‘Mistranslations’ was the title of one of the exhibitions for Melbourne Design Week 2021 (to April 5). It was devised in response to translation errors and confusing information regarding COVID-19, produced during 2020. Artists from non-English speaking backgrounds were invited to create posters in languages other than English to make the COVID-19 safety messages clear. Nick Baker’s SBS News article provides a vivid overview.
The results are amazing. Check out the Instagram page.
Getting the message across in the classroom
This would be an excellent visual literacy project, as multimedia texts are a key feature of the Australian Curriculum: English, NSW English K-10 syllabus, and linking to delivering presentations in the national Literacy learning progression. The work involved in this activity will include speaking and listening, reading, writing, vocabulary, as well as aspects of visual design.
Texts provide the means for communication. They can be written, spoken, visual, multimodal, and in print or digital/online forms. Multimodal texts combine language with other means of communication such as visual images
The full design brief can be found at Mistranslations. While the designs won’t make it to Melbourne Design Week this year, students will be able to decorate the school with stunning, informative posters that confirm our continuing need to continue to be careful – this pandemic is not over yet.
Getting the message across for English speakers
In a recent blog on primarylearning.com.au I talked about the importance of clear, simple messaging.
I referred to an article in The Conversation, where it was pointed out that only two of the 52 documents providing COVID-19 information examined ‘could be read with relative ease.’ (The Conversation 28/01/2021)
The message about keeping safe in this time of pandemic was of critical importance. Yet information in English was complex, confusing and wordy. So how was it for everyone else?
The COVID-19 message when English isn’t the first language
The accessibility of health messages for speakers of languages other than English became a very public issue when it was revealed that the Federal government had used Google Translate for COVID-19 messaging aimed at multicultural communities (ABC News 13/08/2020).
Key points about the materials produced include:
- translation errors were found in both state and federal material
- there was considerable variability in the translations
- some translations were nonsensical
- languages that used the same script had been combined
Significantly, the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network Australia says there are frequent problems with translations of government messages, at any time.
“So it’s showing clearly not just during the COVID-19 pandemic, but translation across the board is a serious issue that’s not treated the same as other documents that might be written in English and that are reviewed as part of correct processes.”
(Stephanie Dalzell ABC News 13/08/2020).
An excellent article from SBS (for World Translation Day, 2020), demonstrates the importance of effective delivery of sound, reliable and trustworthy translation of COVID-19 messages. See The Australian community translators fighting coronavirus one word at a time
The vital role played by skilled translators and their interactions to ensure the messages are getting through are described.
Also included is consideration of the (now) obvious difficulty with finding translations when two or more words in English are put together to create a specific term – examples provided include ‘social distancing’, and ‘travel bubble’ – as there is not even a remote equivalent. Without skilled translation, the terms are meaningless.
Even in English, there are terms that are constructed which cause linguistic distress for skilled speakers. I personally have issues with ‘fake news’, and don’t understand how this means anything other than ‘lies’.
If you have concerns about the accuracy of any materials for schools, contact the NSW Department of Education multicultural resources website.
Is the message being received?
We know that the inability to access important information disempowers people and communities.
The issue of distribution and accessibility of messages was also revealed in research by Dr Alexandra Grey of The University of Sydney Law School. Grey found that
official pandemic material in languages other than English (LOTE) has not been disseminated effectively, meaning uptake and engagement was limited.
(Nick Baker, SBS News 14/04/2021)
Grey discovered that signage was not obvious or even apparent in some Sydney suburbs with a high percentage of LOTE speakers. There were also messages being presented through fake Twitter accounts.
In 2020 Shadow Multicultural Affairs Minister Andrew Giles wrote to then Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge about errors in translations of COVID-19 information. He stated that it is important the Government ensures messages are not just delivered — but received. (ABC News 13/08/2020).
Since then, state and federal departments of health have been working closely with community and professional translators to ensure messages are clear.
Importance of clear messaging
Errors in health messaging in general, translations in particular, and their mode of delivery, have wide implications, including eroding both the authority of the messages themselves and of the body giving the message, as well trust in these bodies. The evidence of the government fabricating social media activity would appear to confirm reasons for mistrust.
Issues with mistranslations in Federal and State documents have since been addressed. But those posters created for Melbourne Design Week show us what is possible.
Getting the message across is what literacy is all about. We can play an important role for our students, and for our school communities, as we address syllabus content.
News and information about COVID-19 is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus
- ABC News: Stephanie Dalzell at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-13/coronavirus-messages-translated-to-nonsense-in-other-languages/12550520 accessed 14/4/2021
- Community Door has support in Easy English and other languages.
- Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre – an enormous range of multicultural resources, and facilities, for NSW DoE teachers
- I.S.S. – Taking away as a strategy – what can we get rid of in our signage? or practice? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brain-typically-overlooks-this-brilliant-problem-solving-strategy/ accessed 11 April 2021
- Part of Melbourne Design Week. Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/mistranslations_exhibition/?utm_source=ig_embed
- SBS News: Nick Baker at: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/these-artists-have-reimagined-australia-s-poorly-translated-coronavirus-messaging?cid=newsapp:socialshare:email