Language Interpretation and Translation Commons^™

Transgender & Gender-Diverse Interpreter Experiences, Atlas Rideout

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Transgender and gender-diverse ASL interpreters face unique challenges in their professional lives that remain largely unexamined in interpreting research. This investigational research project addresses this gap by exploring their individual lived experiences through analysis of both anecdotal and numerical data collected via a survey. Through this survey, participants were invited to share their narratives, highlighting issues such as discrimination, self-disclosure, and gender identity within professional practice. At the time of writing, very minimal research has been done on the experiences of transgender and gender-diverse ASL interpreters. The research that has been completed has either lumped transgender individuals in with the …

The Moral Function Of Invented Languages In J.R.R Tolkien's Legendarium, Mareike Huber

Journal of Tolkien Research

For J. R. R. Tolkien, the languages he invented for Middle-earth came first, the stories second. Much of his linguistic creation was based on the idea that the sound of a language can create a sense of pleasure or displeasure in those hearing it, irrespective of the meaning behind the words. This can be seen in the ways the sound of the elvish languages on the one hand and Tolkien’s other invented languages such as Khuzdul or the Black Speech on the other, are described not only by Tolkien himself but also by readers of his works. The way a …

Code-Switching: A Study On College Students’ Languaging Practices, Neyda Perez

Honors Theses

My linguistic background is composed of many contrasting elements. I grew up speaking Spanish and English in rural Texas, and I have an accent. Words would have a southern drawl, and when saying words that were similar in English and Spanish, I would pronounce them with a Spanish accent. In contrast, many of my language arts teachers prior to high school put great value on Standard English. My accent was often corrected and dismissed, and while it wouldn’t affect my ability to navigate a classroom, I would hold it back in class nonetheless. Due to all these components, I had …

Preparing To Bridge The Deaf Math Gap: Exploring Preparation Materials For Asl Interpreters In Math Education, Taylor Victor

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

The gap in performance between hearing students and their mainstreamed deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) peers who use ASL interpreters expands throughout various grade levels and is not a new issue, especially in mathematics. This delay in mathematical development has been prevalent for many decades, and it is still being determined at what level it begins and what the causes are. D/HH students' academic success is often connected to high-quality academic sign language interpreting (Jones, 2017). However, there are still many college-level American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting programs that are not focused on educational interpreting. This lack of focus …

Critical Period Constraints And Learning Strategies: Balancing Incidental And Intentional Vocabulary Acquisition In Japanese Second Language Acquisition, Emma Ward

Honors College Theses

The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) supposes there is a biologically determined window during which language acquisition occurs most efficiently. This theory has profound implications for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, suggesting the timing of language learning can significantly impact one's ability to achieve native-like proficiency. As vocabulary acquisition is a fundamental aspect of language learning, understanding how to optimize learning strategies within the constraints imposed by the critical period is essential for maximizing language learning outcomes. The Japanese language, with its complex writing systems and unique syntactic structures, presents significant challenges for learners, especially those who begin learning the language …

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

A Voice For The People: Hybrid Arabic In The Political Oratory Of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Tate E. Bell

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the political oratory of Gamal Abdel Nasser through the lens of Arabic sociolinguistics, arguing that his speeches are best understood not as simple alternations between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA), but as instances of hybridization—a strategic and fluid interweaving of registers across a linguistic continuum. While earlier studies by Clive Holes and Nathalie Mazraani have identified register variation and code-switching in Nasser’s rhetoric, this project expands upon their findings by applying El-Said Badawi’s five-level framework to track intra-utterance blending of MSA and ECA. Drawing on a transcription and linguistic analysis of a key …

Types Of Student Translation Errors In English-Indonesian Translation, Haru Deliana Dewi, Andika Wijaya

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This research focuses on translation and language errors discovered in English-Indonesian translation results. This study aims to investigate the types of errors mostly made by Indonesian novice translators. The data were obtained from translation practice assigned to undergraduate students, who were taking the compulsory basic translation course. The respondents, who were native Indonesian speakers, were asked to translate two paragraphs from a given text in class for one hour and send their translations to the raters via email. The raters then marked the errors in the students’ translations using the 2021 ATA’s Standardized Framework for Error Marking. The results of …

Admission Screening Into Signed Language Interpreter Education: A Longitudinal Case Study Of Readiness, Len Roberson, Sherry Shaw, Gail D. Hughes

Journal of Interpretation

Testing applicants for admission into academic interpreting programs, whether spoken or signed, centers on the attempt to recruit and retain students who are most likely to acquire interpreting skills and successfully complete programs. Despite continual experimentation with various screening instruments and procedures in interpreter education, a definitive battery of tests to predict favorable student outcomes remains elusive to researchers, and programs are justifiably reluctant to enforce admission decisions based on screenings that have not been sufficiently evaluated for validity and reliability. This exploratory study provides an analysis of nine years of admission screening data to identify variables that might significantly …

Mazahua Literacy Project, Kassandra A. Zapata, Ahnna R. Burkhart

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Mazahua is an indigenous language of Mexico that currently has about 100,000 speakers. What this language and many other indigenous languages need are literacy curricula and materials to help speakers of this language learn to read and write in their first language. Research has demonstrated that students who learn to read and write in their home language will be more successful when it comes to learning to read and write in the language that is dominant in society (in this case, Spanish in Mexico). This project details a coordinated effort to create initial literacy materials for first-grade students who are …

