Conference

Abstract for “Is the Spanish-language Version of the United States Federal Agencies’ Websites an Attempt to Correct Language Minorization?”

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Leticia Moreno Pérez, University of Valladolid

Over the last few years, some movements that aim to institute English as the exclusive language of public administration, education and all governmental aspects in general have appeared. Concurrently, opposing movements aiming to maintain the linguistic identity of immigrants have campaigned for stimulating English-language learning without minoritizing other languages. Meanwhile, the federal government during President Obama’s administration adopted what could be considered a conciliatory position, offering a Spanish version of many of the citizen information services. The aim of this paper is to analyze this conciliatory position by studying the Spanish version of the websites of the US federal government at the end of Obama’s administration. We will analyze the information available in Spanish to check if the websites contained full versions of the original or adaptations, and we if the strategies used on these websites could decrease the level of minoritization of the Spanish language in the United States.

Keywords: minoritized language; linguistic deminoritization; US Spanish

Conference

Abstract for “The Committee on Legal Terminology and the portal “Terminologia jurídica” (‘legal terminology’): Consensus Resources to Ensure Access to Justice in Catalan”

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Elisabeth Casademont i Apel·les CAROD, TERMCAT, the Centre for Terminology in the Catalan language, Barcelona

The Committee on Legal Terminology and the web portal “Terminologia jurídica” (‘legal terminology’) have been created to develop tools and terminology resources in Catalan and contributing to ensuring access to justice in this language. Unfortunately, the use of Catalan in the Administration of justice is still limited and it must be promoted by institutions and using different means. Both the Committee and the website have been driven by TERMCAT with the support of institutions, professional entities and universities. The Committee on Legal Terminology is an established group of experts entrusted to promote the development of Catalan terminology in the legal field. Two different professional profiles were selected: on the one hand, experts in law, and, on the other, linguists and terminologists. Their joint efforts guarantee quality results. The Catalan Lawyer’s Council edits content for the website and is also a member of the Committee, providing legal knowledge and information about the use of legal terms. Terminologia jurídica is a public website that gathers a wide range of linguistic resources for users of legal terminology, such as legal professionals and translators.

Keywords: Catalan language; Committee on Legal Terminology; Catalan Lawyer’s Council; legal language; Terminologia jurídica website; TERMCAT; legal terminology

Conference

Abstract for “The Role of Indigenous Interpreters in the Peruvian Intercultural, Bilingual Justice System”

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Raquel de Pedro, Heriot-Watt University of Edinburgh

Since 2012, the Peruvian State, through its Indigenous Languages Division, has been training indigenous translators and interpreters. Their remit is to facilitate communication between the indigenous population of the country and its institutions, against a socio-political background of historical marginalization of, and discrimination against, indigenous languages and cultures.

This talk will focus specifically on the role that the indigenous interpreters play in guaranteeing access to justice for speakers of minoritised languages. It will provide relevant contextual information about Peru, introduce the legal framework for the provision of interpreting services between Spanish and indigenous languages and describe the training programme put in place by the State, before addressing critically the challenges that practitioners and institutions face. It will conclude with some observations derived from research and fieldwork conducted in Peru between October 2014 and June 2016 for a project entitled “Translating Cultures: the legislated mediation of indigenous rights in Peru”, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK).