Website Localization in Iran: A Comparative-Descriptive Approach

Transcription

1 Islamic Azad University Tehran Central Branch Graduate School English Department A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Translation Studies Website Localization in Iran: A Comparative-Descriptive Approach Advisor: Farzaneh Farahzad (PhD) Reader: Kourosh Akef (PhD) Student: Maral Maleki Summer 2011 ا

2 Acknowledgements I would like to express my profound gratitude to all my dear professors who helped me accomplish the present research. Had it not been for their wholehearted guidance and mental support, I wouldn t have certainly been standing here. All my warm and true thanks go to dear Dr.farahzad, whose inspiring ideas helped me move forward during the study. I do honestly find myself indebted to dear Dr.Akef for all his generous comments, precious and timely assistance during the research. I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the kind and endless supports of dear Dr.Mahmoodzadeh, all through my academic years of education. I also have to thank my dear friends, who helped me do this research, especially Miss Aref Nia and Mrs.Azari. I owe my deepest gratitude to my lovely brother, Mehran, for all the inconvenience I caused for him all through my educational period. Last but certainly not least, I would like to express my deepest love and affection to my lovely parents, without whose encouragements, the accomplishment of my education would not have been possible. ب

3 Abstract The present study is aimed to shed light on the steps taken by the translators at BBC and VOA websites in translating the news into Persian for the localized versions of the two websites. Intending to do a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on the findings of the comparisons between the two website localization projects, the researcher chose two highly visited websites from the news genre, namely BBC and VOA, which were supposed to bear ideological load. To achieve the objective, the original and localized versions of the websites were probed in 30 inconsecutive days. Within this period, the news on the English and Persian websites, having the same textual content, but containing some ideological implications in their translations, were investigated. The textual differences between the original and localized versions of the websites were extracted and analyzed critically based on Farahzad s (2011) threedimensional CDA model and Newmark s (1988) classification of translation procedures. Also, the semiotic aspect, that is the graphics on the relative web pages, was investigated. These were done to examine the ideological implications of the differences and to reach conclusions on the ideologically significant translational attempts both in BBC and VOA Persian websites separately and in news website localization projects in general. At the end it was concluded that the translators have removed or added, expanded or narrowed down and most frequently changed the ideas stated in the original version. The purpose of this was to convey their own ideologies and stances, or those of the website owners, to visitors. ت

4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements...I Abstract...II Table of Content...III List of Tables...VIII List of Figures...X Chapter I: Introduction 1.1. Background and purpose Statement of the Problem Research Questions Hypothesis Theoretical Framework Dimension I, Intertextuality Intertextuality in Translation Levels of Intertextuality in Translation Dimension II, Critical Discourse Analysis Dimension III, Translational Choices Summary Definition of Technical Terms...17 ث

5 GILT Processes Globalization Internationalization Locale Localization Website Significance of the study Limitations of the study Delimitations of the study Chapter II: Review of the Related Literature Introduction Localization Background Definition of Localization Globalization Internationalization Translation GILT Processes Website Localization Basic Advice ج

6 Culture and Website Localization Language in Website Localization Pictures in Website Localization Colors in Website Localization Navigation in Website Localization Content in Website Localization Legal Payments and Currencies Time-Date and Units of Measurement Logistics Technical Issues The Importance of Localization Cost vs. Benefit Intertextuality Translation as an Intertextual Practice Levels of Intertextuality The local (intralingual) level Global (Interlingual) Level Newmark s Translation Procedures Transference Naturalization ح

7 Cultural Equivalent Functional Equivalent Descriptive Equivalent Synonymy Through-Translation Shifts or Transposition Modulation Recognized Translation Translation Label Compensation Componential Analysis Reduction and Expansion Paraphrase Other Procedures Couplets Notes, Additions, Glosses Chapter III: Methodology Introduction Corpus Instrumentation Procedures Data Collection and analysis Design of the study.93 Chapter IV: Results and Discussion خ

