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CDI 5

Science Technology and Society (Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University)

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CDI 5: TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1 (Technical Report Writing and Presentation)

B.S. CRIMINOLOGY 11- A
CDI 5
MODULE 1
PRELIMS
TOPICS:
⮚ Presentation of the syllabus and course requirements.
A. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING
1.The Significance of Technical Writing
2. Definition of Technical Writing
3. Basic Principles of Good Technical Writing
4. Purposes and Subject of Technical Writing
5. Qualities of a Good Technical Report
6. The Technical Communicator
7. Characteristics of a Good Technical Communicator
8. Technical documentation
1. INTRODUCTION:
⮚ Technical Report Writing aims to geared towards enhancing the learners skills in studying and
distinguishing the types and purposes of technical reports in criminology, and the use of
appropriate terms and phraseologies to meet the needs of the learners. The application of
principles of appropriate writing as brevity, clarity, completeness, accuracy of facts, and its
presentation according to the prescribed format and style are taken. The learners are not going
to develop their language competencies, but also to expose them to real life situations requiring
application of their skills in inquiry, analysis and investigation, specifically in the field of
Criminology and Criminal Justice Education.
11. INSTRUCTION:
⮚ Read, understand and analyse the given topics/lessons in the module and make an advanced
reading. Whenever an activity or quiz will be given, you are required to answer and submit at the
given due date and time.

⮚ THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TECHNICAL WRITING

Technical writing is a skill that must be acquired not only by every criminology student,
but also by those who are already practicing their profession in the criminal justice
system. Every practitioner, either in different law enforcement agencies, or learners in
the academe are confronted with variety of writing activities. Specifically, law enforcers
are required to write beat patrol reports, fill up routing slips, write traffic accident
reports, compose blotter entries, and submit various kinds of police reports. In the
academe are expected to hand in researches, proposals, feasibility studies, technical
reports, and many other written outputs.
These writing demands, the need of developing technical writing skill is highly
expected. The more that a person is inclined to learn and develop his writing skill, the
higher is the positive result of a good technical output.

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⮚ DEFINITION of TECHNICAL WRITING

The word “Technical” comes from the Greek word “teache” means “skill”. Technical writing
is a form of technical skills and used in fields like the military, police, computer industry, robotics,
finance, consumer electronics, biotechnology, and many other fields.
Technical writing according to Vicente, et,al (1997) is also termed as report writing, which
is the giving of an account or description of an aspect of a particular art, science, trade, or
profession learned by experience, study, observation, or investigation. Technical writing could
also be specifically related in the field of criminology as the said field involves writing of police
reports and other technical output, which are results of careful investigation. Technical writing is
a process that involves three elements, namely: the subject matter, the study or the
investigation, and the organization and presentation of the information gathered. These three
elements could be the best exemplified when an investigator writes an investigation report, and
makes a careful investigation, and studies through observation, analysis, experimentation, and
instrumentation. These are done in order to support and present factual information regarding
assigned cases. The investigator moves into organizing and presenting all gathered facts in
adherence to the standards required in the uniform reporting of the police system.
Alcantara and Espina (2003) defined technical writing as a communication in any field
where the primary aim of which is to convey a particular piece of information, for a particular

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purpose, to a particular group of readers. The technical writer is expected to be objective, clear
and accurate, concise and unemotional in the representation of facts.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING

Good technical writing is not an instant process, it does not happen overnight,
because it requires effort and training on the part of the writer in order to produce a good
output. This is the main reason why Mills and Walter (1988) pointed out important principles to
be considered in technical writing. These principles are enumerated as follows:
1. The writer of a report must have a specific reader or group of readers in mind.
2. He must decide what the specific purpose of his report is and make sure that every part of
his report contributes to that purpose.
3. He must use specific, single, concrete word and familiar language that will not be
misinterpreted.
4. He must make his report very presentable in format. The layout must conform with the
standard forms of writing.

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THE TWO IMPORTANT FACTORS OF TECHNICAL WRITING

Writing is a form of communication, it becomes more effective if the technical writer must
consider two important factors- the purpose and the subject matter.

Subject matter- refers to the objective information that the writer wants to convey;
Purpose – refers to the goals that the writer wants to achieve for himself and his readers after
presenting his written output.

