Basics Of Technical English 8504

Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad.

Academic Year 2022 -2024

(Semester: Spring, 2022)

Department: (Department of English)

ASSIGNMENT # 01
(Unit 1-5)

Full Name: Sadia Bashir

Roll No: 0000261963

Programme: M..COM

Subject: BASICS OF TECHNICAL ENGLISH (8504)

Date of Submission: 14-08-2022

Submitted to:
Most Respectable,
Sir Khuram Dad

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Q.1

What are the standard international communication guideline commonly used

for printed document when designing a site for a professional international audience?

Answer:

The author's responsibility to create a readable document extends to the layout, design, and
the building blocks surrounding the words themselves. If so, the reader will be discouraged by
the prospect...that wall will have to be scaled.

Likely, authors can involve report layouts that settle on those plan decisions for them with
laid out styles so that composing a record turn into a question of simply filling in the spaces; if
you work for an organization that utilizations layouts for specific records, obviously you will
utilize them likewise for consistency furthermore, your own comfort. Indeed, even without
formats, notwithstanding, you can utilize a few methods to help guide your peruses eyes
across the page or screen to effectively find what they're searching for. Instead of being
discretionary pleasant to-haves, such procedures are vitally critical to how well your archive is
gotten. Pretty much every record that exists as an independent unit should have a title that
precisely addresses its items more or less.

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It's the main thing a peruse searches for to comprehend what's really going on with a report
and ought to hence be handily found focused at the highest point

of the primary page of any little report, and unmistakably put on the front of bigger
records. However, a few records address exemptions for this standard (e.g., business letters
need titles, and numerous need headlines), any report that carries with it the assumption for a
title however overlooks it is like a peculiarly executed body; peruses simply won't know what
to think about it. Indeed, even messages and reminders have titles as titles. In anything that
report you find it; a title's following qualities make it fundamental to your how peruse might
interpret the entirety.

 Topic summary:

A title is the most concise summary possible of a topic while still making sense. If you
glance at a news website or newspaper, for instance, you can get a reasonably good sense of
what’s going on in the world just by reading the headlines because they are titles that, in as
few words as possible, summarize the narratives told in the articles that follow.
 Conciseness:

Aim for a length in the 2- to 7-word range—something that can be said repeatedly in one
short breath. One-word titles are appropriate only for art (e.g., for books, films, songs, albums,
etc.), but most other professional documents use a reasonable number of words to give a sense
of the topic, albeit streamlined to the point of having no words that don’t absolutely need to be
there. In scientific papers, titles can be quite long and carry plenty of detail, though you can
expect that their audiences will rarely pronounce the full title.
 Headings and Subheadings:

Using headings and subheadings as section and subsection titles after the main title of your
document helps guide the reader through an overview of the subject matter of your document.
Especially in reports, headings and subheadings that follow a consistent numbering system in
bold (or near) along the left margin, as seen in this textbook, help busy readers quickly find
the specific content they are looking for. Helpful. Even if the content isn't big enough for him
to fit in a single document attachment, but even for regular emails that cover the topic in detail
enough to be shared internally, bold headlines are helpful.

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If your drafting process follows the guidelines in this chapter, headings and subheadings
(and possibly numbering depending on the size of your document) are already written in your
outline. The drafting process for producing this outline may suggest changes to these headings
and subheadings. As titles, headings such as the main title should be properly constructed and
capitalized.

O FONT

Font selection is an important consideration because it determines how the audience will
receive a document. Font involves decisions concerning the style of type, size, and even
colour. Consider the following:

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 Font type:

Writers considering typeface must choose between two

major style categories depending on how they would like to
accommodate their reader. Serif fonts like Times New
Roman and Garamond have little perpendicular
crossline “feet” or “hands” at the ends of letter strokes, as
well as variable thickness in the strokes themselves
depending on their horizontal/vertical or curving position,
which altogether help readers distinguish between similar
letters or combinations of letters, such as m and rn, which
almost look like the same letter in a non-serif font. Serif
fonts are ideal for printed documents, especially those with smallish font sizes such as
newspapers. Without serifs, sans-serif fonts like Arial (the one used in this textbook)
or Verdana achieve a more clean and modern look, especially on computer screens where
serif fonts appear to wither away at the thin part of the stroke and are thus harder to read. In
the appropriate format, all the fonts mentioned above make a document look
respectable. Comic Sans, on the other hand, is appropriate for documents aimed at children,
but undermines the credibility of any professional document, such as when the unfortunate
choice to use it when reporting CERN particle physics discoveries became more newsworthy
than the discoveries themselves.

