The number of overseas and immigrant students enrolled in post-secondary
institutions has been increasing throughout North America, resulting in culturally and
linguistically diverse classrooms. In response to this major social change, Canadian college and
university educators seek ways to integrate students of diverse linguistic and cultural
backgrounds and nurture mutual understanding. The challenge of educators, as well as both
native English-speaking and English language learning students, is to understand how norms
and values shaped by language and embedded in texts, classroom tasks, and interpersonal
relationships are translated across cultures. This idea of translation offers a lens through which
the intersections of languages and cultures may be richly explored. This study examines how
different conceptions of translation operate in socioculturally diverse classroom spaces, while
pointing to strategies for reducing barriers to productive and harmonious learning.
The study first analyzes various conceptions of translation. It focuses on a
hermeneutic concept of language as interpretation, helping us perceive an emerging new space
where languages and cultures meet and interrelate. The study also analyzes sociocultural and
political effects of translation, in particular, approaches derived from cultural studies and
postcolonial studies. Using translations between Japanese and English as examples, the study
examines how asymmetrical relations of power construct national identities. Then the focus
shifts to post- secondary education. The study examines and interprets the conceptions of
translation reflected in textbooks and literature in two curricula areas—college preparatory
ELL courses, and first-year English literature courses—in order to clarify how these texts
embody particular educational principles and values.
As applied in this study, the hermeneutic conceptions of translation illuminate the
educational potentialities of texts. Conceptions of translation derived from postcolonial and
cultural studies demonstrate how texts can manipulate representation of power and historicity,
and hinder opportunities to embrace differences and to create inclusive learning environments.
Conceptions of translation with hermeneutic interest, on the other hand, suggest that texts can
open up a border world—a third, in-between space—where newness can emerge. The study
illustrates how this space, a borderless generative space and a locus to share and appreciate
difference, can enrich the educational experience of students and teachers alike. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/16963 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Nishizawa, Sumiko |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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