English Interpretation Research Articles

The Ethical Choice of Business English Interpreters under Chesterman’s Model of Translation Ethics

The Ethical Choice of Business English Interpreters under Chesterman’s Model of Translation Ethics

Healthcare interpreting as relational practice: Understanding the interpreter’s role in facilitating rapport in health interactions

This article explores the extent to which healthcare interpreting can be considered “relational practice.” It describes an interactional sociolinguistic study conducted in Australia, based on video recordings of two naturally occurring interpreted general practice consultations. Participants were hearing Australian Sign Language (Auslan)/English interpreters, deaf patients, and hearing doctors. Analysis of these recordings was supplemented by reflective interviews with participants. The study examines the ways in which interpreters facilitate good working relationships between participants, and to explore the extent to which their decision-making is driven by relational considerations. The analyses presented in this article provide evidence that relational work is an important aspect of the healthcare interpreter’s role. Some of the ways in which it is achieved, however, may challenge our ideas about “appropriate” interpreter behaviour. Thus, the skilled and experienced interpreters in the study were seen to modify face threats, directly influence the flow of interaction, and actively facilitate social talk and humour, occasionally even engaging in it themselves. It is argued that interpreters’ decisions can only be understood within the discursive context in which they occur, and such behaviour can highlight interpreters’ attentiveness to the maintenance of good rapport.

Strategies and Errors in Interpreting Conversational Implicatures of Political Discourse

This study aims to examine Barik's (1971) categorization, as strategies or errors, in the interpretation of implicatures in English>Arabic and Arabic>English political discourses and, further, to find the effect of employing the categorization on the original message's recovery. Qualitative content analysis methodology is used in this study. Occurrences of Barik's (1971) categorization were collected to be examined. The study finds that interpreters' use of Barik's (1971) categorization in implicature interpreting is as errors rather than strategies in English>Arabic interpretation, but as strategies rather than errors in Arabic>English interpretation. The use of errors can be attributed to a lack of source message comprehension. Substitution was the dominant strategy in English>Arabic implicature interpreting; gross phrasing substitutions, which entail differences in meaning, were the dominant type of substitution. Misinterpreting implicature includes a partial or total loss of the source message. However, instances of coining unstated, unintended meanings were detected, which does not only lose the communicative function but also misleads the audience.

Identifying objective risk factors of financial toxicity in patients with cancer.

e24116 Background: Current financial toxicity (FT) screening tools rely on patient-reported risk factors (RF)1. Underrepresented populations may not be forthcoming about FT fears due to cultural concerns of treatment withholding or migratory repercussions, if applicable1–4. Identifying objective RF, such as social determinants of health (SDH) and disease-specific factors (DSF), could reduce FT in cancer patients and healthcare systems. Methods: This was a multi-center retrospective study evaluating SDH and DSF associated with FT (defined as ≥$15,000 owed) related to cancer treatment. Inferential statistics were used to evaluate differences between the FT cohort and those who owed < $15,000. Continuous data were compared with a Student’s t or Mann-Whitney U test, depending on distribution. Categorical outcomes were compared with a chi square test. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate multivariate associations with FT, using p < 0.05 to define significant results. Results: The sample comprised 162 records, 81 in each group. Univariate analyses demonstrated differences in age, lack of PCP, non-US country of origin, lack of insurance, lower education levels, need for an English interpreter, stage 4 at diagnosis, recurrent or metastatic disease, use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), and use of targeted molecular therapy (TMT) (Table 1). Employment status and marital status were not statistically different. The logistic regression model showed that lack of insurance and stage 4 at diagnosis were significantly associated with FT (p = 0.001 and p = 0.0495, resp.). Conclusions: Objective FT screening can minimize response bias and incidence in those at increased risk. Non-US country of origin and lack of English proficiency suggests that first-generation Hispanics may not be appropriately navigated for FT. These findings identify specific subpopulations at risk for FT and will guide prospective interventions looking to minimize FT. Healthcare systems should analyze objective measures of FT while considering loco-regional and subcultural SDH/DSF in order to overcome response bias. Ref. Witte J et al. Methods for measuring financial toxicity after cancer diagnosis and treatment. Annals of Oncology. 2019;30(7) Strasser-Weippl K et al. Progress and remaining challenges for cancer control in Latin America and the Caribbean. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(14) Zhu Z et al. Cancer survivors’ experiences with financial toxicity. Psychooncology. 2020;29(6) Chebli P et al. Multilevel determinants of financial toxicity in breast cancer care. Supportive Care in Cancer. 2020;28(7). [Table: see text]

