Functionalist Approaches in Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication Studies: design and implementation of a translation model for healthcare texts

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is a response to the lack of academic research on the integration of theoretical foundations of functionalist approaches in Translation and Intercultural Communication Studies in order to address problems resulting from the inefficiency of public service translation production in Spain. The study aims to create an interdisciplinary translation model that might help to resolve communicative problems identified in certain translated texts undertaken for an audience from other linguistic and cultural entities.

The methodology employed draws on a literature review of functionalist approaches in Translation Studies – with a particular focus on the subfield of Public Service Translation and Interpretation (PSTI) – and Intercultural Communication Studies. It includes an empirical study consisting of a qualitative-quantitative analysis of 32 healthcare supporting materials published in Spain, followed by the development of a translation model, the functionalism- intercultural competence approach, and an application of the translation model to cultural translation problems found in healthcare texts. Finally, a test is presented of the proposed model’s effectiveness on the basis of 37 questionnaires answered by Thai people in Spain.

The study demonstrates the proposed translation model’s applicability; the need for awareness of communicative purposes and intercultural competence when performing translations; as well as the importance of the translator’s intervention during the translational process. It is argued that the translator’s ultimate objective is to produce a functional target text that fulfills the intended communicative purpose and is effective for the target culture audience.