bou Arreridj (BBA) town, Algeria. The main thrust of this study is to unfold the kind of problems generated from integrating ICTs, mainly writing check and translation software, in business English writing by different workers when writing in English. The study is also motivated by eliciting workers’ perceptions about the extent to which translation and writing check software would suffice their business English writing needs and, therefore, could substitute taking business English courses. A descriptive survey was conducted to collect data from a number of twenty-one workers in the purchasing and manufacturing departments in four different electronics companies or SMEs. Descriptive data depicted that using writing check and translation software in business English writing does not entirely suffice workers writing needs. Therefore, those software cannot substitute taking business English courses. The results of this study would be of great consideration and might serve as database for future software development for specific business writing. They can also serve as background to design special English courses for occupational purposes with the integration of ICTs to facilitate business English writing in the workplace.
Key Words: ICTs/Business English/Writing check software/Translation Software/SMEs
Introduction
The current research opens up a new issue about how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) namely writing check and translation software are integrated in business English writing at workplace.
The 21stcentury has brought a swift boom in countless areas of human activity, among them technology, computer science, and business. As English became a lingua franca, language use in these specialized areas is receiving more and more attention from researchers in linguistics and business communication. The writing skill, mainly business writing or technical writing, occupies an important territory in business today. ICT are making inroads in business as well and their convergence with the writing skill has given birth to specific writing enhancement software that help in error checking and translating words into English, especially by non-native speakers (NNSs). Workers at Electronics SMEs departments of purchasing and manufacturing in Bordj Bou Arreridj town in Algeria, tend to use some translation and writing check software in their business writing.
This study explores perceptions of adopting ICTs among electronics SMEs in Bordj Bou Arreridj (BBA). It was noticed after having conducted informal interviews and a pre-questionnaire with some employees working in the purchasing and manufacturing departments in four electronics SMEs that there is a continuous need to correspond with foreign suppliers and to work with product manuals in English. The personnel working in those departments are usually technicians or engineers in the field of electronics. Other workers have degrees in accountancy, management, business among other specialties. Those workers usually master Arabic being the mother tongue and have a good command of French being the first foreign language in Algeria, and higher studies are usually pursued in French language. The other type of workers hold a degree in the English language .A gap of proficiency was noticed among those categories of workers when writing in English. The ones who hold a degree in English find difficulties with technical words when writing to the suppliers, whereas the others do not master English upon which much of the work depends especially when preparing manuals of machines or doing other writing tasks. In their attempt to bridge the gap, they resort to some software of translation or writing check. But those software are not adapted to their specific nature of work that is why they generate many problems and misunderstanding.
2. Aims of the Study
By exploring the perceptions of workers in electronics SMEs at BBA and problems generated by non-adapted ICTs software, it is hoped that the findings and results of this study would lead to recommendations as to what is needed for positive change in the performance of workers. In the world of business, this will be of a great importance as effective writing means effective communication that would improve performance and profit in return. In addition, the exploration of business writing in a real work field would extend new bridges between academic research and the work market to develop authentic teaching materials, and design business English courses and syllabi based on the needs of workers in their field of specialy by making best use of writing software. Another purpose this research may serve is to enable the development of adapted writing software with data base related to the specific linguistic and technical needs of the workers.
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3. Research Questions
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This study is motivated by the following questions:
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To what extent does integrating writing check and translation software in business writing suffice the writing needs of the workers in the purchasing and manufacturing departments at electronics SMEs in BBA?
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Can the use of writing check and translation software in business writing substitute taking business English courses?
4. Methodology
In this study, a descriptive survey was selected. A questionnaire was administered to 21 workers from four different SMEs for electronic industry in Bordj Bou Arreridj town, Algeria. This study utilized a modified exploratory single site case study approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data.
5. Review of Literature
5.1 Research into the Language of Workplace English
In recent years, research into the language of workplace English has increased in quantity such that it is becoming an established and important area of applied linguistics. Swales (2000:65) observes that there has been a growth in research activity in workplace English over the last 15 years. Hewings (2002:209) demonstrates this growth with reference to the increasing number of business English articles published in the ‘English for Specific Purposes Journal’ (ESP), one of the principal journals in the general field of workplace English and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). A major impetus for this research is the widely perceived need to develop materials for teaching which are based on authentic texts of the workplace. The pedagogic application research is noted by St John (1996) who argues that the field of business English has been under-researched, and that there is insufficient research both to define and demarcate it satisfactorily and to underpin course design and teaching materials.