An Experimental Investigation into the Scope Assignment of Japanese and Chinese Quantifier-Negation Sentences

Quantifier-Negation sentences such as all teachers did not use Sandy’s car are known to allow an inverse scope interpretation in English. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence to determine whether this interpretation is allowed in equivalent sentences in Japanese and Chinese. To address this issue, this study conducted a sentence–picture matching truth value judgment experiment in both Japanese and Chinese. The data suggested that Japanese Quantifier-Negation sentences do allow inverse scope readings, which suggests that the subject may be interpreted within the scope of negation. In contrast, Chinese Quantifier-Negation sentences prohibit inverse scope readings, which is in accordance with the strong scope rigidity consistently observed in this language. This paper also discussed how to develop a valid experiment for investigating scope ambiguities.

The impact of emotionally evocative information on interpreting accuracy in a mock asylum interview

AbstractIn asylum interviews, interpreters often relay emotionally evocative information. This study compared interpreting accuracy of emotionally evocative and neutral information. Twenty‐eight Arabic‐English interpreters participated in a mock asylum interview held via videoconferencing. They interpreted between an English interviewer and a Sudanese‐Arabic applicant who performed a scripted interview including neutral and emotionally evocative responses. Pre‐interview, interpreters completed a secondary traumatic stress measure. English interpretations of the Arabic neutral and emotionally evocative responses were recorded, transcribed and coded for interpreting errors. Emotionally evocative responses were interpreted 4%–8% less accurately than neutral responses, which was a significant medium to large effect. Secondary traumatic stress did not moderate differences in interpreting accuracy between conditions.

Cross-Cultural Fuzzy Information Recognition and Translation Processing in English Interpretation: A Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Recognition Technology

Cross-Cultural Fuzzy Information Recognition and Translation Processing in English Interpretation: A Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Recognition Technology

The subject of Kazakhstan in English minor genres of literary publicist

Relevance. The relevance of the study is that the subject of Kazakhstan can be traced in the history of minor literary genres through the prism of the relationship between English and Kazakh literature, which is most often manifested in the genres of ideological enlightenment and travel. English researchers have published numerous reference books and encyclopedias on the geography, anthropology, and ethnography of the peoples of Asia. The English works of the 19th century contain a large amount of information about the Kazakhs, who at that time lived in Germany, France, England, and other countries. One of the important sources of the subject of Kazakhstan is the corresponding essays and diaries presented in the journals of English literary critics. Purpose. The purpose of the study is to consider artistic materials that reflect the subject of Kazakhstan in English interpretation. Methodology. The methodological basis of the study consisted of the following approaches: historical, retrospective, and systemic. Results. Foreign travellers who visited the steppe lands often wrote travel notes and letters under the impressions, in which they characterised the spiritual, traditional, and everyday creativity of the peoples of those areas, introducing the inhabitants of Europe to the preserved way of life of a distant land located on the territory of the modern Republic of Kazakhstan. Since with the advancement of maritime and economic aspects, the activity in the discovery and development of unexplored countries for the purpose of trade has increased. English merchants of that time actively used the routes through Asia for expeditions, which further expanded trade relations. Kazakh-Anglo-American literary ties in the last century are one of the important facets of the spiritual culture of the people of Kazakhstan. Conclusions. The practical value lies in highlighting the main subjects and materials of the Kazakh people in English minor literary genres.

Fuzzy information recognition and translation processing in English interpretation based on a generalized maximum likelihood ratio algorithm.

