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Background

Studies show that providing quality course content in a student’s native language improves educational outcomes for students who are not dominant in English (Lucas & Katz 1994, Karathanos 2009, Jain 2017)

One way to provide content in a student’s native language is through translation.

Translating an existing course eliminates the need to create a new course.

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Multilingual Course Content Development Project

Goals

By offering courses in various languages, we seek to:

advance the University’s goal of expanding access to education, not only on campus but also globally.

broaden access to educational opportunities and support the needs of diverse communities of learners.

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The National Center for Interpretation (NCI) offers:

(1) Full-service course translation

Translation of courses from English to another language.
Review of translation by an editor and a subject matter expert.
Translation quality assurance process.

(2) Quality Assurance for previously translated courses

(3) Analysis of the results of the translated course assessment and their correlation with the translated materials.

Multilingual Course Content Development Project

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What is NCI?

Founded in 1979, NCI offers a variety of services, including interpreter training and testing in both the legal and medical fields. NCI’s research in training, testing and assessment has led to new standards across the fields of translation and interpretation.

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Why NCI?

NCI has a national and international reputation in translation and interpreting.

NCI is part of the campus community and has expertise in the academic realm.

NCI is the only university language service unit doing these programs, so we can offer the quality assurance and seal of approval from the University of Arizona.

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Pilot Translated Course, Public Health 308

PH is an ideal college because:

has one of the highest proportions of Hispanic students overall at the university
Has many connections to the community and with Mexico.

PH 308 Community Health Education for Disease Outbreaks, 7.5-week course offered online in English and now in Spanish as well.

PH 308 is a gen-ed course open to undergraduates from any major.

Instructor: a native Spanish speaker (from Mexico), and a public health expert.

NCI translated existing English course content (slides and pedagogical materials).

The translated content was reviewed by editors and a Subject Matter Expert

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Pilot Translated Course Public Health 308

Assessment of the effectiveness of the translated course through:

Student outcomes (grades)

Student Course Surveys

Comparing English vs. translated course outcomes

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Pilot Translated Course, Public Health 308, Fall 2022*

Session Offered	Fall 2022 7w2 (SPA)	Fall 2022 7w1 (ENG)
Enrollment	7	45
Grade Distribution	A 42% B 14% C 14% E 14% W 14%	A 75% B 11% C .02% D .04% E .06%
Grade average	83.33 %	89.44 %

Student course outcomes (Grades)

*Thank you to Gaby Valdés, Adaeze Oguegbu, Roxanna Apaez and the College of Public Health for their help and support

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Pilot Translated Course, Public Health 308, Fall 2022

Session Offered	Fall 2022 7w2 (SPA)	Fall 2022 7w1 (ENG)
TCE Response Rate	28% (2/7)	17.78% (8/45)
Core TCE items (shared)	Strongly Agree 100%	87.5% Strongly Agree 12.5% Agree
Spanish (only) TCE items	Strongly Agree 100%

Student course outcomes (TCEs)

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Pilot Translated Course, Public Health 308, Fall 2022

Core TCE items (shared)

I was treated with respect in this course
In this course, I was encouraged to participate through class activities, projects, and/or assignments.
This course expanded my knowledge and skills in the subject matter
I was encouraged to analyze and/or apply the concepts and skills taught in this course
The learning goals for this course were clear to me
This course helped me to connect the concepts and skills we learned to the world around me.
I feel I learned the subject matter well enough to help another student in this course
The course presentations, materials, procedures and deadlines were clearly organized
I regularly/frequently had the opportunity to ask questions about concepts and skills in the course
I received feedback on my course work/assignments throughout the semester.
I received feedback on course work/assignments that helped me learn.

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Pilot Translated Course, Public Health 308, Fall 2022

Spanish (only) TCE items

Having the materials in Spanish helped me learn the content and skills from the course
The quality of the materials in Spanish was appropriate for my learning
The knowledge and use of Spanish language by the instructor was appropriate for my learning

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Pilot Translated Course, Public Health 308, Fall 2022

Session Offered	Fall 2022 7w2 (SPA)	Fall 2022 7w1 (ENG)
TCE Response Rate	28% (2/7)	17.78% (8/45)
What did you especially like about this course?	Que estuviera en español! Que fuera en español! (That it was in Spanish)	Various
What suggestions would you make to improve this course?	Elaborate a little more on the concepts presented in the video lectures and provide examples.	Everything was ok with me; I wouldn't change anything everything was self-explanatory.

Student course outcomes (TCEs)

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Other Projects

Translation quality assessment

The Illinois Institute of Technology’s Master’s in Economics

Microeconomics and Game Theory MBA-505 into Mandarin
Translation mistakes - many involving MT subtitles on the videos

The quality assessments are an important aspect of the project.

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Other Courses

Some General Education courses can be excellent candidates to offer in languages other than English, given high enrollments and their introductory nature.

Honors Courses can also be good candidates for translation. Given the type of student the Honors College attracts, some may like additional practice in another language.

Offering courses in other languages gives UA units access to the LEP market.

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References

Lucas, T. & Katz, A. (1994). Reframing the debate: The roles of native languages in English-only programs for language minority students. TESOL Quarterly 28(3), 537-561.

Karathanos, K. (2009). Exploring US mainstream teachers’ perspectives on use of the native language in instruction with English language learner students. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 12(6), 615-633.

Jain, T. (2017). Common Tongue: The Impact of Language on Educational Outcomes. The Journal of Economic History 77(2), 473-510. doi:10.1017/S0022050717000481

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