A graduate at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently received an award for his thesis during the International Conference on Applied Language and Translation Studies in Venice, Italy.
Ahmed al-Awthan, who graduated recently from the Master of Arts in Translation Studies programme at CHSS, was honoured for his paper that examined unique aspects of transliteration, and how the can be appealing when translating words from English to Arabic because of the lack of agreement between translators on specific Arabic phrases to be used.
Al-Awthan said, “It’s been an incredible honour to be recognised for my translation research on a global stage. I’m grateful to my mentors, whose guidance and support have proved invaluable – through them I have learnt a great deal and their mentorship gave me confidence in my chosen research subject.”
“To earn international recognition is to reinforce CHSS’ capacity to graduate students who can succeed wherever they go. Our education experience at the college has been intriguing and compelling, and we were constantly challenged in ways that sought to expand our horizons.”
Al-Awthan’s thesis, written under the supervision of Dr Hendrik Kockaert, director of translation and interpreting studies, and Dr Amer al-Adwan, assistant professor, at CHSS, studied how 20 different translators can translate 15 terms on social media. In the presentation, al-Awthan focused on four terms and discussed them through paraphrasing and semantic loan. 
Dr Kockaert and Dr al-Adwan said, “The recognition Ahmed received for his thesis on Arabicisation of social media terms is a testament to his commitment to the subject matter he chose, which contributes nicely to a new research area in Translation Studies.”
The topic of the thesis blends in with the national language policy enhancing the protection. The thesis studies the challenges that translators often experience when translating social media terms into Arabic.
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