As Chinese characters ("hanzi") have three aspects--as a technical writing system, an aesthetic visual art (Chinese calligraphy), and a highly-charged cultural symbolic system--changing them is a complex process. In the 1950s when language planning campaigns were launched to modernise Chinese through "hanzi" standardisation,…

Discusses the teaching of technical communication and its practice in mainland China, particularly regarding technical journals, technical writing, and English for science and technology. (SR)

Introduces a hybrid method for abstracting Chinese text that integrates the statistical approach with language understandings, incorporating some linguistics heuristics and segmentation into the abstracting process. Initial responses from application to Chinese newspaper articles show that the method contributes much to the flexibility and…

Describes conditions observed when North American technical communicators visited China, discovering the technical-communications field at its earliest stages. Asserts that the windows of opportunity are open in China for technical communicators and technical communication teachers to establish ongoing business, cultural, and professional…

Relates the authors' experience teaching technical writing for two weeks at Suzhou University in China. Discusses activities; examines four technical writing textbooks purchased there; and offers suggestions about how technical communication might be established as a separate academic discipline in Chinese universities. Discusses technical…

Recounts a technical writing institute presented by a delegation of North American technical communication faculty to Chinese English as a foreign language teachers. Discusses planning the 10-day technical writing institute; challenges and assumptions about teaching technical communication in China; institute lectures and activities; and institute…