5.1.1 How is Business English Defined?
Business English is difficult to define and limit linguistic terms (Dudley-Evans & St John:1998 -54). It is a form of English, lexically and statistically different from everyday English. It also differs in linguistic context as well as usage. Hutchinson and Waters elaborate that Business English is an established tradition of certain rhetorical principles. These principles are various, including the stylistic devices, language usage, vocal delivery and other principles. It is the process of adapting discourse for specific audience for specific purposes. In fact, this context is the determining feature of Business English. Requirement of the linguistic context creates a need for a particular choice of English in writing. According to Whitehead, Business English is the language of communication in international business and ‘it is ordinary English related to particularly to business use’. Similarly Jones and Alexander (1996) maintain ‘Although there is a certain amount of vocabulary that we can describe as special ‘business’ vocabulary, most so called business English is simply English used in business context. It is not a special language.
For Fiona Talbot (2009:04), Business English is also regarded as the language of business communication:“English is a major inter-national language of commercial communication. It is also the language of internet and of global access to knowledge. Business English is quite simply the name given to the English used for dealing with business communication in English.”
According to Ellis and Johnson (1994:03), Business English implies “the definition of a specific language corpus and emphasis on particular kinds of communication in a specific context”. In contrast to the native and the established second language varieties, the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has been hotly debated but relatively little studied. English as a language of communication between speakers for whom it is an additional language is assuming an increasingly vital role outside countries where English has an official status.
5.2 What Are SMEs?
There is no one way of defining Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), but generally, authors use the number of the employees as an attempt to define it. Southern and Tilley (2000) define SMEs as businesses that employ 150 people or fewer and are not a subsidiary of a public limited company. Taylor and Murphy (2004) and Martin and Matlay (2001) agree and acknowledge that each individual SME is different and should be treated as such.
5.3 Translation Software
Translation software has been the subject of many authors in recent years. For instance, Somers (2003) presents an overview about the different software packages that translators must deal with in their everyday work although he does not describe any specific tool in particular. Austermühl (2001) gives more details about certain CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tools such as Trados, as well as he provides a useful list of internet resources in each chapter of his book. Marcin Milkonski (2011) states that in large computer-aided translation (CAT) projects, especially in software localization, one of the main problems is to maintain the consistent style of the translated text. However, these studies lack a realistic professional approach because they are mainly focused on CAT tools, without mentioning other tools commonly used.
5.4 Writing Enhancement Software
According to Top Ten REVIEWS ,a website that ranks the best translation software, (2013) ,writing enhancement software doesn’t take the place of human editors, but the best packages can proofread writing with a high level of accuracy. Since perfection cannot be expected in a machine, writing must be reviewed with one’s eyes to discern between relevant edits and those that are not. Nevertheless, writing enhancement software should help spell words correctly, use proper punctuation and recognize proper sentence structure. For example, grammar check software should be designed to perform a basic grammar check that will consider writing components such as subject-verb agreement, the proper use of adjectives and adverbs, and the matching of verb tenses in compound clauses. The software should also check for proper punctuation and spelling. In addition to grammar checking, the best software packages include a built-in dictionary and thesaurus. They also include templates for commonly written documents, such as documents that may be prepared in the workplace or for the classroom. Since many individuals who rely on grammar and spelling tools write English as a second language, they can benefit from a good text translator if it is part of the software package.
6. Results
Integrating writing enhancement and translation software is of a capital importance in facilitating business writing. In fact, ICTs play a crucial role in saving time and costs within electronics SMEs in BBA. However, the extent to which those software facilitate business writing depends on three factors:
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Electronics SMEs workers competency in using software.
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Electronics SMEs workers proficiency and training in business English.
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The use of adequate software to the electronics SMEs workers needs.
According to the perception of electronics SMEs workers in the purchasing and manufacturing departments, the use of writing check and translation software in business writing does not entirely suffice their writing needs. In other words, it is not enough to depend on such software alone to do the job appropriately. Thus, training in business English is needed first. Therefore, the use of writing check and translation software in business writing cannot substitute taking business English courses.
Training in business English with the integrating writing check and translation software would facilitate the writing tasks at work, according to the perceptions of electronics SMEs workers in the purchasing and manufacturing departments. This would require conducting needs analysis, technical register analysis and genre analysis of the workers most important writing tasks and some documents and emails as well. Besides, results obtained from this analysis may also serve as database to develop adapted writing check and translation software.
