Traducción comentada de “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and Recombinant DNA Technology”

The purpose of this paper is to provide a translation into Spanish of a review articleabout genetically modified organisms (GMOs) entitled “Genetically ModifiedOrganisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and Recombinant DNA Technology” publishedby the well-known scientific journal Nature. In a world where English has become thelingua franca when it comes to transferring scientific knowledge and information, itmust be taken into account that not everyone—from scientist to the general public—hasa good enough command of English so that they can feel comfortable enough reading inthis language. Translators are consequently needed resulting from a great demand oftranslation activity into, for example, Spanish. This is the reason why the proposedSpanish translation is followed by a detailed analysis emphasizing the difficulties andproblems that characterize scientific—and also general—translation (i.e. terminology,syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and ideology), for which different approaches as how tosolve them are provided. On the basis of the analysis, it can be concluded thatexperience will be of much help to scientific translators, given that specificterminological knowledge and style requirements must always be born in mind whentranslating in this field. Moreover, this paper is intended to serve as a guide forTranslation students specializing in the field of science and the expectation is to helpthem make the right decisions when it comes to translating. However, it is clear that itcan only be thought of as an introduction that should be completed with further researchand documentation tasks in order to offer a complete reference tool: the ultimatehandbook of scientific translation.

L'adquisició de l'entonació en català, castellà i anglès

El principal objectiu del projecte és analitzar el desenvolupament de l’entonació de tres llengües, el català, el castellà i l’anglès. Pretenem investigar el desenvolupament dels diferents patrons entonatius que trobem en la producció primerenca, avaluant si, efectivament, aquests primers contorns produïts pels nens reflecteixen o no les propietats prosòdiques específiques de la llengua input dels adults. En resum, l'objectiu és poder esbrinar com l'infant va configurant la seva gramàtica entonativa així com el significat que va associat a aquestes produccions entonatives. Pretenem analitzar dos tipus de dades. Per una banda, un corpus d’entonació que conté els diàlegs controlats entre 36 nens i 36 adults (12 nens de cada llengua de 2, 4 i 6 anys) i que permet de comparar les mateixes frases produïdes pels adults i pels nens. Per altra banda, els corpus longitudinals de CHILDES que ens permeten analitzar dades sobre actes de parla i formes entonatives (corpus Serra-Solé per al català, corpus Ornat i Llinàs-Ojea per al castellà i el corpus Providence per a l'anglès americà i el Forrester per a l'anglès britànic).

Episteemisyys, yksilö ja yhteisö : eräiden modaali-ilmausten pragmatiikkaa

Summary: Epistemics. The individual and community, the pragmatics of certain modal expressions

Aproximaciones a la lectura crítica: teoría, ejemplos y reflexiones

Dentro de las ciencias del lenguaje, el Análisis Crítico del Discurso (ACD) aprovecha las aportaciones de los recientes estudios sobre el texto (análisis del discurso, pragmática, sociolingüística, etnografía de la comunicación, teoría de la enunciación, etc.) para definir los propósitos y la metodología del análisis crítico. Ante el mundo multicultural y globalizado en el que vivimos, la única respuesta educativa posible es la necesidad de formar a una ciudadanía, que tenga habilidades críticas de lectura, escritura y pensamiento y participe de modo constructivo en el desarrollo de una comunidad plural, respetuosa y progresista. El artículo explora en la teoría y en la práctica la lectura crítica, para reflexionar sobre la necesidad de fomentar este tipo de práctica lectora en el aula. Para ejemplificar el funcionamiento de la lectura crítica, se trabajan lingüísticamente desde el ACD algunos fragmentos breves de discurso. Se analiza el grado y el tipo de comprensión lectora crítica que muestran 25 exámenes de universitarios españoles de 20 años, estudiantes de Traducción e Interpretación en la Universidad Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona, que habían tenido 80 horas de instrucción sobre lengua escrita y análisis deldiscurso en castellano y catalán (con varias sesiones sobre Análisis Crítico del Discurso), en las que se habían analizado cooperativamente textos parecidos al propuesto en el examen.

Anàlisi d'una conversa argumentativa : Articles al diari Ara, Tresserras vs. Pastor

Aquest treball té per objecte l'anàlisi d'una "conversa" argumentativa -un conjunt de sis articles periodístics que conformen un macrotext-, des del punt de vista del model pragmadialèctic. Els columnistes expressen els seus punts de vista al voltant de la "qüestió catalana", de vigència notable especialment d'ençà del setembre de 2012.