 Font size:

Size is another important consideration because readers

depend on text being an ideal “Goldilocks” size for
readability and are frustrated by font sizes that are bigger
or smaller than that. In a standard written document, for
instance, a 12-point Arial or Times New Roman is the
Goldilocks size. If the MS Word default size when you

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open a blank document is 11-point, it’s worth increasing it for the sake of those who have
slight visual impairment.

Occasions for going smaller with your font size include footnotes in a report or source
credits under images in a document or PowerPoint presentation. Decreasing font size to 8-
point merely to get all your text to fit into a one-page résumé, however, would undermine the
document’s purpose because, by frustrating the hiring manager trying to read it, it runs the risk
of prompting them to just dump it in the shredder and move on to the next (hopefully reader-
friendly) résumé. In such cases, choosing the right font size becomes a major life decision.
Whatever the situation, strike a balance between meeting the needs of the reader to see the text
and design considerations.

 Font colour:

You can also include color choices in your document design. In

that case, you should consider the needs of your readers. Proper use
of a touch of color can draw attention to important text. Since your
name is basically the title of the document, coloring your name at
the top of your resume can help if little or no other elements in your
document are colored. Similarly, coloring the titles of other
documents works well when nothing else is expected (some style
guidelines forbid color).

O BOLDFACE, ITALICS, AND UNDERLINING

Boldface, italics, and underlining serve various purposes in focusing audience attention on
certain words. Boldface type is especially helpful in directing audience eyes towards titles,

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headings, and keywords as you can see at the beginning of this paragraph and throughout this
textbook. Highlighting in this way is especially helpful to anyone who is visually impaired in
any degree. Of course, overusing boldface undermines its impact, so it should be used
sparingly and strategically.

 Line Spacing

Single-spaced lines are common to most documents because they accommodate the
reader’s need to dart quickly to the next line to continue reading a sentence. The gap between
1.0-spaced lines is just enough to clearly separate one line from another so the hanging
elements at the bottom of letters like j and g don’t interfere with the tops of uppercase letters
on the line below.

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Some documents such as academic manuscripts are double-spaced to give readers, who
are usually the instructors or teaching assistants grading them, enough space to write
comments and editorial marks between the lines. Because doubling the line spacing also
doubles the number of pages in a print version, avoid double-spacing documents for audiences
who don’t explicitly require it.

Q.2 Ethics has a vital role in technical writing. What ethical points should be
considered by a writer in the process of writing a proposal?

Answer:

Technical writing:

Technical writing is a type of writing where the author is writing about a particular subject
that requires direction, instruction, or explanation. This style of writing has a very different
purpose and different characteristics than other writing styles such as creative writing,
academic writing or business writing. Technical writing is straightforward, easy to understand
explanations and/or instructions dealing with a particular subject. It is an efficient and clear
way of explaining something and how it works.

Role of Ethics in technical writing:

Ethics is defined as a set of moral principles of right and wrong. Ethics consists of the
individual standards of behavior we exhibit in our personal and professional lives. It
establishes the levels of honesty, empathy,trustworthiness, and other virtues that identify our
personal behavior and our public reputation. Professional ethics guides the conduct by which
technical writers abide by laws,regulations and policies.Professional ethics means respecting
the rights of stakeholders and the communities in which they live.Professional ethics centers
on principles of good conduct through civil, social,economic,environmental and lawful

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actions. There are a few basic tenets to adhere to whenever we are writing a professional
document.

 Integrity:

Integrity is unity between what we say and what we do. Being a professional of integrity
means consistently striving to be the best person we can be in all our interactions with others.It
means we practice what we do based upon reasoning, laws, morality, and justice.Although
ethics are an individual choice,in the professional world,ethical choices by employees often
define the success of an organization.Some professions such as;engineering,journalism and
medicine have traditional codes of ethics.Essentially,a code of ethics is a commitment to treat
with honesty and integrity customers,clients,employees and others affiliated with a profession.

 Don’t Mislead:

Do not write something that could cause the reader to believe something that isn’t true.This
can be done by lying, misrepresenting facts, or manipulating numbers to favor our opinion and
objectives. We cannot leave out numbers that show we’re behind or over-budget on a project,
no matter how well it may work once it is completed. Facts are facts, and they must be
represented as such. Be cautious when using figures, charts and tables, making sure they are
not misleading. While this may seem obvious, when the pressure is on and there are deadlines
to meet, taking shortcuts and stretching the truth are all-too common.

 Social responsibility:

Social responsibility represents the interaction and collaboration with stakeholders to

reflect the concerns of communities which an organization serves. Social responsibility
includes:

 Practices that is inclusive and diverse.

 Activities that help local communities and stakeholders.

