Perception of Listeners on Effectiveness of Translation in Media Houses: A Case Study of Radio Gotel Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT The study was on perception of listeners and effectiveness of translation in Radio Gotel Yola, Adamawa state, Nigeria. The following objectives guided the study. i) To examine the level of listeners perception of language translation at Gotel Radio station in Yola, Adamawa state. ii) To determine the level of effectiveness of language translation at Gotel Radio station Yola, Adamawa state. The study used frequency and percentage to analyze the demographic characteristic of the respondents specifically on education of translators, mean and standard deviation to determine level of the study variables. The target population was 134 participants while the sample size was 100 computed using Slovene‘s formula. The participant included the staff of the Radio Gotel Yola, and listeners of Radio Gotel programs and the main research instrument was questionnaire. The study examined the level of effectiveness of language translation at Gotel Radio station in Yola, Adamawa state, that majority of the respondents agreed that translation requires experience and good mastery of the subject matter, that sociocultural and linguistic background is necessary for good translation, the level of competence of language translators at Gotel Radio station in Yola, Adamawa state, showed that majority of the respondents pointed out that translators are not clear, accurate and straight forward when translating the task given, the results showed that majority of the respondents disagreed that most local people prefer to listen to programs presented in their indigenous language more than other languages. This implied that the more competent the translators are, the more effective their translations. The study concluded that to ensure effective translation, there is needed to keep updating the knowledge, skills and competences of the translators. The following recommendations were made: There is need to emphasize proper training and effective training methods for language translators, the Gotel radio should maintain constant interaction and seeking feedback from its listeners in order to gauge whether its program translations meets the expectations of the listeners, lastly the translator should be a native speaker of the language he/she is translating in order to deeply understand the grammar, culture and vocabulary of the language etc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL.......................................................................................................................................... ii

DEDICATION..................................................................................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................... iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................................................... vi

LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................... ix

LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. x

LIST OFABBREVIATIONS............................................................................................................... xi

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................ xii

CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................1

1.1 Background of the Study...........................................................................................................1

1.1.1 Historical Perspectives.................................................................................................................1

1.1.2 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................7

1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective ................................................................................................................8

1.1.4 Contextual Perspective...............................................................................................................11

1.2 Statement of the Problem..............................................................................................................14

1.3 Purpose of the Study .....................................................................................................................14

1.4 Specific Objectives........................................................................................................................15

1.5 Research Questions.......................................................................................................................15

1.7 The Scope......................................................................................................................................15

1.7.1 Geographical Scope ...................................................................................................................15

1.7.2 Content Scope ............................................................................................................................16

1.8 Significance of the Study ..............................................................................................................16

CHARPTER TWO..............................................................................................................................17

LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................17

2.0 Introduction...................................................................................................................................17

2.1 Theoretical Review .......................................................................................................................17

2.1.1 Kermis Model.............................................................................................................................17

2.2 Conceptual framework..................................................................................................................23

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2.2.1 Competence of language translators ..........................................................................................24

2.2.2 Linguistics Background .............................................................................................................26

2.2.3 Socio-cultural Background.........................................................................................................26

2.2.4 Cultural Background ..................................................................................................................27

2.2.5 Effectiveness of language translation.........................................................................................28

2.3 Empirical Review..........................................................................................................................32

2.4 Gap identified in the Study ...........................................................................................................34

CHAPTER THREE.............................................................................................................................35

METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................................................35

3.0 Introduction...................................................................................................................................35

3.1 Research Design............................................................................................................................35

3.3 Sample Size...................................................................................................................................36

3.4 Sampling Technique......................................................................................................................37

3.5 Research Instrument......................................................................................................................37

3.5.1 Questionnaires............................................................................................................................37

3.6 Validity and Reliability of Instruments.........................................................................................38

 3.6.1 Validity.......................................................................................................................................38

3.7 Data Collection .............................................................................................................................39

3.8 Data Analysis................................................................................................................................40

3.9 Ethical Consideration....................................................................................................................41

CHAPTER FOUR...............................................................................................................................42

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS ........................42

4.0 Introduction...................................................................................................................................42

4.1 Response Rate ...............................................................................................................................42

4.2 To examine the level of competence of language translators .......................................................42

4.3 To determine the Level of effectiveness of Language Translation (listeners)..............................48

CHAPTER FIVE.................................................................................................................................52

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................52

5.0 Introduction...................................................................................................................................52

5.1 Summary of the Findings........................................................................................................52

5.1.2 What is the level of effectiveness of language translation at Gotel Radio station in Yola,

Adamawa state, Nigeria? ....................................................................................................................54

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5.1 Conclusions............................................................................................................................56

5.3 Recommendations.......................................................................................................................57

5.4 Suggestions for further research................................................................................................58

REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................59

APPENDIX I.......................................................................................................................................64

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TRANSLATORS (STAFF).......................................................................64

APPENDIX II .....................................................................................................................................67

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LISTENERS..............................................................................................67

APPENDIX III: MAP OF NIGERIA..................................................................................................69