Seeing Words Differently

One of the challenges of living in a post-industrial economy is that new industries and new configurations of ideas simultaneously merge with, and emerge from, existing systems of regulations and standards. While most new yearly vehicle models use standard sized metric or AES nuts and bolts, shifting away from fossil fuel toward electric vehicles also means moving away from a choice between regular, mid-grade, or premium gasoline, toward the charging speed of an electrical outlet. The impact of these shifts in perspective range from jarring to refreshing. For designers, as these shifts occur, it is important not only to consider what reactions users have, but to consider the choice of medium that leads to varying reactions (e.g. smelling a cookie vs. seeing or tasting one vs. seeing one on a sign). One way to draw our attention to medium is through traveling. To illustrate this concept, I will discuss several images that focus on linguistic differences and confusions between everyday American English and U.K. English as they relate to daily life as a graduate student in the U.S. and in the U.K.

The images I have chosen below, and the linguistic differences they highlight, stem from my interactions with Pakistani and Indian friends who have traveled to America. In particular, my closeness with one Pakistani individual has drawn my attention to small, everyday words that many might overlook or not pause to consider. Furthermore, this closeness has helped me understand some of the complex colonial baggage that often comes with intercultural (technical) communication, which may be easy to overlook from an American, white, male perspective. Though I do not claim to be an authority on colonialism by any means, these several images stood out to me because of their perceived concreteness as written, rather than spoken, words. Additionally, as a Michigander with a mid-western accent, I've noticed myself preferring to read, view, and write more than listening and speaking. One reason for my preference is a mutual difficulty in understanding accents between locals and myself. Another is the camera frequently hanging from my neck here in Scotland, pulling my attention more to visuals than to sounds, smells, etc. And perhaps I understand my encounters with words for everyday objects and tasks in the U.S. as oral because the visual has become too familiar, seemingly invisible. Keeping this consciousness in mind, one of the first linguistic differences I encountered in Scotland, after hearing many striking Scottish accents, was at the grocery store.

Before I even entered Morrison's, (the U.K. equivalent of Kroger, Glen's, etc.) I noticed the corral of grocery transportation devices. Aside from requiring a rental fee, the sign above the human-powered basket wagons read "trolleys" (unfortunately I didn't have my camera at the time to take a picture). I had known before leaving the U.S. that "carts" are called "trolleys," from being asked, "Can I put my cheese in your trolley?" Because Britain was a former colonizer of much of South Asia, my Pakistani and Indian friends also referred to carts as trolleys, and were very aware that this construction was British. Similarly, after visiting Verdant Works (a former jute mill) in Dundee, it was clear that Scotland had not escaped from the colonization process, but it was also clear that significant cultural exchange had happened.

Indian restaurants, stores, and shops are found all over Dundee. The one above is an interesting mix, however. Lahore is the capital of the Punjab province in Pakistan, a country that gained independence from India only within the last century. Consequently, it's odd to find an Indian restaurant claiming to be "Lahori," when it would seem logical to call it a Pakistani restaurant. And a look at their menu reveals an even more complicated situation. Where are the owners from? What histories does this restaurant have? I think the only way to research this is to go there, eat, and ask questions.

At another research site on the University of Abertay's campus, I noticed another tangible connection with my friends back home: the library. The sign above has nothing to do with a support group for avid readers. Rather, it is the U.K. equivalent of a book "checkout." Interestingly, there seems to be some leeway when it comes to renting a book from the library, as I noticed on a tour of Ninewells Hospital. During our tour, the guide referred to "checking out" books, though this may also have been because we were an American audience. This highlights one affordance of oral communication as well: signs are (generally) concrete, spoken words are (generally) flexible. But, both leave room for confusion, as the last image below illustrates.

When someone says, "I need to use the shank," most Americans would curl their faces in confusion. I did, the first few times I heard this phrase. "You need to what? Are we in prison? You're going to shank me?" Nope. Toilet.

While there are many more examples of colonially loaded terms appearing as linguistic differences, hopefully the images above have given you a small taste of the cultural complexity of even everyday sights in Scotland. In short, what I've taken from this experience so far is that not only should good technical communicators collaborate with users in participatory design processes. And not only should good technical communicators be attentive to cultural values and differences. But that good technical communicators should also interact with users from diverse subject positions (whether that position is based on gender, sexuality, race, age, ability, class, education, geographic location, etc.) in order to move beyond creating something that works, toward creating something that works on behalf of many users. Furthermore, communicating through multiple media may help draw attention to different aspects of a particular situation as well. While I first encountered linguistic differences orally, they were made more concrete by existing as tangible signs. Perhaps this speaks as well to the permanency we grant to written text and printed documents or painted signs that we don't give to spoken words, which is why I've written this post, but know that it becomes more valuable through conversation.