Die tekskwaliteit van vertaalde mediese tekste met Afrikaans as doeltaal

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study evaluates the quality of medical texts that have been translatedfrom English into Afrikaans, with the specific purpose of testing whether thesetranslated texts communicate effectively with the readers.Medical inserts and medical brochures that have been classified asinformative and instructive texts are used as sample material. The focus is ontuberculosis and HIV/aids, as both diseases pose real problems in the SouthAfrican and especially the Western Cape context. The typical sufferers ofthese diseases are less educated readers from the previously disadvantagedcommunities in South Africa, who are not informed about or who do not havethe necessary background knowledge regarding the diseases. Individualscomplying with the above-mentioned criteria were used as respondents in thisstudy.After a brief referral to medical translation, Chapter 2 entails a survey of theprincipal approaches to translation, namely the linguistic, text linguistic andfunctionalist approaches. The target texts of the sample material areanalysed qualitatively in Chapter 3 in order to determine the approach thathad been followed during the translation process. It appears that these textshad been translated primarily according to the linguistic approach. In Chapter4 report is given on the quantitative comprehension testing that was done withthe help of the appointed group. From this testing it is clear that the readersdid not have a good comprehension of the target texts, and that the targettexts do not communicate effectively with the readers, because they could notunderstand the medical information and instructions.The sample texts were then translated again following the functionalistapproach. According to this approach, emphasis is placed on the targetreaders and the function of the text. The retranslated sample texts were thentested on the readers again by means of another comprehension test.Although there was an improvement in the readers' comprehension of thetexts, this improvement was not statistically significant. From this study it is therefore evident that the written medium is not the bestway of communicating with these readers, especially with regard to medicalinformation and instructions. In Chapter 5 a summary is given andsuggestions are also made for further research. Possibilities include testingother users of these medical texts, or investigating other types of medicaltexts (such as medical textbooks and/or articles), or investigating Schedule 0medication, in which reader-orientation plays an important role.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University