Translating academic language : a focus on qualitative and quantitative research terminology in translation studies

Abstract

In academia, English has become firmly established as the global lingua franca of research and higher education. While this facilitates international scholarly communication, it also presents challenges for other languages, especially low-resourced languages like Maltese, which seek to assert themselves within academic discourse. In Maltese higher education, English is also the dominant language of instruction and publication, which has led to a limited use and underdevelopment of academic and research terminology in Maltese. The idea for this dissertation stems from this very gap, which reflects a broader issue concerning academic terminology development across various disciplines, not just Translation Studies. This dissertation aims to contribute to the development of Maltese academic language by translating and developing terminology related to quantitative and qualitative research in Translation Studies. One of the primary practical foci of this study involves translating an article on Quantitative Research (Rojo López 2022a), published in the Encyclopedia of Translation and Interpreting (ENTI), from English into Maltese. In addition, both the English and Maltese versions of the ENTI Qualitative Naturalistic Research article (Borg 2024a, 2024b) were used to extract key terminology. From these sources, a total of 100 key terms were identified to develop Maltese equivalents, forming terminology with definitions and contexts. This dissertation thus aims to demonstrate that translating and conducting terminological research in Maltese is vital, not only as a contribution to Translation Studies, but also as a means of promoting more inclusive academic participation with more readily available Maltese resources. This is especially important for Maltese-speaking academics, researchers, translators, writers, and students who wish to engage with scholarly work in their native language. Ultimately, this dissertation aims to contribute towards the expansion of Maltese academic resources. Maltese, like all languages, deserves a place in the global production of knowledge, not merely as a cultural symbol, but as a living academic language.