writing & editing How Simple Is Simplified Technical English?BY DAVID A. FONSECA Senior Member, Orange County Chapter 20 February 2006 writing & editing f all the attempts to control or more used in modified forms than in its modify the often bewildering official form. English language, the most STE has clear popular is Simplified Tech- advantages over Benefits nical English, or STE. STE is Whether or not your writing gets Oa controlled form of the language that standard English translated, STE has clear advantages uses a carefully limited and uniform over standard English when you’re writ- subset of English. Advocates of STE say when you’re ing for a global audience. Both transla- that it has the following effects: writing for a tors and non-native readers are adversely • Shortens reading time affected by poor readability; translation • Eliminates vagueness global audience. can be especially challenging when the • Makes translation quicker and cheaper translator is not familiar with the tech- • Makes reading easier for non-native to prevent perplexing noun strings or nical aspects of the product. STE helps English speakers clusters, even when doing so results in translators by minimizing inconsistent • Streamlines automated translation awkward constructions such as second- and overly specialized language. Ad- valve-outboard-window-lever. If you’re writ- hering to STE’s rules can often lead to Both native and non-native speakers ing STE, you accept such awkwardness simpler and clearer documents, mak- can have difficulty reading English be- as the price you pay to avoid confusing ing translation easier, more correct, and cause of often puzzling syntax rules, the readers about the relationships among more economical. And because STE uses number of words that can be used both words in a noun string. fewer words, it helps shrink the size of as verbs and nouns, and the unique Another feature of STE is that each your documents, which cuts translation, problem of all those synonyms and hom- word has only one meaning. Consider printing, and other production costs. onyms. These are the problems STE was the following STE-approved sentence: created to solve, but does it really work? “Put the set in the empty place.” STE Challenges and Questions In answering this question, I’ll describe doesn’t allow “Place the set in the empty Despite the benefits of STE, questions some of the features, benefits, and dis- place” because place can be used only as about its effectiveness remain. While advantages of STE, share my personal a noun. STE does rein in some of the wild ways experience with STE, and discuss strate- Similarly, “Empty the set” is not an ap- of English, there is no guarantee that gies for implementation. proved usage since empty can be only an non-native speakers will find STE easier adjective in STE. The word close can be to read than standard English. Given The Basics used as a verb but not as an adjective. that an excellent command of English STE comes from a long line of con- You can’t tell your users to “Loop the is not exactly rare, is STE correct in as- trolled and modified versions of Eng- wire around the central unit” because suming that most non-native speakers lish, including Basic English, a stripped- loop can be used only as a noun. haven’t already mastered the challenges down version created by linguists as Restrictions on verb usage in STE are of English? And do non-native readers both a communication enhancement minimal. The most important rule is to really find it that challenging to distin- and a strategy for teaching English, and avoid the present progressive and ger- guish between verb and adjective forms? Special English, a Cold War-era linguis- und forms—in other words, don’t “-ing” Although English does have grammati- tic relic still used for Voice of America your verbs. Words that end in “-ing” are cal peculiarities, its grammar and struc- radio broadcasts. STE was developed confusing to non-native speakers because ture are far less complex than those of specifically for aerospace industry docu- they can fill many different grammatical most European languages. mentation in the 1970s under the moni- roles in English. Gerunds, for instance, Another complaint about STE is that ker Simplified English and is now used by can function as nouns and occupy the it sometimes makes writing sound dry technical writers in several industries. same position as nouns in a sentence and lifeless—characteristics that many Even technical writers who don’t use (subject, direct object, subject comple- technical writers struggle against. In its STE already follow many of its basic ment, or object of a preposition). zeal to simplify, STE can take the hu- principles, such as the following: One final distinguishing feature of manity out of written communication. • Always use the same word to describe STE is that it limits sentence length to Given these criticisms, managers the same thing. twenty words, although an average of should consider the following challenges • Use the active voice wherever possible. one sentence in ten can be up to twenty- before directing their technical writing • Don’t use long noun strings. five words long. staff to use STE: • Use shorter words in place of longer Technical communicators in a wide • Writers and editors must be trained ones. variety of industries modify the existing in STE. STE standards to fit their needs, and • In-house dictionaries and style guides One of the unique features of STE is you can do the same. You don’t have to must be developed and reviewed. If that it encourages the use of hyphens be an STE literalist. In fact, STE is likely your company has strict rules about ad- February 2006 21 writing & editing hering to an in-house style guide that word list are available at www.userlab. conflicts with STE’s standards, then com/Downloads/SE.pdf. STE probably isn’t a good choice. To ensure consistent use of the right • For some writers, conforming to a Writers and words, you need to create your own new set of writing rules can interrupt editors need to company- or department-specific dic- the normal and automatic flow of the tionary of custom terms. This dictionary writing process. be trained in should be carefully produced and then • Rewriting to conform to new stan- STE’s rules. double-checked for completeness and dards is time-consuming. accuracy. • STE’s principles may not be appropri- You might also consider purchasing ate for all applications. Some applica- Web site of the Aerospace and De- an STE checker tool, which checks text tions and/or procedures may be too fence Simplified Technical English for compliance against the rules of STE specialized for STE. Maintenance Group (ASD STEMG) and can be integrated with your in-house at www.simplifiedenglish-aecma.org/ list of approved words. Some industry- Personal Experiences Simplified_English.htm#se_guide. A free, specific and configurable checker tools I discovered STE while working on a unofficial list of rules and an approved are available at the Web sites listed in major rewrite and edit of a project I was the sidebar. forced to rush through. Curious to see what all the fuss was about, I decided to Resources for A Helpful Model apply STE to my editing/rewrite pro- Simplified Technical English clearly cess. The results were mixed. Sometimes Learning and offers benefits to technical writers in- my natural writing flow was interrupted terested in improving the readability of because I kept checking on my compli- Using STE their work. Although strict adherence to ance with STE rules. I found that keep- f you want to learn more about all official STE rules is practically impos- ing the rules in mind while writing and STE, the Aerospace and De- sible, and not even helpful in some or- then performing an STE edit was easier fence Simplified Technical ganizations, STE serves as an interesting than writing STE from the start. English Maintenance Group and practical model. One of the purported benefits of STE (ASD STEMG) is probably the Since experienced technical writers is that it results in more accurate transla- Ibest place to start. You can find a already apply the basic rules of STE tions when using automated translation huge amount of information about when writing procedures, STE may be tools, but I didn’t see that benefit. The the official specification, training, more useful when writing explanatory online translation tool I used translated software, and other useful infor- sections or highly technical documents non-STE-approved sentences as effec- mation on the ASD STEMG site like applications specifications or soft- tively as approved ones. (www.simplifiedenglish-aecma.org). ware requirements documents. STE However, STE was a great safety net. It Although intended mainly for the might also work best for new writers or reminded me to use consistent terminol- aerospace industry, the site has a lot technical professionals who aren’t usual- ogy and that English can be confusing for of information helpful for all indus- ly writers. But even experienced writers the non-native speakers in my audience. tries. Information on how to obtain can benefit from using STE as a model the official STE rules and approved for ensuring consistency and clarity in Strategies for Implementation word list is located at www.simplified their writing. Writers and editors need to be trained english-aecma.org/Simplified_English. in STE’s rules. You can either wing it by us- htm#se_guide. SUGGESTED READING ing the myriad online resources for STE, Boeing has a great site that explains or you can check to see if any STE train- STE and the STE checker: www.