Appreciating the ties that bind technical communication to culture: a dynamic model to help us understand differences in discourse structure

In order to support an explicit understanding of cultural patterns as both dynamic and structured, we examine Hofstede´s model for stabilization of cultural patterns and use this model to explore some cultural consequences for patterns of logic and signs that influence the effectiveness of technical communication across cultures. In order to demonstrate the model, we apply it to examples from different cultures, which show different patterns of logic, terminology, and conventions. In light of these examples, we propose that cross-cultural technical communication studies can be situated in a dynamic context as a foundation for analysis.