Yerelleştirme Kavramının Akademi ve Sektör Açısından Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

As a result of globalization, technological products and services have become accessible all over the world. Localization is one of the processes that is applied to offer these products and services to different markets. It has become more visible since the widespread use of the Internet and begun being subjected to studies in various academic fields, with translation studies (TS) being one of these fields. Localization is a service that was already provided in translation companies. Aside from this, it has also become visible over time in research in the field of TS. Researchers have approached localization from the perspective of TS. What localization means in terms of TS and the types of localization that follow current developments have formed the content of academic studies. Also currently accepted as a profession by Turkey’s Vocational Qualifications Authority, localization continues to be provided as a common website service in many translation and localization sectors under their Our Services tab. Localization can be said to be a common area for higher education and sector work. This study first examines Turkish studies on higher education and compiles the evaluations on the definition of localization and its subtypes as accepted by researchers. As the study aims to clarify the definition and features of localization, the study’s content includes the relationship between localization and translation. In order to evaluate how the localization sector defines localization, the study presents the definitions from websites that provide this service that we have determined within the scope of our limitations using numerical data and presenting them in bar graphs. As a result of the examination, some of the concepts regarding the definitions websites provide for localization have been determined to be the same or similar to these concepts with regard to higher education. However, the industry offers diversity by including different concepts. The diversity of concepts that are included in the definitions from websites providing localization services is thought to be due to the sector’s perception of translation. However, the sub-types of localization offered by the sector have also been determined to differ with respect to higher education in line with our analysis.