Trust on the part of non-English speaking readers in translated public health documents is crucial to achieving the behaviour-change aims of the documents and enhancing the health and wellbeing of all Australian residents. To achieve a high level of trustworthiness of these translations, several recommendations have been made, including the following two, particularly in relation to the roles of multicultural communities and translators (e.g. Karidakis et al., 2022; Wild et al., 2021).
On the one hand, representatives of communities were identified as key contributors in the process of developing source documents and translations (e.g. Seale et al., 2022). On the other hand, translators are increasingly expected to have expanded capacities and responsibilities as translators, beyond conventional images of accurate meaning transfer between languages, especially in the age of AI (Messey et al., 2022; Katan, 2022). However, constrained beliefs and definitions of translation are still common among practicing translators (Norma et al.).
How can community readers and translators, as key players in multicultural public health communications, work effectively and collaboratively with each other? To answer this question, it is important to observe the disparities in the perceptions of ‘good’ translations between translators and translation readers and identify how we can construct a helpful, shared understanding.
By examining the qualitative dataset collected from practicing translators and community readers regarding their evaluations of the quality of translations and translation practices, I investigate the following questions.
How do translators perceive good translation and practice in the public health context? How do they narrate and explain their views?
What social, cultural, and professional conditions underpin translators’ beliefs in the constrained roles of translators?
How do community readers perceive good translation? How do they narrate and explain their views?
Are there any differences and similarities in evaluations, views, and beliefs between translators and community readers? Are there differences between different cultural-linguistic communities? Are there any domain-specific concerns raised by translators and community readers regarding behaviour-changing health texts?
By explaining these issues through ethical and ideological lenses related to translation and language, this project will map a focus for ongoing and effective collaboration and dialogue between translators and communities. The goal is to enhance the quality of translations and practice in the context of public health.
