ATA Newsbriefs

According to a report released by the Massachusetts Language Access Coalition, many state residents still face barriers when navigating the court system, particularly if English isn’t their first language or they are part of the Deaf or hard of hearing community.

The report, “Justice Disrupted,” detailed unreliable interpreting services, a lack of translated documents, and multilingual signage as major problems that still persist in Massachusetts courts decades after state and federal laws were enacted to improve access.

Researchers took a few different approaches to gathering data for the study, including surveys, focus groups, and court-watching. Among the findings, researchers found that 45% of people surveyed said an interpreter never showed up for their hearing. Respondents also said that when an interpreter doesn’t show up, a person can file a complaint, but the complaint document is only available in English.

Authors of the study offered nine recommendations to improve language access, including making standby interpreters available, increasing the number of multilingual help desks, and training court staff on cultural responsiveness.

“Our recommendations will ensure that all court users can truly access justice, no matter the language they speak,” the authors of the study said.

The courts have started taking steps to improve language access. This includes looking to create an interpreter certification program with the National Center for State Courts, reviewing past policies, and creating a new position to enhance the court experience.

But Iris Coloma-Gaines, a statewide law access attorney and co-author of the report, said there is a lot more to do. “Our hope is really to engage and collaborate with the court and its ongoing efforts—including an assessment and examination of the report recommendations to improve access to justice for Deaf and hard of hearing and LEP court users and all court users.”

WGBH (10/23/25) By Magdiela Matta

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The Canadian government announced it will be piloting an artificial intelligence (AI) tool in six departments and agencies to help translate official languages for the public service.

Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound announced GCtranslate as the “first flagship project of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy.”

The technology was developed by the Translation Bureau at Public Services and Procurement Canada. No start date was given for the pilot.

According to a news release, a previous version of the tool was tested in June and translated more than 60 million words in three months, or about 3,000 pages of translated content per workday.

“GCtranslate strengthens the use of both official languages across government and supports a modern public service that keeps pace with the digital age,” Lightbound said. “This is about putting technology to work for Canadians so services are delivered faster, smarter, and in both official languages.”

But the head of one major public service union argued full automation of the government’s translation service is “a very bad idea” when it comes to protecting Canada’s official languages, especially French.

“I think this is going to have a negative impact directly on francophone communities,” said Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees. “AI loses a lot of the nuance of the language. A francophone reading an AI translation knows they’re reading an AI translation.”

Prier said the technology is best employed alongside human translators—not as a replacement for them.

“These are people with decades of experience in translation who know how to integrate these things without sacrificing quality,” Prier said. “They’re the foundation of bilingualism in Canada. They should be at the front line of this conversation, instead of hearing about the plans after the fact.”

CBC News (9/30/25) By Jayden Dill

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Foreign language departments at Wisconsin colleges and universities are facing an uncertain future after the Trump administration cut several funding sources the programs have relied on for more than 60 years.

In March, the U.S. Department of Education dismantled its Office of International and Foreign Language Education, which administered several major grant programs for language learning and international study. And at the start of the school year, the Trump administration cancelled foreign language and area studies (FLAS), leaving more than 50 students in Wisconsin without the financial support they were relying on for their studies.

“We are now operating in an environment where we need to consider how we will keep our commitment to foreign language instruction and area studies going on our campus and across the United States,” said Frances Vavrus, dean of the International Division at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The loss of funding and support is especially significant for less commonly taught languages, which in Wisconsin include languages like Norwegian, Hmong, and Ojibwe that are significant to heritage, immigrant, and tribal populations in the state.

Around the state, language educators emphasize that second-language learning is vital to the Wisconsin Idea, pointing to the more than half a million people in the state who speak a language other than English at home.

“The state of Wisconsin has always been and continues to be a very diverse state,” Vavrus said. “Our primary languages other than English are Hmong, Spanish, and German. So, we have many speakers of languages other than English, or they are bilingual or multilingual speakers, and I think it’s important for us to serve those residents.”

Kaishan Kong, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, has seen firsthand the power of language study to bolster community.

“Our students are active and engaged participants in community services such as translation and interpretation in different settings like court, schools, and healthcare facilities,” she said.

Kong teaches classes in Chinese language and culture. She believes these are vital to helping students develop deep knowledge of other countries and the people who live there, in addition to the more than 17,000 Wisconsin residents who speak Mandarin, Cantonese, or another Chinese dialect.

For Kong, it’s important that language and study abroad programs continue to help students develop critical thinking skills and empathy—and to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

“The world develops regardless of whether we participate or not,” Kong said. “We should prepare and engage our students to dive into engaging this global development. When students go beyond bubbles, they will see that the world is more complex than what they learn from the textbook.”

Wisconsin Public Radio (10/16/25) By Richelle Wilson

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At a time when translators are facing unprecedented challenges in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), a new master’s in creative translation course at the University of Oxford will explore and celebrate translation as a creative endeavor in which the role of the human will always remain essential.

Led by Karen Leeder, an award-winning translator and professor within Oxford’s Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, the course will reflect a growing appreciation for translation as both a field of research and a creative discipline that requires not only linguistic skill, but also imagination, interpretation, and cultural sensitivity.

“It’s increasingly recognized as a literary art form,” Leeder said. “We’re seeing a real coming of age for the field.”

Distinct from academic translation, creative translation explores the history, theory, and methodologies of translation and interprets not just meaning but voice, considering tone, rhythm, and emotion.

In addition to developing their own practice as a translator, students will be introduced to a range of materials, from the earliest translations of ancient texts to the dilemmas of AI, examine how translations differ, and explore areas such as translation for performance, adaptation, early modern translation, translating the untranslatable, and multilingualism. The course will include a program of regular industry sessions with visiting creatives and experts.

The timing of the course is not coincidental. In the U.K., there is a growing demand for skilled translators to support thriving creative industries. It also comes at a time when the human role in translation is more important than ever.

“All art forms are under threat from AI, but AI is used in translation, and we must find ways to work productively with it,” Leeder said. The course will encourage students to critically engage with these technologies while also recognizing their limits and learning to identify what makes for “good” translation.

“There needs to be a re-evaluation of the role of the human translator,” Ledder said. “It’s so important to champion their role in the future of publishing when authorship itself is under threat.”

“We hope this course will not only prepare graduates to make a real impact in our creative industries, supporting a new generation of translators as creative thinkers, collaborators, and innovators, but will serve as a reminder that the ability to imagine, interpret, and connect across languages and cultures remains a distinctly human endeavor.”

University of Oxford (10/28/25)

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