Article published In: Cognitive space: Exploring the situational interface:
Edited by Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow and Birgitta Englund Dimitrova
[Translation Spaces 5:1] 2016
► pp. 20–37
At the cognitive and situational interface
Translation in healthcare settings
Published online: 20 October 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.5.1.02gar
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.5.1.02gar
Characteristics such as interdisciplinarity and dynamism make both written medical communication and medical translation particularly complex. In order to address this complexity, researchers need to adopt an interdisciplinary perspective (involving discourse analysis, sociology of professions, knowledge communication, etc.) and to approach the communicative process as a complex and comprehensive chain of cause and effect interactions at three levels: cognitive (the translation act), situational (the translation event) and socio-cultural (norms, initiator, etc.). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research project concerned with communication in the highly sensitive area of cancer patients in two Spanish hospitals, to outline the methodological proposal of the Gentt Group, which advocates for flexibility in the approach (quantitative and qualitative methods) and for the use of the notion of genre as a conceptual tool for research purposes. The concept of genre combines linguistic, cognitive and contextual aspects, and it allows for links with translation studies theory.
References (24)
Borja Albí, Anabel, and Isabel García Izquierdo. 2015. “Corpus-Based Management Systems for Specialized Translation: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice.” In Corpus-Based Translation and Interpretation Studies: From Description to Application, edited by María Teresa Sánchez Nieto, 191–211. Berlin: Frank & Timme.
Borja Albí, Anabel, Isabel García Izquierdo, and Vicent Montalt Resurrecció. 2009. “Research Methodology in Specialized Genres for Translation Purposes.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 3 (11): 57–79.
Chesterman, Andrew. 2000. “A Causal Model for Translation Studies.” In Intercultural Faultlines: Research Models in Translation Studies I — Textual and Cognitive Aspects, edited by Maeve Olohan, 15–28. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Díaz Fouces, Óscar. 2014. “Algunas reflexiones sobre la ubicación académica de los Estudios de Traducción.” In Comunicar(se) en el siglo XXI. Doce propuestas de estudio sobre la comunicación, edited by Marta García González, and Aurora García González, 225–245. Granada: Comares.
Fischbach, Henry. 1998. “Guest Editor’s Preface.” In Translation and Medicine, edited by Henry Fischbach, 1–12. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
García Izquierdo, Isabel (ed.). 2005. El género textual y la traducción. Reflexiones teóricas y aplicaciones pedagógicas. Bern: Peter Lang.
. 2016. “Organising Specialized (Medical) Knowledge for Academic and Professional Settings. The Patient Information Genres.” In LSP Research, Teaching and Translation across Languages and Cultures, edited by Giuliana Garzone, Dermot Heaney, and Giorgia Riboni. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
García Izquierdo, Isabel, and Vicent Montalt Resurecció. 2013. “Equigeneric and Intergeneric Translation in Patient-Centred Care.” Hermes—Journal of Language and Communication in Business 511: 39–53.
García Izquierdo, Isabel, and Ana Muñoz Miquel. 2015. “Los folletos de información oncológica en contextos hospitalarios: la perspectiva de pacientes y profesionales sanitarios.” Pan@cea. Revista de Medicina y Traducción 16 (42): 225–231.
Halliday, Michael Alexander, and Ruqaiya Hasan. 1985. Language, Context and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social-Semiotic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Katan, David. 2009. “Translation Theory and Professional Practice. A Global Survey of the Great Divide.” Hermes—Journal of Language and Communication in Business 421: 111–153.
Katsberg, Peter. 2009. “Knowledge Communication. Formative Ideas and Research Impetus.” Programmatic Perspectives 2 (1): 59–71.
Marco Borillo, Josep. 2009. “Training Translation Researchers: An Approach Based on Models and Best Practice.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 3 (1): 13–35.
Montalt Resurecció, Vicent, and Isabel García Izquierdo. 2016. “Exploring the Links between the Oral and the Written in Patient-Doctor Communication.” In New Insights into the Analysis of Medical Discourse in Professional, Academic and Popular Settings, edited by Nuria Edo and Pilar Ordóñez. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Montalt Resurecció, Vicent, and María González-Davies. 2007. Medical Translation Step by Step. Learning by Drafting. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Muñoz Miquel, Ana. 2014. El perfil del traductor médico: análisis y descripción de competencias específicas para su formación. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Universitat Jaume I.
Saldanha, Gabriela, and Sharon O’Brien. 2013. Research Methodologies in Translation Studies. London/New York: Routledge.
Swales, John. 1990. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cited by (2)
Cited by two other publications
Valdez, Susana, Leticia Pablos Robles & Karin van den Berg
2025. The reception of translated vaccination information. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 37:2 ► pp. 213 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.