Lost in translation – communicating healthcare information in other languages
Making sure translations of healthcare information make sense to linguistically diverse audiences has become more important than ever during Covid-19 outbreaks.
University of Canterbury Global, Cultural and Language Studies lecturer Dr Wei Teng’s work has earned him an MBIE Science Whitinga Fellowship.
Dr Teng’s research focuses on the importance of getting vital information to linguistically diverse communities in the context of changing alert levels and public health situations.
“Community Translation or Interpreting is an emerging field of study that facilitates language access rights and services, which benefits community members’ health and social wellbeing,” Dr Teng says.
“My latest study revealed rather conflicting opinions on translation quality between translators and lay readers. In particular, the lay readers often did not respond to a translation in the way that the translators expected the translation had been received.
“The lay audience are the intended receivers of a translation, yet previous research has largely neglected their fundamental role in assessing translation and interpreting quality.”