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9. Linguistic Diversity Among Swahili-Speakers: A Challenge for Translation in Australia

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Translating for the Community
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156Linguistic Diversity Among Swahili-Speakers: A Challenge for Translation in AustraliaJean Burke1. IntroductionThe demand for translation into Swahili has increased markedly over the last decade due to its emergence as one of the fastest growing languages in Australia. In large part this is related to a policy shift in 2001 to the planned acceptance and settlement of more refugees from Africa, until 2007 when accepted numbers were reduced. Swahili-speaking refugees from Central and East Africa come from multiethnic and multilingual communities. On migration to Australia these small communities are located within a larger multicultural system where the official language is English. There can be a tendency to see language and ethnicity as conflated and to see ethnic and language groups as homogenous without recognising cultural and linguistic variety within these groups.Community translation facilitates communication from and to the author-ities and aims to promote inclusiveness and participation of the minority lan-guage groups in society (Lesch, 1999). This is important when considering that African refugees have been identified as one of the most disadvantaged migrant groups in Australia (Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [DIMIA] cited in Harte et al., 2011: 326). Language issues are part of the ques-tions about identify faced by migrants, both forced and voluntary (Martin cited in Musgrave & Hajek, 2013). This chapter aims to increase understanding among language service providers, policy makers and the general community of the linguistic and cultural diversity of Africans in Australia. It aims to understand the needs and strengths of communities who speak Swahili as one of their languages. Motivation to address this topic arose from the author’s experiences in interpreting and translating Swahili. The curiosity of language service providers seeking to understand their linguistic diverse readers and how to provide the most appropriate services was another inspiration.9
©Channel View Publications Ltd, Bristol/Blue Ridge Summit

156Linguistic Diversity Among Swahili-Speakers: A Challenge for Translation in AustraliaJean Burke1. IntroductionThe demand for translation into Swahili has increased markedly over the last decade due to its emergence as one of the fastest growing languages in Australia. In large part this is related to a policy shift in 2001 to the planned acceptance and settlement of more refugees from Africa, until 2007 when accepted numbers were reduced. Swahili-speaking refugees from Central and East Africa come from multiethnic and multilingual communities. On migration to Australia these small communities are located within a larger multicultural system where the official language is English. There can be a tendency to see language and ethnicity as conflated and to see ethnic and language groups as homogenous without recognising cultural and linguistic variety within these groups.Community translation facilitates communication from and to the author-ities and aims to promote inclusiveness and participation of the minority lan-guage groups in society (Lesch, 1999). This is important when considering that African refugees have been identified as one of the most disadvantaged migrant groups in Australia (Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [DIMIA] cited in Harte et al., 2011: 326). Language issues are part of the ques-tions about identify faced by migrants, both forced and voluntary (Martin cited in Musgrave & Hajek, 2013). This chapter aims to increase understanding among language service providers, policy makers and the general community of the linguistic and cultural diversity of Africans in Australia. It aims to understand the needs and strengths of communities who speak Swahili as one of their languages. Motivation to address this topic arose from the author’s experiences in interpreting and translating Swahili. The curiosity of language service providers seeking to understand their linguistic diverse readers and how to provide the most appropriate services was another inspiration.9
©Channel View Publications Ltd, Bristol/Blue Ridge Summit

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Contributors ix
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Foreword xv
  6. Introduction 1
  7. 1. Quality Assurance in Community Translation 7
  8. 2. Education for Community Translation: Thirteen Key Ideas 26
  9. 3. From the Classroom to the Job Market: Integrating Service-Learning and Community Translation in a Legal Translation Course 42
  10. 4. From Practice to Theory: Societal Factors as a Norm Governing Principle for Community Translation 69
  11. 5. Volunteers and Public Service Translation 98
  12. 6. Community Translation in the UK: An Enquiry into Practice 110
  13. 7. Community Translation in Spanish Penitentiaries: A Coordinated Approach 121
  14. 8. Community Translation in the Australian Context 138
  15. 9. Linguistic Diversity Among Swahili-Speakers: A Challenge for Translation in Australia 156
  16. Concluding Remarks 174
  17. Index 179
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https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099146-013

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Contributors ix
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Foreword xv
  6. Introduction 1
  7. 1. Quality Assurance in Community Translation 7
  8. 2. Education for Community Translation: Thirteen Key Ideas 26
  9. 3. From the Classroom to the Job Market: Integrating Service-Learning and Community Translation in a Legal Translation Course 42
  10. 4. From Practice to Theory: Societal Factors as a Norm Governing Principle for Community Translation 69
  11. 5. Volunteers and Public Service Translation 98
  12. 6. Community Translation in the UK: An Enquiry into Practice 110
  13. 7. Community Translation in Spanish Penitentiaries: A Coordinated Approach 121
  14. 8. Community Translation in the Australian Context 138
  15. 9. Linguistic Diversity Among Swahili-Speakers: A Challenge for Translation in Australia 156
  16. Concluding Remarks 174
  17. Index 179
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