Arabic localisation: key case studies for translation studies

This thesis investigates the practices of Arabic localisation as it presents a neglected area of localisation research, localising to a developing market. The thesis aims to establish a connection between localisation and Translation Studies, by exploring the ways in which this area can be theorised starting from the approaches developed by Lawrence Venuti (in particular the notions of foreignisation and domestication), and Christiane Nord (translation as interpersonal activity). Creating a theoretical framework which marries the cultural turn and functionalist approaches helps address the dynamics of Arabic localisation on both micro and macro levels. The thesis also aims to provide a holistic view of Arabic localisation, by considering translation processes and outcomes, and by attempting to understand how Arabic localisation is perceived by its target audience. In order to achieve these goals, the thesis presents three case studies devoted, respectively, to the FIFA 15 video game, the Knorr website and the educational platform Blackboard Learn. It follows a mixed method approach to answer about the unique nature of each case study. This includes text analysis which covers each medium’s localisation literature, the Arabic translated content of the selected products and related business articles. In addition, relevant online materials, such as gaming fora and Youtube gaming channels, are analysed to assess the response of the FIFA and Knorr target audience to the translation they receive. Due to the privacy of Blackboard Learn’s content and users, access to a student’s and an instructor’s accounts were sought from an Arabic university, and a questionnaire was developed to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the Arabic users’ response to the platform’s Arabic localisation. The significance of this thesis lies in its methodology and findings. Employing strategies from a range of backgrounds, academic, professional and social, produces a novel methodology for translation research and for addressing the complexity of the discipline of localisation, as well as understanding the effect of its technical and commercial aspects on translation practices and outcomes. By approaching localisation from a Translation Studies perspective, the thesis contributes to both disciplines. The thesis highlights the ways in which localising to a developing market is different from many of the practices discussed in the localisation literature. In addition, the context of Arabic localisation proves to be a fertile ground where Venuti’s theory of foreignisation and domestication can be relocated, and the debate about it acquires new nuances

Narrative motion on the two-dimensional plane: the “video-ization” of photography and characterization of reality

"Art is not truth. Art is a lie that enables us to recognize truth" Pablo Picasso Time, as known to many, is an indispensable component of photography. Period(s) included in “single” photographs are usually and naturally much shorter than periods documented in video works. Yet, when it comes to combining photos taken at different times on one photographical surface, it becomes possible to see remnants of longer periods of time. Whatever method you use, the many traces left by different moments, lead to the positive notion of timelessness (lack of time dependence) due to the plural presences of time at once. This concept of timelessness sometimes carries the content of the photo to anonymity, the substance becomes multi-layered and hierarchy disappears. This paper focuses on creating photographical narratives within the two-dimensional world. The possibility of working in layers with transparency within the computer environment enables us to overlay succession of moments seized from time on top of each other, in order to create a storyline spread in time that is otherwise not possible to express in a single photograph, unless properly staged. Truth with the capital T is not taken as the departure point in this article; on the contrary, personal delineations of temporary yet experienced smaller realities is suggested

Implications of LIS Instructors' E-resource Selections for Student Privacy Interests and Academic Library Values

This paper reviews materials from Fall 2013 courses and others at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to assess (a) how students' privacy interests were affected by instructors' choice of electronic resources and (b) the extent to which instructors utilized university libraries as a means through which to access resources. Instructors choose resources and means of access that compromise students' privacy interests; students are directed to access third party websites, thereby agreeing to these websites' privacy policies and terms of service, which results in these websites inserting dataveillance mechanisms into students' computers' and continuously harvesting their personal information Nor do instructors seem to utilize University Libraries as a resource to the greatest extent possible, thus impeding University Libraries' ability to assess value.Master of Science in Library Scienc

Information Disorder Machines

Weaponized narrative is an attack that seeks to undermine an opponent’s civilization, identity, and will. By generating confusion, complexity, and political and social schisms, it confounds response on the part of the defender. A fast-moving information deluge is an ideal environment for this kind of adversarial attack. A firehose of narrative attacks gives the targeted populace little time to process and evaluate. It is cognitively disorienting and confusing – especially if the opponents barely realize what’s occurring. Opportunities abound for emotional manipulation undermining the opponent’s will to resist. The following report captures the goals, subject matter expert inputs, raw data, and findings of Arizona State University’s Threatcasting Lab Workshop exploring the future of Weaponized Narrative. The findings exposed multiple threat areas and the coming of information disorder machines (IDMs) that could harm individuals, organizations, and even the entire United States of America. To empower people and organizations to disrupt, mitigate and recover from these potential threats the findings in this report identify not only specific threats but also provide recommendations through which organizations and individuals can disrupt, mitigate, and recover from the future of effects of IDMs.https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/aci_books/1038/thumbnail.jp

