Lost in translation?: an exploration of conceptual integrity in the translation of graded readers from English into IsiZulu.
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Date
2016
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Abstract
It is an indisputable fact that reading improves language proficiency – be it a mother tongue, second or foreign language. Graded readers are hailed by many applied linguistic scholars as a very crucial element in language learning. Prominent scholars in the field of graded readers, for example, Bamford (1984), Bassett (2005), Hill (1997, 2001, 2008), Krashen (1987), Nation (2006), et cetera. all agree that graded readers are very important in motivating learners to read more, thus improving their reading ability and proficiency in the language they are learning. In South Africa, in 2012, the National Department of Basic Education prescribed graded readers written in indigenous languages for use in schools for the first time. These graded readers are still in the current 2015/2016 National Catalogue for learning and teaching support material. When examining the isiZulu graded readers listed on the catalogue it appeared that 84% of them are translations from English.
Translation is a common global act that happens all the time between different languages and it is encouraged. However, when the two languages entering the translation process belong to different language families and when translation itself is still a relatively new discipline in the country where the translation takes place, the situation becomes intriguing.
My study investigates this translation process using linguistic, functional and ideological models. The focus of the research is on the whole body of GRs and their entire production process starting from the selection of English GRs for translation into isiZulu, right up to the use of these translated IsiZulu GRs by teachers in their classrooms. Data gathered led to the investigation of conceptual integrity in the entire production process. Conceptual integrity is a theory popular in the field of architecture. It is about the unity, coherence, functionality, simplicity and wholeness of a design. In search for conceptual integrity in the translated graded readers, literal analysis was used and also voices of the translators, editors and educators were gathered and analysed.
It is an indisputable fact that reading improves language proficiency – be it a mother tongue, second or foreign language. Graded readers are hailed by many applied linguistic scholars as a very crucial element in language learning. Prominent scholars in the field of graded readers, for example, Bamford (1984), Bassett (2005), Hill (1997, 2001, 2008), Krashen (1987), Nation (2006), et cetera. all agree that graded readers are very important in motivating learners to read more, thus improving their reading ability and proficiency in the language they are learning. In South Africa, in 2012, the National Department of Basic Education prescribed graded readers written in indigenous languages for use in schools for the first time. These graded readers are still in the current 2015/2016 National Catalogue for learning and teaching support material. When examining the isiZulu graded readers listed on the catalogue it appeared that 84% of them are translations from English.
Translation is a common global act that happens all the time between different languages and it is encouraged. However, when the two languages entering the translation process belong to different language families and when translation itself is still a relatively new discipline in the country where the translation takes place, the situation becomes intriguing.
My study investigates this translation process using linguistic, functional and ideological models. The focus of the research is on the whole body of GRs and their entire production process starting from the selection of English GRs for translation into isiZulu, right up to the use of these translated IsiZulu GRs by teachers in their classrooms. Data gathered led to the investigation of conceptual integrity in the entire production process. Conceptual integrity is a theory popular in the field of architecture. It is about the unity, coherence, functionality, simplicity and wholeness of a design. In search for conceptual integrity in the translated graded readers, literal analysis was used and also voices of the translators, editors and educators were gathered and analysed. The results indicate that in addition to ideological and poetological factors, numerous dynamics (for example, government policies, socio-political issues, stakeholders’ attitudes towards indigenous languages, perceptions of users, et cetera) governed the translation of graded readers from English into isiZulu and affected the conceptual integrity of these graded readers positively and also adversely.
This study contributes to the burgeoning research in the field of translation and specifically to the scarcely researched languages within the translation field, that is, South African indigenous languages. The main contribution of this study is the identification of fundamental elements that have to be taken into account during the translation process between English and isiZulu in order for the product to be of acceptable quality. These fundamental elements include ideological and cultural issues, linguistic issues and translation procedures.
Description
Ph. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.
Keywords
English language--Translations., Zulu language--Translations., Language acquisition., Theses -- IsiZulu.