Han Yu & Gerald Savage 
Negotiating Cultural Encounters 
Narrating Intercultural Engineering and Technical Communication

Discusses the challenges of intercultural communication in
engineering, technical, and related professional fields

Given today’s globalized technical and engineering environment,
intercultural communication is an essential topic for engineers,
other technical professionals, and technical communicators to
learn. Engineering programs, in particular, need to think about how
to address the ABET requirement for students to develop global
competence and communication skills. This book will help readers
learn what intercultural communication is like in the
workplace–which is an important first step in gaining
intercultural competence.

Through narratives based on the real experiences of working
professionals, Negotiating Cultural Encounters: Narrating
Intercultural Engineering and Technical Communication covers a
range of design, development, research, and documentation
projects–offering an authentic picture of today’s
international workplace. Narrative contributors present firsthand
experience and perspectives on the complexities and challenges of
working with multicultural team members, international vendors, and
diverse customers; additional suggested readings and discussion
questions provide students with information on relevant cultural
factors and invite them to think deeply and critically about the
narratives.

This collection of narratives:

* Responds to the need for updated firsthand information in
intercultural communication and will help us prepare workplace
professionals

* Covers various topics such as designing e-commerce websites,
localizing technical documentation, and translating workplace
safety materials

* Provides hands-on studies of intercultural professional
communication in the workplace

* Is targeted toward institutions that train engineers for
technical communication tasks in diverse sociocultural
environments

* Presents contributions from a diverse group of
professionals

* Recommends additional material for further pursuit

A book unlike any other in its field, Negotiating Cultural
Encounters is ideal for all engineering and technical
communication professionals seeking to better communicate their
ideas and thoughts in the multicultural workplaces of the
world.

Table of Content

Preface xi

A Note from the Series Editor xiii

INTRODUCTION 1

Han Yu and Gerald Savage

CHAPTER 1 Changing Times, Changing Style Guides 17

Jennifer O’Neill

CHAPTER 2 Concinnity of Assorted Nuts 41

Marina Lin

CHAPTER 3 Learning Curve 61

Vaishnavi Thogttluva Vijayaram

CHAPTER 4 Lost in Translation 81

Elena Groznaya

CHAPTER 5 Collective Learning in East Africa: Building and
Transferring Technical Knowledge in Livestock Production 103

K. Alex Ilyasova and Cheryl Birkelo

CHAPTER 6 That’s Worth Waiting For: GLDD’s Spanish JSA Booklet
123

Christina Schulz

CHAPTER 7 Making Excellence a Habit across Intercultural
Barriers 143

Saurabh Kudesia

CHAPTER 8 Crash of Cultures 167

Sam Racine

CHAPTER 9 Collaboration on a Pan-European Project Spanning 35
National Research and Education Networks across the European Union
185

Warren Singer

CHAPTER 10 Are Chinese Documents Ready for Global Audiences?
209

Melanie G. Flanders

CHAPTER 11 Subject Matter Expert Meets Technical Communicator:
Stories of Mestiza Consciousness in the Automotive Industry
227

Angela M. Haas

CHAPTER 12 My Life as an EFL Trainer/Technical Translator in
Shanghai, China 247

Huiling Ding

Index 263

About the author

HAN YU is an Associate Professor of Technical Writing and
Professional Communication in the English Department at Kansas
State University. Dr. Yu has published numerous journal articles
within this area.

GERALD SAVAGE is Professor Emeritus and former Internship
Director and Technical Writing Program Director in the English
Department at Illinois State University. Dr. Savage has published
numerous books and articles on technical communication.