AGU Releases the handbook: ?A Guide to Technical Writing Skills?
People spend a great deal of time communicating with others; however, not many excel at it. And while language skills ? speaking, listening and reading ? are important in their own right, writing skills have assumed critical importance as the key prerequisite for success ? because of the surging tide of globalization. To compete in the domains of Industry, Services and Business at a global level, people of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are required to perfect the art of using good English.
Meeting the need of students and office goers
While there is a need to hone the writing skills of people in English in the MENA region, not much work has been done to address this issue. In order to bridge this gap, Dr. Abdurahem Mohammed Al Ameen ? President of Al Ghurair University ? released a supportive handbook called ?A Guide to Technical Writing Skills?. The authors of the book are Mr. Shadi Hijazi, Ms. Sunayana Manoj and Ms. Anjum Azeez. The book is a pioneering work to empower the people in this part of the world. Emphasizing the relevance of the book, Mr. Shadi Hijazi, the Lead Author, said, ?Each one of us, whether studying or working, is required to write. A student writes assignments, reports, term papers, etc. Similarly, employees, irrespective of their rank or the functional areas, write memos, feasibility reports, e-mails, letters, etc. While many people are reasonably good at speaking, their writing skills leave much to be desired. And, as a result, they fail to achieve the commanding heights of their careers. Therefore, one should make a deliberate effort to improve the writing skills in order to succeed.?
Grammar: The science of languages
Grammar is the science of a language, and its understanding facilitates successful communication while an absence of it leaves the readers confused. A thorough appreciation of the English grammar is a sine qua non for writing technically correct English, sounding intelligent, and thereby looking professional.
Substantiating this argument, Hijazi stated, ?The book has earmarked about one-fourth of its chapters to an in-depth understanding of different components of grammar. It explains, in detail, the present simple tense, the present continuous tense, past tense, the past perfect tense and present perfect tense. In addition, these chapters present a detailed discussion about the use of Articles, Propositions, Punctuations, Capitalizations, etc., which lays a strong foundation for writing internationally benchmarked English.?
Vocabulary: The soul of writing
A good writer needs to have good vocabulary that is both broad and deep, because a good vocabulary is essential for clarity, power and precision. If one has a large stock of words, he or she can choose the most appropriate ones. The more words one knows, the easier his/her words will flow. However, it does not mean that we should remember by heart the entire dictionary. Elaborating on this point, co-author Anjum Azeez said, ?Today?s dictionaries are bloated with over 500,000 words, but good writers need to harness only a small fraction of this number. We need only about 2,000 words as part of our vocabulary. Knowing simple words, where to place them and how to use them correctly makes us good writers. We favour small and familiar words instead of big or foreign words. Great scholars and writers use simple words.?
Writing skills: Multiple manifestations
Resumes: Referring to the importance of writing resumes, Hijazi stated, ?While studies have shown that a Hiring Manager spends about 20 seconds looking into a resume, the actual fact is that he earmarks as less as 10 seconds on this exercise. Since he receives about 300 to 400 applications for each position, an applicant has minimal chance to be noticed and receive the interview call unless his resume stands out from the crowd. How your resume looks will serve as an employer?s first impression of you; if it looks bad or amateurish, your resume may not get a second glance.? Recommending that one should discover the successful formula of words, sentences, format and finesse to convey effectively his selling points, Hijazi added, ?One should not prepare a single CV for different job openings; instead, he should prepare different CVs for different job avenues, in accordance with their specific requirements??
E-Mails: Writing e-mails and responding to them have become a part of our lives. However, many of us do not attach importance to their content and design. And by rushing through them carelessly, we waste a useful opportunity to promote our business and ourselves. Emphasizing the importance of the content and the style of e-mails, Sunayana Manoj stated, ?One has to keep in mind that once the ?send? is hit, whatever has been written will continue to be there carved in the tablet of stone. One should, therefore, not only familiarize himself/herself with the etiquette involved in writing e-mails [netiquette], but also make a deliberate attempt to keep the content of e-mails concise and clear by keeping it short and simple, largely because the screen is a particularly unfriendly reading medium for most people?s eyes.?
An all-in-one book
The book covers in detail all the documents that are required to be written in the context of a work place, including Memos, Progress Reports, Invitation Letters, Apology Letters, Recommendation Letters, Thank You Notes, Purchase Orders, Complaint Letters, Instruction and User Manuals, Technical Proposals, etc.
Focusing on the utility of the book, Sunayana Manoj affirmed, ?User friendly, it is customized for Middle Eastern needs along with clear cut explanations. Highly recommended for every desk and every office, the book is a treasure house of good examples??
Learning the writing skills: A universal need
Hijazi is of the firm view that people with English as their mother tongue do not have any inherent advantage over their non-English speaking counterparts. He feels that writing good English is an art, which should be learnt by all through consistent and conscious efforts; not only by people with different regional languages as their mother tongue but also by native speakers. ?The people of UAE have been conscious of this universal need and are keenly interested in further diversifying and enriching their competencies in this domain. ?A Guide to Technical Writing Skills? would be of great help to them in achieving this cherished goal,? he added.
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