Vol/51 No/1 2012FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist21FEATURESNotes1Although this concerns the source texts initiallyit also applies to target texts.2Van Maerken, T, Dhondt, A and Delanghe, J R,2010, 'A Rapid and Simple Assay to DeterminePegylated Erythropoietin in Human Serum' inJournal of Applied Physiology, e-publicationahead of print, 21/1/10. Available at http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/01102.2009v1.pdf3'Tour de France Faces More Controversy afterRicardo Ricco Tests Positive' in The Times, 17/7/084Alcaraz, E and Hughes, B, 2002,Legal TranslationExplained, Amsterdam, St Jerome Publishing, 14 5This is not uncommon. See, eg, Wathelet, M,2007, 'Sport Governance and EU Legal Order:Present and future', available at www.ielaws.com/Wathelet_EN.pdf, whose footnotes refer to'unofficial translations' from French into English6'WADA Glossary: Translation of common termsused in the field of anti-doping in sports',available at www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/glossary.pdf7UCI Cycling Regulations, part 14 Anti-Doping,2011, 39, available at http://tinyurl.com/cva9wvj 8This happens on an intranational level. Eg, inItaly a cyclist was convicted in one judicial districtfor an infringement but not in another. ALEXLEE, 'RICARDORICCO', 1/6/08 VIAFLICKR, (CC BY 2.0) TESTING TIMESRiccardo Riccò rides the 2008 Giro d'Italia asteam leader for Saunier Duval. He later testedpositive for the banned substance CERAthe various generations is that the drugs havebecome more and more refined, with fewer injections required and longerlasting effects. Communication is keyAlthough translating texts on doping posesmany peculiar issues, the realisation that clearcommunication is key for the future -forcreating new cycling events for instance -is a major step forward. This is asserted byAlain Rumpf, Director of Global CyclingPromotion, who has stated that avoidingmisunderstanding is key. When participants' English is not up to afunctioning level, a local language consultantis brought along. The Lausanne-basedorganisation SportAccord (formerly theGeneral Association of International SportsFederations) is also promotingcommunication and cooperation amongvarious international sports federations, andhas an ever growing number of members.To sum up, while translating texts ondoping, the translator is put in an awkwardposition. He or she needs a solid scientificbackground in the substances involved aswell as in the medical consequences.Translating texts on doping includes twoother important layers: one of legalsensitivities and another involving possiblecross-cultural differences, as well as thecultural context, which may be construed asnear superfluous. This can be seen as adifficult situation, with the translator applyinga truthful relationship to a particular andchallenging field.The absence of adefinition of whatconstitutes dopingconvolutes the entirefield even further

22 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCH www.iol.org.ukFEATURESUniversities across the UK are coordinating annuallanguage festivals to highlight the importance andvalue of language learning, says Jessica Moore"The dream is to have a UK-wide universitylanguage festival", says Nick Byrne, Director ofthe Language Centre at the London School ofEconomics (LSE). "Last year, we gave it a go,and we decided to tie it in with Mardi Gras.Even though that means the date changesevery year, if it's Mardi Gras it will always be aTuesday, it will always be in the spring term,and universities can tack it on to the carnivalatmosphere. It can be a light-hearted thingwith serious things happening within it."In 2011, a number of universities agreedthat this sounded like a lot of fun, as well as aproductive use of time and resources. Byrne'scarnival dream was embraced by theAssociation of University Language Centres(AULC). Language festivals last year wereheld at Anglia Ruskin University, LSE, Exeter,Newcastle, Plymouth, Reading and Sussex.The universities of Leeds and LeedsMetropolitan staged a joint event. "We wantmore to participate in 2012," Byrne says,"and for it to then become an annual event."The idea, which is growing in popularity andreach, is that universities throughout the UKhold their own language festival at the sametime of year. While the scale, structure andeven purpose of these festivals may differ frominstitution to institution, together they mark aconcerted effort to bring languages to the fore. "Our festival was held at Leeds Met,"explains Peter Howarth, Chair of AULC andDeputy Director of the University of Leeds'Language Centre. Although it was principallyrun by academic staff, Howarth says thefestival benefited from "brilliant support" fromStudent Ambassadors, who were languagestudents from both universities. "I'd like tothink these types of language festival willbecome increasingly important in future", he says. "They're part of a national drive topromote languages in any way possible."As Caroline Campbell, Director of theuniversity's Foreign Language Teaching Unit,explains, the festival presents an opportunityto engage the prospective undergraduates oftomorrow. "In 2011, we held a one-day festivalfor any student who was either studying alanguage or interested in languages. Theycould already be at university, " she says, "butmainly it was for Year 10 students at six localschools who wanted to get a taster of what itmight be like to study languages at university." The Leeds event combined practicalworkshops with informative lectures andopportunities for students to exploreuniversity-level language learning. Campbellsays: "We got Nick Gibb [the Minister forSchools] to say a few words, and he was veryencouraging about the use of languages. Wehad someone from thebigword, which is atranslation agency, talking about careers. Wehad taster sessions for six differentlanguages. We had stands about studyabroad options and other stands looking atdifferent cultures. We offered a range ofthings to open students' eyes and put themin touch with the right people to talk to."The aim was to raise awareness and dosomething enjoyable", she adds. "Onestudent was interested in doing Arabic buthadn't had the opportunity to study it atschool, so we ran a taster session. We hadThai too. We wanted to introduce children notjust to French, German and Spanish, which arecommonly available in schools, but also toother languages, and show them the benefitsof studying those in terms of employabilityand their own cultural awareness." Variety of eventsOther language festivals have different aims.At some universities, including LSE, they targetexisting rather than prospective students. Atthe University of Sussex, the Language Centrecollaborated with the art department. Localartists were invited to display work on thetheme 'Root and Branch', while the LanguageCentre ran a show called 'Spoken Here',projecting footage of trees, with voiceovers ina number of languages talking about natureand woodland. This created a walk-throughcinema of woodland visuals and voices. The university language festivals aresupported by Speak to the Future, theA time for celebrationThe number who saidthey would definitelycontinue with alanguage rose by 31%following the event