English interpretation plays a vital role as a critical link in cross-language communication. However, there are various types of ambiguous information in many interpreting scenarios, such as ambiguity, ambiguous vocabulary, and syntactic structures, which may lead to inaccuracies and fluency issues in translation. This article proposes a method based on the generalized maximum likelihood ratio algorithm (GLR) to identify and process fuzzy information in English interpretation to improve the quality and efficiency of performance. Firstly, we systematically analyzed the common types of fuzzy information in interpretation and delved into the basic principles and applications of the generalized maximum likelihood ratio algorithm. This algorithm is widely used in natural language processing to solve uncertainty problems and has robust modeling and inference capabilities, making it suitable for handling fuzzy information in interpretation. Then, we propose a fuzzy information recognition model based on the generalized maximum likelihood ratio algorithm. This model utilizes a large-scale interpretation corpus for training and identifies potential fuzzy information in the interpretation process through statistical analysis and pattern recognition. Once fuzzy information is detected, we adopt a series of effective translation processing strategies, including contextual inference and adaptation, to ensure the accuracy and naturalness of interpretation. Finally, we conducted a series of experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the fuzzy information recognition and translation processing method based on the generalized maximum likelihood ratio algorithm performs well in different interpretation scenarios, significantly improving the quality and fluency of interpretation and reducing ambiguity caused by fuzzy information.

АБАЙ ҚҰНАНБАЙҰЛЫ ШЫҒАРМАШЫЛЫҒЫНДАҒЫ «БІЛІМ» ЖӘНЕ «СЕНІМ» КОНЦЕПТІЛЕРІ ЖӘНЕ ОЛАРДЫҢ ОРЫС, АҒЫЛШЫН ТІЛДЕРІНЕ АУДАРЫЛУЫ

Translation sciences, which study the mechanisms and features of literary translation of texts of various orientations and styles, play a key role in modern society, especially in the context of globalisation, causing the overcoming of linguistic and cultural barriers. The purpose of the study is to analyse the literary works of Abai Kunanbaev to identify and interpret the concepts of “knowledge” and “faith”, considering their features in comparative translation into Russian and English. To achieve research goals, the following methods were used: hypothetical and deductive, content analysis, and comparative. The results of the study determined that the concepts of “knowledge” and “faith” permeate the work of the Kazakh thinker A. Kunanbaev, reflecting the versatility of Kazakh culture, historical transformations, and spiritual values. Translation of the author’s concepts into Russian and English contributes to the expansion of this activity, taking into account various social, historical, linguistic, and cultural features that need to be considered in the process of interpretation. Due to comparative analysis, it was found that the Russian language, when translating Abai’s concepts, can use a large palette of structural sentences to most accurately reflect the semantic categories of the writer. In turn, with the English interpretation, the structure and style of the text can most often be adapted in order to preserve and convey to the reader the main idea of the poet, which is closest to the original. However, it is important to understand that when translating from Kazakh into Russian and English, it is necessary to consider the philosophical subtext of A. Kunanbaev and cultural differences between countries and peoples. The practical significance lies in the possibility of the use of findings by researchers who deal with the issues of literary translation and specialists in the field of translation and cultural studies.

Research on the Reform of Higher Vocational English ESP Teaching Mode Oriented by Vocational Needs

Abstract Based on the theoretical knowledge of ESP teaching, this paper constructs a vocational demand-oriented ESP teaching model for higher vocational English and analyzes the structure and implementation principles of this teaching model in depth. The non-English major full-time higher vocational students enrolled in 2022 at a regional higher vocational college are selected as the research sample, and they are experimentally grouped. A questionnaire was used to obtain the data for analyzing the effect of the ESP teaching model of the study, and the mean IUT and standard deviation F test in the significance test method were used to test the significance of the collected data. Data summarization: compared to the English interpreting pre-test scores, the mean interpreting score of the experimental group increased by 0.469, and the mean interpreting score of the control group increased by 0.223. The t-statistic of the interpreting post-test scores was 4.105, and the corresponding p-value was 0.003<0.05. There was also a mean score of the experimental group’s English translation post-test scores that was higher than the control group’s score of 5.923, and the value of the p-value was 0.036. Overall, there is a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group in both English translation and English interpretation scores. In order to improve the final ESP teaching model, a reform strategy based on vocational needs is proposed.

