Translation of Science Texts Linda Wolfram/ Susanne Prüfer

1. Translation of Science TextsLinda Wolfram/ Susanne Prüfer Dresden, 04.12.12

2. “If you have ever tried to read a scientific article in a specialized journal, you may have given up in exasperation. Not only is the terminology esoteric, the formulas incomprehensible, and the visuals inexplicable, but the sentences themselves are simply impossible to decipher. Sometimes scientists are simply bad writers.”

3. Translation of Science Texts • “Champions League” • Science texts are particularly challenging and require special expertise, know-how and professionalism of the translator challenges: style, terminology (including spelling), grammar, sentence structures

4. Structure 1 Translation of Science Texts 1.1 Purpose 1.2 Goals 2 Style 2.1 Personal Style 2.2 Impersonal Style 3 Terminology 3.1 Academic Words 3.2 Journal vs. Newspaper Vocabulary 3.3 False Friends 3.4 Spelling (handout)

5. Purpose of Science Texts • inform public about results, innovations and discoveries • To become recognized and successful texts • need to be published, read and cited • therefore they must be accessible to many readers • pressure to publish in English

6. Goals of Scientific Texts • National Academy of Science: use language to represent the nature and the actual reality • scientific language is supposed to be absolutely accurate, free from connotations and emotions

7. 1. Style

8. Personal or Impersonal Style? Traditional: use an impersonal style of writing rather than a personal style New: in some Science disciplines it is now quite acceptable to use a personal style

9. Examples I observed the angle to be… = active voice  personal style The angle was observed to be… = passive voice  impersonal style

10. Examples I assumed that… = 1st person  personal style It was assumed that… = 3rd person  impersonal style

11. Examples I noticed… =Person as subject  personal style Analysis of the data indicated… = Thing as subject  impersonal style

12. The data appear to support the hypothesis, but further sampling would need to be undertaken to increase the reliability of the final result. tentative statement • The data appear to support the hypothesis, but • further sampling would need to be undertaken to • increase the reliability of the final result. modal verb

13. This experiment proves/provides evidence/verifies … direct statement: tentative statement: This experiment tends to/ appears to/ suggests that…

14. Main effects and interactions were analyzed. Main effects and interactions were analyzed. = use of verbs An analysis of main effect and interaction was conducted. An analysis of main effect and interaction was conducted. = use of nouns  Nominalization

15. Exercise Look at the following paragraphs and compare them. What changes have been made? Which style is closer to the style used in journals?

16. “These results seem to be really quite good. The model fits very well with the data points as can be interpreted by the R² values of 0.32 shown in Table 1 above. But the method used to obtain the best values for a, b, and c was little silly and time-consuming as it required putting lot’s of values into a changeable Excel spreadsheet over and over to try and get the lowest R² value, even though this is probably the only way to do it accurately. Also, this model can be used to extrapolate the PCB concentrations of fish of ages measured in the study, but that’s about it.” “These results appear to be reasonable as the model fits very well with the data points, as can be interpreted by the R² values of 0.32 shown in Table 1 above. However, the method used to obtain the best values for a, b, and c was rather time-consuming as it required putting many values into an Excel spreadsheet many times to obtain the lowest R² value. While this is probably the only way to obtain accurate results, a further limitation is that this model can be used only to extrapolate the PCB concentrations of fish within age ranges measured in the study.”

17. 2. Terminology

18. Academic Words In English there are a lot more academic words than in other languages, e.g. French

19. Journal Texts vs. Newspaper Texts Current Biology: „Molecular evolution of Pediculushumanus and the origin of clothing“ Washington Post: „Creative Search for Naked Truth: Study Uses Lice DNA to Find When Clothing First Appeared“

21. most frequent academic words

23. Journal Texts vs. Newspaper Texts „The head louse lives and feeds exclusively an the scalp, whereas the body louse feeds on the body but lives in clothing.” (Curr-Bio) “Head lice stay on the head and glue their eggs to the shafts of hairs (with a cement that dries so hard and so fast that the female sometimes gets fatally stuck there by mistake). Body lice by contrast, feed on hairless parts of the body and lay their eggs only in clothing especially in protected areas such as seams.” (Wash-Post)

25. Journal Texts vs. Newspaper Texts „Identical typologies were obtained for maximum parsimony and minimum evolution trees for these sequences (results not shown). The tree was rooted with the corresponding sequence of P. schaeffi; alternatives placements of the root at any of the first three deepest branches […].” (Curr-Bio)

27. Journal Texts vs. NewspaperTexts „Alternative interpretations of the results should be considered. In particular, if some or all of the lice mtDNA sequences are actually nuclear inserts of mtDNA [13], our conclusion could be in error.“ (Curr-Bio)„Kevin Johnson, an evolutionary biologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, was one of several experts who said he admired Stoneking's approach but was uncertain about its statistical validity.“ (Washington Post)

28. Journal Texts vs. Newspaper Texts Conclusion: Curr-Bio seeks to add new information, while Washington Post seeks to present new information in the context of viewpoints from experts.

29. False Friends False friends are pitfalls for translators. Medicine = Arzt ≠ Physiker (physicist) = Krankenwagen ≠ Abmulanz (outpacient clinic) = körperlich ≠ physisch physician ambulance physical

30. False Friends Chemistry probe: benzene: silicon: = Sonde ≠ Probe (sample, test) = Benzol ≠ Benzin (petrol, gasoline) = Silizium ≠ Silikon (silicone)

31. False Friends Mathematics datum: to calculate: informatics: =gegebenerWert ≠ Datum (date) = exaktbestimmen ≠ kalkulieren (estimate) = Informationswissenschaft ≠ Informatik (computer science)

32. False Friends Engineering dome: warehouse: vital: =Kuppel ≠ Dom (cathedral) = Lagerhaus ≠ Warenhaus (department store) = wichtig, wesentlich ≠ vital (lively, energetic

33. Literature Alexander, L.G. English Grammar. New York: Longman, 2006.Flowerdew, John and Metthew Peacock. Research Persepectives on English for Academic Purposes.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.Glaser, Rosemarie: Linguistic Features and Genre Profils of Scientific English. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1995.Hirsh, David. Academic Vocabulary in Context. Bernumo: Peter Lang, 2010.Reeves, Carol. The Language of Science. New York: Routledge, 2005.Turabian, L. Kate. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Thesis and Dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.