La traducción médica (español-árabe)aspectos lingüisticos, formativos y profesionales

Abstract

The presented doctoral thesis is an example of an interdisciplinary research in which linguistic, formative and professional aspects of medical translation in the Spanish-Arabic linguistic combination are explored. This study extends to two related disciplines with multidisciplinary origins; that is, Linguistics and Translation Studies. The first study represents similarities of common language and specialized languages, whilst the second embodies the study of medical translation teaching and its practice, both in Spain and in some Arab countries. Thus, first and foremost, certain difficulties regarding medical translation in the aforementioned linguistic binomial are investigated. As a result, we start from the hypothesis that this area of translation would entail specific difficulties arising from the particular conditions and characteristics that these two languages present. For this reason, we have set ourselves the goal of highlighting a list of these difficulties. In order to present conclusions that are as rigorous and solid as possible, the methodology used to achieve the objectives has been split into: a) analyzing a random corpus of medical texts translated by other professionals or by the doctoral student himself, contrasting the results of this analysis with the perspective of five professionals in this area of translation, and b) through interviewing the above-mentioned translators. Secondly, the training of medical translators is explored in the only program in the world that offers such training in the linguistic set we are dealing with: the Master's degree in Intercultural Communication, Interpretation and Translation in Public Services from the UAH (University of Alcalá de Henares). Here, we start from the hypothesis that the training on offer would be superficial, so that it would be insufficient to comprehensively train medical translators in the above-mentioned linguistic set. The objective that we have set out here is to offer a didactic unit proposal for the subject that concerns us in the aforementioned program. The methodology on which we rely in this chapter is a combination of a) analyzing the study plans that, in the degree stage, drew the profile of the students of the master's degree, b) analyzing the results of an assignment translation completed by these students, and c) knowing the perspective of the students on various training and professional aspects through a survey. Regarding practice, we research the state of the communication issue of the Spanish-speaking population based in Egypt and the Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council within the medical centers of those countries. We start from the assumptions that communication in these centers would be deficient as a result of the lack of Spanish-Arabic translators (and interpreters) or their lack of adequate training. For this purpose, we set ourselves the objective of offering solutions to this situation as a result of the conclusions drawn from the research carried out. The methodology applied to this study is exploratory; materialized in a questionnaire addressed to 100 Spanish speakers living in the aforementioned countries. Due to the lack of resources for consultation, mainly Spanish-Arabic bilingual medical dictionaries for the training and practice of the selected field, we have, in the last chapter of this doctoral thesis, carried out a pilot survey of the status quo of the resources available in this field and, thereupon, we offer a sample of a Spanish-Arabic medical dictionary online. Finally, this research initiative gives particular emphasis to the contexts that make up the aforementioned linguistic set, Spain and certain Arab countries. It aims to fill part of the gap that has been experienced in this area of studies