Study on the Improvement Strategies of College Students' English Interpretation Ability

Study on the Improvement Strategies of College Students' English Interpretation Ability

Strategies and problems of translating euphemism in two selected English translations of the holy Quran: an analytical study

PurposeThe present paper aims at defining and analyzing the techniques, strategies, and challenges in translating the euphemism of two English interpretations of the Holy Quran. The first is the translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali (14 April 1872–10 December 1953), whereas the second is the translation of Arthur John Arberry (12 May 1905–2 October 1969).Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a qualitative approach that is introduced through a theoretical framework thatdiscusses and elaborates on the term “euphemism”. After that, the study uses analytical approaches in order to define and analyze the techniques and strategies in translating the euphemism of two English interpretations of the Holy Quran.FindingsThe results elaborate on the techniques used by the two translators to translate the euphemisms of two English interpretations of the Holy Quran.Originality/valueThe reason for selecting these two translations is to find the different techniques and approaches of both Eastern and Western translators. The main analysis of the study is based on Newmark’s perceptions about the techniques and strategies of translation.

Analysis of the Characteristics of Museum English Interpretation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory, with the National Museum of China as an Example

With the rapid development of science and technology, social change is rapid, and the level of human civilization has achieved a qualitative leap. Museum is an important carrier of cultural dissemination and plays an important role in society. More and more people pay attention to the importance of inheriting ancient culture. In order to promote traditional culture to a broader level, it is inevitable to publicize the local excellent traditional culture to overseas countries, and museums are a very good carrier. Among the many exhibitions and exhibits about Chinese culture in museums, the wonderful use of English translation of explanatory notes aims to maximize the cultural output. Taking the National Museum of China as an example, this paper analyzes how translation promotes folk culture from the perspective of Skopos Theory by analyzing the examples and combining the cultural and contemporary backgrounds with the three principles of Skopos Theory. This paper selects the English commentary in the special exhibition "Ancient Chinese Food Culture" of the National Museum of China as the research object. Specifically, it analyzes the application of the three principles of Skopos Theory in the English translation of the commentary. It is found that the translator usually adopts methods such as increasing or decreasing the translation method and adjusting the syntax and tense to show the main content of the translation to achieve the ultimate translation goal. Moreover, the overall translation activity is carried out with the core of being close to the thinking and reading habits of the English readers to realize the interaction of cross-cultural communication.

The Battle of Waterloo in the Duke of Wellington’s dispatch to the Earl of Bathurst: «confession» of an accidental winner

The article is devoted to the analysis of an important historical document – the Duke of Wellington’s dispatch to the State Secretary for War and Colonies of the United Kingdom Earl of Bathurst, June 19, 1815 (in English tradition it is usually called The Waterloo Dispatch) in which the Iron Duke presented his account of the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) which ended the long series of so-called Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, which lasted almost a quarter of a century. The author cites the opinions of Russian and foreign historians, who to one degree or another, tried to assess the Waterloo Dispatch, paying special attention to the characterization of this document by modern British researcher Andrew Roberts, given in his monograph «Napoleon and Wellington». Edith Saunders, who wrote a separate monograph on «Napoleon’s Hundred Days», categorically characterized the dispatch of the Iron Duke calling it «a joyful account of the battle». However based on the above mentioned assessments and based on his own analysis of the dispatch of June 19, the author came to the conclusion that the Waterloo Dispatch was an attempt to give an English interpretation of the events of the famous battle – a kind of «British Myth» and chronologically was predecessor to the «Napoleonic Myth» created by the defeated Emperor on the Island St. Helena about the fateful 19th century for Europe, battle.

Cross-Cultural Communication in English Interpretation Teaching of Higher Education: Challenges and Strategies

As globalization continues to advance, the importance of cross-cultural communication has become increasingly evident in various fields. In the context of college-level English major interpretation teaching, the cross-cultural perspective not only influences the quality of instruction but also plays a pivotal role in nurturing competent interpreters. This article aims to explore the significance of the cross-cultural perspective in college-level English major interpretation education, examine the challenges that arise, and propose corresponding teaching strategies.

