What is social science translation?

by Target Language Translation Services

- September 06 2021

Translation has become an object of study for the social sciences. Social science translation is both a social practice and a cultural product involving agents (like authors, translators, editors, and critics) and institutions (like translation schools, literary and academic journals, publishing houses, and state policies). It is practiced by agents – translators – equipped with unique skills (linguistic, literary, academic, or technical), under various material conditions (for profit or not) and status (scholarly practice, profession). As a social activity, translation can be studied from various sociological perspectives: the professions of social science, the culture of social science, the study of international cultural exchanges, social functions, and fields (the political field, the economic field – publishing, the literary field), the social conditions of the international circulation of ideas, and the epistemology of the human and social sciences. While social science brings new perspectives to translation studies, translation raises, as an object, interesting questions for social science.

Challenges of social science translation

Academic articles related to the social sciences may be quite challenging, even for translators who are supposedly “specialists” in the field. Certain issues should be considered when attempting to offer quality translations for these academic works.

Most social science articles to be translated are intended for publication in scholarly journals, in order to promote worldwide diffusion. So as a translator, it is useful to know the journal/s to which the work will be submitted. This will help them to decide which version of English should be used, as well as certain style issues (reference formatting, text style, etc.). Translating into either US or British English involves more than simply running a spell check in one version or the other. Often, totally different terms are utilized to depict the same thing, depending on the country at hand.

For instance, in the field of education, significant country-based language differences abound. So, it is necessary to contemplate the potential article reader in order to offer an appropriate translation. For example, Spanish authors usually refer to “estudios secundarios”, which in English, translates literally into “secondary studies”. This term will be easily understood by UK readers. For US readers, however, “secondary school” is not typically utilized, with the terms “junior high, middle school or high school” being more common for this age group.

How to get appropriate social science translation

To get translation solutions that are specially designed in accordance to social science subjects like anthropology, economics, geography, linguistics, philosophy, political science, psychology and sociology, selection of reputable and professional translator of social sciences discipline is significant and crucial.

At Target Language Translation Services, we understand your needs and provide fast & precise translation in various foreign languages by giving a deep thought into the above mentioned subjects.

To provide specific foreign language expertise in virtually any social science discipline we:

• Hire native translators of the respective foreign languages involved with translation qualifications and specializations in this field.

• Offer translations in more than 200 languages.

• Provide quick professional and reliable translation services.

• Apply latest translation technology such as translation CAT tools.

• Maintain the look and feel of the translated documents during DTP services as an additional paid service.

• Have a QA in place during the entire translation process. Also, proofing services from a 2nd translator can be availed at an additional cost.

You can request for proposal for our social science translation service by calling us at 86-592-2963957 or emailing us at info@target-trans.com. Or you can simply fill in your information and send us your query via our online contact form.

This article is reprinted from Lingvopedia, Englishpanish and Wiley Online Library.

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