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Article published In: Specialised Translation in Spain: Institutional dimensions
Edited by José Santaemilia-Ruiz and Sergio Maruenda-Bataller
[Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 30:2] 2017
► pp. 636–661

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The multilingual university website (MUW) genre ecology

Content analysis and translation processes

 | Universitat Jaume I
 | Universitat Jaume I
Published online: 26 March 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.00010.ezp
Abstract
This article analyzes the content of Spanish university websites and the processes involved in translating them, with the aim of identifying the challenges internationalisation poses for these institutions and the technical, organisational, and translation-related solutions that have been adopted for managing their multilingual content, particularly in the case of universities in autonomous communities with two official languages. It examines the communicative situation of the multilingual university website (MUW) genre by applying textual genre analysis, with special emphasis on translation and localisation processes. The empirical study of the macrostructures, multilingual content, and strategies used by each university to translate its website is articulated through the notion of a genre ecology, as a complex conglomerate of genres based on distributed cognition and shared authorship. The analysis shows that the processes involved in creating multilingual content require adopting comprehensive translation and localisation strategies, establishing sole decision-makers for translation management and quality control, and providing the necessary resources to ensure the multifunctionality, dynamicity, interactivity, and adaptability we have identified in monolingual university websites. Finally, we offer suggestions for improving the creation, management and control of multilingual content, and define the profiles of the specialized translators required for this type of institutional website.
Resumen
A partir del análisis de contenidos de las webs universitarias españolas y de los procesos de traducción de los mismos, esta aportación pretende identificar los retos que la internacionalización ha supuesto para estas instituciones y las soluciones técnicas, organizativas y traductológicas que han aplicado hasta el momento para la gestión de sus contenidos multilingües, especialmente en el caso de las universidades de comunidades autónomas con dos lenguas oficiales. Aplicando técnicas de análisis de género textual se estudia la situación comunicativa de la web universitaria multilingüe (WUM), haciendo especial hincapié en los procesos de localización y traducción de sus contenidos. La noción de ecología de géneros, como conglomerado de géneros complejo, que funciona con esquemas de cognición distribuida y autoría compartida ha articulado el estudio empírico de las macroestructuras, los contenidos multilingües y las estrategias empleadas por cada universidad para traducir sus webs. El análisis realizado pone de manifiesto que los procesos de creación de contenidos multilingües requieren estrategias de actuación integrales, la definición de responsables únicos de la gestión, y del control de la calidad y la dotación de los recursos necesarios para ajustarse a las características de multifuncionalidad, dinamismo, interactividad y adaptabilidad que hemos identificado en las webs universitarias monolingües. Finalmente, se apuntan propuestas para mejorar los procesos de creación, gestión y control de los contenidos multilingües y se definen los perfiles de traductor especializado que requieren este tipo de webs institucionales.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Complex conglomerates of genres, shared cognition, and the university website (UW) genre ecology
  • 3.Analysis of Spanish UWs: Materials and methods
    • 3.1Macrostructure: organisation of contents, functionalities, and applications
    • 3.2Incorporating multilingual content
    • 3.3Managing the process of creating and authoring multilingual content
    • 3.4Incorporating translation technologies
  • 4.Conclusions and suggestions for further work
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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