8 Introduction Results and Data Analysis Comparative Data Analysis Comparative Results General Data Analysis General Results Chapter V: Conclusions and Implications Introduction Conclusions Answers to the research questions Final conclusions Additional Comments Implications of the Study Suggestions for further Research References د

9 List of Tables Table Top ten languages used in the web according to the number of native speakers Table A sample table for the comparison and analyses Table Examples for modulation procedure at the two levels Table Examples for addition procedure at the two levels Table Examples for explanation procedure at the two levels ذ

10 Table Examples for expansion procedure at the two levels Table Examples for reduction procedure at the two levels Table Examples for shift procedure at the two levels Table Examples of omission procedure at the two levels Table Percentages of the procedures used in the translation of BBC news arranged in order of frequency Table Percentages of the procedures used in the translation of VOA news arranged in order of frequency Table Comparison between the different graphics on the original and localized web pages ر

11 Table Total number of Procedures used at the two levels of word and sentence Table Total Percentage of Procedures used at the two levels of word and sentence Table Procedures percentages arranged in order of frequency ز

12 List of Figures Figure Three-dimensional translation criticism model Figure Non-English speakers are becoming the dominant force on the Internet Figure Consumers prefer spending time on sites in their own languages. Figure What people see when they know no English. Figure The Dell global gateway س

13 Figure A fictitious website, using English system for units of measurement Figure The same fictitious website after hitting the button for metric system Figure A suitable order form Figure The Prototext at the Intralingual Level Figure The Prototext and its Metatexts in Different Languages Figure Metatexts in a Global Intertextual Relationship ش

14 Figure Differences between the two websites regarding the procedures used at the level of lexical choice Figure Differences between the two websites regarding the procedures used at the sentence level Figure Percentages of the different graphics on the original and localized web pages of the two websites Figure Frequency for each of the 7 examined procedures, at the levels of lexical choice and sentence ص

15 Chapter I Introduction

16 Chapter Ι Background and Purpose The world is changing to a global village and the relations between nations, whether political or technological, economic or cultural, are expanding each day. In order to strengthen their ties, countries should be able to communicate with one another properly, and the first step towards a good communication, is the language in which the parties talk. They must be able to understand each other, so translation gains prominence. Moreover, economy being one of the most basic issues heeded by the governments is directly and deeply affected by globalization (Payne, 2009). Due to the globalization, and the markets becoming more and more interdependent, it's of great importance for investors and those who are involved in some kind of economic activity, to act internationally, to make their business global. Addressing larger number of people round the world means selling better and enjoying a more profitable market. To this aim, the companies should be able to introduce their products worldwide, just as native as in the original language and culture. Localizing, as the art and science of adapting items to the target locale's norms, has become one of the hottest issues these days. Seeking worldwide fame, institutes, companies, producers (whatever is their service) are looking for the ways in which they can attract more customers. The internet has made the interaction among different countries and regions much easier than before. As a result of such a development, one of the first places for service providers or investors to show their services and products is their websites. So, they will be much more well-known and easily received in the target market, if they localize their websites in the culture and language of the target country (target locale ) (Yunker, 2002).

17 Localization involves some specific steps and procedures, the most important of which is translation. This is because of the fact that the first thing that should be understood by people in the target locale is the language in which the communication takes place. Nowadays translators attend specific courses to master this newly developed, but highly appreciated science; localization (Esselink et al, 2002). In the context of localization, translation deals not only with the linguistic data, but also other culture-dependant elements, such as date and address format, currencies, pictures, colors and even design should also be adapted (Perrault et al, 2000). Experts in the LISA (Localization Industry Standards Association) believe localization to be a cycle, which starts with "Internationalization" (embedding adoptable elements in products for localizing them), passes through "localization" and "translation" filters, and finally makes a product usable in various countries and cultures or more technically, globally. The term "GILT" has been coined to refer to these processes, namely: Globalization, Internationalization, Localization and Translation" (LISA primer, 2000). However, there are controversies over the order of letters in the acronym; TLIG is also proposed. News websites are of no exception in this regard; their owners are also seeking larger number of audience. What matters here is conveying the intended ideological messages. The present study has tried to shed light on the translation phase in the process of localization of news websites created originally in English, and adapted for the Persian speaking target locale. Two typical and world-famous English news websites, namely BBC and VOA were selected. Due to the fact that the researcher intended to do a CDA on the data of the research, the ideologically important genre of news was selected among other types, such as commercial, educational or game websites. The two news

