مطالب

This study aimed to assess the quality of English translations of Imam Khamenei’s (D. Ẓ. A.) letters addressing the youth in the West based on House’s revised (1997) model of translation quality assessment. Such texts are considered political and/ or religious, and their translations require meticulous quality assessment. Yet, rarely did the researchers find any study addressing this important area of translation. Therefore, the current study, which employed a qualitative type of research, focused on the translation of such type of texts. The assessment revealed dimensional mismatches between the original and the translated versions in the areas of field, tenor, and mode. The findings of the current study can help improve the quality of the translation of the speech.

Volunteerism is widespread in the translation sector, but the practices associated with it and its ethical import have so far received very little critical attention. This article critiques one of the most high profile beneficiaries of volunteer translation, Translators without Borders, which presents itself as a charity but operates as a corporate concern, with a leadership composed primarily of major industry players. TWB adopts an asset-centred, platform-based, top-down model that offers massive scaling possibilities and reflects a corporate vision of the translation community. It provides a clear example of the wider shift from artisanal to industrial to platform economy as it plays out in the translation field. To demonstrate the potential for volunteer translation to be situated within a more solidary and equitable context and provide an example of one possible alternative to the platform-based paradigm, we discuss the practices of another humanitarian NGO, Solidarités International, which runs a paid internship programme and adopts a small-scale, peer-based, horizontal model with a strong focus on early-career translators. We ask who ultimately benefits from the exploitation of free labour and focus on identifying practices that enhance or jeopardize the professionalization and stature of the translators involved. We further discuss how the linguistic assets produced by volunteer translators can generate saleable intellectual property and how this can lead to conflicts of interest and support patterns of inequality in the wider social context.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, competency has emerged as a major issue which plays a significant role in responding to challenges facing organizational management in a rapidly changing environment. In this regard, the competency-based approach puts emphasis on individuals and highlights the importance of human resources to achieve organizational goals. The Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a human-centered organization; that is to say, most of the services provided to the target communities rely on the capabilities of human resources. Therefore, the current study aimed to design a model for the development of key human resource competencies in the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran. METHODS: This applied qualitative study was conducted based on an exploratory approach and used mixed-type data. Data collection was performed in two qualitative and quantitative phases. The first phase was conducted based on grounded theory, while a quantitative research method was used in the next phase. The statistical population of the study in the qualitative section included managers and human resource experts of the Red Crescent Society, as well as university professors and experts, who were selected using purposive sampling and were interviewed until saturation data (25 interviews). The statistical population of the quantitative section included 8,451 managers and employees of the Red Crescent Society of all provinces of Iran. The sample size was calculated at 361 cases using Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table. FINDINGS: In the present study, among the seven principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the five principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, and voluntary service were regarded as infrastructure requirements for the development of human resource competencies and were axially coded in causal conditions. Thereafter, the relationship between these principles and human resources competencies in the Red Crescent Society was determined using PLS software. CONCLUSION: As evidenced by the obtained results, the employment of appropriate strategies for evaluating and developing key human resource competencies resulted in the following consequences: human resource efficiency, provision of desirable social services, community health improvement, enhancement of human values, reinforcement of trust and public participation, and improvement of the financial capacity of the Red Crescent Society. The results indicated that competency development among Red Crescent staff is positively and significantly correlated with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.