KRISHNAVANIE SHUNMUGAM - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by KRISHNAVANIE SHUNMUGAM

Linguistics and literature review, Sep 29, 2023

Issues in Language Studies, Dec 19, 2023

This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.

Journal of World Languages

This article considers potential impacts the study of language, including ecolinguistics, can hav... more This article considers potential impacts the study of language, including ecolinguistics, can have on important real-world issues, and how linguists and others can involve themselves in addressing these issues for a sustainable future. The article is divided into two parts. The first part provides an illustrative study in which computer tools were utilized to investigate media reporting. The study examined the relative coverage of issues of basic human needs (food, clean water, and sanitation), which are part of the focus of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, in four major newspapers from Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and the US. Data were collected between November 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its early days in terms of worldwide attention. During that time period, the pandemic received far more coverage in those newspapers than did the other issues, even though basic human needs greatly outweighed the COVID-19 ...

Journal of Modern Languages

With the growth of Islamic banking and new research into Islamic economy, the need to investigate... more With the growth of Islamic banking and new research into Islamic economy, the need to investigate related Islamic terms in these fields has become very important for concerned bodies. To date, there has not been adequate research to shed light on bilingual dictionaries on Islamic finance and economy. Two bilingual dictionaries (Arabic –English) that have a substantial number of entries on Islamic finance and economy terms (IFETs) are Mu'jam Lughat Al Fuqahā' (‘Dictionary of Islamic Legal Terminology’) (1988) and ISRA Compendium for Islamic Finance Terms (2010). The current paper aims to provide a brief comparative analysis of some salient aspects with regard to the introductory matter, main content and appendixes of these two specialized, bilingual dictionaries. It also attempts to investigate whether a certain set of randomly selected IFETs are included in the two selected dictionaries to generally gauge the extent of the semantic content of these dictionaries. For those in...

Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies

All the movements and revolutions in the world’s history have been initiated and reinforced by a ... more All the movements and revolutions in the world’s history have been initiated and reinforced by a systematized structure of standards, opinions and thoughts establishing the foundations of political, social or economic perspectives known as ideology. Ideology plays a vital role when the dimension of translation is added to the argument, for in addition to the author’s ideas and attitudes of the world, the translator’s beliefs and value systems as the medium between two cultures come to bear upon the translated product. In Iran, the 1979 Islamic revolution changed the ideological system from the secular to a markedly religious (Islamic) one and this has increasingly influenced the way in which the cultural products are produced and/or translated. George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) is one of the most retranslated novels in both the pre- and post-revolution era in Iran. This article presents a semiotic analysis on the cover page of Orwell’s novel and its Persian translations at both the...

Southeast Asian Review of English

Linguistics and Literature Review

This paper investigates the translation of address terms or name labels in comics from English to... more This paper investigates the translation of address terms or name labels in comics from English to Malay. The two aims of this study are: (i) to identify the main translation strategies used in the target text regarding Baker's (1992) typology of translation strategies and (ii) to discuss how effectively the source author’s name labels are transposed in Malay by using Eugene Nida’s (1964: 182) basic principles of "the general efficiency of the communication process" and "comprehension of intent" as a yardstick. The data comprises 187 name labels identified in 14 series of the Spider-Man comics and their Malay counterparts. The findings revealed that the three most frequently used strategies are paraphrasing by using related words followed by omissions of name labels and translating by using less expressive or neutral words. With regard to the efficacy of the Malay translations in conveying the semantic robustness of the English name labels, it was found that t...

This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their per... more This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their perceptions towards the profession. The study was motivated by the dearth of literature on the status of the translator’s profession in Malaysia. Past studies have shown that translation is not considered a full-fledged profession in many other countries. Translators also do not perceive their own job as belonging to a profession due to a number of reasons. This study which adopts hermeneutic phenomenology as its method of inquiry is mostly qualitative in nature with an inclusion of some basic quantitative measures. The findings of this study has revealed that though Malaysian translators regard themselves as professionals in society, clients and the public unfortunately do not share the same views. The translators also cited unfair competition from amateur translators and unprofessional practices in their profession due to a lack of code of ethics, as challenges which seriously undermine t...

