Search

Copyright of Language & Intercultural Communication is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper falls within a conjunction of translation studies, crisis communication, and social media communication. It sheds light on the critical role of translation in crisis management, with a focus on how the aforementioned elements of scrutiny converge and collaborate in the milieu of the outraging global pandemic. Likewise, the paper seeks to reveal the way translating information and information exchange enhances public trust. Therefore, it emphasizes how discourse can heavily contribute to building trust during a global health emergency and how translation can offer power to the source language/culture by relocating its emanating knowledge to the rest of the world. Likewise, the paper seeks to discuss the way translating information and information exchange enhances public trust. The present paper is a qualitative study that recovers data from selected translated discourses imparted by organizations as well as a questionnaire inquiring about the communicative content disseminated through social media networks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article scrutinizes the data in terms of content, based on communication content analysis to shed light on how translation could be a powerful tool of relocating meaning production in establishing trust and the extent to which social media is effective as a crisis management mechanism. The further aim of this study is to demonstrate how internet communities and networking technologies can influence deep-rooted forms of communication adopted by governments and the way social media dynamics enhance or undermine the information-translation process at times of crisis. The preliminary data, contrary to what has been assumed, shows that nonexpert reactions, attitudes, feelings, experiences, and trends are transmitted via social media and algorithmically analyzed, influencing the information cycle in real time. The networked-translation paradigm focuses less on a one-to-many communication style that uses language, context, and reasoning to persuade receivers and more on a many-to-many communication style that uses audiovisual means to mobilize crowds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a snapshot of citizen translators as cultural mediators in public services settings by investigating their role in multicultural communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they attempted to resolve potential conflicts in a crisis situation. The study, which focuses on university communities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China, is one of the rare cases examining community translation and interpreting in a non-immigrant country where non-Chinese speakers are in a linguistically weaker position. The role of citizen translators in cultural mediation is outlined by recontextualizing mediation through interview-based qualitative research. During times of crisis, citizen translators arguably go beyond linguistic mediation and resolve conflicts by assuming extra duties and social responsibilities to ensure equal access to public services in multicultural communities, thus contributing to the emotional stability of the community and the smooth delivery of information on anti-epidemic measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely, accurate and clear communication is essential in crisis response. Given the multilingual and multicultural nature of many parts of today’s populated world, it should be evident that translation is key to enabling crisis communication. Although receiving little attention previously, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the important role of translation in responding to crises. Nevertheless, how prepared are jurisdictions for crisis translation? One way of measuring this is to use a maturity model assessment. In this article, we apply the Organisational Maturity for Disaster Preparedness (OMDP) model Mohamed & Qu, (2018) to the Republic of Ireland, assessing the level of response through documentary and interview-based evidence. All considered, we place the response between June and November 2020 at Level 2 on the OMDP. Recommendations for moving up in the maturity model are provided and could be applied to many more jurisdictions.

