The Linguist

The Linguist-63/1-Spring 2024

The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology

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32 The Linguist Vol/63 No/1 thelinguist.uberflip.com OPINION & COMMENT non-theoretical and easy-to-understand article on localisation; and second, to submit a short report discussing two examples of localisation that they found both appealing and representative. These tasks aimed not only to prepare them for the upcoming lesson but also to foster their personal understanding of this translation phenomenon through engaging with relevant cases. In this way, translation learning becomes a process of enabling students to actively approach their learning target, rather than a way of passively accepting knowledge. Becoming an anchor The role of an SSA teacher extends beyond that of an introducer and includes that of an anchor, responsible for organising students to fulfil predetermined learning tasks and for maintaining the pace of the session. To carry out this duty effectively, I began the session with a comprehensive overview of the theme by incorporating pertinent theoretical and summative explanations sourced from the most cited academic publications. Subsequently, I invited students to share their previously submitted cases, ensuring their active participation. Additionally, I reminded them to manage their time efficiently, urging them to wrap up quickly if they had exceeded their allocated time slot. In a semi-structured class, the active sharing of students' analyses and findings regarding their chosen cases holds significant value. As an instructor, it is essential to take on the role of motivator and mediator, stimulating the passion of reticent or absent-minded students for participating in the discussion, and providing recognition to shy students for their presentations. In this way, I could make sure every student was consistently engaged. Through the continuous illustration of new cases, the students' understanding of localisation deepened with each session. The role of commentator The teacher must also act as a commentator, providing objective evaluations of students' performances in their presentations. In fulfilling this responsibility, the teacher should also serve as a complementer, rectifying any discursive misunderstandings regarding the cases presented and supplementing essential points that may have been omitted. For instance, several students in my class coincidentally chose to analyse three localised movie posters of the Hollywood blockbuster Everything Everywhere All at Once from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Their analyses were primarily focused on linguistic distinctions in the translated titles while overlooking other significant translatorial actions, such as the redesign of pictorial elements and the rewriting of paratexts. As the commentator and complementer, it was crucial for me to highlight these additional semiotic aspects. In essence, the semi-structured model for translation teaching emphasises the exploration of translation on a deeper level. It drives students to transfer their existing knowledge to new contexts by engaging in analyses of their selected topics and actively sharing their perspectives to foster collective intelligence. The role of the teacher in this model is to steer and support the class throughout this process when necessary. Bilin Liu is a certified Chinese- English translator, and a PhD student and demonstrator in Translation Studies at the University of Hong Kong. TL Les palindromes In response to 'Palindrome life' (TL62,4), there is also A Laval, elle l'avala. The shortest French place name and palindrome, however, must surely be Y, a commune in Somme. Ça y est, non? Graham Elliott MCIL linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk 'For the Love of Verbs' (TL62,4) makes various questionable claims: • In an initial encounter with an unfamiliar language, surely a basic stock of nouns, as well as verbs, is advisable? • A single verb can comprise an entire sentence, but so can most parts of speech. • Nouns are equally "dynamic and adaptable", expressing actions, states, conditions, emotions etc, and are also constantly added to the lexicon. • The term 'subjunctive' is an example of the Latin-derived clutter that serves no useful purpose in the description of modern English. Latin and its modern descendants have systematic sets of subjunctive verb forms distinct from corresponding indicative forms; English doesn't. • There's no clear distinction between transitive and intransitive; very many verbs have both uses. • Germanic, Slavonic and Romance languages all have phrasal verbs (and phrasal nouns and adjectives) even if they aren't so called. Two Polish examples: odwołać ('call off', 'cancel') from wołać ('call') and od- ('off', 'from', 'away'); and wpaść ('drop in (for a visit)') from paść ('drop', 'fall') and w- ('in', 'into') • What presents the most issues in verb translation – as in translation generally – depends, inter alia, on what the language pair is. Jonathan Marks MCIL The final word on verbs? Norhaniza Nuruddin ACIL, an English<>Malay certified translator based in Penang, enjoys our Winter 2023 issue online. How do you read yours? Send your 'caught reading The Linguist' snaps to linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk. Caught reading The Linguist

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