CenTraS Research

In today’s globalised world, translation is everywhere.

Whether we’re using Google Translate, a professional interpreter, or the help of friends or family, we can sometimes be tempted to think of translation as a fairly straightforward, reliable process. But no two languages are the same, and translators and interpreters are always making choices. Translation Studies research is about putting the spotlight on translation; it is about asking what happens when we (or our machines) translate, what is at stake, which relationships we establish, and what translation reveals about human beings and the societies we have constructed.

As an academic discipline, Translation Studies intersects with research across all areas of the university, whether medicine, the sciences, the social sciences, or the arts and humanities. As one of the largest hubs for translation studies research in the UK, UCL’s Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) is emblematic of that breadth and variety. Find out more about our core research themes by clicking on the tabs below, or join us at one of our free public lectures.

We are interested in Audiovisual Translation (AVT) understood as an umbrella term to refer to a wide range of practices related to the translation of audiovisual material. In this regard, AVT entails making audiovisual material accessible to people who do not speak the language of the original text through practices such as subtitling, dubbing and voiceover, among others. In addition, AVT involves making audiovisual content accessible to people with sensory impairments through modes such as subtitling for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences and audio description for people with limited access to visual information. 

Within this cluster, Media Accessibility and AVT are explored using a range of approaches, from Descriptive Translation Studies and corpus-based translation studies to perception and reception studies involving the use of tools such as eye-trackers. Approaches of this nature enable us to disentangle the specificities of AVT and to understand how current practices address the needs of heterogeneous and ever-changing audiences. We are also interested in the role played by technological developments in AVT, both as regards how these influence professional practices and how they change the current mediascape. Another area of interest within this research cluster is the investigation of the potential offered by AVT and Media Accessibility in language learning, both through exploratory and empirical studies. 

MA modules that connect in particular with this research cluster include:

  • CMII0091 Localisation
  • CMII0093 Audio description for people with limited access to visual information
  • CMII0095 Subtitling and captioning for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people
  • CMII0097 Subtitling
  • CMII0098 Translating for voiceover and dubbing
  • CMII0099 Topics in Audiovisual Translation

Selected Projects

  • NextGenerationEU research project – AVT Pro – Professional Certification for Audiovisual Translators (2022-2024). PIs: Prof. Jorge Díaz-Cintas & Dr Noelia Marqués Cobeta (University of Zaragoza).
  • Translation and Adaptation for Dubbing (TAD), funded by Netflix (ongoing since 2021): PIs: Prof. Jorge Díaz-Cintas, Prof. Frederic Chaume & Dr Rocío Baños-Piñero.
  • TRADILEX - Audiovisual Translation as a Didactic Resource in Foreign Language Education (2019-22): PI: Dr Noa Talaván (Universidad de Educación a Distancia, UNED).
  • Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund Project – Exploring audience preferences when watching online videos: dubbing vs. subtitling (2018-19): PIs: Dr Rocío Baños-Piñero & Prof. Jorge Díaz-Cintas.
  • EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Exploring Subtitle Reading Process with Eyetracking Technology (SURE, 2016-18). PIs: Prof. Jorge Díaz-Cintas & Prof. Agnieszka Szarkowska (University of Warsaw U).
  • Project funded by the Spanish Government - PluriTAV – Audiovisual Translation as a tool to develop plurilingual competence in the language classroom (2016-19). PI: Dr Juan José Martínez Sierra (Universidad de Valencia).
  • EU Lifelong Learning Programme Research Project - ClipFlair: Foreign language learning through interactive revoicing and captioning of clips (2011-14). PI: Prof. Patrick Zabalbeascoa (Universidad Pompeu Fabra).

