Graduate Student Presents Findings on Japanese Disaster Translators

Our graduate student, Ümit ALTINTAŞ, presented parts of his comprehensive research on the challenges faced by Japanese disaster translators in the field—a topic not yet explored in detail or systematically within Türkiye. This work was showcased at two separate international Japanology conferences held in Bulgaria (October) and Croatia (November).

Following the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye-Syrya in 2023, Mr. Altıntaş focused his research on the critical role of voluntary interpreters. He shared his initial findings with Japanology experts, language specialists, and culture specialists, providing valuable insights into the field experiences of undergraduate Japanese language students who volunteered as Japanese interpreters for the Japanese Search and Rescue and medical teams. His presentation also highlighted the analysis of the unique language and culture-focused approaches developed by Japanese disaster translators, which were employed specifically to overcome the inherent intercultural communication barriers encountered while working with their Japanese counterparts in the disaster area.

Project Phase Two: Education and Curriculum Integration

The project is now entering its crucial second phase, aiming to translate these valuable field experiences into practical educational resources and integrate them into our academic program. This phase will concentrate on two primary objectives: first, producing Education Science-based Japanese language and communication training materials/guides specifically designed and tailored for future voluntary Japanese disaster translators, focusing on high-stakes, crisis-level communication. Second, we will be working toward integrating this comprehensive content into our department's formal curriculum. We sincerely hope these rigorous materials will only ever be needed as content for a general culture course, and that we will never need to deploy them in an actual disaster scenario.

This groundbreaking study is proudly supported by the NF-JLEP (The Nippon Foundation Fund for Japanese Language Education Program).