Complementary translation

Translatability, as an operative concept, offers a lot of consideration on fundamental issues. The present study focuses on a special approach in translation that is influenced by social bilingualism. The translator's bilingual competence sometimes leads to complementarity in sign and title translation. And complementary translation is viewed as dynamic equivalence.peer-reviewe

Explicating an English speaking examination : challenges and considerations

The assessment of speaking has become increasingly important in most language learning programmes. The Maltese postsecondary context saw the revision of the MATSEC Advanced English syllabus and the subsequent introduction of a speaking component as part of this high-stakes examination . The component's outline in the syllabus provided a degree of latitude but also had certain limitations; however, it was immediately clear that it required further refinement to guarantee a more rigorous speaking assessment. This article discusses the initiative undertaken by a group of lecturers of English at the University of Malta Junior College to explicate the speaking examination outlined in the syllabus. It illustrates how these lecturers positioned themselves as test developers in order to elaborate on the 'what' and 'how' of testing second language speaking at post-secondary level. In discussing various challenges and considerations, this article aims to illustrate some means of enhancing the high-stakes testing of speaking proficiency.peer-reviewe

On the Displacement of Eigenvalues when Removing a Twin Vertex

Twin vertices of a graph have the same open neighbourhood. If they are not adjacent, then they are called duplicates and contribute the eigenvalue zero to the adjacency matrix. Otherwise they are termed co-duplicates, when they contribute $-1$ as an eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix. On removing a twin vertex from a graph, the spectrum of the adjacency matrix does not only lose the eigenvalue $0$ or $-1$. The perturbation sends a rippling effect to the spectrum. The simple eigenvalues are displaced. We obtain a closed formula for the characteristic polynomial of a graph with twin vertices in terms of two polynomials associated with the perturbed graph. These are used to obtain estimates of the displacements in the spectrum caused by the perturbation

Diagnosing Malta's condition in the novel

Throughout the decades Maltese literature has reflected the Mediterranean environment to determine its influence on character. The use of harbour cities (like Birgu and Valletta) in different Maltese novels reflects the social behaviour of the inhabitants. For this presentation two major novels will be discussed: Anton Manwel Caruana's Inez Farrug (1889) and Oliver Friggieri's La Jibnazza Nigi Lura (2006). The former treats social life in harbour districts during the 15,h century and discusses its similarity with 19'h-century social behaviour; and the latter treats industrial life connected with the harbour in the early 20,h century. The paper discusses the relevance of urbanization in terms of these aspects vis-a-vis rural attitudes and way of life in a traditional Maltese environment with some implications of colonialism in Maltese fiction.peer-reviewe

Penetrating eye injuries at the workplace : case reports and discussion

We describe two recent cases of penetrating eye injury seen at Mater Dei Hospital, both resulting in a poor final outcome and illustrating the importance of wearing appropriate eye protection at the workplace. In case 1, injury was caused by a metal chip produced by a hammer and chisel that penetrated the sclera and lodged in the vitreous cavity, requiring vitrectomy and lens extraction and ultimately resulting in severe visual loss. In case 2, injury was caused by a shard released from an angle grinder disc that struck the orbit and caused severe disruption of the globe, which required enucleation. This is followed by a discussion on penetrating eye injuries, summarising the initial assessment and management of a suspected penetrating injury in the primary care setting and highlighting the need for urgent ophthalmic referral in cases where the nature of work was suggestive of high-speed projectiles, even where the trauma is seemingly trivial.peer-reviewe