Australia claims to be "the most successful immigration nation" in the world. With language services being a daily necessity, the country has a well-established translator accreditation system. To prepare for crises, Australia has also published multiple official documents with clearly laid-out management plans. All these factors seem to have contributed to Australia's successful fight against the first two COVID-19 waves in 2020 and 2021. However, the country's crisis communication has actually experienced constant failures to reach its culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Taking the Australian state of Victoria as a case study, this article examines the inadequacy of COVID-19 related translation services and analyses its impact on CALD communities. Based on analysis through the lens of the 4-A principle (namely, availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability), the article argues that crisis translation is a specialised area, and any effective crisis communication in multicultural contexts needs to consider language experts as an essential part of the crisis response team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language Problems & Language Planning is the property of John Benjamins Publishing Co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Communicating the potential impact of local hazards in multilingual contexts reduces risks. Drawing the readers' attention to the terminology shaping the global disaster risk reduction agenda and underpinning many activities in the international humanitarian sector, the article introduces multiple facets of multilingual risk communication about hazards. Subdivided into three sections, the article presents factors that influence current studies and may advance future research into translating information concerning hazards and the risks they pose, as part of disaster reduction practices. The first section considers relationships between key terms influencing disaster risk reduction practices, as these terms create terminological barriers to enabling a broader understanding of local hazards among at-risk multilingual communities. The second section reflects on risk communication practices around education on hazards in relation to linguistic preparedness. The third section illustrates how key grey literature deems multilingual risk communication important while it struggles to reconcile the need to exploit existing technologies to enhance resources for multilingual communication, with the absolute need for trust in the information. The conclusions map the field and the Special Issue, supported by a References list intended to draw the readers' attention to key perspectives that may stimulate and encourage future research focused on translating hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines policies adopted by the government of Qatar for the communication of essential information during crises, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, to residents who do not speak Arabic – the official language of Qatar. A set of relevant official documents are examined for their discussion and utilisation of 'translation' and related activities and policies, including Qatar's policies on the use of Arabic as an official language and its efforts to improve multilingual communication in published laws, regulations, and policies. Additionally, the utilisation of social media by Qatari authorities to disseminate essential COVID-19 information to non-Arabic-speaking residents is assessed: information from Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook posted by six official bodies is used to assess public engagement and interaction (shares, likes, retweets, replies, and comments) with COVID-19-related posts. The study finds that translation and other methods related to multilingual communication are not unambiguously defined in Qatar's crisis management policies. The Qatari government needs to formulate more effective methods for using translation on social media as an emergency management tool to communicate with non-Arabic speaking residents during the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is an unprecedented global health and socio-economic crisis, with cascading effects. In a bid to combat the pandemic, Jordan has imposed extreme measures, including border shutdowns, declaring a state of emergency, and a lockdown. These measures have had an adverse impact upon businesses and professions, including translation. Translators play a significant role in disseminating health information in times of crisis. This paper reports the results of a large-scale survey of translators’ perspectives in the Jordanian context on the pandemic and its effects on their role and profession during the time of COVID-19 restrictions. A quantitative five-scale Likert questionnaire was completed by 106 in-house and freelance professional translators. The results showed that COVID-19 has had adverse effects on translators in the Jordanian context. Translators faced several challenges during the pandemic, including career change or loss, lower income, increased workload and time pressure, high-level job demands, unclear job prospects, and anxiety about their future. The results also highlighted that language service providers (LSPs) as well as translators need to play a more active role during times of crisis. The findings of this study suggest that further research is necessary to investigate the effect of COVID-19 and similar pandemics on translators’ experiences of occupational stress and job satisfaction in Jordan.

