Metaglossia: The Translation World

The new Ice Age Blu-ray contains a special picture-in-picture sign language track for hearing-impaired children.

Events
'Intercultural communication through English as a lingua franca: the role of intercultural awareness'.
NOV
28
2012
Wednesday 28 November
14:30 until 16:00
Language Learning Centre, Arts A.
Speaker: Dr Will Baker, University of Southampton, UK.
Part of the series: Research on ELT
'Intercultural communication through English as a lingua franca: the role of intercultural awareness'.

The use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has raised important issues concerning how we interpret culture in intercultural communication. If ELF is not associated with any particular community, least of all native speakers of English, is culture still a relevant concept in the study of ELF communication? In this presentation it will be argued that culture is still a valuable concept but that it needs to be approached in a non-essentialist manner. Culture should be viewed as a resource that is made use of in emergent, fluid and hybrid ways with users drawing on and across, individual, local, national, and global references. Intercultural awareness will be presented as a way of modelling how participants in ELF communication are able to do this. Given the increasing role of the socio-cultural dimension in ELT such changes to our understanding of culture have significant implications for teaching. These implications will be investigated through data from an exploratory course in intercultural communication for English language learners that translated insights from ELF studies and intercultural awareness into pedagogic practice.

Dr Will Baker, University of Southampton, UK.

Presenting for Twitter at Conferences
October 8, 2012, 8:00 am

By Anastasia Salter
Last week, Adeline chronicled the recent “Twittergate” and considered the best practices for tweeting at conferences. I’m a huge fan of conference backchannels, particularly since my work is very interdisciplinary and it seems there’s an interesting conference every weekend that I wish I could attend. Twitter offers some insight into what happens in those spaces. How much insight? It depends–but not just on those tweeting. The presenters can play a big role in determining how accessible their work is to those looking in.

Why encourage tweeting of your work? There’s been lots of discussion of the value of academic tweeting and open exchange of ideas, which is important philosophically and part of why I tweet a conferences. But there’s also value to you as the presenter–feedback, a chance for extended conversations, and even the potential for finding collaborators, publishers, or new venues to share and grow your ideas.

As conference presenters, we won’t be the ones tweeting our talks. And there are lots of things we can’t control, like who shows up and whether they find our work interesting enough for “live” tweeting. But if you do value feedback and new insight into your work, planning for Twitter can be an important part of encouraging discussion–and as Alex Reid noted, “any possible discussion of one’s work would have the possibility of shaping one’s future work.”

The ability to effectively communicate a complex idea is one of the many things that separate man from the lesser animals. Animals do communicate to a degree, like a dog that raises his hackles to make himself appear larger than he is to a potential foe, but complex communication is beyond their capacity.

Effective communication is something that fascinates me. It is what I try to do every week with this column. I aim to take an idea that I have in my sometimes feeble mind and communicate it logically to all who read this column. I try to communicate the thoughts that are in my mind, or at least some of them.

I've tried to communicate controversial ideas (to some) like why conventionally grown food is just as wholesome as organic food, why the philosophy of animal rights is flawed and why genetically modified foods are indeed a benefit to society and not the evil that some hysterical people paint them to be. When I communicate controversial ideas, it often makes people mad. If that is the case, one could argue that I failed since my goal is to communicate an idea, not an insult. Occasionally, some of the people whom I make mad will even communicate with me.

Some say that President Obama hasn't communicated very well with the American people about the economy. I think his communication skills are just fine; it's his economic policies that stink. It seems that I've just communicated my political leanings.

Communication in a weekly column, while important and fun, is not nearly as critical as some of my communication. I communicate with clients, mostly farmers, about problems they may have with an animal or maybe even an entire herd. Good communication can be the difference between a successful treatment and a failure. While failure doesn't happen often, it can be costly when it does.

Routinely, I have to communicate a complex disease process to a client in order to help him or her understand what's wrong with a cow or herd. In veterinary school, we had to learn scientific names for everything from anatomy to disease processes. It seems like a pain in the neck to the young veterinary student, but there's actually a very good reason for it.

Communication is such an important thing. It is how we alert people of our needs, our wants and our emotions. It's how we deliver our thoughts to someone else. It's how we get our voices heard. Everybody communicates but not everybody is good at communicating.