Teoría de la comunicación y análisis transaccional

La descripción e interpretación del lenguaje -en su amplitud- parece sustraerse, por el momento, a un solo sistema teórico. Por ello la prevención ante la naturaleza diversa de ciertas aportaciones necesariamente debe matizarse, para que no sea causa de empobrecimiento. En el campo de la psicología clásica el canadiense Eric Berne crea a principios de los años sesenta el análisis transaccional (AT) , terapia de características singulares con un sistemático fundamento teórico 1. En alguno de sus aspectos tiene relevancia para la teoría de la comunicación en aquello que enfatizaba Bloomfield, el estudio de la conducta. Y ello a su gusto: de manera objetiva, antidefinicionista y antiesencialista. El Análisis Transaccional contempla la descomposición de la conducta (análisis), que es el resultado de la acción o interacción con los demás (transaccional). Para nuestro objetivo, su excelencia radica en su carácter verificable, descriptivo y explicativo, predictivo e integrador.

Usos políticos del lenguaje. Un discurso paradójico

Beatriz Gallardo Paúls ha publicado Usos políticos del lenguaje. Se trata de un libro sobre análisis del discurso que destaca por ser doblemente provechoso. Lo es porque reúne, sin solución de continuidad, un marco teóricodiverso y relevante y el análisis de discurso político. La obra articula con concisión y lucidez un discurso formativo, detallado y aplicado. Para ofrecer este resultado, la autora utiliza elementos de pragmática y de semántica cognitiva. La autora es catedrática de Lingüística en la Universidad de Valencia. Beatriz Gallardo Paúls se ha especializado en análisis conversacional y ha realizado estudios sobre discurso privado, en particular en el ámbito clínico, y sobre discurso público. Una clave de esta dedicación se halla en la identidad de su departamento, el de Teoría de los Lenguajes y Ciencias de la Comunicación. La consecuencia es que la lingüística se concibe como una disciplina que adquiere una dimensión aplicada e interdisciplinar. Lo que parece un factor administrativo puede tener una gran repercusión científica. Un efecto afortunado de esta concepción abierta, práctica e inquisitiva es la edición del libro que nos ocupa, 'Usos políticos del lenguaje'.

La Relación del lenguaje con la teoría de la mente en edad escolar

In the past years a considerable amount of research has been carried out on the development of theory of mind (ToM) reporting that language and ToM performance are correlated. However it is less clear what aspect of language is related with ToM development. Some studies show a greater influence of semantics aspects, whereas others suggest that sentential complement sentences, a specific aspect of syntax, are crucial for false belief understanding (FB). Yet others argue that pragmatic abilities correlate with FB understanding. The aim of this study is investigate, on the one side, the development of ToM between the ages of 6 and 8 and on the other side, the relationship between some aspects of language and the ToM improvement. Several ToM tasks were administrated to evaluate children’s performance at two different ages (60 participants aged 6 and 8 years) and four tasks to assess language abilities. The results show a significant increase in the understanding of the mind between the ages of 6 and 8. Furthermore, results reveal a significant relationship between syntax and tasks that require FB understanding, while pragmatics is more strongly associated with tasks that involve more complex socio-cognitive understandings

Pragmática de la puntuación y nuevas tecnologías

La puntuación ha evolucionado a lo largo de la historia, no solo en cuanto al número de signos, sino también con respecto a su función de guía en la (re)presentación y el procesamiento del texto. El objetivo del presente artículo es discutir la pragmática de la puntuación en los principales modos de comunicación mediada por ordenador. Mi propuesta consiste en considerar que las nuevas formas escritas de interacción mediada por ordenador situadas en el polo de la inmediatez comunicativa han dado lugar a un particular sistema de puntuación metarrepresentativa que compite con los códigos de puntuación tanto retórico como gramatical.

«M'encantaria poder venir a l'estadi a jugar contra el meu equip»: dixi de persona, footing i identitat, una entrevista a Pep Guardiola

Aquest article té dos objectius bàsics. En primer lloc, mostrar la capacitat analítica d'un estudi de cas a l'hora d'estudiar l'expressió de la identitat i dels rols assumits pels participants en la comunicació, posant-la en relació amb els marcs participatius d'Erwing Goffman (1981), d'una banda, i amb la dixi de persona i les seves manifestacions gramaticals (Levinson 1983; Nogué 2008), de l'altra. I en segon lloc, mostrar com l'estructura gramatical pot proporcionar indicadors lingüístics que donen informació sobre la identitat i els rols assumits, posant l'èmfasi en una circumstància concreta: la manera com es reflecteix lingüísticament la col¿lisió entre dos o més rols. Paraules clau: dixi de persona, identitat, rol participatiu, marc participatiu. This article has two main purposes. In the first place, to show how a case study can provide interesting information about the expression of identity and of the different roles assumed by the communication participants. On the one hand, this information is related to the participation frameworks proposed by Erwing Goffman (1981); on the other hand, to person deixis and its grammatical manifestations (Levinson 1983; Nogué 2008). And in the second place, to show how grammatical structure can provide linguistic cues about identity and roles, putting the emphasis on a specific circumstance: the linguistic signs of the collision between two or more of these roles. Key words: person deixis, identity, participation role, participation framework.