Selected Publications

Research Theme Members

Research Theme Leads

This research cluster brings together scholars researching intercultural communication of health-related content in local, regional, national, or global contexts. CenTraS researchers focus on the relationship between crisis risks and emergency communication (or CERC) and intercultural and multilingual contexts. Marginalised communities, migrants, ethnic minorities and temporary foreign residents may become vulnerable when crises erupt, and urgent information circulates in formats or languages that many do not understand. By investigating how translation, interpreting, and multimodal forms of communication make sharing of crucial information possible, we explore the role of people and practices in CERC contexts. We carry out collaborative projects involving practitioners, charitable and NGO personnel and social scientists, political scientists, medical professionals, and researchers. We are also interested in connections between translation as risk reduction, interpreting in emergency responses, and ethics of technology-driven crisis communication in multilingual contexts. We investigate research methods to understand the emotive and cognitive impact of translated information in multilingual contexts of crisis. Our studies also focus on the impact of data collection practices in the multilingual settings of global health research and intervention. MA and MSc modules particularly connected with this research cluster include CMII0096 Medical Translation and CMII0100 Crisis Translation.

Selected Projects 

  • British Academy STRIVE Project (2021-2022) aims to understand the impact of translated information on COVID-19 vaccination in foreign residents in Italy. Dr Andrea Ciribuco (CenTraS Honorary Researcher) and Dr Valeria Reggi (University of Bologna, Italy/UCL alumna) hold post-doctoral positions in the project, coordinated by Federico M. Federici.
  • CenTraS/UCL Rare Dementia Support Translation Collaboration (2021- ongoing) is a project funded by an Arts & Humanities Education Enhancement grant and the National Brain Appeal. As part of the project, CenTraS students translate website content for Rare Dementia Support website. The project is coordinated by Research Theme Cluster member Olivia Cockburn.
  • Multilingualism and Healthcare Communication in West Africa (2017 – ongoing). Initiated by a Wellcome Prime Scholar award, this collaboration with Dr Emilie Sanon and Prof. Aristide Yoda (University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) and Professor Avea Nsoh (University of Education, Winneba, Ghana) aims to investigate the extent to which translation and interpreting needs are being overlooked in strategic healthcare communication planning and to identify examples of best practice in addressing such needs at local level. The project is coordinated by Research Theme Cluster member Prof. Kathryn Batchelor.
  • Decolonising Disaster Risk Reduction in Sierra Leone (2020-2024): Supported and funded by: Brot für die Welt and the German Civil Peace Service, United Nations Development Programme, National Disaster Management Agency Sierra Leone, YMCA Sierra Leone, UCL Grand Challenges Fund, UCL Global Engagement Funds 2020/2021, and UCL's Africa & Middle East Teaching Initiative 2021, this project aims to increase preparedness and stimulated debate around themes of risk reduction among the local multilingual population. Pious Mannah (YMCA SL) and Jonas Knauerhase (CenTraS Honorary Researchers) manage the project locally, coordinated by Research Theme Cluster member Federico M. Federici, advised by Prof. Kathryn Batchelor, Prof. Jorge Díaz-Cintas, Dr Christophe Declercq at CenTraS and Prof. Sharon O’Brien, Dr Patrick Cadwell at Dublin City University.
  • Horizon 2020 RISE INTERACT (2017-2020) was a project coordinated by Prof. Sharon O’Brien (Dublin City University/CenTraS Honorary Senior Lecturer) that created a network of researchers investigating translation of health-related content in crisis settings. Federico M. Federici was co-investigator of the project and together with cluster members Dr Emm Patiniotaki, and Dr Khetam Al Sharou, UCL’s members focused on policies, crisis communication strategies, and crisis translation training needs.
  • Language Crisis Map (2019). Seed funding from UCL's Innovation and Enterprise Fund, and support from ExCiteS colleagues at UCL Depart of Geography, enabled us to recruit GIS specialist Will Low to develop a framework, process and standards for mapping of language data in crisis context. Will Low worked with Eric DeLuca (Translators without Borders), coordinated by Research Theme Cluster member Federico M. Federici and Elli Kemp (Translators Without Borders).

Selected Publications

Policy Papers/Reports

Research Theme Lead

This cluster explores a broad spectrum of theoretical, methodological, and empirical questions about multilingualism and literary translation. It focuses on research into translation practices commonly adopted in the creative industries, including intermedial surtitles, song and musical translation, literary and poetry translation, and translation for the stage. We encourage collaboration with practitioners and welcome practice-led projects.  MA modules that connect with this research cluster include CMII0116 Translating Literary Culture and CMII0142 Translating Performance.