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 Plagiarizing:

Plagiarizing is misrepresenting the source or facts, most commonly when we claim the
ideas we are writing about are ours. When we are researching professional documents, make
sure we are using material with permission. If we are writing about what we researched, make
sure we are citing the sources of our information and giving credit to all the necessary
researchers.

 Attribution:

Attribution refers to acknowledging and recognizing the source of information used in

writing, ideas, concepts, and creations. Depending on the creation, the attribution is valid in
various forms.

 Patents and trademarks: Patents and trademarks are company names (Wal-Mart),
logos (the Target bulls eye), processes or slogans (I’m loving’ it) that belong to a
person or company. None of these things can be used without proper recognition of
or approval from the appropriate company or individual involved. A company uses
tam to show something is trademarked or a for something registered with the U.S
Patent and Trademark Office. An example would be Nike™ and their famous
swoosh symbol. The legal consequences are most notable when one considers
writing in the professional world. While plagiarizing may give we are failing grade
in a class, plagiarizing in the workplace can not only get you fired, but could result
in a costly lawsuit or possibly even jail time. It is not only ethical to follow these
rules, it is an enforced law. Make sure we properly document all sources so as not
to mislead a reader.

 Copyright:

Copyright law includes items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or
software). The copyright symbol is shown with a ©. Copyright is different from plagiarism in
that it is a legal issue. Only the copyright holder, the person/organization who owns the
protected item, can copy it.Any written document, once produced, is copyrighted by law. That
means if you are borrowing a good idea from a friend at another company, we must cite them

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as a source. Also, it is a good idea to cite sources from inside our own company, as well. We
wouldn’t want someone else taking credit for our ideas.

 DON’T MANIPULATE:

If we are a professional communicator, it is understood that we have at least a decent

ability to write persuasively, even if our first persuasive document was our resume. We have
an ethical obligation to not use your ability to persuade people to do what is not in their best
interest. It is unethical to persuade readers to make a decision that benefits yourself or our
company and not them. Most times, people try to manipulate others to receive some type of
reward or gain. To avoid using misleading or manipulating words and phrases, it is important
to be open to alternative viewpoints. In preparing any type of persuasive writing, we will come
across conflicting viewpoints, so being aware of other views should not be hard. Keep our
readers’ ideas and goals in mind and consider what may lie behind their concerns. Discussing
several opinions and ideas on a given subject will make we appear more persuasive (and more
credible!) and prevent us from appearing biased.

 DON’T STEREOTYPE:

Most stereotyping takes place subconsciously now since workplaces are careful to not
openly discriminate. It is something we may not even be aware we are doing, so it is always a
good idea to have a peer or coworker proofread our documents to make sure we have not
made any assumptions or included anything that may be discriminatory.

Q.3 what are the key differences between formal and informal reports in technical
writing. Give relevant examples.

Answer:

Business reports provide useful information for users and readers. There are many types of
reports that companies can create. These reports are usually well structured and long.
However, these are formal reports. A formal report, as the name suggests, is a formal or
rigorous document on a particular subject. Most companies operate on formal reports. These
reports help companies and businesses communicate important issues and information.
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However, some companies do not use the same structure or rigorous reporting. In such
cases they can use informal reports. Informal reporting also plays an important role in running
a business.

 Informal Reports:

Informal reports are typically internal reports, and can go to other members of the
department and department heads. They are also used for reports that will circulate throughout
the company. They use personal pronouns and contractions. Though the report may be several
sections long, it is typically much shorter than a formal report. No contents page is included.
Informal reports can even be formatted like a memo.

 Form of the report: Formal report is highly structured and is prepared in a

prescribed format. Most Formal report is always written in a manuscript (narrative
style) format.

 Purpose: Formal report is written to help management in making long term and
strategic decisions.

 Objective: Objective of the formal report is to assist decision making by providing

an effective recommendation.

 Length: It is long in size. Size of a formal report is large. It generally includes

some particular pages (e.g., prefatory page) that do not appear in short reports.

 Distribution: In most cases, formal reports are circulated to top-level executives

and outside parties.

 Nature of problem: Formal report deals with complex and non-recurring problems.
It is analytical and systematic in nature. It deals with key complex problems.

 Frequency of writing: Formal report is written very infrequently.

 Writing responsibility: This type of report is usually written by internal or external

experts.

 Use of visual aids: This type of report makes extensive use of visual aids to present

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the facts and findings.

 Writing Style: This report follows inductive (indirect) and impersonal writing
style. A formal report on the other hand, after analyzing and interpreting the
conclusion of the draw and makes recommendations.

 Recommendation: Recommendation is an essential part of a formal report.

 Formal Reports:

A formal report is a document that analyzes information, determines conclusions and offers
recommendations to solve problems. Formal reports are the result of the gathering and
analyzing of large amounts of data. This data is then presented to decision makers in business,
industry, and government to aid in the process of making important decisions. Formal reports
are longer (10+ pages) and are therefore also referred to as long reports. Long reports have a
more formal tone, tackle complex and challenging topics, and are almost always analytical in
nature. Similar to informal reports, formal reports are also organized into sections and utilize
headings and subheadings to help reader’s access information.

If you are writing a report for upper management or for another organization, you will need
a formal report. Formal reports are also used for research papers in higher education. Formal
reports are longer and well researched. Formal reports are impersonal, rarely using personal
pronouns and contractions. Summaries are located on separate pages and usually have more

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than one heading. Formal reports may also be preceded by a proposal. Include a contents page
if your report is more than five pages long. A cover letter or memo may be required.

 Form of the report: Informal report is less structured and it is less important to follow
the prescribed format. Most Informal reports are written in memorandum and letter
formats.
 Purpose: The main purpose of an informal report is to present the facts that help
managers in making thy-to-thy business decisions.
 Objective: Conveying routine messages and to help routine functions are the basic
objectives of the informal report.
 Length: It is short in size. An informal report is short in size. This report writing is
generally complete in a page or two.
 Distribution: Short report is usually circulated within the organization.
 Nature of problem: Informal report deals with less complex and recurring problems. It
is not methodical in nature. This report deals with the schedule matters.
 Frequency of writing: It is written very frequently even daily a weekly.
 Writing responsibility: These reports are usually written by a subordinate.
 Use of visual aids: This type of report seldom uses visual aids.
 Writing Style: This report follows deductive (direct) and personal writing style.
Informal reports follow deductive writing styles. A short report highlights facts and
specific recommendations. It avoids analysis and inclusion of supporting information.
 Recommendations: Recommendations are not required in an informal report.

Q.4 Define memos and describe the major components of memos. Write a memo
to inform the authorities about the problem faced by AIOU Computer Centre in the
installation of new equipment in the Centre.

A memo (or memorandum, which means “reminder”) is typically used within an

organization to communicate policies, procedures, or other official business. It is frequently

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written from a one-to-all (mass communication) perspective, broadcasting a message to an

audience, rather than one-on-one, interpersonal communication. It can also be used to keep a
team up to date on project activities or to notify a specific group within a company of an
event, action, or observance.

A memo’s purpose is usually to inform, but it may also include persuasion or a call to
action. There are both informal and formal communication networks in every organization.
The grapevine is an unofficial, informal communication network within an organization that is
characterised by rumour, gossip, and innuendo. On the grapevine, one person may learn that
someone else will be laid off and begin spreading the word. Rumours change and transform as
they spread from person to person, and before you know it, word has spread that your entire
department is being shut down.

 Tasks and Resolutions

If the purpose of your memo is to explain the tasks that you will be performing in response
to the context, you can say so in the next part of the memo. For example, you can say, “I will
be looking into the market research for technology.” This gives the reader an idea of the next
steps you are taking.

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 Supporting Research and Ideas

Some memos require the inclusion of specifics. If you need to include statistics, data, or
market research information, create a new paragraph for it. For example, if you were writing
about technology market research, you might include statistics on customer demand and
competitor sales, as well as key industry statistics. The discussion section of the memo refers
to these supporting ideas.

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 Conclusion and Further Discussion

Finish your memo with a brief conclusion that explains what you hope the reader learned
from reading it. The final section should also inform the reader that you welcome questions or
comments for discussion. For example, you could invite the reader to contact you via email or
phone if they have suggestions for potential technological solutions for the company. You
could also inform them about a planned future business meeting on the subject.

 Documents and Other Attachments

If you refer to graphs, charts, policies, reports, minutes, or other business documents to the
back of your memo if you use them. For example, you could include a table outlining the costs
and potential benefits of new technology, as well as a white paper on the innovation. Include a
note at the bottom of the memo page indicating that one or more documents are attached.

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Q.5 Create a list of five to eight questions about a topic you want to research for each
question, indicate the kind of a resource you need (boom, recent article and website?

1. How to communicate the skill enhance the career article?

(Source: website)

2. Which type of skills is necessary for human being?

(Source: Website)

3. Which problems faced by the students in listening comprehension while teaching

English?

(Source: Articles)

4. How can we identify the basic problems faced by the students at graduation level while
acquiring English as a second language?

(Source: Boom)

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5. What are the basic obstacles faced by undergraduate students while learning English
language?

(Source: Website)

6. How the students, studying at graduation level can cross the barriers in communication
while learning English as second language?

(Source: Boom)

7. Why the undergraduate students face embarrassment while communicating in second

language?

(Source: Website)

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