The English Teacher, 2021

In this article, we explore teacher agency through the notion of teacher as changemaker by drawin... more In this article, we explore teacher agency through the notion of teacher as changemaker by drawing upon our experiences in both school and university contexts. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we present a personal account of our combined professional experiences of over half a century with how agency is exercised and achieved in our classroom and beyond. This consists of a series of reflections from the classes we have taught and individual students we have mentored, to our response to research and curriculum development. In these reflections, wherever relevant, we highlight what informs our decision-making and motivates our action from merely ‘getting our job done’ to a more humanistic engagement with teaching, mentoring and other professional activities. Second, we evaluate our earlier discussion against the backdrop of the notion of teacher as changemaker. We conclude by highlighting that teachers as changemakers are individuals concerned with personal transformati...

The objective of this paper is to explore the strategies translators employ when shifting metapho... more The objective of this paper is to explore the strategies translators employ when shifting metaphorical language in Malay pantuns (a popular form of classical Malay poetry that has a most unique form) into the English language. For this purpose, three love pantuns have been selected for the analysis here. Each of these pantuns has more than two translated versions in English. This will allow for a comparison of the various options open to a translator when translating metaphors and a discussion on the range of interpretations that the translators represent in the target language as well as the possible reasons that influence the particular choices made by each of the translators concerned

Malay pantuns were brought to the centre stage of literary awareness in early 20 th century Briti... more Malay pantuns were brought to the centre stage of literary awareness in early 20 th century British Malaya via creative English translations produced by three British officials that is J.W. Wilkinson, Sir R.O. Winstedt and A.W. Hamilton. To this day, their lively English renditions of the Malay pantun are often quoted by Malaysian pantun scholars and enthusiasts. In contrast to these British stalwarts of the Malay pantun, there were two other British administrators, namely C.W. Harrison and J.L. Humphreys, whose English translations of the pantun are little or hardly known but which showcase a vibrancy no less than the translations by Wilkinson, Winstedt and Hamilton. This paper aims to highlight the distinct creative traits of these two obscure British translators of the pantun. The translation of the pithy, rhythmic pantun is no easy task, especially if one wishes to recreate its aesthetics and condensed wisdom. The paper shows how Harrison and Humphreys, like their contemporaries...

Journal of Modern Languages, 2014

The pantun, a classical verse form which began as an oral tradition, is part of the cultural heri... more The pantun, a classical verse form which began as an oral tradition, is part of the cultural heritage of the Malay people. The earliest known Malay pantun translations into English in print have been identified in approximately seven different types of text written by British colonialists in nineteenth century Malaya. These texts include two grammar references, a statistical record, three historical narratives and a collection of personal letters. This paper focuses on pantun translations into English in the two well-known Malay grammar texts of the time which were produced by William Marsden and John Crawfurd. A descriptive analysis of Marsden’s and Crawfurd’s translation styles on a selection of pantun alongside the translational considerations which had influenced their translation style will form the main discussion of this paper. A case of present-day criticism levelled at Marsden’s translation of a particularly well-known linked pantun is also reviewed here against a number of...

Al-Rashad Journal of Islamic Finance

Islamic banking has seen a lot of progress and attracted global attention. It has also attracted ... more Islamic banking has seen a lot of progress and attracted global attention. It has also attracted multiple studies and research. Lexicography has been part of the areas touched upon by research to provide the necessary tools to comprehend terms and concepts related to Islamic financial terminology. Having said that, the inadequacy of the studies and works has shown an area that awaits further improvement and investigation. Thus, the current paper aims to provide a brief review of a dictionary called Dictionary of Financial and Economic Terms in the Register of Jurists by Nazih Hammad (2008). The introductory matter, content, and structure are analysed in comparison to lexicographic works. Finally, recommendations are made to improve similar works.

