The Role Language Translation Plays in Crisis Communication

The importance of language translation in crisis communication hastaken on added significance in an era of globalized and multilingual communication. The historical development and contemporary practice of translation in times of crisis will be examined, fromits roots in wartime work and the establishment of multilingual organizations to more recent events. Based on theories of, among others, humanitarian translation, risk communication and communication accommodation, the study examines the historical move from periphery, reactive translation practice to integrated, proactive translation in a wider perspective of disaster preparednessand response. Based on areview of historical and more recent approaches, text and translation practices, together with challenges that have persisted that include late-stage inclusion of translation, copying and language transfer from the original, and the limitations of both human and machine translation processes in high-stakes situations. It also callsout significant policy and infrastructure gaps, specifically the neglect of low-literacy and minority-language populations. The review calls attention to the importance of timely, contextuallyfit, multimodal, and institutionalized translation planning in emergency response. Finally, the authorssuggest a mixed, interdisciplinary model that acknowledges the value of human expertise, technology, and local community involvement.