Translating and Interpreting Cultures and Languages (TICL) Cluster

Facilitators

  • Anna Gadd, University of Western Australia
  • Paul Gibbard, University of Western Australia
  • Hélène Jaccomard, University of Western Australia
  • Marie-Laure Vuaille-Barcan, University of Newcastle
  • Rick Qi, Monash University
  • Lola Sundin, Monash University

About

 

Translation is now increasingly accepted as a useful means for developing language skills and intercultural awareness. This renewal of interest in translation in language teaching (TILT) has coincided with the consolidation of translation studies as a field of scholarly enquiry, providing a sound theoretical basis and generating valuable empirical studies. In light of these developments, this cluster (TICL) aims to provide a forum for the exchange of views about translation – and interpreting – and their use both in the foreign language classroom and in the training of language and culture professionals. Potential areas for discussion include: the place of translating and interpreting (TI) in the curriculum; assessing TI; machine translation (friend or foe?); TI and the intercultural; the sociology of TI; postcolonial TI; gender and feminist TI; multilingual TI; re-translation; Computer-Aided Translation (CAT); corpus-based translation studies.

Announcements

TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING RESEARCHERS DATABASE

This database is intended to centralize names and contacts of researchers in Australia, both established and emerging, in Translation and Interpreting Studies (TI), constituting a pool for potential thesis supervisors and examiners, journal article reviewers, and more broadly research collaborations. It also draws a picture of TI research trends in Australia, uniting the current and next generations of TI researchers. The database is accessible at this link.

 

INAUGURAL MEETING: Teaching Translating and Interpreting in Virtual Environments

A 90 minute session to be held during the online colloquium of LCNAU, 24-26 November 2021

Exact Date and Time of Cluster meeting: tba

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, we have witnessed the rapid rise of online learning and the global proliferation of hybrid research seminars and conferences. Teaching and working in virtual environments have presented both academics and professionals within the Translation and Interpreting field with new challenges and opportunities.   

  1. Lola Sundin & Rick Qi

Flexible learning mode and diverse student needs during lockdown

Abstract:

The T&I program at Monash features a diverse student base, with domestic and international students in a range of Asian and European languages. The wide range of the students’ cultural backgrounds, language proficiency and expected learning styles presents instructors with challenges that are better met by adopting a mode of flexible learning, a process that started before the Covid-19 outbreak. The lockdown in 2020 not only expedited the adoption and reinforcement of flexible learning, now it also brings new challenges allowing us to explore new possibilities. In this presentation, we will discuss how we deliver our T&I courses in a hybrid mode for our international students, using case studies based on 1) our overseas campus in Suzhou, China, and 2) our Double Masters students from the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Japan. Useful tips, lessons learned, student feedback, and staff reflection will be shared for discussion.

  1. Juanjuan Ba (Carol)

Motivation, Knowledge, Strategy and Adaptation: How Intercultural Competence helps in Online Translation

Abstract: 

The broader use of the internet and digital technologies has led to more professional activities being shifted to virtual platforms, which has created more opportunities for online translation. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this transformation.

Does online translators’ Intercultural Competence (IC) have a role to play in getting messages across appropriately and effectively? While the evaluation of Intercultural Competence remains a highly debated topic, developmental approaches and instruments have emerged that could help translators evaluate and improve their intercultural competence when translating.

This paper will use Cultural Intelligence (CQ) as the operational framework and self-inventory instrument based on specific dimensions of Intercultural Competence. The data collected through the CQ Scale scores of 29 NAATI Certified translators with 20 language pairs will help understand these translators’ self-perceptions of their cultural intelligence regarding motivation, knowledge, strategies, and adaptation. The paper will also use information provided by 30 TED Translators (Simplified Chinese language stream) who participated in an online survey focusing on the role of Intercultural Competence in their practice.

The results will help further explore the value of developmental approaches to intercultural competence in fostering better communication outcomes in translators’ practice.

  1. Adam Zulawnik

Publication focused undergraduate translation projects during Covid: Interviews with North Korean defectors: from Kim Shin-jo to Thae Yong-ho

Abstract: 

Semester 2 2020 saw the commencement of ATS3321 Korean Research Project, a third-year Korean Studies unit at Monash University designed to foster undergraduate research. The unit allows for Korean Studies researchers to engage with advanced Korean Studies students in a research project focusing on various subfields within Korean Studies. The inaugural run, coordinated by Dr Adam Zulawnik, focused on the critically annotated English edition of Talbuk Yeongung samsibsamin teukbyeol inteobyu (Interviews with North Korean defectors: from Kim Shin-jo to Thae Yong-ho), and followed Dr Zulawnik’s proposed methodology for the translation of politically and historically controversial texts (monograph forthcoming with Routledge in 2022).  Interviews with North Korean Defectors: from Kim Shin-jo to Thae Yong-ho (Routledge, 2021), the product of the unit, is a prime example of the potential for undergraduate translation and a nexus of innovation, teaching, and research. This presentation provides a brief introduction to the unit design and pedagogy as well as the resulting publication. 

  1. Rick Qi & Lola Sundin

PhD Panel Discussion: Tackling the T&I PhD experience online in the time of COVID-19

Abstract: 

The COVID-19 pandemic presented PhD candidates in the T&I discipline with unprecedented difficulties, challenges, and opportunities. Through their experiences over the past year and a half, they have without a doubt gained valuable insight into the workings of undertaking HDR while in lockdown. We propose to hold a panel discussion with T&I PhD candidates from different universities, and invite them to respond to the following topics, especially in relation to undertaking HDR in T&I studies: 

  • Peer support: how/if they were able to gain support, both academically and personally, during an already stressful time, to persevere with their studies.
  • Fieldwork: how the online transition enabled/disabled their capacity to conduct fieldwork for their research.
  • Pros/cons of Zoom supervision: general reflection on their experiences which can assist supervisors to provide the best support possible.