This paper examines how digital users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia responded to the COVID-19 pandemic via engaging with crisis translation by subtitling COVID-19-related videos. It explores two aspects: (1) how did social media during the pandemic encourage subtitled videos? and (2) how were these clips distributed and received by social media users? It is argued that during the pandemic, social media facilitated the production and circulation of user-generated content by both individuals and institutions to subtitle global news and other genres. To understand the socio-digital dynamics of (fan)subtitling, this article analyses the subtitled clips posted on Twitter by the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) and 17 fansubbers during 2020. Subtitling is considered crucial in spreading accurate information to KSA people in time for them to take precautions against the pandemic in 2020. Another relevant factor is the developed technological infrastructure in KSA and the increased digital practice of Saudi Arabians using social media. Following the analysis of 175 clips from the 17 chosen fansubbers and 255 clips from the MoH, it was discovered that social media increased the visibility of COVID-19 clips with subtitles. There was an apparent competition among the fansubbers to accumulate social capital (social media capital), which gave rise to social media fansubbing, a form of nonprofessional subtitling produced by social media users. The subtitled clips were accompanied by various digital parataxis that supports the analysis and examination of social media fansubbing and crisis transition on Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Biber’s MD model, this paper investigates the register variation in crisis translation and discovers that learned exposition is the text type that comes closest to crisis translation. Crisis translation has “explicit” and “informational” features, according to statistics. When compared to the non-translational “learned and scientific” corpus, the translated corpus includes feature of “nominalization.” Furthermore, the researchers discovered that in Biber’s MD model, the variables AWL and PHC had a strong liner connection with NOMZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Language & Law / Revista de Llengua i Dret is the property of Revista de Llengua i Dret and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

COVID-19 is an unprecedented global health and socio-economic crisis, with cascading effects. In a bid to combat the pandemic, Jordan has imposed extreme measures, including border shutdowns, declaring a state of emergency, and a lockdown. These measures have had an adverse impact upon businesses and professions, including translation1. Translators play a significant role in disseminating health information in times of crisis. This paper reports the results of a large-scale survey of translators' perspectives in the Jordanian context on the pandemic and its effects on their role and profession during the time of COVID-19 restrictions. A quantitative five-scale Likert questionnaire was completed by 106 in-house and freelance professional translators. The results showed that COVID-19 has had adverse effects on translators in the Jordanian context. Translators faced several challenges during the pandemic, including career change or loss, lower income, increased workload and time pressure, high-level job demands, unclear job prospects, and anxiety about their future. The results also highlighted that language service providers (LSPs) as well as translators need to play a more active role during times of crisis. The findings of this study suggest that further research is necessary to investigate the effect of COVID-19 and similar pandemics on translators' experiences of occupational stress and job satisfaction in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main challenges facing local authorities in the regions affected by the current refugee and migrant crisis is to properly deal with the healthcare dimension, both in terms of providing adequate healthcare to migrants and regarding public healthcare of the host country. Because the crisis involves contact between people from distant regions, speaking a wide number of different languages that may be considered rare or emerging languages in the Balkans (such as Farsi and Dari or individual dialects of Arabic and Kurdish), the role of medical interpreters is often filled by ad-hoc interpreters who are native speakers of those languages, rather than trained medical interpreters. The aim of this paper is to examine the way medical interpreting services have been provided to refugees and asylum seekers in the Republic of Croatia between the peak period of the crisis in 2015 and 2019, paying special attention to the implications of this issue for the wider public healthcare concerns. The methodology used comprises an ethnographic case study supported by the qualitative analysis of interviews with the mediators involved in medical relief efforts.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical dimensions of crisis translation through the lenses of Paul Ricoeur's philosophical scholarship. In particular, his work on both translation and ethics will be examined in order to draw practical applications for those involved in humanitarian action. Design/methodology/approach: The authors identified relevant themes in the work of renowned philosopher Paul Ricoeur and used philosophical analysis to apply them to ethical issues in crisis translation. Findings: Paul Ricoeur was one of the leading philosophers in the twentieth century, writing on a wide variety of topics. From these, his work on translation and on ethics provided suitable ways to examine ethical issues in crisis translation. In particular, his concept of "linguistic hospitality" provides an important lens through which translation ethics can be examined. In addition, Ricoeur's approach to ethics emphasised relational and justice dimensions which are crucial to examine in humanitarian settings. Practical implications: While the findings are conceptual, they have many practical implications for how translation is approached in humanitarian crises. The focus on justice in Ricoeur's approach has implications for policy and practice and serves to ensure that translation is available for all affected communities and that all groups are included in discussions around humanitarian responses. Social implications: Ricoeur's work provides important insights into both translation and ethics that have significant social implications. His ideas highlight the personal and emotional aspects of translation and ethics, and point to their relational character. His openness to others provides an important basis for building trust and promoting dignity even in difficult humanitarian settings. Originality/value: Ricoeur's ethics points to the importance of persons and their relationships, reminding responders that translation is not just a mechanical exercise. This approach fosters an interest in and openness to others and their languages, which can promote respect towards those being helped in humanitarian crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crisis