The ILR School at Fifty: Voices of the Faculty, Alumni & Friends (Full Text)

A collection of reflections on the first fifty years of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Compiled by Robert B. McKersie, J. Gormly Miller, Robert L. Aronson, and Robert R. Julian. Edited by Elaine Gruenfeld Goldberg. It was the hope of the compilers that the reflections contained in this book would both kindle memories of the school and stimulate interest on the part of future generations of ILRies who have not yet shared in its special history. Dedicated to the Memory of J. Gormly Miller, 1914-1995. Copyright 1996 by Cornell University. All rights reserved

The face of the phone: studies of public and private mobile-phone use

The following thesis provides two studies which explore the social impact of the mobile phone on the public and private spheres. Study One focuses upon the interaction management strategies used by people in public contexts: singles; groups; dyads; indoor; and outdoor locations and shows that interaction management strategies are particularly used when phone users have to simultaneously manage their 'remote' and 'co-local' communication. The study consists of eighteen hour-long observations which focus upon how mobile phone interactions affect dyad and group behaviour, and an online survey which draws upon eight-hundred responses about patterns and opinions of public mobile phone use. Study Two focuses upon the mobile phone as an affective device for communicating emotions and explores opinions about socially acceptable etiquette for the management of relationships via the mobile phone. This study focuses upon the socio-emotional contexts for private mobile phone use and looks at how people use their mobile phone to manage face in their personal relationships. Study Two makes use of data from eleven interviews and a nationally representative telephone survey gaining twelve hundred responses. The interview data presents several key themes: attachment to the phone; emotion and the mobile phone; socio-emotional use of the mobile phone; text messages in relationships; mobile phones as a method for facilitating and maintaining new dynamic 'always on' relationships. The survey data shows that mobile phones are affective devices for mediating emotion and are intrinsically linked to emotion. The thesis draws on and develops ideas from Goffman’s (1959, 1963) key works on interaction in public to help show how the phone is used in both the public and private spheres for interaction management, relationship management and face management. The thesis proposes and evaluates developments of Goffman’s ideas so as to take into account the new contexts of interaction provided by mobile communications devices. In short, this research aims to present ordinary everyday occurrences of mobile phone use. In doing so, it will show that mobile phone use in both the public and private spheres, is an extension upon existing social interaction

Equity program principals : policy mediation for equity

This study investigates the ways in which six principals from a range of government school contexts in NSW, Australia, implemented the Smarter Schools Low SES (SSLSES) School Communities National Partnership program to achieve equity in their schools. After analysing the ways in which principals were made accountable and positioned by policy discourse underpinned by economic rationalist principles, the thesis explores how the six principals mediated policy accountabilities for student equity. Using a number of Foucauldian conceptual lenses, each principal’s practices are examined as they implemented accountability, leadership and quality teaching governmentalities of the policy reforms. The study is underpinned by constructionist epistemology to better enable an understanding of the complex interrelationships of principals, as enactors, within the contexts of their schools; and as subjects, in interaction with educational policy discourses. Its design is informed by two main methodological approaches comprising a critical policy discourse analysis, and case studies of a sample of six SSLSES National Partnership principals. The policy analysis utilised Gee’s (2005) ‘D’/’d’iscourse concepts. Case study methods utilized semi-structured interviews with each principal and staff and/or community recommended by the principal, together with analysis of relevant artefacts. Data gathered was examined using Foucauldian notions of power, governmentality, resistance, ethics and technologies of the self to investigate how principals negotiated governmentality discourses directing their implementation. By undertaking the analysis of principals’ practices in selected domains of accountability, leadership and quality teaching, the thesis demonstrates that power relations and governmentality operated on and through principals to create them as disciplined subjects who were largely compliant to specific accountability pressures. This included acceding to standardised testing regimes, entrepreneurialism, and targeted continuous school improvement practices. However, principals also demonstrated the further capacity for contestation, re-articulation and mediation of a range of other key governmentalities, designed to normalize them, but seen to be at odds with their school community’s priorities, the principal’s own subjectivities and/or their vision for equity. Foucault’s notions about power relations, ethics and resistance were important in the study to show where and how principals operated counter to the conduct required of them in their local contexts. The study also demonstrated how policy governmentalities can be appropriated in ethical ways to implement reforms for equity. The study’s importance stems from its governmentality approach which demonstrates that in key domains, principals are not only enactors wholly ‘’responsibilised’ by policy accountabilities and discourse, but are educational leaders enmeshed within complex histories, with ethical stances and acceding also to the contingencies of their local contexts. They are therefore careful and selective mediators and purveyors of both normalizing and resistant practices and principal-co-producers of complex reform in the education marketplace. Despite disciplining practices of accountability regimes, principals have seized opportunities for agency over equity practices in their complex school contexts