Selected Projects

  • Re-Imagining Postcolonialities: A Dialogue of Anglophone and Japanophone Literary Practices of Creolisation (2023 - ongoing) is a project funded by the Taiwanese Overseas Pioneers Grants (TOP Grants), National Science and Technology Council in Taiwan. It aims to find analytical explanations more suited to literary works produced in the multilingual context of East Asia, ensuring recognition of the resistance of the colonised subalterns and illuminating their material conditions.

Selected Publications

  • Multilingualism, Literature and Translation in East Asia (2026), edited by Research Theme cluster member Tzu-yu Lin.
  • Lin, Tzu-yu. “‘Translatxrsation’ and the Metaphorics of Self-translation: On Four Models of Self-translation in the Contexts of East Asia,” Multilingualism, Literature and Translation in East Asia. Ed. Tzu-yu Lin. London: Routledge, 2026.
  • Lin, Tzu-yu. “The Politics and Poetics of Theatre Translation in Taiwan: On the Translation and Adaptation of Jonathan Dove’s the Monster in the Maze,” The Routledge Handbook of East Asian Translation. Eds. Ruselle Meade, Claire Shih and Kyung Hye Kim. London: Routledge, 2023.
  • Adapting Translation for the Stage (2017), co-edited by Research Theme cluster member Geraldine Brodie.  
  • Brodie, Geraldine. The Translator on Stage. London: Bloomsbury, 2017. 

Research Theme Members

Research Theme Lead
Dr Tzu-yu Lin

 

Translation process research (TPR) is also known as process research, process-oriented translation studies, cognitive translation studies, translation cognition, translation psychology, translators’ studies, and more recently computational and cognitive translatology (Munoz Martin 2010a: 169-187). This is a cluster of research in translation studies that encompasses a broad spectrum of empirical and experimental investigations that fundamentally perceives translators and interpreters as human being. It aims to understand how, why and in what circumstances translators and interpreters do what they do from the interdisciplinary perspectives of cognition, behaviour, affect/emotion, sociology, and (neuro)physiology. At UCL, we have adopted digital research instruments, such as eye tracking and screen recording along with more traditional verbal report methods in examining translators and interpreters’ interaction with computer applications, or their ‘tools of trade’, tapping into the wider research theme of how technology has shaped and changed the way translators and interpreters learn and work in the increasingly digitalised world today. 

Selected Projects/Publications

  • ‘Translation and Interpreting as Social Interaction: Affect, Behaviour and Cognition’ (forthcoming). This is a book co-edited by two staff members of this cluster, Dr Claire Shih and Dr Caiwen Wang.
  • ‘Navigating the Web: an eye tracking-based study of translators’ web search behaviour’ (forthcoming): This is a monograph authored by the Research Theme Lead, Dr Claire Shih.
  • ‘Exploring subtitle reading with eye tracking technology’: This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 702606. It is carried out by Agnieszka Szarkowska at the Centre for Translation Studies, University College London, under the supervision of Prof. Jorge Díaz Cintas

Research Theme Lead

In this research cluster, we are interested in studying translations as historical objects. Using a range of approaches that include microhistory and histoire croisée, we consider translated products to be concrete traces of intercultural interactions from the past. By investigating how and why they came to be, and by paying attention to the details of their physical presence, we explore how translations can enrich our historical understanding of political and cultural developments. We are also interested in connections between translation and memory, and the ways in which translation is implicated in processes of both remembering and forgetting. We are particularly interested in questions of heritage, exploring the roles played by translators and interpreters in museums, galleries and archives. We investigate the entanglements between Western heritage and colonial legacies, and ask how translators and interpreters are to handle the huge ethical responsibility of interpreting and framing artefacts whose very existence is testament to material or symbolic violence inflicted against other peoples. MA modules that connect in particular with this research cluster include CMII0113/0114 Translation in History and CMII0162 Translation for the Cultural and Heritage Sectors.