situations, including disasters, require urgent decisions, often without sufficient resources, including decisions about translating and interpreting. We argue that using citizen translators (i.e., translators without professional translator training) in such contexts can be ethically justified when their preparation incorporates virtue ethics. Translation potentially improves access to crucial safety information, and delivering such information is critical. We acknowledge several ethical challenges with citizen translation based on our experience in humanitarian contexts, relevant literature, and discussions with stakeholders engaged with our research consortium. Recourse to citizen translators has limitations, but we advance mitigation measures through training to address the ethical challenges of providing translation services to linguistically diverse groups in crisis. We propose virtue ethics as a framework for citizen translators to develop ethical decision-making skills and virtues. We suggest virtue ethics training to prepare citizen translators for ethical challenges in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main challenges facing local authorities in the regions affected by the current refugee and migrant crisis is to properly deal with the healthcare dimension, both in terms of providing adequate healthcare to migrants and regarding public healthcare of the host country. Because the crisis involves contact between people from distant regions, speaking a wide number of different languages that may be considered rare or emerging languages in the Balkans (such as Farsi and Dari or individual dialects of Arabic and Kurdish), the role of medical interpreters is often filled by ad-hoc interpreters who are native speakers of those languages, rather than trained medical interpreters. The aim of this paper is to examine the way medical interpreting services have been provided to refugees and asylum seekers in the Republic of Croatia between the peak period of the crisis in 2015 and 2019, paying special attention to the implications of this issue for the wider public healthcare concerns. The methodology used comprises an ethnographic case study supported by the qualitative analysis of interviews with the mediators involved in medical relief efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural crisis communication in an interconnected and globalized world emphasizes the need for translation to be put in place as foreign nationals with cultural and linguistic barriers might rely on it to prepare for a possible crisis or make informed decisions when already affected by a crisis. However, translation is an underdeveloped tool in crisis management, particularly in China. Considering it a special branch of public service translation, the author investigates crisis translation by using a case study of the disruptive outbreak of novel coronavirus disease in Wuhan. Based upon the author's first-hand experience as a crisis manager at the Office of Foreigner Affairs in the Municipal Government of Wuhan, this article describes how government translators with the help of external volunteer translators made language services available and accessible to affected foreign nationals in the response phase from 8 January 2020 to 7 April 2020. It analyses these translation-mediated activities from a crisis manager's perspective. Despite the preliminary nature of the findings, which still call for further validation, it is hoped that insights from this article will be of interest to those who are engaged with crisis translation services and to those who research crisis translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of machine translation (MT) in crisis settings is of increasing interest to humanitarian practitioners. We collaborated with industry and non-profit partners: (1) to develop and test the utility of an MT system trained specifically on crisis-related content in an under-resourced language combination (French-to-Swahili); and (2) to evaluate the extent to which speakers of both French and Swahili without post-editing experience could be mobilized to post-edit the output of this system effectively. Our small study carried out in Kenya found that our system performed well, provided useful output, and was positively evaluated by inexperienced post-editors. We use the study to discuss the feasibility of MT use in crisis settings for low-resource language combinations and make recommendations on data selection and domain consideration for future crisis-related MT development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every day, more people are becoming infected and dying from exposure to COVID-19. Some countries in Europe like Spain, France, the UK and Italy have suffered particularly badly from the virus. Others such as Germany appear to have coped extremely well. Both health professionals and the general public are keen to receive up-to-date information on the effects of the virus, as well as treatments that have proven to be effective. In cases where language is a barrier to access of pertinent information, machine translation (MT) may help people assimilate information published in different languages. Our MT systems trained on COVID-19 data are freely available for anyone to use to help translate information (such as promoting good practice for symptom identification, prevention, and treatment) published in German, French, Italian, Spanish into English, as well as the reverse direction.

Every day, more people are becoming infected and dying from exposure to COVID-19. Some countries in Europe like Spain, France, the UK and Italy have suffered particularly badly from the virus. Others such as Germany appear to have coped extremely well. Both health professionals and the general public are keen to receive up-to-date information on the effects of the virus, as well as treatments that have proven to be effective. In cases where language is a barrier to access of pertinent information, machine translation (MT) may help people assimilate information published in different languages. Our MT systems trained on COVID-19 data are freely available for anyone to use to help translate information (such as promoting good practice for symptom identification, prevention, and treatment) published in German, French, Italian, Spanish into English, as well as the reverse direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]