A single set of standards and the multiplicity of interpretations - EGOS

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literature on translation in other professions, Evans et al (2011) address the problems of translating accounting standards and other regulations from the original English into other languages, and they recommend a shift towards the needs of the target text readers (i.e. dynamic rather than formal equivalence) (Evans et al 2011). Based on a survey to IFRS textbook authors, Evans and Baskerville (2011) find that the text book authors do not exclusively rely on their native language translation of IFRS but consult the English original version of the standards. 2.3 Accounting standard setting and translation Translation occurs on different levels of regulatory processes which take place in transnational and multilingual environments… [Summarize here literature on regulation and acknowledge e.g the research on the conceptual framework] Previous literature on language use is professional context encourages an integrated analysis of discursive and professional practices “including other institutional voices that form part of the wider professional practice within which these discourses are invariably grounded” Bhatia (2008). The idea of the integrated analysis of the text-internal features (linguistic characteristics) and the text-external features of a genre (“accounting standards”) can be extended analogously to the study of translations of regulatory texts: The text-internal features of the translation are shaped by the translation procedures (“the text-external”). Despite the fact that translation originates from the source text, the target language text is created in a co-operation of several parties and it is not a merely a technical projection of the original standards 3 The research setting, data and methodology The analysis in this study is formally based on two types of data: interviews of persons who have been involved with the translation of IFRS and archival materials concerning the activities of the RC. The responsibility for coordination of how IFRS are translated has to EU languages shifted several times between EU and IASB. Since the endorsed IFRS became part of EU legislation, Directorate General for Translation (DGT) is responsible the translation of the standards. Therefore during a period of less than two years 2005-2007 and again from 2010, the IFRS were translated in DGT by professional translators. In contrast, IASB provided the translations before 10
2005 and between 2007 and 2010, and during that time the standards were translated by a translator and reviewed by a group of accounting experts (Translations Review Committee, RC) for each language. Thus the key people in the IASB translation process for each language are the translator, the coordinator and the RC. When the standards are translated in EU, the key person is the translator working for DGT or some other translator to whom EU has outsourced the translation. As the research addresses abstract linguistic and social phenomena from an interpretative approach, appropriate data collection methods would be a survey questionnaire, interviews or examining available data that has been gathered for other purposes. Because the research field is largely unexplored, key informant interviews were conducted in order to let those involved with the translation to tell their perceptions on and experiences from translation. As compared to a survey questionnaire, I was able to pose follow-up questions when conducting the interviews. Moreover, a wealth of archival data had been compiled during a decade of translation activities and the researcher decided to use them as research data, because the detailed notes give concrete examples on difficulties of translations and divergence of opinions amongst the RC members. The data of this study concerns mainly the Finnish translation of IFRS. The problems in translation of IFRS are illustrated by theorizing the empirical data from the viewpoint of translation studies and terminology. The method of analysis is explorative, comparative and interpretative. The paper draws upon methods from terminology (as a field of applied linguistics) for analyzing the accounting and non-accounting concepts referring to abstract object. The paper aims to emphasize the difficulties of translation that are specific to translating financial accounting texts. At the moment, I have interviewed eleven persons: The interviewees are two translators who have translated IFRS into an EU language in co-operation with the respective translations review committee (RC) and eight RC members and one IFRS expert who is not a RC member. One of the interviewed translators is an accounting professional (translator A) who also possesses academic education in translation studies whereas the other translator (translator B) works in European Commission’s translation service DGT and does not have background in accounting. 11
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A single set of standards and the multiplicity of interpretations - EGOS

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