i THE TRANSLATABILITY OF ENGLISH ACADEMIC DISCOURSE INTO ISIZULU WITH REFERENCE TO THE DISCOURSE OF MATHEMATICS By Phakamile Ntshangase-Mtolo A minor dissertation submitted to the Discipline of Applied Language Studies, School of Language, Literature and Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Applied Language Studies January 2009 ii DECLARATION Submitted in fulfillment/partial of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art the Graduate Programme in Applied Language Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. All citations, references and borrowed ideas have been duly acknowledged. It is being submitted for the degree of Master of Art in the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. None of the present work has been submitted previously for any degree or examination in any other University. Nokubongwa Phakamile Ntshangase-Mtolo Student Name ____________________ Date Professor Rosemary Wildsmith-Cromarty Supervisor’s Name _________________________ Date iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to record my sincere thanks to the following: My supervisor Professor Rosemary Wildsmith-Cromarty for her support. Had it not been for her constructive criticism and insights on the subject, this dissertation would have remained impossible. The translators and the back-translators that made their inputs during the interviews and gave up their precious times to meet with me. NRF for funding part of the project. The views contained in this work are those of the researcher. My family for their encouragement, understanding and for the great support they gave me during these stressful times. iv ABSTRACT This research investigates the translatability of English Academic Discourse into isiZulu with specific reference to the discourse of Mathematics. The focus is on the translation processes and strategies used in the translations to maintain the core meaning of concepts. The reason for the research is that African-language speaking learners experience problems in understanding and using crucial academic concepts in English and the language that contextualizes them. The research thus analyses translated texts from the mathematics and mathematical literacy learning areas selected from a Multilingual Teachers’ Resource Book written for learners at the GET Level (Grade 7-9) in order to explore the process of translation by examining the isiZulu translated texts (target texts) of English source texts, and their subsequent back-translations. The main focus is on the quality of the translation and the strategies translators use in order to retain the core meaning of the original text, especially when languages are non-cognate. The study found that although formal equivalence between non-cognate languages is difficult to achieve, functional or near-equivalence is not always appropriate either, especially in specialized discourses of a scientific or technical nature. The solution lies in building up the technical discourse in the African Languages. This research also explores possible limitations in the translator-training offered for bilingual translators of English and isiZulu and leads to recommendations as to what the translator-training should focus on in the long term. Findings from this research should contribute to the language policy debate on isiZulu as a viable medium of instruction as well as to the process of terminology development. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of contents v List of figures vi Appendices vi Glossary of terms vii CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1.1 Motivation for study 1 1.2 Background to research 2 1.3 Existing research 4 1.4 Aims of study 10 1.5 Research design 12 1.6 Structure of dissertation 13 CHAPTER 2: Literature review on translation and translatability 2.1 Translation equivalence 14 2.1.1 Formal and textual equivalence 14 2.1.2 Functional or dynamic equivalence 20 2.1.3 Problems of non-equivalence 22 2.2 Translation methods and processes 25 2.3 Systemic Functional Grammar 30 CHAPTER 3: Research methodology 3.1 Research design 34 3.2 Data Collection 36 3.2.1 English Source Text 37 3.2.2 Translations 37 3.2.3 Translators 38 3.2.4 Interviews 38 3.3 Data analysis 41 3.4 Limitations of the study 44 vi CHAPTER 4: Text analysis 45 Clause 1 46 Clause 2 56 Clause 3 62 Clause 4 69 Clause 5 75 CHAPTER 5: Findings 80 CHAPTER 6: Conclusion and recommendations 84 References 86 List of Figures Figure 1: Systemic Functional Grammar 30 Figure 2: Research Design 33 Figure 3: Data Collection 34 Appendices Appendix I Mathematics translations 92 Appendix II Informed consent form 95 Appendix III Questionnaire 96 Appendix IV - Interviews Primary translator 1 98 Appendix V - Interviews Back-translator 1 113 Appendix VI – Interviews Back-translator 2 119 Appendix VII – Interviews Primary translator 2 124 vii Appendix VIII– Interviews Back-translator 3 131 Appendix IX – Interviews Back-translator 4 133 Glossary of terms BT - Back Translation CALP - Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency ESL - English Second Language FET - Further Education and Training GET - General Education and Training HLP - Home Language Project L1 - First Language LOLT - Language of Learning and Teaching MOI - Medium of Instruction PANSALB - Pan South African Language Board PT - Primary Translation RNCS – Revised National Curriculum Statement SFG – Systemic Functional Grammar SL – Source Language TL – Target Language CHAPTER 1 1.1 MOTIVATION FOR STUDY The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, section 6, declares the promotion of multilingualism in the country. In the KwaZulu-Natal province the official languages are English, Afrikaans and isiZulu. English and Afrikaans are well-developed languages in terms of academic discourse. IsiZulu, on the other hand, remains underdeveloped in the academic context. For example, terms like bearing, geometric and grid, which are terms found in the Mathematics field, do not have equivalents in isiZulu. Translators struggle to find equivalents or near synonyms because they do not exist in the target language, which makes it even more difficult for translators to appropriately relate these terms to something they are familiar with. One of the reasons for the underdevelopment of the African languages is that the use of mother tongue as a language of instruction was limited to the first four years of schooling by the Bantu Education Act of 1953. Therefore the development of cognitive academic language was not continued as African languages were perceived to be inadequate for use as languages of learning (Van Zyl 1961 cited in Mahlalela and Heugh 2002). The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996:4) declares that, “All languages must enjoy parity of esteem and must be treated equitably.” For this purpose, the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb) was established to promote and create conditions for the development and use of all official languages equally (The Constitution of RSA, 1996). Various governmental departments, such as the Department of Arts and Culture in KwaZulu-Natal, Municipalities and other sectors such as ABSA bank have 1 already begun to exercise this right of language equity by publishing documents in the three official languages of the province, namely, English, isiZulu and Afrikaans. However, this exercise of right is still not evident in the educational and academic domains as English still remains the principal medium of instruction in the majority of schools, where subjects such as Mathematics and Natural Sciences are learnt in English and the practicality of learning such subjects in a mother tongue language remains in question. There is a growing debate on the use of African languages as languages of learning or mediums of instruction. For this reason this research examines the translatability of English Academic Discourse in terms of how English texts translate into isiZulu by identifying concepts that do not translate easily and accurately between the two languages; by identifying difficulties and how meaning is transferred from the original text; the causes of difficulties (if any) when transferring from the original text into the target and, lastly, finding the reasons for the linguistic choices made by the translators. This research also deals with translatability as it is linked to the development of concepts through language which, in turn, is linked to CALP which is necessary if African languages are to be used as MOI. 1.2 BACKGROUND TO RESEARCH During the pre-apartheid regime, terminology in African languages had been carried out in the period of 1928-1955 even though that terminology has not been used since the publication of the Bantu Education Act of 1953 and needs to be re-used and standardized 2 if African languages are to be developed as languages of learning (Mahlalela and Heugh 2002). Alexander (2003:12) argues that during the pre-apartheid period, African languages were already in use for the purpose of developing literacy which subsequently facilitated a smooth transition into English and Afrikaans literacy. Prior to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), African languages were not seen to be appropriate languages for use as LOLTs, with the result that there was little or no further development of these languages in technical, academic and scientific fields (Mahlalela & Heugh (2002) citing Van Zyl (1961)). The reason for this was that there was little time spent in the learning and acquisition of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) in the African languages in schools, as the main focus of learning was on English and Afrikaans. Alexander (2003) states that: Today, still, one of the most difficult tasks that confront progressive educationalists in South Africa is the rehabilitation of mother tongue education not only as a valid education strategy but as the most likely strategy to redress the educational imbalances that we have inherited from the past. Paradoxically, the only children who enjoy all the advantages of mother tongue education from the cradle to the university and beyond are in fact L1-speakers of English and Afrikaans. (Alexander 2003:14-15) His utterance makes reference to the language policy of the Apartheid Era. South Africa today is faced with problems of re-dressing the language imbalances caused by the apartheid regime which is one of the reasons of the poor performance of the Grade 12 learners who find English to be a barrier to understanding technical terms learnt in their curriculum. Wildsmith and Gordon (2006) reported considerable resistance to the 3