원문정보
초록
영어
The study explores ethical issues related to volunteer translation activities based on an analysis of a volunteer translator community at Coursera, the most successful MOOC platform in the world. Established in 2012, Coursera currently offers 24 million people with more than 2,000 courses, partnering with 149 universities worldwide. In 2014, Coursera launched the Global Translator Community (GTC) to help expedite the translation of its online learning resources into non-English languages. This was inspired by the practice of “learners spontaneously organizing to translate lecture subtitles for the benefit of their classmates.” 1 According to Coursera, video subtitle translations could open new opportunities for learners by increase course enrolments among speakers of the translated language by up to 200-300%. Now more than 4,690 translators working with more than 40 different languages are registered in the community. The practice of crowdsourced translation and the use of volunteer translators at Coursera, however, have become potential source of tension and conflict. Although translation is carried out by a self-selected group of translators who produce subtitles to assist learners and who through their work produce a self-representation of themselves as a part of a target audience to which they belong and with which they share interests, characteristics and experiences (cf. Cronin 2012), Coursera's profit-making strategies raise serious ethical concerns for the translators. Translation is approached and used by Coursera as part of its business model of providing "universal access to the world’s best education." Based on an analysis of comments collected from social media including blogs, Twitters and Facebook and also the discourse of the translators collected from the GTC on Coursera, the study examines the critical points in identity ascription and assumption and the ethical problems raised in relation to translation practice and usage. The study argues that translators seek affinity with like-minded people in their translation practice, but at the same time the unethical aspects of translation practice and usage in crowdsourcing culture may have negative influence on translators' activities, self-perception as translators, and even the quality of translations.
목차
Focus of Presentation
Coursera and translation
Summary
Conclusion