Technical Communication and Technical Definition (Unit four)

Technical Communication

    •     Technical communication is the communication that is used by technical people or                  professionals in the world of work.

•        The language of Business Correspondence, Reports and Scientific Writings have a distinct style.

•        Practice and conventions in the world of work have shaped a writing style which is precise concise and highly objective.

•        It has also been termed as “Transactional Writing.”

•        It is characterized by a conventional format, certain formal elements such as commercial and technical vocabulary and the use of graphics and audio-visual aids.

•        It is impartial and highly objective in nature as extreme care is taken to convey information accurately and correctly.

•        It deals with various commercial, industrial/professional and scientific/engineering subjects.

•        It has comparatively high concentration of certain complex writing techniques and procedures.

•        It is a combination of Audience. Information and Purpose.

•        Thus technical communication is specific information, to a specific audience for a specific purpose.



Technical Definition

You have seen the importance of definition for a technical description. But the definition that you have come to know is only one of the three types of definitions. Actually, you have come to know the definition which has three elements, the term, the classification and the differentiation. It is in fact a sentence definition. There are two other definitions also. They are known as parenthetical definition and extended definition.

These three definitions are collectively known as technical definitions. In short, there are three types of definitions. These definitions are very useful in providing any technical description.

A technical definition may be defined as a definition used in explaining technical terminology. The three types of technical definitions are as follows:-

1. Parenthetical Definition
2. Sentence Definition
3. Extended Definition

 Parenthetical Definition

A parenthetical definition is the definition which is given in the form of a phrase (not a sentence) immediately after the term. In other words, the definition is given in the form of a parenthesis. It may be a synonym or a short description immediately after the term. The synonym or short description may be inside parenthesis or commas e.g.

Aniline a benzene ring with an amine group, is a versatile chemical used in many organic syntheses.

The genus Helogale (dwarf mongooses) contains two species.

Homo sapiens, the species to which all human beings belong, is one of the several species grouped into genus Homo.

Sentence Definition

A sentence definition is the definition that is provided in the form of a sentence. It has three elements:-

1. The Term
2. The Classification
3. The Differentiation

For example the following definition of an electric fan:-

An electric fan is an electrical appliance which is used for circulating the air of room.

In the above definition, ‘an electric fan’ is the term, ‘is an electrical appliance’ is classification and ‘is used for circulating the air of the room’ is differentiation.

Extended Definition

But sometimes you cannot explain a term in one sentence. You may have to use several sentences or sometimes several pages to explain it.

When a term requires several sentences or several pages to define, we call such a definition an extended definition.

Encyclopedias are full of extended definitions. Most of the pages in an on encyclopedia are extended definitions. An operation manual of a car or a machine is also an extended definition.

***

Click below for new chapter Unit Four

Précis Writing


RGPV B.Tech First Year Unit 4 Technical Definition







 

Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Financial Career by Stephen Leacock

Image
My Financial Career  by Stephen Leacock When  I go into a bank I get rattled. The clerks rattle me; the wickets rattle me; the sight of the money rattles me; everything rattles me.  The moment I cross the  threshold of a bank and attempt to transact business there, I become an irresponsible idiot.  I knew this beforehand, but my salary had been raised to fifty dollars a month and I felt that the bank was the only place for it.  So I shambled in and looked timidly round at the clerks. I had an idea that a person about to open an account must consult the manager. I went up to a wicket marked 'Accountant'. The accountant was a tall, cool  devil.  The very sight of him rattled me. My voice was sepulchral.  'Can I see the manager?' I said, and added solemnly, 'alone'. I don't know why I said 'alone',  'Certainly,' said the accountant and fetched him.  The manager was a grave, calm man. I held my fifty-six dollars clutched in a crumpled b...
Read more

The Axe by R K Narayan

Image
  The Axe  by  R.K. Narayan An astrologer passing through the village foretold that Velan would live in a three-storeyed house surrounded by many acres of garden. At this everybody gathered round young Velan and made fun of him. For Koppal did not have a more ragged and godforsaken family than Velan’s. His father had mortgaged every bit of property he had, and worked, with his whole family, on other people’s lands in return for a few annas a week . . . A three-storeyed house for Velan indeed! . . . But the scoffers would have congratulated the astrologer if they had seen Velan about thirty or forty years later. He became the sole occupant of Kumar Baugh—that palatial house on the outskirts of Malgudi town. When he was eighteen Velan left home. His father slapped his face one day for coming late with the midday-meal, and he did that in the presence of others in the field. Velan put down the basket, glared at his father and left the place. He just walked out of the vill...
Read more

Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture by Jerome K. Jerome

Image
  Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture You never saw such a commotion up and down a house, in all your life, as when my Uncle Podger undertook to do a job. A picture would have come home from the frame-maker's, and be standing in the dining-room, waiting to be put up; and Aunt Podger would ask what was to be done with it, and Uncle Podger would say: "Oh, you leave that to me. Don't you, any of you, worry yourselves about that. I'll do all that." And then he would take off his coat, and begin. He would send the girl out for sixpenny worth of nails, and then one of the boys after her to tell her what size to get; and, from that, he would gradually work down, and start the whole house. "Now you go and get me my hammer, Will," he would shout; "and you bring me the rule, Tom; and I shall want the step-ladder, and I had better have a kitchen-chair, too; and, Jim! You run round to Mr. Goggles, and tell him, 'Pa's kind regards, and hopes his leg's...
Read more