PURPOSE
1. These are the concepts and information that point to the completion of a specific task and
decision on the part of the writer and the reader.
2. This is the analysis on the events and its implications in relation to the written text.
3. It convinces, persuades and influences the readers.
SUBJECT
1. This is the objective information of a written material.
2. This tells readers what to do, and how to do a particular reading task.
3. This gives information about recorded data I criminology, military, business, education, and the
like.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD TECHNICAL REPORT

Not only does a technical writer is required to have good writing skills, but also his technical
reports must have good qualities that are appropriate and relevant. Brevity, clarity, completeness, and
accuracy are the essential qualities in order to achieve this.
1. BREVITY – this is the quality of writing which is characterized by the shortness or briefness of the
writing material; this is achieved through presentation of ideas in a short but complete manner.
Not all readers have the luxury of time to read and reread a particular text, materials that are
briefly completely written may help readers save time.

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2. CLARITY – this is a condition of writing where ideas are simplified by making it easier for the
readers to understand. This is achieved by providing further examples, illustrations, or diagram in
order to clarify the text. A conscientious writer considers that not all readers are well-versed
with specific terminologies, it is his responsibility to convey his ideas as clearly as possible.
3. COMPLETENESS – this is a quality of writing where the ideas in the paragraph are entirely and
absolutely free from inconsistencies and errors in any form. A good writer is aware that one of
his objectives is to present information that is entirely complete.
4. ACCURACY – this refers to the exactness and correctness of writing, as this is a result from
precision, conformity to grammar, and adherence to writing standards. There are writers who
know how to present their ideas, but they are inaccurate in presenting facts. An effective writer
is someone who is not only good at presenting his ideas but also accurate in conveying all the
complete facts. A well-writer report is a product of an accurate writer.

THE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

For communication to be effective, it requires quality content, language, and format. Most
important aspect of communication is to disseminate information, and this is where the written or
the oral form of communication comes in. Technical communication is the process of conveying
technical information through writing, speech and other medium to an intended audience.
Specifically, in law enforcement and its related agencies, law enforcers communicate with each other
using coded messages, they communicate in jargons that they can decipher. They write and submit
reports using technical terms that are understood within the realm of a specific field of
specialization. The main function of technical communication is to convey specific messages to
specific readers.

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THE TECHNICAL COMMUNICATOR

A technical communicator is a person whose job involves technical communication.
Technical communicators are those who design reading materials, edit proposals, write manuals, create
web pages, write lab reports, write newsletters, and submit various kinds of professional documents.
They are responsible for writing texts that are accurate, readable, acceptable, and helpful to its intended
audience. Every profession has its own kind of specialized form of writing. for example , police officers
write specialized reports like Beat Patrol Reports, Traffic accident Reports, Blotter Entries, Investigative
Reports, and many other forms of reports that the organization requires.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TECHNICAL COMMUNICATOR

A good technical communicator is a person who has developed his good writing skills, has
mastered all the conventions of the written language, and has good characteristics.
1. Knows his audience well – a technical writer who knows his/her audience well, and is in the
position to suggest and implement solutions to problems that nobody else identifies.
2. Serves as a “go-between” – whenever one group of people has specialized knowledge that other
groups does not share, the technical writer bridges the gap.
3. A generator of truth – a technical writer chooses what will be written, with the full knowledge
that later readers will depend on the accuracy of what has been written.
4. A good teacher – he excels at explaining difficult concepts for readers who will have no time to
read twice.
5. Has an excellent eye for details – he knows punctuations, syntax, and style, and can explain the
rules governing them.
6. Knows how to coordinate – though he works on his own much of the time, he also knows how to
coordinate with the collaborative work of graphic artists, programmers, printers, and various
subject matter experts.
7. Has enough expertise – he is an expert in understanding the audience’s background and needs.
8. Knows how to gather information from existing documents and from subject matter experts.
9. He is respected and credible- he is a person with credibility, and he is also a valuable and reliable
source of information.
10. Has a strong language skill – he understand the highly evolved conventions of modern technical
communication.

TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION
Technical communicators often work hand in hand to create written products or
deliverables. These deliverables are technical documents that contain technical information.
Examples of these are the police reports, police correspondence and issuances, legal documents,
corporate disclaimers, policies and procedures, business proposals, and procedure manuals. A
technical documentation is useful if the readers can understand and act on them without having to
decode wordy and ambiguous words. Technical documentation services comprise of all activities,
means. And system that provide information to its specialized fields.

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