In commercial contexts, mainstream localization decisions have traditionally targeted markets where a short-term return on investment will offset the localization costs (Exton et al. 2010, 81), whereas, in contexts where social, cultural, or political motivations are more important than the commercial return on investment, localization decisions may instead prioritize the dissemination of information as widely as possible, or specifically to those without access to the knowledge (Ibid; Anastasiou and Schäler 2010). More recently, the term localization has come into use by international aid organizations for their humanitarian practice to refer to the deployment of local resources such as local agents and local response models (Folaron 2019, 204). With such a wide range of contexts in which localization concepts are applied and decisions are made, it seems timely to call for papers examining localization practices around the world across different sectors. This special issue of the Journal of Internationalization and Localization (JIAL) therefore aims to bring into cognisance previously less recognised locale-specific issues, emerging trends or research projects (including publicly funded research programmes and PhD research) as well as types of localization undertaken and localization tools used or under development. We are particularly interested in localization in linguistic, social and cultural contexts from regions that have been under-represented in the journal thus far, such as Africa, Middle East, South and South East Asia, Australasia, Eastern Europe, and South and Central America, encompassing minority and indigenous languages. The suggested topics include, but are not limited to: -Socio-political and ideological issues in localization decision-making -Localization strategies used by different industry groups or humanitarian organizations
-Localization involving minority or indigenous languages
-Emerging trends in shaping localization processes and tools
-Machine learning and AI applications in localization
-Non-professional translation in localization
To help bridge the gap between localization practice and theory representing different regions of the world, we invite both industry professionals and scholars working in academia to submit unpublished, original 6,000-8,000-word articles. Given the quickly changing industry, the special issue will be published expediently, in late 2020, as a double issue: Volume 7, Issues 1 and 2.
Submission deadlines:
Abstracts (500 words): March 15, 2020
Notification to authors: March 31, 2020
Full papers: June 1, 2020
Revised papers due (following peer review): August 15, 2020
Publication: December 2020
Inquiries and abstracts should be addressed to the journal’s co-editors: Minako O’Hagan (University of Auckland, New Zealand) minako.ohagan@auckland.ac.nz
Julie McDonough Dolmaya (York University, Canada) dolmaya@glendon.yorku.ca
References:
Anastasiou, Dimitra, and Reinhard Schäler. n.d. “Translating Vital Information: Localisation, Internationalisation, Globalisation.” Syn-Thèses 3: 11–25. Exton,
Chris, Asanka Wasala, Jim Buckley, and Reinhard Schäler. 2010. “Micro Crowdsourcing: A New Model for Software Localization.” Localisation Focus 8 (1): 81–89.
Folaron, Debbie. 2019. “Technology, Technical Translation and Localization” in O’Hagan, M (ed) The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Technology. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 203-219
Call for PapersSpecial Issue of The Translator and Interpreter Trainer (2028)Theme: (Re)Conceptualising User Agency in Audiovisual Translation Education.Editors: Jorge Díaz-Cintas, Lisi Liang, Hui Wang and Serenella Massidda. Topics may include:the (re)conceptualisation of “user agency” in the context of non-professional and/or fanbased AVT training;online users’ motivations for exerting agency in AI-powered AVT and its impact on the theory and practice of AVT training;online users’ creativity in specific domains of AVT, such as danmu subtitling, fansubbing/fandubbing, game localisation, access services, and voice synthesis technologies for media localisation and its impact on the theory and practice of AVT training;empirical studies focusing on the activation of user agency through verbal and/or nonverbal channels in online and offline AVT training, supported by robust research methods and with high potential for innovation in AVT pedagogy;the negotiation of agency between AI platform developers, users and educators in AVT training;the extent to which the exercise of user agency bridges or extends the boundaries between professional and non-professional, human and AI translation in AVT training;pedagogical, technological, and ethical implications of user agency for AVT training;the impact of AI-based AVT paradigm and user agency on the established translation training paradigm in AVTSubmission informationSubmission of proposals: 1 July 2026 (title and abstract of approx. 500 words, references included)Acceptance of submitted abstracts: 1 August 2026.Submission of full manuscripts: 1 February 2027 (up to 8,000 words, including references and notes).Acceptance of papers: October 2027Publication: Late Autumn/Winter 2028.More details: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/reconceptualising-user-agency-in-audiovisual-translation-education/
Call for Papers:Symposium: Translating Conflict: Language, Power, and the City.Location: Utrecht University — Languages in the City Series.Date: 22–23 April 2027Topics: Political and institutional translation: invisibility, neutrality, strategic mistranslation, asymmetrical communication.Conflict, post-conflict, humanitarian settings: diplomacy, peace negotiations, legal processes, ethics and positionality of translators, reconciliation.Resistance and public space: translation as activism, urban linguistic landscapes, social-media wars of meaning.Limits and exclusions: untranslatability, silencing, exclusion.Technology: AI-assisted translation in high-stakes settings.Exile and migration: translation, memory, and cultural continuity.Key dates:Submission deadline: 30/06/2026Notification: ~30/09/2026Symposium: 22–23 April 2027More details: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7451657930900361216-SP6Q?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADAHFiwBi8jC4KbsaPPxHxBkCAx_UoukeoQ
Call for PapersEvent: the 16th International Symposium on Bilingualism.Place and date: University of Saskatchewan, Canada, June 14-18, 2027. Thems and topics:Bi-multilingual speech and communicationCognitive, neuro- and psycholinguisticsChild and adolescent bi-multilingual developmentAdult bi-multilingual developmentEducation and pedagogy HJHeritage, immigrant, regional and other minority languagesIndigenous languagesTranslation and InterpretingSociolinguistics and Sociology of languageSpeech-language pathology; Health CommunicationAbstract submission deadline: 1 October 2026. More details: https://conferences.usask.ca/isb16/
Call for Abstracts This is a call for an edited volume on 'Translators at Work in Periodicals: Agency, Mediation, and Cultural Power'. Edited by Ivana Hostová and Eva SpišiakováSuggested topics:• periodicals as infrastructures of literary, cultural, and intellectual mediation• translators, editors, reviewers, and other mediators shaping periodical cultures• translators’ multiple roles, including editing, curating, annotating, and framing• distributed, relational, or contested agency in periodical cultures• translator agency, editorial strategy, and activism• translation in peripheral, semi-peripheral, or politically unstable ecologies• periodicals as spaces of cultural resistance, ideological struggle, or symbolic negotiation• paratextual framing, editorial positioning, and the politics of selection• material and medial conditions of translation, including format, layout, page space, seriality, and multimodality• circulation of minoritized, marginalized, or non-canonical literatures• periodicals and the transfer of theory, philosophy, science, or political ideas• translation in periodicals and the making of national, regional, or transnational cultures• microhistorical or biographical studies of translators and editors• actor-network, social-network, bibliographic, or database-driven approaches• methodological reflections on blending close reading with large-scale or digitally assisted analysisDeadline for abstracts: 31 December 2026Deadline for full chapters: 31 July 2028Expected publication: 2029Full info: https://ktr.ff.ukf.sk/en/research/call-for-abstracts-translators-at-work-in-periodicals-agency-mediation-and-cultural-power/
Call for Papers:Conference: Global North and Global South Perspectives on Literature, Linguistics, and Translation.Organised by the Research Centre for Irish Studies (RCIS).Date: 7-8 June 2026. Main themes: Literature;Irish Studies;Linguistics;Translation, Power and Knowledge Circulation. Submission deadline: 30 April 2026More info: https://old.bue.edu.eg/global-north-and-global-south-perspectives-on-literature-linguistics-and-translation-conference-7-8-june-2026/