Selected Projects / Publications

  • Exploring the Untold Stories of Sissinghurst’s Long Library: Anglo-German intellectual and cultural exchange in the 1920s-30s (2022): UCL-National Trust partnership initiative, funded by UCL’s Centre for Critical Heritage Studies. Led by Research Theme cluster member Kathryn Batchelor
  • Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2021-2023): Dr Akkad Alhussein, ‘Translation and Memory: Strategies of Remembering and Forgetting in Contemporary Arab Migrant Literature’
  • British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2016-21): Dr Tzu-yu Lin, ‘The Voices of Translators - Re-writing Colonial Cultural Memory in Japanophone Taiwanese Literature’
  • Translating Frantz Fanon across Continents and Languages, co-edited by Research Theme cluster member Kathryn Batchelor
  • Languages and the First World War: Representation and Memory , co-edited by Research Theme cluster member Christophe Declercq
  • Lin, Tzu-yu. “The Invisibility of Japanophone Taiwanese Women’s Writing and Its Translation,” Feminism(s) and/in Translation. Ed. José Santaemilia. Granada: Comares, 2020.
  • Lin, Tzu-yu. “Lost and Found: Issues of Translating Japanophone Taiwanese Literature,” Transfer, Translation and Reception. Ed. Norbert Bachleitner. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020.

Research Theme Lead

Research Theme Members

We are interested in exploring the nature of translation on both an abstract philosophical level and as a historically and socially situated practice. We see translation as a creative process, and we acknowledge the situatedness of ourselves as researchers. We explore how theories of translation interconnect with theoretical ideas developed in other fields of enquiry such as literary criticism, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, gender studies and philosophy. Topics in which we specialise include equivalence and authorised translation, paratexts, translator positioning, translation geopolitics, and decolonisation. Our work in translation philosophy connects primarily with continental philosophy, and we have particular interests in Jacques Derrida, Walter Benjamin, and Friedrich Schleiermacher. The MA modules which link most closely with this research cluster are CMII0115 Translation Theory and CMII0116 Translating Literary Culture. 

Selected Publications

Research Theme Lead

Research Theme Members

Within this cluster, we are interested in theoretical, vocational and methodological questions arising out of the technologisation of translation and interpreting practice and research. In this day and age, the use of (neural) machine translation systems, translation memories and terminology management tools – and, more recently, generative artificial intelligence in general and large language models in particular – constitutes a core component of translation and interpreting professional practice and its education. Alongside the research-led training we provide, we foster collaborations with industry partners (including software developers) and practitioners to ensure that our research is aligned with ever-changing industry developments and demand. Indeed, our researchers and teaching staff regularly work with leading industry providers to pilot new technological developments and these are incorporated into our MA/MSc programme design.

Technology questions cut across all of our research clusters. CenTraS offer an array of cutting-edge translation and interpreting tools in its dedicated computer lab, and our researchers also have access to highly advanced digital research instruments such as eye-trackers and combine these with other technologies in studies of translation processes (see Translation Process Research cluster) and applied studies (see Audiovisual Translation and Global Health/Crisis Translation cluster). The research studies we conduct on professional practice and education are also transversally applicable to all clusters in our attempt to narrow the gap between academic practice and industry. 

As educators, we are interested in innovative teaching methods and look into the development of new pedagogies that aim to respond to the demands of the world of work. Some of our researchers also look into the uses and application of mediation in modern foreign languages and have been involved in international projects that have developed ad-hoc language learning tools (see Audiovisual Translation cluster). We are equally interested in the role played by societal issues in (higher) education, so we champion equality, diversion and inclusion in our teaching and research practices and warmly welcome innovative research that enhances student-staff collaboration and allyship.

Postgraduate modules that connect in particular with this research cluster include:

  • CMII0090: Language and Automation
  • CMII0092 Professional Skills for Translators
  • CMII0101: Translation Technologies 1
  • CMII0102: Translation Technologies 2
  • CMII0201 Translation Project

Selected Projects

  • NextGenerationEU research project – « Automation and Editing (Preediting and Postediting) of Audiovisual Products » – Dr Alejandro Bolaños García-Escribano, Prof. Frederic Chaume (Universitat Jaume I), Dr Miguel Ángel Bernal-Merino (University of Roehampton) & Dr Dionysios Kapsaskis (University of Roehampton).
  • BAME Awarding Gap at SELCS (2022–2025) and EDI Contribution and Engagement Fund (2023–2024) – Dr Alejandro Bolaños García-Escribano, Mr Haydn Kirnon (SELCS), Dr Marga Navarrete & Dr Mazal Oaknín (SELCS).

