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Biography
The development of my life and academic career is closely linked to Nottingham and the University: since starting here as an undergraduate back in 2010, the only time I have left the city for an extended period of time was my year abroad! I studied French and German Joint Honours (now part of the R900 Modern Languages programme), before completing a Masters in Translation Studies with Interpreting. I then progressed to doctoral research under the supervision of Dr. Kathryn Batchelor and Dr. Pierre-Alexis Mével, analysing what reviewers and general readers actually want from translation: is the only thing that we want fluency? Or perhaps is there nowadays a greater understanding of the translation process and the approaches that we can take in our work as translators? I was appointed as Assistant Professor in Translation Studies at the University of Nottingham for the start of the 2019/20 academic year and have since taken on roles as the Course Director for Modern Languages with Translation (74Q9) and one of the Admissions Tutors for the whole department of Modern Languages and Cultures. I have extensive knowledge of the translation industry which I particularly enjoy imparting on students as part of the Modern Languages with Translation course.
Expertise Summary
Translation theory - particularly Venuti's notions of foreignisation & domestication
Practical translation
Modern-day translation industry
Accessibility studies
Teaching Summary
Undergraduate modules
MLAC1089 Introduction to Translation and Interpreting Studies (French tutor & specialist on Careers)
MLAC2137 Translation Portfolio (Module convenor, main lecturer & French tutor)
MLAC2158 Contemporary Translation Studies (French tutor)
MLAC3151 Introduction to Interpreting (German tutor)
MLAC3152 Translation Project (Module convenor, main lecturer & French supervisor)
Postgraduate modules
MLAC4035 Targeted Translation Project (French/German supervisor)
MLAC4101 Practical Translation (specialist on Translation & Ethics)
Research Summary
My current research focusses on helping a Nottingham-based dance company, IMPACD CIC, to embed inclusivity and accessibility into their marketing materials and classroom practice. IMPACD wanted to… read more
Recent Publications
Current Research
My current research focusses on helping a Nottingham-based dance company, IMPACD CIC, to embed inclusivity and accessibility into their marketing materials and classroom practice. IMPACD wanted to transform their website into a more inclusive space for audiences with visual, sensory, and cognitive impairments. IMPACD already employed a widget provided by UserWay which includes various text toggling features (such as contrast, bigger text, text spacing, dyslexia friendly fonts), but they recognised the need to enhance audio and language support further. They therefore asked a team of researchers from the University of Nottingham to 'translate' the content of the website into Easy Language, a much simplified version of English, and to develop comprehensive audio-described alternative text for images for future implementation in an inclusive version of the website. The results of this stage of the project can be found on IMPACD CIC's website: Impacd - Impacd - Accessible community centre for music and dance Nottingham.
Past Research
In his 1995 seminal work, The Translator's Invisibility, Lawrence Venuti examines the impact of the reviewing of translations on the (in)visibility of the translator. The American scholar contends that a fluent translation approach, which ultimately makes the work of the translator 'invisible' to the target reader, is the main criterion by which translations are read and assessed by reviewers; any deviations from such fluent discourse are dismissed as inadequate. My most recent monograph takes its inspiration from Venuti's comments and subsequent studies of reviewing practices and thus examines the criteria by which translations are assessed in the year 2015. One of the main aims of the monograph is therefore to either corroborate or contradict - or perhaps rather, update - Venuti's assertions made more than twenty years ago. Yet the monograph is also original in its approach: firstly, it provides a cross-cultural insight into reviewing practices, assessing whether and how translations are reviewed differently in three Western European countries, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Previous studies have been rather restrictive in their focus in this regard, investigating reviewing practices in just one country (principally the United Kingdom). Secondly, the monograph also affords us a cross-platform insight, examining how translations are reviewed depending on the popularity/specialisation of the platform on which the review is published. To achieve this, the monograph has three 'points of attack' for each country: popular corpora open for comments from the public, mainstream newspapers/cultural supplements, and specialised literary magazines. Although different platforms have different characteristics and readerships, previous studies of reviewing translated works have tended to focus exclusively on broadsheets (despite the fact that mainstream broadsheets only form a small part of the network of reviewing). My book on this subject can be found here: Making the 'Invisible' Visible? - Peter Lang Verlag.
Future Research
Over the next few months, I will continue to work with IMPACD CIC to develop their inclusivity and accessibility. There are two further stages to the project:
Stage 2: digitalising the Inclusive Movement Programme (IMP) tool The Inclusive Movement Programme (IMP) is central to IMPACD's approach. This unique methodology employs familiar language, symbols, and creative techniques to engage individuals with diverse learning styles and abilities. Currently, the IMP tool is a series of flashcards which IMPACD pin up around the room. They approached us to help digitalise the IMP tool by: transforming the flashcards into digital animations, with accompanying visual and aural materials; allowing animations to be used on a touchscreen so that users can create their own movement sequences; and providing captions and audio description for certain users. We will work closely with their respite participants, aged eight to 21, who have various learning disabilities, to ensure that the final resource is appropriate for the target audience.
Stage 3: public dance installation The final stage of the Project aims to create a captivating public display of dance. IMPACD envision a digitalised screen featuring animated words and the IMP tool, synchronised with sounds that complement the actions and words. Dancers from the IMPACD community will interpret the prompts in their own unique ways. To ensure inclusivity, IMPACD plan to use silent disco technology, offering audio descriptions through headphones with customisable sound options. We will be involved in creating the content for the digitalised screen, synchronising the sounds and music to match the action and words, and providing the audio-description for the headphones.
For more information on this project, please visit the WeSpeak website: WeSpeak. - Every Voice Heard. Every Language Understood.