{"id":2838309,"date":"2022-11-30T15:20:30","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T20:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T07:49:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T12:49:08","slug":"knowledge-translation-in-the-global-south-a-language-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/knowledge-translation-in-the-global-south-a-language-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge translation in the Global South: A language perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anywhere in the world, knowledge translation (KT) is facilitated through a process of communicating messages to an audience, who will ultimately use that information to inform their own opinions and actions. However, the way that information is perceived, digested, discussed, and passed on is shaped by the environment in which an audience lives.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> For example, factors such as education, economic\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">status, political climate and cultural norms play a part in how we consume information. Here I will focus on one factor that has influenced my work in research communication in Sri Lanka: language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Language has a significant influence on the way KT takes place in bilingual and multilingual countries. For example, in Sri Lanka, a tri-lingual nation <span class=\"c-note__icon js-note\" data-note=\". Sri Lanka accords official status to Sinhala and Tamil, and English is used for official and commercial purposes. \"><span>+<\/span><\/span>,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the language in which information is conveyed affects the way that information is perceived and accepted by an audience. Here\u2019s how:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To begin with, all languages use different metaphors and idioms to construct a message. Hence a message crafted in English will sound very different if it is (directly) translated into a local language.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Language also affects the way we react to information. Studies have shown that a bilingual person\u2019s emotional reactivity is more with a native language compared to a foreign language. <span class=\"c-note__icon js-note\" data-note=\". Ivaz, L., Costa, A., &amp;amp; Du\u00f1abeitia, J. A. (2016). The emotional impact of being myself: Emotions and foreign-language processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(3), 489\u2013496. &lt;a href=https://onthinktanks.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/"https:////psycnet.apa.org//doi//10.1037//xlm0000179">https:////doi.org//10.1037//xlm0000179<//a> \"><span>+<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Design aesthetics differ according to language. In Sri Lanka, visual content displayed in English (such as in local newspapers)<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tends to be sombre and minimalist, while the same content displayed in Sinhala tends to be vibrant and <a href=https://onthinktanks.org/"https:////www.youtube.com//watch?v=oDzKVB2OTYg\%22>colourful<\/a>.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Language, particularly in the Global South, doesn\u2019t exist in isolation \u2013 it plays a role in a country\u2019s history and identity. In Sri Lanka, a former British colony, English is still perceived as a language of the \u2018elite\u2019. This perception can influence the way local language speakers perceive messages disseminated in English drafted by English <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">speakers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The platforms through which knowledge is disseminated affect <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the way information is received. Using local languages on platforms that predominantly use English can be ineffective. For example, in Sri Lanka, English-<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">speaking audiences are more likely to express themselves on Twitter; and Sinhala- and Tamil-<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">speaking audiences are more likely to express themselves on Facebook. Therefore, when it comes to disseminating information, mixing languages on one platform may be ineffective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what does this mean for knowledge translation in the Global South, particularly in countries with bilingual or multilingual audiences? To effectively reach such audiences, knowledge needs to be <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">re-framed<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to fit the norms, expectations, and experiences of individual language communities. In practice, organisations that produce evidence-based research to inform behaviours and policies need to create separate, original messages in local languages. In essence, for KT to be effective, we need to step away from translating information directly and move towards creating original messages that resonate in local languages. This switch will ensure greater participation, inclusivity, and accessibility in KT and make research more impactful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once we create original messages, we should also pay attention to where we choose to put out information, as our target audience may choose to consume information from a platform entirely different to the ones we normally use (e.g., a website or Twitter account). This approach will often require organisations to have separate communication strategies for different languages and even have separate staff who specialise in storytelling in local languages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more organisations become aware of linguistic, social, and cultural nuances that affect dialogue with their audiences, the more equipped they will be to customise their KT strategies to achieve optimum results. Moving from a \u2018one size fits all\u2019 approach to a more adaptable, localised approach should be the outlook adopted for KT in the Global South.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anywhere in the world, knowledge translation (KT) is facilitated through a process of communicating messages to an audience, who will ultimately use that information to inform their own opinions and actions. However, the way that information is perceived, digested, discussed, and passed on is shaped by the environment in which an audience lives. For example, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[1049,3150,773],"class_list":["post-2838309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-evidence-and-policy","tag-global-south","tag-knowledge-translation","article-types-opinion","people-chalani-ranwala","series-knowledge-translation-in-the-global-south","theme-better-informed-policy","theme-research","theme-understanding-think-tanks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2838309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2838309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2838309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}