Studies in Educational Evaluation

Lebende Sprachen

The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes bro... more The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes brought about by political upheavals. In a country like Iran, the Islamic revolution (1979/80) has played a major role in re-shaping the ideology of the governing body which among many other things involves modifications in the language policy. After the revolution, Persian speakers were encouraged to be more conservative in their use of language. As a result, those who tended to produce discourse which was more conservative and Islam-oriented became more popular and respected among the Iranian people. Ideology is one of the major factors which influences the manipulation of language use in translation. Prefaces and introductions which form the paratexts to a translated product often contain expressions of a translator’s ideology, and this usually manifests itself in the translation product. This study aims to describe the ideological impact of the social situation both in the pre- and post...

This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their per... more This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their perceptions towards the profession. The study was motivated by the dearth of literature on the status of the translator's profession in Malaysia. Past studies have shown that translation is not considered a full-fledged profession in many other countries. Translators also do not perceive their own job as belonging to a profession due to a number of reasons. This study which adopts hermeneutic phenomenology as its method of inquiry is mostly qualitative in nature with an inclusion of some basic quantitative measures. The findings of this study has revealed that though Malaysian translators regard themselves as professionals in society, clients and the public unfortunately do not share the same views. The translators also cited unfair competition from amateur translators and unprofessional practices in their profession due to a lack of code of ethics, as challenges which seriously undermine the status of their professions. The findings of this study markedly highlight the concerted effort that is needed to set up a professional body to represent the translators in Malaysia.

Lebende Sprachen

The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes bro... more The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes brought about by political upheavals. In a country like Iran, the Islamic revolution (1979/80) has played a major role in re-shaping the ideology of the governing body which among many other things involves modifications in the language policy. After the revolution, Persian speakers were encouraged to be more conservative in their use of language. As a result, those who tended to produce discourse which was more conservative and Islam-oriented became more popular and respected among the Iranian people. Ideology is one of the major factors which influences the manipulation of language use in translation. Prefaces and introductions which form the paratexts to a translated product often contain expressions of a translator’s ideology, and this usually manifests itself in the translation product. This study aims to describe the ideological impact of the social situation both in the pre- and post...

Linguistics and literature review, Sep 29, 2023

Issues in Language Studies, Dec 19, 2023

This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.

Journal of World Languages

This article considers potential impacts the study of language, including ecolinguistics, can hav... more This article considers potential impacts the study of language, including ecolinguistics, can have on important real-world issues, and how linguists and others can involve themselves in addressing these issues for a sustainable future. The article is divided into two parts. The first part provides an illustrative study in which computer tools were utilized to investigate media reporting. The study examined the relative coverage of issues of basic human needs (food, clean water, and sanitation), which are part of the focus of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, in four major newspapers from Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and the US. Data were collected between November 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its early days in terms of worldwide attention. During that time period, the pandemic received far more coverage in those newspapers than did the other issues, even though basic human needs greatly outweighed the COVID-19 ...

Journal of Modern Languages

With the growth of Islamic banking and new research into Islamic economy, the need to investigate... more With the growth of Islamic banking and new research into Islamic economy, the need to investigate related Islamic terms in these fields has become very important for concerned bodies. To date, there has not been adequate research to shed light on bilingual dictionaries on Islamic finance and economy. Two bilingual dictionaries (Arabic –English) that have a substantial number of entries on Islamic finance and economy terms (IFETs) are Mu'jam Lughat Al Fuqahā' (‘Dictionary of Islamic Legal Terminology’) (1988) and ISRA Compendium for Islamic Finance Terms (2010). The current paper aims to provide a brief comparative analysis of some salient aspects with regard to the introductory matter, main content and appendixes of these two specialized, bilingual dictionaries. It also attempts to investigate whether a certain set of randomly selected IFETs are included in the two selected dictionaries to generally gauge the extent of the semantic content of these dictionaries. For those in...

Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies

All the movements and revolutions in the world’s history have been initiated and reinforced by a ... more All the movements and revolutions in the world’s history have been initiated and reinforced by a systematized structure of standards, opinions and thoughts establishing the foundations of political, social or economic perspectives known as ideology. Ideology plays a vital role when the dimension of translation is added to the argument, for in addition to the author’s ideas and attitudes of the world, the translator’s beliefs and value systems as the medium between two cultures come to bear upon the translated product. In Iran, the 1979 Islamic revolution changed the ideological system from the secular to a markedly religious (Islamic) one and this has increasingly influenced the way in which the cultural products are produced and/or translated. George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) is one of the most retranslated novels in both the pre- and post-revolution era in Iran. This article presents a semiotic analysis on the cover page of Orwell’s novel and its Persian translations at both the...

Southeast Asian Review of English

Linguistics and Literature Review

This paper investigates the translation of address terms or name labels in comics from English to... more This paper investigates the translation of address terms or name labels in comics from English to Malay. The two aims of this study are: (i) to identify the main translation strategies used in the target text regarding Baker's (1992) typology of translation strategies and (ii) to discuss how effectively the source author’s name labels are transposed in Malay by using Eugene Nida’s (1964: 182) basic principles of "the general efficiency of the communication process" and "comprehension of intent" as a yardstick. The data comprises 187 name labels identified in 14 series of the Spider-Man comics and their Malay counterparts. The findings revealed that the three most frequently used strategies are paraphrasing by using related words followed by omissions of name labels and translating by using less expressive or neutral words. With regard to the efficacy of the Malay translations in conveying the semantic robustness of the English name labels, it was found that t...

This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their per... more This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their perceptions towards the profession. The study was motivated by the dearth of literature on the status of the translator’s profession in Malaysia. Past studies have shown that translation is not considered a full-fledged profession in many other countries. Translators also do not perceive their own job as belonging to a profession due to a number of reasons. This study which adopts hermeneutic phenomenology as its method of inquiry is mostly qualitative in nature with an inclusion of some basic quantitative measures. The findings of this study has revealed that though Malaysian translators regard themselves as professionals in society, clients and the public unfortunately do not share the same views. The translators also cited unfair competition from amateur translators and unprofessional practices in their profession due to a lack of code of ethics, as challenges which seriously undermine t...

The English Teacher, 2021

In this article, we explore teacher agency through the notion of teacher as changemaker by drawin... more In this article, we explore teacher agency through the notion of teacher as changemaker by drawing upon our experiences in both school and university contexts. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we present a personal account of our combined professional experiences of over half a century with how agency is exercised and achieved in our classroom and beyond. This consists of a series of reflections from the classes we have taught and individual students we have mentored, to our response to research and curriculum development. In these reflections, wherever relevant, we highlight what informs our decision-making and motivates our action from merely ‘getting our job done’ to a more humanistic engagement with teaching, mentoring and other professional activities. Second, we evaluate our earlier discussion against the backdrop of the notion of teacher as changemaker. We conclude by highlighting that teachers as changemakers are individuals concerned with personal transformati...

The objective of this paper is to explore the strategies translators employ when shifting metapho... more The objective of this paper is to explore the strategies translators employ when shifting metaphorical language in Malay pantuns (a popular form of classical Malay poetry that has a most unique form) into the English language. For this purpose, three love pantuns have been selected for the analysis here. Each of these pantuns has more than two translated versions in English. This will allow for a comparison of the various options open to a translator when translating metaphors and a discussion on the range of interpretations that the translators represent in the target language as well as the possible reasons that influence the particular choices made by each of the translators concerned

Malay pantuns were brought to the centre stage of literary awareness in early 20 th century Briti... more Malay pantuns were brought to the centre stage of literary awareness in early 20 th century British Malaya via creative English translations produced by three British officials that is J.W. Wilkinson, Sir R.O. Winstedt and A.W. Hamilton. To this day, their lively English renditions of the Malay pantun are often quoted by Malaysian pantun scholars and enthusiasts. In contrast to these British stalwarts of the Malay pantun, there were two other British administrators, namely C.W. Harrison and J.L. Humphreys, whose English translations of the pantun are little or hardly known but which showcase a vibrancy no less than the translations by Wilkinson, Winstedt and Hamilton. This paper aims to highlight the distinct creative traits of these two obscure British translators of the pantun. The translation of the pithy, rhythmic pantun is no easy task, especially if one wishes to recreate its aesthetics and condensed wisdom. The paper shows how Harrison and Humphreys, like their contemporaries...