Abstract 17578: Improving Access to Care With a Structural Heart Disease Program in a Metropolitan Public Healthcare System

Background: Public hospitals face challenges in providing access to structural heart interventions due to limited resources. Our aim is to describe the implementation and outcomes of a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary Structural Heart Disease Program (SHDP) in the largest public healthcare system in the United States, as a strategy to mitigate healthcare disparities and improve access to care. Methods: The SHDP at Bellevue Hospital serves as the referral center for 11 public hospitals in New York. It launched in 2022 and added a hybrid OR in March 2023. We collected clinical, demographic, and socioeconomic data for patients undergoing structural heart interventions. Results: A total of 56 patients were included from January 2022 to June 2023. The median age was 60 years (22-93 years), 59% were women, 41% were Black, 38% Hispanic, 11% White and 9% Asian. Most patients were immigrants (71%), 28.5% were uninsured, 37.5% were undocumented and 41% required an English interpreter. Only 21% of patients completed high school and 9% completed college. The most common procedure was PFO closure (30%) followed by M-TEER and BAV (Figure 1). For TAVRs and M-TEERs combined, the 30-day re-admission rate was 7.1% (n=1) and 30-day mortality was 0%, with no differences by ethnic group. Length of stay varied by procedure and there were low rates of procedural complications (Table 1). Conclusions: Our multidisciplinary SHDP program demonstrates feasibility to provide care to underserved populations in a public healthcare system with excellent outcomes. Further study of strategies aimed at improving access to structural heart interventions is warranted.

The relation between writer’s block and attitude towards writing

It is undeniable that many ESL students even at tertiary level often have difficulties in writing. One of these problems is writer’s block. Even though several studies claim that attitude towards writing is one of the most important affective reasons for writer’s block, there are not any studies examining the relation between writer’s block and attitude towards writing. Within this context, this study aims to identify the relation between writer’s block and attitude towards writing. The participants are the university students who are the first-year in the department of Translation and Interpretation in English at a state university in Türkiye. Writer’s Block Questionnaire developed by Rose (1984) and Writing Attitude Scale developed by Podsen (1997) were used to determine the levels of writer’s block and attitude towards writing. Quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. At the end of the analysis, it was found that the participants had a moderate attitude towards writing as well as a moderate level of writer’s block. Pearson Correlation demonstrates that there is a weak, but not statistically significant, relation between writer’s block and attitude. This study concludes that writer’s block is a temporary stuck but attitude is more permanent and it is also a psychological and static state even though attitude may be changed as a result of new experiences. Therefore, attitude may not be a reason for writer’s block as it is a long-lasting concept and learners may have writer’s block although they have positive attitude towards writing.

Construction of an Automatic Scoring Model for English Interpretations by using a Recurrent Neural Network

Construction of an Automatic Scoring Model for English Interpretations by using a Recurrent Neural Network

Applicability of the Term ‘As Such’ While Protecting the Computer Programs: An Outlook for European Law

‘The automatic bar on patent protection for computer programs ‘as such’ in section 1(2) of the Patents Act 1977 is unduly restrictive and out of step with modern information technology-based innovation. This exception to patentability should be removed from the Act so that any program meeting the basic requirements of novelty, inventive step, etc. is patentable like any other invention.’ The current paper aims to analyse section 1(2) of the Patents Act 1977 and its relation with article 52(2) EPC. It further tries to establish the differences between the two approaches. The aim remains to analyse why EPO changed its approach for a narrower interpretation of ‘as such’ and why the UK refuses to follow. The essay will show that the English interpretation of ‘as such’ in section 1(2) is not suitable for the computer programming market reality of today concerning the economic and industry changes in size and structure. The attempt has been made to focus on showing that section 1(2) is too restrictive considering the type of businesses and innovations and a broader interpretation of ‘as such’ effects. The UK’s law had expressed intentions to remain in harmony with the EPO, ‘collocation’ as an alternative solution to following the ‘any hardware approach’ and the lack of benefit the total removal of section 1 (2) would bring.