Chapter 14
by Matt and Kristen
Chapter 14 covers the topic of creating definitions. This chapter will help you accomplish the following outcomes: avoid problems caused by multiple meanings, complexity of meanings, technical jargon and symbols and make appropriate decisions about using definitions in glossaries, information notes and appendixes. Not only do the meanings of words change, but new words will enter our language as well. A lot of these new words are ones related to developing technology. Networking was not a well known word, but thanks to social networking sites like facebook or myspace, this word has become more household. You should make sure your viewers or readers are up to date with the new words. If they don't know the word, you are in trouble. You wouldn't want to go on talking about hypothesis' if members of your audience have never heard of the word. With all the new technology comes new words. When preparing technical documents you should keep in mind that readers could become confused by multiple meanings, complexity of meanings, technical jargon, and symbols. Effective definitions can also help an audience follow a technical document, and answer the audience's questions. The main categories of definitions are: formal, informal, operational, and expanded definition. A formal definition is identifying a broad category to which a term belongs as well as its distinctive characteristics. Informal definitions tend to be the type that we insert in communication without realizing that we are defining a term. An operational definition can mean different things to different technical professions. The activities that researchers use to measure a variable is one way of explaining it. In contrast, some would define it as being able to specify the functions of an object or a process. Lastly, an expanded definition explains and clarifies information while maintaining the audience's interest. Technical writers now have options of how they want to incorporate these definitions by choosing from a glossary, information notes and sidebars, incorporated information, appendixes, and online help (although not mutually exclusive).
19 comments:
I think definitions need to be clear and concise in the work place otherwise confusion always comes about. It makes it more difficult if something is defined, but the context isn't noted. Of course, a lot of words have several different meanings, relating to the context in which they are used. If the person does not talk about the context, then it is hard to know where the specific definition of the word should be applied. Also, if definitions are just not used, a lot of confusion can come from that because one person uses a definition that is different from the next person.
When speaking about words, it is very important to make sure that you have the correct nad understandable meanings of words. Technical communication can sometimes be international, and haveing the correct forms of words is important. using symbols is also very important. This helps you to communicate your thoguhts by things other than words. Some words have more than one meanign and this can confuse some people. Not only do some words have more than one meaing, they can also be used in different forms of contexts. Some meaings of words have complex meaning s and can easily confuse people. So it is important to make sure that you are clear when speaking and writing and also communicating.
When write documents or papers, vocabulary tend to vary depending on what your writeing and who your audiance is. It's true your audiance must not only know what a word is but also what you personally mean or the cognative meaning of the word. Technical documents have it extremly hard because they are constinaly dealing with advancements in technology. Defining words, I think, is benifical for your audiance to understand you. I never realized thatinformal definitions exsisted, how you explan the meaning in the documentation.
I agree with the networking on our society, especially people that are from our generation. People have become socially connected with others and their own network because of those sites like facebook and myspace. I dont think people would be connected with others or on top of the technology if it wasnt for those sites. Also it does help if the people who read your blogs and things that you post online know what you are talking about. You have to be aware of the audience you are posting it for. Make sure the language as the summary explains is up to date and correct, otherwise people wont know what you are saying. With these new things such as glossary, information notes and sidebars, incorporated information, appendixes, and online help do ehlp me as from experience because without those I wouldnt know what to do or where to find information that I need.
I think when most people are writing a paper or giving a presentation on something that they are well educated on, they generally do not think to add in definitions. Some of the topics that people presented on in class for example were confusing to me because I did not understand the terminolgy. It is important when you are giving a speech or writing a paper that you think about who will be recieving the information. If it is an audience who may be nieve to this information you should define some words that your audience may not know or you will lose your audience.
Chapter fourteen covers important information containing definitions. In order for definitions to benefit individuals you need to make sure they are easy to comprehend. We are still learning new words and there definitions today. It’s important to relate these words to everyday life. This was a well written summary of the chapter. These days it’s easy to incorporate the definitions on words. All you really haft to do is type in the word on the computer and its shows the dictionary definition. Making sure individuals understand the words being used is imperative. In conclusion, I think it’s easier to find the meaning of words and definitions.
This summary does a great job of explaining what the overall content and topic of this chapter was about. I completely agree that definitions are a crucial thing to include in technical documents, presentations and reports. I have sat through so many presentation; read so many reports and many technical documents that I had no idea what some of the words were. Without including definitions to large formal words, your audience isn’t going to understand what you are trying to explain. This chapter did a great job of explaining the true importance of definitions in documents.
