Intercultural Communication: Writing for Multiple Language Audiences [LO-5]

Reading English-language content written by nonnative speakers of English can be a good reminder of the challenges of communicating in another language. The writing can be confusing or even amusing at first glance, but the key to remember here is that your writing might sound just as confusing or amusing to someone else if your roles were reversed. Identify a company that is based in a non-English speaking country but that includes English-language text on its website. (The “Advanced” search capabilities of your favorite search engine can help you locate websites from a particular country.) Study the language on this site. Does it sound as though it was written by someone adept at English? If the fi st site you’ve found does have writing that sounds natural to a native U.S. English speaker, find another company whose website doesn’t. Select a section of text, at least several sentences long, and rewrite it to sound more “American.” Submit the original text and your rewritten version to your instructor.