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Subject:Rehearsing E-mail From:John Oriel <oriel -at- NTSC-RD -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL> Date:Fri, 7 May 1993 08:22:00 EST
In TECHWR-L Digest - 5 May 1993 to 6 May 1993, Fred M Jacobson writes:
> Written language requires more care just because we don't have that
> immediate feedback.
I agree, but would like to add one more fact to Fred's explanation of
why written language requires more care than spoken language.
Also present in human speech, but missing in written language, is in-
tonation. Many confusing sentences I've found in technical documents
could be clearly understood when read aloud with vocal emphasis on
certain words or phrases. Writers who depend upon readers to recreate
their intended intonation are unconsciously assuming that those readers
already posess the information that the text is intended to convey.
They further assume that the readers are people of goodwill, earnestly
searching for the meaning that the writer intended to convey, and not
for something different.
John Oriel oriel -at- ntsc-rd -dot- navy -dot- mil (407) 380-4808