18 websites were localized by their original producers in a way that they are usable for Persian speaking audience. Typical localizable items in websites include: Language, culture, picture, color, content and etc (Payne, 2009). But again due to the CDA intended to be done, the ideological load of the differences between the original and localized news websites were focused. Therefore, only ideologically significant (see Farahzad, 2011) localizable items, such as content and graphics, were examined to study the changes occurred to them during the localization process. Among the three dimensions proposed for the CDA model by Farahzad (2011), the translational choices dimension was selected. As for the translational choices, textual and semiotic elements were chosen to be examined. Textual elements in the present study include lexical choices and translation strategies Statement of the Problem Despite the fact that during the past decade, localization has been gradually becoming one of the main, dominant discourses in translation world, and in spite of the fact that localization of websites and the roles of cyberspace in the contemporary world is increasingly prominent and determining, up to this time there is still no study which gives at least a partial record of the trends and events regarding the progress of localization of websites, for which the locale is the whole Persian speaking world. Since translation is a key phase in the localization, and ultimately globalization process, it gains utmost importance in the field. In this research, the researcher compared original and localized versions of two websites, namely BBC and VOA, to the purpose that she could illuminate what the

19 translators or localizers have done for the translation of the two websites, with an ideological focus. Localizable items in a website include a wide range of elements, such as cultural items, pictures, colors and content which in itself includes; navigation menu, date and time zone, address format, currency, payment and etc (Payne, 2009). Due to the fact that the research was an ideology-based one, only the ideologically significant items (such as textual content and graphics), that are those which may be affected by and thus contain the ideology of the translator and web page designer, were examined. Such an analysis was done for originally English news websites that are localized to be used in Persianspeaking locales, to investigate whether these attempts contain any ideological implication or not Research Questions This research aims to investigate what is done in the translation phase of a current localization project, taking place in two originally English news websites for the Persian-speaking locale of Iran. Moreover the ideological load of these attempts is aimed to be examined; that is to focus on what the changes done by the translator or web page designer imply for. So, the main questions of the present study would be: 1) Are there any textual/semiotic differences between the news on the original and localized versions of BBC and VOA websites? 2) If yes, what are the ideological implications of the differences?

20 1.4. Hypothesis Since the second research question is a wh one, no hypothesis is proposed for that, but the researcher s null hypothesis for the first research question is the following: 1) There are no textual/semiotic differences between the news on the original and localized versions of BBC and VOA websites Theoretical Framework As for the theoretical framework of the research, Frahzad s model for CDA (2011, in press) is adapted in order to explore the ideological implications of translational choices. Farahzad believes that before the shift of paradigm in 1980s, the ever-changing and inadequate concept of equivalence was focused on and issues such as good/bad, right/wrong translations were of concern in Translation Quality Assessment (TQA) (Farahzad, 2011). Accordingly, translation criticism deals with issues such as how the socalled source texts are presented in target societies, what behavior they adopt, what effects they produce in target literatures and societies, how they represent the cultures and identities of the Other and what ideological implications they bear (Farahzad, 2011, para.6) Farahzad presents a three-dimensional model, based on intertextuality to redefine and explain the relation between the prototext and the metatext (traditionally called the source text and target text respectively), examines translational choices made by the translator, and analyzes them in the light of