Chapter 14 explains some strategies about creating definitions. No matter how better we understand English, any other languages or how many words, there are always some words we will get confused on. Some of these problems are caused because of the multiple meanings of words, the complexity of meanings, some technical jargon and also symbols sometimes. This can be solved by following several categories of definition like informal, operational or expanded. And use of glossaries, information notes footnotes and appendixes may also minimize this problem. And not to forget for the era of internet there is always internet help which will help keep things on top.
Vocabulary and terminology can be a major part in any kind of writing. If you are writing a informative speech you need to make definitions clear and need to make you information understandable. If you are just writing a email to someone you need to make sure they are in understanding of what you are talking about. Definitions are the main problem for me when I listen to or read something informative without proper definitions or descriptions of terminology I do not want to finish listening or reading. I want to be able to know what is being taught through that paper and not through my own research for definitions.
The networking aspect of this chapter is by far the most relevant to us today. Matt and Kristen did a nice job of incorporating some current online networking sources used by most college students – Facebook and MySpace. It is almost hard to image what life was like before these two Internet giant cites appeared. How did people stay in communication? How was information spread? Before the Internet, networking involved a lot of face to face meetings and really talking with people. Now, everything is done online. You can meet people, share information, and even terminate your relationship; all with the click of a button.
This summary was as usual, very well written. I think it is very important for us to be able know the different types of definitions out there. I think that is very important to realize that one definition can mean something to someone, and that same definition can mean something totally different to someone else. This is especially important in a field such as the one we are studying. Technical communication, as far as I am concerned, is the discipline of communication instructions of some sort to others. We as students should realize this and be able to decipher different meanings for different people, so we have the ability to make our skills reach as broad an audience as possible.
Definitions help readers tremendously in understanding complex technical terms and Jargons being introduced to our life everyday. An updated dictionary helps enormously in understanding new words and vocabulary are used. A lot of new definitions, vocabulary, jargons, terms, slang and technical words usually comes out with new technology or discoveries made by for example scientists, doctors, professors, and any other professional. In order for experts to have non experts like ourselves understand what they are trying to explain to the public they need define there words very clearly and concise.
Chapter 14 is a great chapter with many great points. When it comes to vocabulary that is either new, or has multiple meanings, it is important to be specififc and give clear definitions for your audience. I can relate to new words or jargon when it comes to technology. Just recently I have gained ne understanding in thisw area. I went many years being confused and therefore falling behind in some classes because I was not clear on certain words that were being discussed. In most of my documents, whether they are power point, outlines, or a report I typ[ically use informal definitions. I find them to more useful then operational, because they are immediate in the text.
Properly defining a term is very important so that the reader can understand the document. When reading my textbooks I come across new words all of the time. If I didn’t know the meaning of these words I would be very lost. Most of the textbooks that I have to read are really good at defining new words. Sometimes there is a brief sentence to define the words and other times there might be an entire paragraph. It all depends on the complexity of the word. If the words are not defined properly the reader may become lost and not be able to receive all of the information in the document.
When speaking or writing everything needs to be very clear to the reader or the audience. Your choice of words is crucial. It can make or break a presentation or a paper. I find when people wrote something that I not only need to read but have to completely understand it and take it to the next step in the project process it is easier when people stay away from the technical jargon. If it is necessary for them to use that kind of language it is important for them to follow up with an explanation of what it means or it can leave the reader or audience lost in what they are talking about.
In this chapter I learned how to identify characteristics and features of effective electronic communication which refers to computers, cell phones, web sites (emailing) and palm pilots. We learned how to avoid problems caused by multiple meanings, complexity of meanings, technical jargon and symbols. To create several definitions informal, synonym, antonym, stipulation, negative, analogy and illustration. Formal definitions are another way we learned how to use technical communication .
Word choice is an important aspect to consider when writing documents. If the words were chosen poorly the reader could get confused from technical jargon or words that are not the best fit. To avoid technical jargon definitions can be used to inform the reader of necessary technical terms so as to explain the entire subject. This is increasingly important in technical communication because the technical processes are impossible to explain without technical terms that not everyone may have previous knowledge of. The type of definition should also be considered because sometimes informal definitions are the correct way to define key terms while at other times it is more practical to use expanded definitions that more clearly define objects or tasks.
This chapter does a great job of covering what is involved in creating definitions. With the globalization going on in the world today it is very important to give such specific definitions in order to be sure that no words are lost in translation. Especially in the English language, with so many words having more than one meaning, it is important to make sure you are using the right word in the right context. This is something that is very basic English, but sometimes we tend to ignore it because it seems so simple. If you pay close attention to the things that Burnett covers, you shouldn’t run into any problems.
I think this summary is very well written. It covers the chapter well and highlights all of the main points. This chapter I think is very important. I think I have run across this problem a lot when writing automotive based papers to a non-automotive audience. There are a lot of terms and concepts that the average person does not understand and are to difficult to describe when under a time or length constraint.
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