Deaf-Centric Expression Of Biblical Language And Themes, Grace M. Tang

Senior Honors Theses

Christianity contains complicated language and concepts that many individuals can struggle to express in American Sign Language (ASL) in ways that resonate with the Deaf community. Accessibility for the Deaf extends far beyond the translation of words into signs, requiring recontextualization to fit a Deaf lens and adaptation of communication methods to match the oral tradition and Deaf culture. This qualitative study evaluates how the hearing-centered language and themes of the Bible can be effectively portrayed to Deaf audiences through comprehensive interviews with three Deaf Christian pastors and three hearing Christian interpreters. This research found that Deaf churches allow for …

Multi-Agent Translation Team (Matt): Enhancing Low-Resource Language Translation Through Multi-Agent Workflow, Anishka Peter, Mai Dang, Michael Liu, Joaquin Dominguez, Nibhrat Lohia

SMU Data Science Review

Like humans, large language models (LLMs) benefit from revision and refinement, especially for complex tasks requiring critical thinking. Inspired by human collaborative problem-solving, this study introduces a novel multi-agent workflow designed to enhance LLM translations from English to low-resource languages. Multi-Agent Translation Team (MATT) involves the collaboration of agents that are assigned specific roles, such as translator, evaluation coordinator, and various levels of editing, to refine the initial translation into the most desired version possible. The agents work collaboratively in an iterative loop until the translation loss meets a satisfactory threshold. It stands out from other multi-agent workflows by combining …

Themes Of Moral Injury In The Field Of Asl Interpreting, Samantha Michaelson

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This research project explores connections between a moral injury framework and the recognition and mitigation of ethical stress and trauma experienced by ASL-English interpreters. I have employed strategies such as thick description, textual analysis, and a narrative synthesis of existing literature on moral injury and ethical stress in interpreting to arrive at my findings. The study explains Demand Control Schema (DCS) and the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) as valuable tools for interpreters to discuss and address ethical stresses that arise in their work. Additionally, I examine the concept of role space and its relevance to the experience of ethical/moral …

Le Recours Aux Procédés De Reformulation Dans Les Articles Scientifiques De Vulgarisation, Ilham Elarrachi

Dirassat

Reformulation as a (metadiscursive) linguistic device is often used by science journalists to convey specific scientific knowledge to often uninitiated readers. It generally consists of repeating the same words, the same discourse in another way. It manifests itself particularly in scientific, media etc. This communication aims to show the importance of reformulation in the transmission of scientific knowledge related to the field of health. Our objective is to see in what circumstances the scientific journalist uses the processes of reformulation. The data analyzed come from a corpus composed of a set of journalistic articles dealing with subjects related to the …

The Change Of Life Happens: How To Overcome Challenges In Order To Succeed., Robin Cruz

Student Research Symposium

The movies that are part of these exhibit tell about the different situations of students and how they can achieve their dreams. It also shows how to overcome the obstacle that they are facing in the different settings.

Can Genai Evaluate Social Themes In Global Cinema? An Introductory Exploration Using French Ivory Coast Film To Evaluate Religious And Familial Social Themes, Andrew Hyde

Student Research Symposium

GenAI is rapidly evolving, making it crucial to investigate its uses and limitations. Popular films can shape social themes globally, yet many of these influences remain unexplored due to cultural barriers. This project's research has important applications, including:

• Enhanced film analysis for less popular films in various countries and languages
• Cultural preservation and lowered linguistic boundaries in film
• Potential for future statistical analysis to determine correlation between social themes and popularity of films
• Broader implications for the film industry and film studies

My hypothesis was that GenAI would be able to accurately analyze important social themes in niche French films.

The Roles And Challenges Of Child Language Brokering, Anaid Martinez Sánchez

Student Research Symposium

Child Language Brokering (CLB) refers to the informal act of interpreting and translating performed by bilingual children, often referred to as "child interpreting". This typically arises in response to cultural and linguistic divides, which can have varying effects on the individuals involved. CLB is especially common among immigrant Latino families, because the children adapt to the culture much faster.

Beyond Words: Translating Spanish Subtitles, Charlie Carlston, Tyler Godfrey

Student Research Symposium

Challenges in Subtitle Translation

• How does one translate humor, slang, and cultural references without losing meaning?
• More than just words!

Bridging Worlds Through Stories, Téa Randall, Mykenzie Preisler

Student Research Symposium

What is the role of a translator?

Traversing Tin And Tides: Translation Ideology And Strategies In Berli And The Sea, Almira Ghassani Shabrina Romala

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

The children’s story Pilus Rumput Laut untuk Rasi by Nabila Adani and its English translation, Berli and the Sea, foreground the ecological crisis facing Belitung Island, Indonesia, where uncontrolled mining and coastal exploitation disrupt the delicate balance between land and sea. The protagonist, Berli, symbolizes resistance against environmental degradation, a theme mirrored in the translator’s ideological and strategic choices when rendering culture-specific items. This study examines how Venuti’s translation ideologies—domestication and foreignization—and Baker’s translation strategies shape the portrayal of Belitung Island’s identity and its environmental message. Cultural words were analyzed through postcolonial translation studies and Hu’s eco-translatology lens, revealing a …