7. Recommendations and Implications for Further Research
On the basis of the findings presented in this paper, further study of the issue would be of interest to extend knowledge about how effective business English writing in a workplace setting would be with the integration of translation and writing check software.
Firstly, since business English can be regarded as a broadly new subject in Algeria where little research is conducted, it is recommended that this subject should be included at the university curriculum of technical studies. In addition, new bridges or conventions should be extended between academic research namely universities or faculties situated close to industrial poles and workplaces such as the case of BBA which is regarded as an important pole of electronic industries. In the case at hand, the researcher faced difficulties to get access to the target SMEs due to the absence of such conventions. Furthermore, the present study was mainly concerned with opening up a new issue in business English by exploring the perceptions of a sample of electronics SMEs workers about integrating translation and writing check software in business English writing. However, training in business English and course design should not be built upon those perceptions. Rather, Course design ought to be developed according to needs analysis of the concerned workers with the involvements of all stakeholders (researchers, teachers, managers, suppliers). One major contribution of this study to academic research could be the use of data obtained from the scrutiny of authentic technical documents and business emails, genre analysis which is discussed in terms of rhetorical moves (Swales 1990; 2004), rhetorical analysis of discourse (according to Azaustre & Casas RA is concerned with the way to construct discourses; some priority to the communicative intent of each gender is given 1997), corpus linguistics (for Wynne 2005 a corpus is a comprehensive collection of texts that are collected as sets of linguistic data that reflect the actual use of a language) in order to design and develop adapted software according to electronics SMEs workers writing needs.
Conclusion
The overarching aim of the present study was to extend new bridges between academic research and business English at workplace by exploring a new issue regarding the integration of writing check and translation software in business English writing. As far as the perceptions of electronics SMEs workers are concerned, they regarded that software integration in writing can be a friend to a considerable degree provided that those software are integrated in both teaching business English and are adapted and developed according to their writing needs. Thus, the design of courses in business English writing should not remain the task of language teachers but also the task of software engineers based on the linguistic and technical needs of workers in a specific field such as the one of electronics.
References
Books
Austermühl, Frank (2001) Electronic Tools for Translators. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Azaustre, A. & Casas, J. (1997). Manual de retórica españo-la. Barcelona: Ariel.
Dudley-Evans, T. & Jo St John (July 1996), M. Report on Business English: a Review of research and published teaching materials. University of Birmingham UK.
Ellis, M.,&Johnson, C. (1994). Teaching Business English. Oxford: University Press.
Fiona Talbot (2009). Better Business English, Make an Impact with your Written English How to use word power to impress in presentations, reports, PR and meetings. Kogan Page London and Philadelphia.
Jones & Alexander (1996), New International Business English, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Somers, Harold (2003) “The translator’s workstation.” In: Somers, Harold (ed.) Computers and Translation. A translator’s guide, 13-30. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Swales, J. M. (1990).Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M. (2004). Research genres. Exploration and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Whitehead, David, and Geoffrey Whitehead. English for Business. Oxford: Made Simple Books, 1993.
Articles
Geoffrey Hewings, Michael Sonis, David E. Boyce (eds.): Trade, Networks and Hierarchies : Modeling Regional Interregional Economies [Advances in Spatial Science] (Springer Verlag, 2002)
Marcin Milkonski 2011.Translation Quality Checking in Language Tool
MARTIN, L. M. & MATLAY, H. 2001. “Blanket” approaches to promoting ICT in small firms: some lessons from the DTI ladder adoption model in the UK. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Application and Policy, 11(5): 399– 410.
SOUTHERN, A. & TILLEY, F. 2000. Small firms and information and communication technologies (ICTs): toward a typology of ICTs usage. New Technology, Work and Employment, 15(2).
TAYLOR, M. & MURPHY, A. 2004. SME and e-business. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 11(3): 280–289.
Electronic Editions
Dohler, Per N. (1997) “Facets of Software Localization: A Translator’s View” [online]. Translation Journal 1 (1). Availablefrom: http://accurapid.com/journal/softloc.htm [Accessed 10/08/2006].
http://translation-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ (2013)
Nogueria, Danilo (2002) “Translation Tools Today: A Personal View”[online]. Translation Journal 6 (1). http://accurapid.com/journal/19tm.htm [Accessed 10/08/2006].
Wynne, M (editor). 2005. Developing Linguistic Corpora: a Guide to Good Practice. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Available online from http://ahds.ac.uk/linguistic-corpora/htm [Accessed 2012-06-01].