ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the benefits and challenges of writing for translation and, ultimately, for an international audience. It reviews technologies accompanying the deployment of controlled authoring and the benefits and challenges of controlled language (CL) for technical communication practices. The chapter provides an overview of writing for machine translation as well as future developments in the overall area of translation and technical communication. A general goal of CL is that information be easily translatable, which prompts questions about underlying objectives. Implementation of CL is Caterpillar Fundamental English, regarded as the predecessor of CLs designed to improve readability and/or translatability. AECMA Simplified English provides another example of a successful implementation of controlled language. The impetus to develop CLs has come largely from the English-speaking world, but there have been similar developments in other languages, such as French by Groupe Bull. Organizations develop CL rules to meet their specific needs, prioritizing comprehensibility as necessary or translatability.
