Decoding transcreation in corporate website localization into Arabic

As adaptation is often associated with localization, and with the promotion of transcreation as an extra service in the industry, there is a need to analyze how and to what extent transcreation is used in localization as a type of target-culture-focused translation. This paper looks into adaptation and analyzes transcreation as a translation strategy. It investigates online promotional texts localized into Arabic (for Saudi Arabia) as an under-researched language in website localization. The analysis follows a functionalist approach and examines 15 international corporate websites. The results illustrate components of transcreated texts and shed light on the use of different procedures to achieve the creative persuasive purpose.

Localization of a university website: translational aspect

This article is dedicated to one of the actively developing translation aspects in the Russian translation studies – the technology of website localization of Buryat State University. The author determines its key stages and analyzes the main translation techniques. Special attention is paid to the main aspects of localization (content, translation techniques, special lexicon, grammatical transformations, intercultural peculiarities, pragmatic adaptation). The subject of this research became the translation technique of the content of university website from Russian to English. The scientific novelty consists in identification of the aspects of localization of a university website and determination of techniques for translation of terms of the academic discourse. A conclusion is formulated that website localization is a creative process of adaptation of the content to language and cultural peculiarities of the local market. It is not limited just by the translation of text, but rather represents a form of intercultural communication, which successfulness is possible upon the condition of taking into account the sociocultural markers of the language of users.

Website localization

Traditionally, website translation has been considered a process moving from the global to the local, or from the major to the minor, and has largely been termed localization. Yet, the various meanings and interpretations of the term create the need for more specific terms that designate specific types of localization such as the cases where a locally generated website, created in a locale with ‘minor’ presence on the international market, needs to be provided in a language that is considered ‘major’ in cyberspace, e.g. websites into English as a lingua franca. In such cases, the website content transfer follows an opposite direction, i.e. from the local to the global. We would like to capitalize on the major-minor metaphor as a methodological tool for cases emerging as a quasi-opposite process to the prevailing conceptualization of localization, in an attempt to highlight differences which might justify new terminology. It will be argued that the concept of locale from which the term localization stems does not apply when a culturally undefined audience is addressed, and a new term will be proposed.

Machine Translation and Technicalities of Website Localization

Machine translation tools are widely used by companies. The tools are on an increasing demand. Translators need to equip themselves with the knowledge and the mastering of these tools. This study explores two machine translation tools involved in website localization. These tools are Alchemy Catalyst and Trados Tageditor. The study adopts an evaluative methodology to shed light on the intricacies and technicalities of these two localization tools. It discusses some of the cultural issues that localizers come across in the process of localization. In addition, it delves into the technical issues, mainly focusing on localizing into Arabic with a special focus on string, text, lexis, and orthography. The study concludes that the process of localization requires teamwork and involvement of computer engineers, and both localization tools are valuable in achieving a localization task.

FOREIGNIZATION AND DOMESTICATION IN THE MINISTERIAL WEBSITE LOCALIZATION

The translation is a representation of the effect of developing technology on language. Translated website or website localization with the easiness of accessibility is considered as the most efficient space for transferring the information nowadays. It certainly involves the appropriate translation strategies in order to provide reliable information required. This research aims to identify the translation strategy involved under foreignization and domestication reference in the official website localization of Ministry of Health of Republic of Indonesia, to find out the most dominant translation strategy used, and to analyze the reasons to what extent foreignization and domestication applied, by referring the classifications proposed by Venuti (2008). The source of data was taken from five (5) popular news along 2018 which were broken down into 191 data analyzed, consisting of 5 headlines in the form of phrases and sentences, contents totally written in 161 sentences, and 25 sub-contents in the form of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. The research found that the translator used all eight (8) translation strategies under domestication and foreignization reference including literal translation, transliteration, borrowing, transference, transposition, omission, addition, and adaptation, simultaneously or separately. Literal translation becomes the most dominant translation strategy used and it can indicate that the website localization is translated into source text-oriented.

The Avatars of Culture in Website Localization

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the most important cultural aspects involved in website localization by drawing on the data obtained from a number of Iranian website localizers. A questionnaire was given to 18 participants with varied degrees of expertise and experience who worked on website localization projects in either of English ↔ Persian, Arabic ↔ Persian, and French ↔ Persian directions for at least 3 years. The participants of the study were asked to rate as many factors as they perceived crucial in determining the cultural content of websites. Variables as diverse as ideology, pictures, symbols, colors, branding, navigation, and the written content were investigated. The questionnaire measured the importance of cultural variables and the items were evaluated on a scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). A final item asked why the localizers found any of the cultural variables difficult to localize. The results of the study show that ideology, pictures, and symbols were considered to be the most important variables in website localization, while localization of branding was the trickiest. This study emphasizes the unique cultural nature of website localization based on the analysis of the examples provided by the participants.