School of Literature, Language and Media (ETDs)

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Browsing School of Literature, Language and Media (ETDs) by Department "Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies"

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    The impact of Black South African English speaker’s accent on the quality of interpretation
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-08) Lebogo, Constantin Désiré; Leal, Alice; Parkins-Maliko, Natasha
    As one of the three cognitive activities of interpreting, listening comprehension is key for ensuring quality in interpretation (Kamel, 2015). Listening comprehension requires a deliberate effort of hearing and comprehending the produced utterance by a speaker (Gile, 1995), and can, therefore, be affected by several variables, including the speaker’s accent. Besides other difficulties involved in interpreting, this study focuses on challenges related to listening to and understanding an accented Black South African English (BSAE) speech. It is assumed that a heavily accented speech by a Black South African English speaker will pose a challenge to an interpreter with no or little exposure to the specific variation of BSAE which, consequently, might impact performance and quality. This study seeks to investigate if an accented BSAE, might affect the quality of interpretation, and if so, to what extent. The questions raised here are addressed by comparing the level of accuracy and completeness of interpretation provided by two groups of professional interpreters with French (first language) and English (second language) as their language combinations. Interpretations into French by 13 participants of a video recorded speech, and the transcription of the same, read with a Standard British English accent were recorded. Thereafter, participants’ outputs were evaluated. This data including a questionnaire, was analysed using the mixed methods approach to test the hypothesis. The results suggest that the strong BSAE accent influenced the rendition of the message, as participants of the experimental group did not perform as well as those of the control group. The questionnaire elicited that accent and related factors, such as phonemics and prosody, represented the greatest challenge during the interpreting process. The study finally presents the strategies proposed and used by participants to mitigate accent impact on the process of interpreting and the quality of the output.
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    The Value of Translation Theory for Translation Practice
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-07) Mitchell, Ruben Isaac; Leal, Alice
    Despite the fact that many translation practitioners acknowledge the importance of translation theory for shaping and delivering functional translations and helping translators reflect on their work, there is still a common perception that translation theory is of little or no value for the practice of translation. With the backing of a survey among professional translators, this study attempts to show trends in the development of translation theory. Many practitioners feel the theory is irrelevant to their work but believe it does not need to be so. Not enough is being done to show practitioners, both in the field and in the classroom, that the value of theory is, for example, in giving them conceptual tools with which to reflect on their work and solve translation problems. The tension between descriptive translation studies and prescriptive translation studies is examined. After decades of research, debate and writing, there is still much disagreement among scholars about meaning, equivalence, translation as a science and as a viable activity at all, and fidelity vs. freedom in translation. Risks that are real in modern theorising about translation include becoming prescriptive while advocating for descriptive translation studies, and perpetrating cultural subversion against the source language while advocating for cultural transfer to the target language. It is possible for theorists to guide and suggest while allowing the translator to have the final choice in the translation act. Theory should be based on a wider variety of examples, genres and cultures. Finally, assessment criteria both for the classroom and the workplace need to be clearer. Recommendations are supplied for remedying the perception of theory, improving classroom practice and improving conditions for translators.