Acceso usuarios
Annjo K. Greenall
This article presents a critical examination of how the Norwegian University of Science and Technology attempts to recruit transnational students through the use of bilingual information on its website. The nature of the translational relationship between a Norwegian web text directed at local students and its comparable English version directed at international students is discussed, and it is suggested that this relationship could be characterized as one of “transadaptation”. Nevertheless, it is argued that prospective students are likely to perceive the relationship as one of “proper” translation and it is suggested that this may impede the recruitment process since students with no interest and/or possibility of accessing the local version might believe that the international version gives a faithful portrayal of the University and the cultural context it is situated in. The elements of the Norwegian web text that point to aspects of the local culture are systematically downplayed in the English version and it is claimed that this contributes to what may be termed “cultural suppression”. In the long run, this might drive off students who are looking for a university based on cultural specificity, and not simply yet another Anglophone/Anglocultural university.