Communication skills are decreasing these days, I think it has to do with the rise of texting and nonface to face communication. I am taking Intercultural Communications this semester (I think I'm going to like this class) and my professor said America is lagging in interpersonal and intercultural communications. She said that people are screwing up at interviews because they are rude, ungrateful for the opportunity and don't have people skills. She also said we are at a loss because we don't have intercultural communication skills and we expect everybody who comes here to learn English, meanwhile we don't bother to learn their language or their culture. I understand the problem here: we need to have an understanding of other cultures and how to communicate with them, especially when we live and work in a globalized society.

How are your interpersonal communication skills?

I'd like to think mine are great. I am a people person. I have used interpersonal communication skills in every job I've had, both paid and unpaid jobs.

How are your intercultural communication skills?

I think mine are pretty good because I worked full time one summer at an international college and I met so many people from different countries. Just by talking to them or by people watching at work, I picked up some knowledge about different cultures. I also love meeting people from other countries. I made friends last week with a girl from China and I brought her over to meet my roommates. We learned a lot of new things about China just by asking her questions and listening.

Have you realized people who have poor interpersonal communication skills?

As a young professional, you must learn good communication skills. Here are tips on communicating in the workplace and boosting your career.

Working as an international journalist often means interviewing people with whom you don’t share a common language. Even if you spend months or years studying a language, you may be better off using a trained interpreter, who can translate not just the words but the nuances of what your source is saying.

But working with an interpreter can be challenging. You must learn to slow down, read body language and form a connection with your source in ways that transcend words. Here are some tips for getting the most out of an interpreted interview.

Before the interview

Build rapport with your interpreter. Get to know your interpreter as well as you can in the time you have. Try to find out the person’s background and perspective and reveal some of yourself. You will be partners in the interviewing process and need to have the interpreter on your side.
Discuss the purpose of the interview. Make it clear what you are looking for from this interview, whether it be colorful quotes, background information, statistics or some combination of the three.
Make sure you speak the same language. Review any technical, slang or obscure words you are likely to use. It might be useful to have a bilingual dictionary or reference text, such as a medical dictionary, with you.
Ask for direct translation. Request that the interpreter translate as literally and completely as possible and avoid paraphrasing.
Remind the interpreter to speak in the first person when interpreting. The interpreter should say, “I have worked in this factory for 12 years,” not “He has worked in this factory for 12 years,” when interpreting the source’s statement.

Le Congolais Vérone Mankou, 27 ans, vient de lancer à Brazzaville le premier téléphone intelligent conçu en Afrique, en promettant un tarif «raisonnable»: Elikia.

BRAZZAVILLE - Après avoir lancé la première tablette tactile africaine fin janvier, le Congolais Vérone Mankou, 27 ans, vient de lancer à Brazzaville le premier téléphone intelligent conçu en Afrique, en promettant un tarif «raisonnable».

Vérone Mankou a présenté Elikia (espoir, en lingala, langue nationale au Congo) jeudi en costume sombre, chemise claire, sans cravate, sa création à la main. Sur une pancarte promotionnelle, ce message: «Soyez différent, premier smartphone africain, conçu avec nos valeurs».

«C'est un téléphone intelligent que nous avons nous-mêmes conçu ici au Congo. En Afrique, il n'y a aucune entreprise qui l'a fait avant nous», a affirmé l'informaticien. Mais, a-t-il précisé, l'appareil est assemblé en Chine «où les prix sont très abordables».

Le téléphone intelligent dispose d'un écran tactile de 3,5 pouces, siglé VMK (Vumuka, réveillez-vous en kituba, deuxième langue nationale) - sa société créée en 2009 et spécialisée dans les technologies mobiles. C'est elle, avec ses 476 286$ de capital, qui a déboursé 112 804$ pour développer Elikia.

Caractéristiques techniques

Elikia dispose d'une mémoire RAM de 512 Mo, d'un processeur de 650 Mhz, d'une mémoire interne de 256 Mo - extensible jusqu'à 32 Go - et d'un appareil photo d'une capacité de 5 méga pixels. Il possède un gyroscope, une géolocalisation GPS et une connectivité sans limite par son Wi-Fi et Bluetooth.
Outre des applications bien connues (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube...), il en propose d'autres développées par VMK ainsi que des jeux.

Elikia sera commercialisé par trois grandes compagnies privées de téléphonie mobile basées au Congo. Il coûtera 85 000 Fcfa (près de 163$).

Actuellement, à Brazzaville, le prix d'un Blackberry avec toutes ses applications varie entre 150 000 FCFA (286$) et 300 000 FCFA (564$).

