Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 1998

The Technical Communicator's Role in Bridging the Gap between Arab and American Business Environments

Larae D. Lundgren The University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Communication between the West and the Middle East has at times been tenuous, disjointed, and ineffective. Due to the ever-increasing global market, it has become essential that American technical communicators cross these geographic, cultural, and language barriers to bridge this historical communication gap. Business with Saudi Arabia particularly has prompted American technical communicators to delve into all cultural and language dynamics of an Arab audience. In essence, the technical communicator must comprehend the impact of Islamic doctrine on the Arab business person; identify the philosophical, religious, historical, and social dynamics of the English/Arab communication process; recognize the fundamental differences between the English language and the Arabic language; and, after assessing the Arab audience and language level, implement the most effective communication strategies for effective communication with a high-context society such as Saudi Arabia.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1998-10-01
DOI
10.2190/u8ah-mqwd-f9l7-qafa
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (7) · 1 in this index

  1. Iseman P. A., The Arabian Ethos, Harpers, February 1978.
  2. Thrush (1993)
    Bridging the gaps: Technical communication in an international and multicultura…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Hall E. T. (interviewed by Kenneth Friedman), Learning the Arabs' Silent Language, Psychology Today, August 1979.
  4. Andrews D. C. (1998)
    Technical Communication in the Global Community
  5. Mackey S. (1987)
    The Saudis—Inside the Desert Kingdom
Show all 7 →
  1. Lay M. M. (1995)
    Technical Communication
  2. SAI, Capsule Contrastive Analysis: Arabic/English, January 1980.
CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Written Communication May 2026
    Leveraging Human-Centered Design and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Rural Healthcare: Wicked Problems, Design Thinking, and Mutable Methodologies ↗
    Richard Johnson-Sheehan; Thomas Rickert; Paul Thompson Hunter; Adrianna Deptula
    technical communication artificial intelligence
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication May 2026
    The User Experience of Virtual Reality for Longitudinal Writing: A Diary Study of Immersive Graduate Dissertation Composing Experience ↗
    Jason Tham; Rich Shivener; Niveditha Pookkottuvariam; Sarah Riddick
    rhetorical criticism graduate education technical communication archival research empirical research qualitative research
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    Visualizing Heat Risk: Infographics, Memorability, and Design ↗
    Preksha Mysore; Kathryn Lambrecht
    technical communication
  4. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    Developing Intercultural Socioemotional Communication Skills: A Hybrid Student Exchange Project Between Kenya, Ireland, and Germany ↗
    Belinda Oechsler; Yvonne Cleary; Sissi Closs
    technical communication professional writing
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    What Video Games Can Tell Us About Interactive Technical Communication ↗
    Emily Kuzneski Johnson
    technical communication multimodality