The Impact of the Internationalisation of Higher Education on Scientists’ Multimodal Communication: A case study from Catalonia

Les universitats de tot el món són instades a participar en el procés d' ‘internacionalització’ com a distintiu de qualitat i com a reclam per atraure estudiants. Aquest estudi aborda aquesta qüestió des del context de les institucions catalanes d’educació superior, que afronten el dilema de donar suport a la/les llengua/gües local/s i, alhora, abraçar el multilingüisme i, sobretot, l’anglès. L'objectiu principal d'aquest estudi és examinar l'impacte de la internacionalització de l'educació superior en la comunicació diària dels científics. Les dades etnogràfiques s’han recopilat al llarg d’un període d’11 mesos d’observació de dos grups de recerca (RGs) multinacionals amb seu en una universitat catalana, i s’han contrastat amb dades extretes d’un RG amb seu a Alemanya i amb idees inspirades en les pràctiques del RG de la pròpia investigadora. De l'objectiu empíric n’ha derivat un objectiu teòric, que consisteix a dissenyar i provar un marc teòric adequat per estudiar el fenomen proposat de manera integral. Aquest estudi té l’objectiu de contribuir a la limitada literatura que descriu aquelles pràctiques comunicatives "informals" i inèdites dels científics, així com a la literatura sobre la internacionalització de l’ensenyament superior. A nivell pràctic, aquest treball pretén contribuir a la millora de les polítiques d’internacionalització de les institucions d’ensenyament superior de Catalunya, d’Europa i potencialment d’altres contextos arreu del món.Las universidades de todo el mundo son instadas a participar en el proceso de ‘internacionalización’ como distintivo de calidad y como reclamo para atraer estudiantes. Este estudio aborda esta cuestión desde el contexto de las instituciones catalanas de educación superior, que afrontan el dilema de apoyar la/s lengua/s local/es y, a la vez, abrazar el multilingüismo y, sobre todo, el inglés. El objetivo principal de este estudio es examinar el impacto de la internacionalización de la educación superior en la comunicación diaria de los científicos. Los datos etnográficos se han recopilado a lo largo de un período de 11 meses de observación de dos grupos de investigación (RGs) multinacionales con sede en una universidad catalana, y se han contrastado con datos extraídos de un RG con sede en Alemania y con ideas inspiradas en las prácticas del RG de la propia investigadora. Del objetivo empírico ha derivado un objetivo teórico, que consiste en diseñar y probar un marco teórico adecuado para estudiar el fenómeno propuesto de manera integral. Este estudio tiene el objetivo de contribuir a la limitada literatura que describe aquellas prácticas comunicativas "informales" e inéditas de los científicos, así como a la literatura sobre la internacionalización de la enseñanza superior. A nivel práctico, este trabajo pretende contribuir a la mejora de las políticas de internacionalización de las instituciones de enseñanza superior de Cataluña, de Europa y potencialmente de otros contextos en todo el mundo.Universities worldwide are urged to engage in the process of ‘internationalisation’ as a hallmark of quality and as a lure to attract students. The current study approaches this issue from the context of Catalan higher education institutions, which deal with the dilemma of supporting the local language(s) and at the same time embracing multilingualism and especially English. The main aim of this study is to examine the impact of the internationalisation of higher education on the daily communication of scientists. Ethnographic data have been collected throughout a period of 11 months from two multinational research groups (RGs) based in a Catalan state university, and contrasted with data taken from a RG based in Germany and with insights from the researcher’s own RG. From the empirical objective has derived a theoretical objective, consisting in designing and proving a suitable theoretical framework to study the phenomenon holistically. This study aims to contribute to the limited body of research describing scientists’ "informal" and unpublished communicative practices, as well as to the literature on the internationalisation of higher education. On a practical level, this work is intended to aid in the improvement of internationalisation policies of higher education institutions in Catalonia, in Europe and potentially in other contexts worldwide