The International Research Foundation (TIRF) and Cambride ESOL, in collaboration with the British Council, recently sponsored a seminar to discuss strategies for promoting learner autonomy.

The session approached the topic of learner autonomy in the contexts of conversations in the target language. In order to get input, experience interaction, and produce conversational output, second language learners need to participate in sustained conversations. However, speaking a new language entails taking risks – and that’s where communications strategies come into play.

The seminar was presented by Kathleen M. Bailey, professor of applied linguistics at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a professor in the TESOL Masters Program at Anaheim University and Chair of the TIRF Board of Trustees and President of the foundation. She started her talk by reviewing a communication strategies framework and then related these concepts to our own uses of communication strategies before examining an example of an activity that can be used to promote learners’ development of communication strategies. Professor Bailey also discussed how such strategies can help students sustain conversations and develop autonomy and provided specific ideas for teaching communication strategies in class.

By Josh Tolan, CEO, SparkHire I bet you have your superior communication skills listed on your resume and other job seeker profiles. How did I guess? It’s because everyone has communication skills ...

http://www.merrillbrink.com -- The UK Bribery Act has been viewed by many, since its introduction on 1 July 2011, as the “gold standard” for anti-corruption legislation.

...

Without high-quality and proper translation, businesses may struggle to provide evidence that they have “adequate procedures” in place. Businesses can take advantage of high-quality translation services in developing compliance programmes through training and e-learning. Any organisation with a global workforce needs to ensure they are well-versed in how to identify and avoid situations that could be interpreted as breaching legislation.

Working with a qualified translation services provider such as Merrill Brink International, which offers expertise in translation services and support to a wide range of sectors can help businesses ensure global compliance with the Act. A qualified language service provider (LSP) can support in translating training materials and new business policies.

As businesses look forward to another year, working with a translation provider that understands compliance issues will help them implement thorough training and e-learning programs to support compliance and limit their exposure to risk under the UK Bribery Act.

Read more at http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/07/26/year-after-uk-bribery-act-2010-how-does-translation-play-role#jLixS17foohIgiP5.99

Comment bien se vendre sur son site professionnel? Comment faire valoir son point de vue sans paraître agressif? Comment structurer à l’écrit l’information que l’on reçoit pour la rendre utilisable? Tout cela s’apprend!

Que vous soyez professionnel ou non de l’écrit, indépendant ou salarié, voici un petit sondage totalement anonyme sur le thème « Communiquer efficacement à l’écrit ». Votre contribution est importante, merci d’y participer!

The recent AIGS Progress Africa Delight@Work conference, attended by software developers, business leaders and international delegates from the US and Europe, focused on key topics pertinent to the South African marketplace, such as leadership in the digital age, the cloud and the importance of context-aware technology.

During his keynote address, Dan Veitkus, the GM (EMEA) for Progress Software said that South African companies should not let current concerns, such as bandwidth capability, prevent them from innovating for the future.

"Instead of focusing on the reasons why technologies such as cloud or mobile computing won't work, South Africans should focus on the benefits of shifting their business and applications into that space...because it is going to happen. We're seeing a global change in application development. Technologists need to stop selling these incredible ideas to the heads of IT and start talking to the marketing and sales departments, who have the larger budgets and are able to sponsor innovation."

La filóloga Inmaculada Anaya es la coordinadora del máster 'Lengua y comunicacion en los negocios' que se celebrará en septiembre en la Facultad de Filología y Traducción de la Universidad de Vigo.

Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves. By remaining silent we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself; and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible. It is often in silence, for example, that we observe the most authentic communication taking place between people who are in love: gestures, facial expressions and body language are signs by which they reveal themselves to each other. Joy, anxiety, and suffering can all be communicated in silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression. Silence, then, gives rise to even more active communication, requiring sensitivity and a capacity to listen that often makes manifest the true measure and nature of the relationships involved. When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary. Deeper reflection helps us to discover the links between events that at first sight seem unconnected, to make evaluations, to analyze messages; this makes it possible to share thoughtful and relevant opinions, giving rise to an authentic body of shared knowledge. For this to happen, it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds.

The process of communication nowadays is largely fuelled by questions in search of answers. Search engines and social networks have become the starting point of communication for many people who are seeking advice, ideas, information and answers. In our time, the internet is becoming ever more a forum for questions and answers – indeed, people today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware.