Journal for Translation Studies in Africa

A Stock-taking of the Interpretation Evaluation Approach at the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI)

Laurent Roger Azambou Ndgongmo — 2024-10-11

This article aims to take stock of the evaluation approach used at the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) of the University of Buea in Cameroon. Testing and assessing interpreting trainees have increasingly become a topic of interest in conference interpreting research. It plays a vital role in developing competent interpreters who are able to navigate the complex demands of multilingual communication. As the field of interpreting continues to evolve, it is crucial to evaluate the assessment methods used to gauge the proficiency of trainees. This endeavour appraises the interpretation evaluation at ASTI, given that assessing trainees can be a daunting challenge, especially when a specific scoring method is not adopted and the process relies on general criteria upon which every stakeholder in interpreter education bases their evaluation of trainees’ output. Reflecting on questionnaires filled by both permanent and visiting lecturers at ASTI, this work seeks to review the assessment criteria applied for the marking of core subjects, namely simultaneous interpreting, consecutive interpreting and sight translation with the aim of shedding light on the specificities of scoring operationalisation, its possible lacunae and opportunities for the establishment of a more objective system. It first reviews the current assessment methods at ASTI. It secondly points out the strengths and weaknesses of the said methods. Finally, it identifies future directions that could help overcome the challenges and ensure greater fairness and objectivity in the assessment process.

The effect of transcreation on coherence and the marketing purpose in Arabic

Madiha Kassawat — 2024-10-11

Localization into a target language and culture has become a need for international corporations willing to expand. This comes with several translation strategies such as transcreation. However, this strategy implies transformation and creativity, which raises the question around the coherence of the transcreated messages. The paper follows the functionalist theory and studies 15 international corporate websites localized into Arabic. The slogan in particular is the main focus in the analysis as an appellative element that needs creativity to be conveyed correctly. Having selected the transcreated slogans based on pre-set criteria, this study assesses the similarities and differences between the Arabic and English slogans in terms of the overall message, and the coherence with the description of the product. It narrows down the corpus in order to focus on that specific quality issue since coherence can affect meaning negatively if it is done incorrectly, for example without taking the context into account. The results show to what extent the transcreation is coherent, pinpoint the potential accuracy gaps resulted from transcreation and how this strategy meets the advertising standards.

African languages- Failed plans and future possibilities

Ibrahima Diallo — 2024-10-11

The article contians a summary review of literature on the language question in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to understand what strategies were proposed for the promotion of African languages and what resulsts were achieved after half a century of indepedence, followed by the author's views on what went wrong and what can be done next.

BRAZILIAN TRANSLATION OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH: GIVING VOICE TO THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

Vanessa Lopes Lourenço Hanes — 2023-10-11

African-American Vernacular English has been simulated in literature through eye dialect or feigned orality at least since the time of Mark Twain and Joel Chandler Harris, lurching between realism, empathetic paternalism, and hostile caricature. More recently, Black authors and filmmakers have been foregrounding the connection between identity, speech, and code-switching, and African-American Vernacular English is becoming increasingly present in media. Combined with expanding global media penetration, this trend has created a situation that translators and subtitlers worldwide must address. Among the small body of research on the translation of dialect/orality in Brazil, specific analysis of African-American Vernacular English is lacking, which is surprising, since Brazil is a major consumer of imported American cultural products and home to the second-largest African diaspora community in the world. Because no race-based dialects exist in Brazilian Portuguese, three general translation strategies have been used to represent African-American Vernacular English: homogenizing, ruralizing, and urbanizing. Examples will be presented of each strategy, their limitations will be discussed, and translator justifications for their use will be explored. A recent apparent trend away from homogenization will also be discussed.