| A few centuries ago a few enlightened scholars and writers
were using their feathery pens and their best language skills
in order to create masterpieces for the elite of their time
- and for the elite of times yet to come. Today, however,
we have a myriad of ways to create and communicate an untold
amount and variety of information to a diversified audience
around the globe who are tuned-in to the "here and now".
But what happened to the content of this communication? And
what is the quality of the communication skills of those individuals
devising all these wonderful communication technologies?
"The Retort Courteous"
In the world of IM (instant messaging: the hottest trend
in communications) brevity and speed are of the essence.
Yet, an impressive amount of technical work goes into creating
this technology, which, among other things, enables hurried
teenagers to exchange cryptic messages condensed into just
a few letters. No need for grammar!
By contrast, those who design these systems must be able
to communicate in detailed and clear English, as well as
master programming languages, network and wireless protocols,
and other technical knowledge. The widespread use of design
and modeling tools and programming languages doesn't eliminate
the need for good skills in natural (non-programming) languages.
In fact, communication in natural language - both written
and spoken - is vital to the success of an IT project, having
the most impact during the early stages of its development.
If the purpose, scope, requirements and risks of a project
are not well communicated and well understood, the likelihood
of designing a system that will require reworking is increased.
Further down the development process, poorly communicated
or misunderstood specifications can also result in perfectly
written code that will ultimately have to be reworked in
order to meet the objectives of the original project - usually
at great pain and cost.
Despite all this, a certain degree of mastery of natural
language is not a prerequisite or a requirement for certification
in IT. Also, it doesn't seem to impact one's ability to
be hired so long as sound technical skills can be demonstrated.
It's not uncommon to see people with poor language capabilities
but very good technical skills hired on IT projects, without
any concern being voiced for their ability, or inability,
to effectively communicate.
As one IT consultant put it, "As an IT professional
I prefer to work with people that know OOA&D (object
oriented analysis and design) languages like UML rather
than writing 3 pages of good English to define an interface."
"The Reproof Valiant"
The camp of those who are sensitive to the importance of
good natural language skills in IT has no shortage of proponents
either. With more people educated abroad coming to work
in North America, some go as far as to request making the
satisfactory passing of a standard language examination
mandatory for professional status in IT.
The English language is the de facto natural language spoken
or used in IT all over the world. Most technical terms make
their way into the jargon of non-English speaking IT professionals.
Yet low productivity, reworks and a lack of team cohesion
can arise due to broken communication. This does not seem
to alarm IT managers though, and it is usually the technical
staff that feels the impact of any miscommunication of project
parameters. Also, the impact this can have on the bottom
line of a project is not always directly measurable and
the extra costs often get rolled into the usual contingencies
of the project.
On the other hand, in a tight market, undeveloped natural
language skills can easily become a determining factor in
an individual's employability. As well, offshore outsourcing
is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for IT
entrepreneurs and it is worth noting the preference given
to English speaking locations. Under these circumstances,
local technical talent that doesn't develop their natural
language skills as well as their technical skills may find
it more difficult to advance in the IT arena.
"The Quip Modest"
Are natural and artificial languages competing with each
other? Are speed and brevity a curse or a blessing? A fad
or a need? The world has certainly become much more complicated
and richer in choices since Shakespeare put his pen down.
Still, we need to be able to engage in communication at
both ends of the spectrum. Hopefully, our desire and ability
to quickly send a message over the cell phone or to look
up a stock price won't compromise our capacity to ask ourselves:
"To be or not to be?"
Tatiana Andronache is IT technical staff
for a large information technology company in Toronto, Canada.
She can be reached at tatiana.andronache@sympatico.ca
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