Selected Publications

Research Theme Members

Dr Rocío Baños
Dr Christophe Declercq
Prof. Jorge Díaz-Cintas
Dr Caiwen Wang

Research Theme Lead

Dr Alejandro Bolaños García-Escribano
 

The study of video game localisation and accessibility is an intriguing and rapidly evolving field that aims to make video games more inclusive and enjoyable for a global audience.

Video game localisation involves adapting a game to different languages and cultures, ensuring that it resonates with players worldwide. This process goes beyond mere text-based translation, involving adjusting in-game text, audio, and visual elements to ensure they are appropriate and engaging for the target audience. This meticulous process not only helps video games reach a broader audience but also enhances the gaming experience by making games feel authentic and relatable in all regions, immersing players in different cultures.

Video game accessibility focuses on making games playable for people with diverse abilities. This includes various adaptations and design considerations, such as customisable controls, subtitles, colour-blind modes, and audio descriptions. The goal is to remove barriers that might prevent someone from enjoying a game due to physical, sensory, or cognitive limitations.
Localisation and accessibility are crucial for the video game industry. They ensure that games can be enjoyed by a diverse and global audience, promote inclusivity, and broaden the market reach. As the gaming community continues to grow, the importance of these studies will only increase, driving innovation and fostering a more inclusive gaming environment. MA modules that connect in particular with this research cluster include CMII0091 Video Game Localisation and Accessibility.

Selected Projects
-    AIAD (2024-2025), funded by HEIF (Higher Education Innovation Funding). This project explores the potential of using AI-enabled Audio Description (AD) to make video games more accessible to players with visual disabilities on a large scale. 

-    TransAD4Games (2023-2024), funded by the British Academy. This project investigates the challenges of translating Audio Description (AD) scripts for video games and explore whether translation is more cost and time-efficient than creating AD from scratch in a target language. It also conducts a reception study to understand players’ preferences for different AD styles.

-    AD4Games (2020-2023), funded by the Brigstow Institute. This project explored various ways in which audio description (AD) can make video games more accessible for players with vision loss.

Selected Publications
-    Zhang, Xiaochun & Song, Huawei. 2023. The Mukokuseki Strategy and the Application of Pivot Translation in the Localization of Japanese Games. Games and Culture.

-    Mangiron, Carme & Zhang, Xiaochun. 2022. ‘Video Games and Audio Description’, in The Routledge Handbook of Audio Description, edited by Christopher Taylor & Elisa Perego. London/New York: Routledge, 377-390.

-    Zhang, Xiaochun. 2021. ‘Video Game Localisation: Translating Interactive Entertainment’, in The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Media, edited by Esperança Bielsa. London/New York: Routledge, 369-383.

-    Zhang, Xiaochun & O’Hagan, Minako. 2019. ‘Transcreation in Game Localisation in China: A Contemporary Functionalist Approach Applied to Digital Interactive Entertainment’, in Recent Trends in Translation Studies in East Asia, edited by Nana Sato-Rossberg and Akiko Uchiyama, Oxford: Peter Lang, 181-203.

-    Mangiron, Carme & Zhang, Xiaochun. 2016. ‘Game Accessibility for the Blind: Current Overview and the Potential Application of Audio Description as the Way Forward’, in Researching Audio Description: New Approaches, edited by Anna Matamala and Pilar Orero, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 75-95.

Research Theme Lead
Xiaochun Zhang

Publications

CenTraS staff have published their research in monographs and as contributions to edited books and peer-reviewed journals. Some of their work is classed among standard references in the field and has been translated into a range of languages. See the individual staff pages for details.

Lectures and Research Seminars

The schedule for this year’s research seminars and guest lectures can be viewed here.