Poor Health Outcomes Due to Lack of Translation Services

Researchers working in north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory say Indigenous people are not using interpreters to understand medical advice, leading to poor health outcomes.

Dr Anne Lowell from Charles Darwin University has been researching health communication in Indigenous communities. She says many Indigenous people have a limited understanding of the cause of illnesses they are suffering, mostly because of language barriers.

“Even though the interpreter service is there, in the situations we have looked at, interpreters have not been used,” she said.

Phyllis Batumbil from Elcho Island is a researcher and registered interpreter, and says she cannot understand why people are not using the service.

“I’m willing to help people but… no one is making contact with me,” she said.

She says people are using family members to help them understand their diagnosis but this often leads to confusion.

“We are dying from the sickness because of confusion and miscommunication,” she said.

The researchers say there also needs to be better training of medical staff to ensure patients are given clear and detailed information about their health.

See: ABC News

Arabic Language Enhanced by Translation Prize

Arabic will be the focus language of this year’s Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize.

The award, in its second year, will ask entrants to translate the short story Layl Qouti by Egyptian writer Mansoura Ez Eldin to be in with a chance of claiming the £1,000 prize.

The prize is given in association with Foyles and aims to recognise young translators at the beginning of their careers. Judges on the panel comprise author Penelope Lively, translator Anthony Calderbank, journalist Maya Jaggi and Harvill Secker editor and founder of the prize Briony Everroad.

The official launch of the prize will take place at 4 p.m. at the Literary Translation Centre, Earls Court 2, at LBF today (11th April) as part of the Tablet and Pen Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East seminar.

The winner’s name will be announced in September and the translator will also receive a selection of Harvill Secker titles and Foyles tokens.

The prize is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 34, and the deadline for entries is 29th July 2011. The short story and details on how to enter can be found atwww.harvillseckeryoungtranslatorsprize.com.

See: The Bookseller.com

Translation Conference Sponsored by Qatar Foundation

In association with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Bloomsbury Qatar FoundationPublishing (BQFP) held the second annual two-day translation conference on April 3 and April 4, titled The Traveling Text. Taking place at Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s campus, the conference addressed current and ongoing challenges facing translators, while providing practical solutions from veteran experts and linguists in the field.

The conference was developed in conjunction with BQFP as part of its efforts to improve standards of Arabic language translation, as well as editing of texts both into and out of Arabic and make it more accessible.

Integrated as part of the two-day conference, experts in the translation field conducted workshops with leading practitioners and educators to focus on various aspects of the craft in relation to translating from Arabic to English and vice versa as well as among other languages. Read more.

See: Zawya

French Translation of Literacy Program

French elementary schoolchildren will now have access to a literacy program developed at Concordia University.

The Abracadabra software program that has been a hit with English schoolchildren since 2009 will be translated into French with help from the Quebec government.

Education Minister Line Beauchamp announced Friday that her department will pitch in $300,000. Another $150,000 will come from the ministry of economic development to translate the hugely successful interactive literacy tool used by children from kindergarten to Grade 2 to foster reading and writing skills.

Getting the program translated into French has long been a goal of Monique Brodeur, dean of education at Université du Québec à Montréal.

More than $700,000 of the necessary $1 million needed for the adaptation had been secured previous to Friday’s announcement.

See: Montreal Gazette

New Master's Degree in Translation Studies Announced

Federal laws have required U.S hospitals to provide interpreters to non-native speakers, but there has been little enforcement until now, a U.S researcher says.

Dr. Olgierda Furmanek, associate professor at Wake Forest University says the Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 18,000 U.S. healthcare organizations (including hospitals), is establishing new standards effective in January requiring hospitals to provide language interpreting and translation services.

Furmanek designed a new curriculum and Wake Forest is offering a new master’s degree in interpreting and translation studies with three tracks, including the Intercultural Services in Healthcare option, which prepares graduates for managerial careers in areas of culture-sensitive healthcare delivery. Another track, teaching of interpreting, will be the only one in the Northern Hemisphere educating faculty for college-level interpreting programs. The program begins next fall and the deadline for applying April 15.

There are many certificate programs for medical interpreters, but the field lacks professional rigor the way legal interpreting does, Furmanek says.

See: UPI.com

Globalization and Localization Publishes Its Quarterly Survey Results

GALA runs a quarterly economic survey among its members each quarter. This quarter approximately 36 percent of their membership of 256 companies completed the survey and the results have been published on GALA’s blog.

Regarding revenue growth the report rounds out the good news from the first quarter. Last quarter revenues were depressed, with the first dip in revenues that has occurred in the past seven quarters. But this quarter there was a decisive shift upwards. Worldwide, 46 percent of respondents reported an increase in revenues, 35 percent reported no change, and 20 percent reported a decrease. While still below half, the number of respondents reporting an increase is the highest since we began asking this question almost two years ago. (Only 19 percent of respondents reported an increase in the second quarter of 2009). Likewise, the percentage of those experiencing a decline was at its lowest.

Responses to the survey question “In the last three months, my revenues have increased, decreased, or stayed the same.”

Regionally, South America and Asia shifted the most relative to last quarter. Only 10 percent in South America reported lesser revenues, down from 50 percent last quarter. The picture was similar in Asia, where 14 percent had a decrease in revenue, down 44 percentage points from last quarter. North America continued to have the strongest revenue numbers, with 62 percent reporting an increase. Read full report.

See: GALA’s Blog

Gender-Neutral Language Causes Stir in New Bible Translation

One of America’s most popular bibles has caused a stir after bowing to political correctness by introducing women and gender-neutral language in its latest translation.

The New International Version Bible (NIV), used by many of the largest Protestant faiths throughout the U.S., has come under fire by conservative groups who argue the changes to the language may alter the theological message.

For example the 2011 version uses ‘people’ instead of the more traditional ‘men’ in some cases.

In older prints Mark 1:17 reads: ‘And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”‘

In the new version the verse reads: ‘”Come follow me,” Jesus said. “And I will send you out to fish for people.”‘

The translation comes from an independent group of biblical scholars that has been meeting yearly since 1965 to discuss advances in biblical scholarship and changes in English usage. Read full story.

See: Daily Mail Online