Equivalence and translation strategies in multilingual thesaurus construction

In the present dissertation, multilingual thesauri were approached as cultural products and the focus was twofold: On the empirical level the focus was placed on the translatability of certain British-English social science indexing terms into the Finnish language and culture at a concept, a term and an indexing term level. On the theoretical level the focus was placed on the aim of translation and on the concept of equivalence. In accordance with modern communicative and dynamic translation theories the interest was on the human dimension. The study is qualitative. In this study, equivalence was understood in a similar way to how dynamic, functional equivalence is commonly understood in translation studies. Translating was seen as a decision-making process, where a translator often has different kinds of possibilities to choose in order to fulfil the function of the translation. Accordingly, and as a starting point for the construction of the empirical part, the function of the source text was considered to be the same or similar to the function of the target text, that is, a functional thesaurus both in source and target context. Further, the study approached the challenges of multilingual thesaurus construction from the perspectives of semantics and pragmatics. In semantic analysis the focus was on what the words conventionally mean and in pragmatics on the ‘invisible’ meaning - or how we recognise what is meant even when it is not actually said (or written). Languages and ideas expressed by languages are created mainly in accordance with expressional needs of the surrounding culture and thesauri were considered to reflect several subcultures and consequently the discourses which represent them. The research material consisted of different kinds of potential discourses: dictionaries, database records, and thesauri, Finnish versus British social science researches, Finnish versus British indexers, simulated indexing tasks with five articles and Finnish versus British thesaurus constructors. In practice, the professional background of the two last mentioned groups was rather similar. It became even more clear that all the material types had their own characteristics, although naturally not entirely separate from each other. It is further noteworthy that the different types and origins of research material were not used to represent true comparison pairs, and that the aim of triangulation of methods and material was to gain a holistic view. The general research questions were: 1. Can differences be found between Finnish and British discourses regarding family roles as thesaurus terms, and if so, what kinds of differences and which are the implications for multilingual thesaurus construction? 2. What is the pragmatic indexing term equivalence? The first question studied how the same topic (family roles) was represented in different contexts and by different users, and further focused on how the possible differences were handled in multilingual thesaurus construction. The second question was based on findings of the previous one, and answered to the final question as to what kinds of factors should be considered when defining translation equivalence in multilingual thesaurus construction. The study used multiple cases and several data collection and analysis methods aiming at theoretical replication and complementarity. The empirical material and analysis consisted of focused interviews (with Finnish and British social scientists, thesaurus constructors and indexers), simulated indexing tasks with Finnish and British indexers, semantic component analysis of dictionary definitions and translations, coword analysis and datasets retrieved in databases, and discourse analysis of thesauri. As a terminological starting point a topic and case family roles was selected. The results were clear: 1) It was possible to identify different discourses. There also existed subdiscourses. For example within the group of social scientists the orientation to qualitative versus quantitative research had an impact on the way they reacted to the studied words and discourses, and indexers placed more emphasis on the information seekers whereas thesaurus constructors approached the construction problems from a more material based solution. The differences between the different specialist groups i.e. the social scientists, the indexers and the thesaurus constructors were often greater than between the different geo-cultural groups i.e. Finnish versus British. The differences occurred as a result of different translation aims, diverging expectations for multilingual thesauri and variety of practices. For multilingual thesaurus construction this means severe challenges. The clearly ambiguous concept of multilingual thesaurus as well as different construction and translation strategies should be considered more precisely in order to shed light on focus and equivalence types, which are clearly not self-evident. The research also revealed the close connection between the aims of multilingual thesauri and the pragmatic indexing term equivalence. 2) The pragmatic indexing term equivalence is very much context-depended. Although thesaurus term equivalence is defined and standardised in the field of library and information science (LIS), it is not understood in one established way and the current LIS tools are inadequate to provide enough analytical tools for both constructing and studying different kinds of multilingual thesauri as well as their indexing term equivalence. The tools provided in translation science were more practical and theoretical, and especially the division of different meanings of a word provided a useful tool in analysing the pragmatic equivalence, which often differs from the ideal model represented in thesaurus construction literature. The study thus showed that the variety of different discourses should be acknowledged, there is a need for operationalisation of new types of multilingual thesauri, and the factors influencing pragmatic indexing term equivalence should be discussed more precisely than is traditionally done.