Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association - Volume 20, Issue 3, 2025

This article examines the tensions between the language needs of asylum seekers and how these are addressed in institutional language policy and practice, focusing on the everyday practice of asylum lawyers communicating with their clients, which is characterized by immense linguistic diversity and a high demand for language support in languages of lesser diffusion (LLDs). Based on an analysis of policy documents and ethnographic data, this article examines how asylum lawyers deal with the challenges of providing accessible and appropriate language support to clients who speak an LLD. We explore how, in the absence of clear policy guidance, lawyers develop mechanisms for monitoring interpreting quality and local strategies of linguistic tolerance that condone suboptimal forms of language support for LLDs. Our research shows how these local language policies, however well-intentioned, can jeopardize the language rights of asylum seekers and deprive them of the language support to which they are entitled.

This article explores the power dynamics in long-term collaborative translation. While power plays an essential role in collaborative translation, the sources and dynamics of power have received limited attention. The present study uses the concept of interdependence and an analytical framework from collaborative governance to examine the case of the Yangs, one of the most prominent co-translation teams in China. The case study analyzes textual and paratextual strategies employed in their co-translations and respective solo translations to identify their individual fingerprints in their co-translations. The study reveals how they obtained, negotiated, and accumulated four sources of power at different stages of their career, how their power relations evolved over time, and what factors may have contributed to the power dynamics between them. This research aims to enrich translation studies with insights into the mechanism of power play in collaborative translation and translators’ agency, autonomy, and empowerment.

Research into retranslations has predominantly taken a textual approach by comparing the different versions of the same source text. Consequently, the reasons given for retranslation tend to focus on linguistic or cultural factors, which often include the retranslator’s aim to produce a new and better version to suit the reader. But what if retranslation occurs not by deliberate intent, but rather as “an opportunity for action” created by the environment? This study explores different types of “affordances” and identifies the events that prompted translators to undertake Dutch retranslations of Lu Xun’s short stories. The findings show that the combination of circumstances is more important than the desire to surpass existing translations, for without these affordances the translator would probably not have had the opportunity to translate these texts.

This article examines the relationship between language proficiency and translation and interpreting (T&I) education in U.S. programs, focusing on language preparedness and development. This mixed-methods study investigates course prerequisites, proficiency requirements, and perceptions of administrators and instructors regarding students’ expected versus observed proficiency levels. Findings reveal a mismatch between expected and average proficiency when entering a program, with both groups acknowledging that T&I courses contribute to students’ language development but noting that current program practices often fail to align students’ actual proficiency with their needs. At the graduate level, instructors criticize proficiency requirements, and some administrators continue to view translator training as distinct from language teaching, reflecting issues related to program identity and adherence to professional norms. The study highlights a lack of articulation between prerequisite courses and introductory T&I courses, with misaligned proficiency guidelines and unrealistic expectations. The article concludes with recommendations for improving T&I program design.

This article compares literature in the Inuit and Yupik languages from Greenland to Chukotka from the perspective of translation and the perception of postcolonial audiences, both within and outside of the Arctic region. It discusses works by Markoosie Patsauq, Niviaq Korneliussen, and Zoia Nenliumkina in detail, as well as the use of the Naukan language in Aleksei Vakhrushev’s filmmaking.