Journal of Modern Languages, 2014

The pantun, a classical verse form which began as an oral tradition, is part of the cultural heri... more The pantun, a classical verse form which began as an oral tradition, is part of the cultural heritage of the Malay people. The earliest known Malay pantun translations into English in print have been identified in approximately seven different types of text written by British colonialists in nineteenth century Malaya. These texts include two grammar references, a statistical record, three historical narratives and a collection of personal letters. This paper focuses on pantun translations into English in the two well-known Malay grammar texts of the time which were produced by William Marsden and John Crawfurd. A descriptive analysis of Marsden’s and Crawfurd’s translation styles on a selection of pantun alongside the translational considerations which had influenced their translation style will form the main discussion of this paper. A case of present-day criticism levelled at Marsden’s translation of a particularly well-known linked pantun is also reviewed here against a number of...

Al-Rashad Journal of Islamic Finance

Islamic banking has seen a lot of progress and attracted global attention. It has also attracted ... more Islamic banking has seen a lot of progress and attracted global attention. It has also attracted multiple studies and research. Lexicography has been part of the areas touched upon by research to provide the necessary tools to comprehend terms and concepts related to Islamic financial terminology. Having said that, the inadequacy of the studies and works has shown an area that awaits further improvement and investigation. Thus, the current paper aims to provide a brief review of a dictionary called Dictionary of Financial and Economic Terms in the Register of Jurists by Nazih Hammad (2008). The introductory matter, content, and structure are analysed in comparison to lexicographic works. Finally, recommendations are made to improve similar works.

Studies in Educational Evaluation

Lebende Sprachen

The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes bro... more The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes brought about by political upheavals. In a country like Iran, the Islamic revolution (1979/80) has played a major role in re-shaping the ideology of the governing body which among many other things involves modifications in the language policy. After the revolution, Persian speakers were encouraged to be more conservative in their use of language. As a result, those who tended to produce discourse which was more conservative and Islam-oriented became more popular and respected among the Iranian people. Ideology is one of the major factors which influences the manipulation of language use in translation. Prefaces and introductions which form the paratexts to a translated product often contain expressions of a translator’s ideology, and this usually manifests itself in the translation product. This study aims to describe the ideological impact of the social situation both in the pre- and post...

This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their per... more This paper aims to discuss the current status of translators practising in Malaysia and their perceptions towards the profession. The study was motivated by the dearth of literature on the status of the translator's profession in Malaysia. Past studies have shown that translation is not considered a full-fledged profession in many other countries. Translators also do not perceive their own job as belonging to a profession due to a number of reasons. This study which adopts hermeneutic phenomenology as its method of inquiry is mostly qualitative in nature with an inclusion of some basic quantitative measures. The findings of this study has revealed that though Malaysian translators regard themselves as professionals in society, clients and the public unfortunately do not share the same views. The translators also cited unfair competition from amateur translators and unprofessional practices in their profession due to a lack of code of ethics, as challenges which seriously undermine the status of their professions. The findings of this study markedly highlight the concerted effort that is needed to set up a professional body to represent the translators in Malaysia.

Lebende Sprachen

The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes bro... more The ideology and worldviews of a community may be shifted and modified through social changes brought about by political upheavals. In a country like Iran, the Islamic revolution (1979/80) has played a major role in re-shaping the ideology of the governing body which among many other things involves modifications in the language policy. After the revolution, Persian speakers were encouraged to be more conservative in their use of language. As a result, those who tended to produce discourse which was more conservative and Islam-oriented became more popular and respected among the Iranian people. Ideology is one of the major factors which influences the manipulation of language use in translation. Prefaces and introductions which form the paratexts to a translated product often contain expressions of a translator’s ideology, and this usually manifests itself in the translation product. This study aims to describe the ideological impact of the social situation both in the pre- and post...