Critical Perspectives on Accounting 35 (2016) I–II

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Critical Perspectives on Accounting

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cpa

Language and translation in accounting

Special issue call for papers from Accounting, Auditing &
Accountability Journal
Lisa Evans (Guest Editor), Rania Kamla (Guest Editor)
Stirling University, United KingdomHeriot Watt University, United Kingdom

About the special issue

‘Translation is a vital part of achieving the IFRS Foundation’s mission to develop a single set of high-quality global
accounting standards for use around the world’ (IASB website)
‘. . . translation is a highly manipulative activity that involves all kind of stages in that process of transfer across
linguistic and cultural boundaries. Translation is not an innocent, transparent activity but it is highly charged with
significance at every stage; it rarely, if ever, involves a relationship of equality between texts, authors or systems’
(Bassnett and Trivedi, 2012, p.2)
Translation – across languages and cultures – plays a critical role in accounting. It is required in international trade, in
operating and accounting for multinational enterprises, in creating, implementing and enforcing international accounting
laws and standards, in delivering accounting education to international cohorts of students, and in conducting international
and intercultural research. Financial statements and annual reports, standards and standard setting discourse, teaching
materials and publication of research findings all require translation for at least some constituents. Accounting research
explores annual report narratives or regulatory discourse, employs content analysis or disclosure indices, conducts interview,
experimental and survey research, and draws on theoretical frameworks, all often across cultural and language boundaries.
However, exact equivalence in translation is rare; there is no one-to one semantic correspondence of concepts between
different language-cultures (Catford, 1965; Venuti, 1995). This is especially the case when a subject or discipline – such
as accounting – is culture-specific, socially constructed, inherently indeterminate or ideological (Evans et al., 2015; Evans,
2004). It cannot be assumed, therefore, that ‘all ways of viewing the social world can be straightforwardly captured using the
English language’ (Temple, 2013, p.100), nor that an objective reality can be obtained by translation (Xian, 2008). Instead,
translation is implicated in uneven power relationships (Bassnett and Trivedi, p.3; Simon, 1997). In spite of this, with few
exceptions, accounting largely appears to neglect translation – both as a research opportunity and as a methodological and
epistemological consideration. This is in contrast to the ‘translation turn’ in other disciplines. However, research on language
use and translation in accounting has the potential to have real world impact – for example, the IFRS Foundation has recently
called for research on language and cultural influences on the international application of its standards. Finally, engagement
with translation does not have to be limited to interlingual translation, but can include all aspects of translation – in the
wider sense – across cultures and disciplines.
This AAAJ special issue intends to open up the opportunity to explore these interrelationships and aims to encourage
research that develops diverse and multicultural approaches to accounting thought. We encourage submissions that address
topics relating to language, culture and translation in accounting, auditing and accountability. Possible topics may include,
but are not restricted to:

E-mail addresses: lisa.evans@stir.ac.uk (L. Evans), r.kamla@hw.ac.uk (R. Kamla).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1045-2354(16)00017-4
1045-2354/
II L. Evans, R. Kamla / Critical Perspectives on Accounting 35 (2016) I–II

• Limits of equivalence in accounting translation.

• Problems and opportunities of ambiguity in accounting terminology.
• Translation and power: communication, dissemination, legitimisation, lobbying, social change, (post-)colonialism.
• Ideological, cultural, social, legal and/or political implications of translation and non-translation in accounting
• Cognitive and cultural bias and vested interests in translation.
• English as a lingua franca: cultural dominance, values, identities and ideologies.
• Transformation of accounting systems and cultures, professions, societal and (inter-)cultural contexts of change.
• Professional socialization in international contexts.
• International accounting education.
• Accounting history across languages and cultures: translation and language change.
• Implications for standard setting, consultation and the IASB due process.
• Implications for implementation of international accounting rules/standards.
• Probability/uncertainty expressions in accounting standards.
• Translations of rules versus principles.
• Economic implications of accounting translation.
• Accounting research across languages and cultures: research instruments, narratives, experiments, surveys, interviews
and oral history, theoretical frameworks in translation (Foucault, Bourdieu, Weber, Habermas, etc.).
• Implications for translation of the dissemination of research findings in English language academic journals.

Submitting to the issue

• Initial submission deadline: 30 June 2017. The link for submissions will open in early 2017.
• Manuscripts should be submitted electronically. Author guidelines must be followed.
• For further information please contact Lisa Evans or Rania Kamla

References

Bassnett S, Trivedi H. Postcolonial Translation: Theory and Practice. Routledge; 2012.

Catford JC. A Linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay in Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press; 1965.
Evans L. Language, translation and the problem of international accounting communication. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
2004;17(2):210–48.
Evans L, Baskerville R, Nara K. Colliding worlds: Issues relating to language translation in accounting and some lessons from other disciplines. Abacus
2015;51(1):1–36.
IASB websites: http://www.ifrs.org/IFRS-Research/Research-opportunities/Pages/General-issues.aspx#3 and http://www.ifrs.org/Use-around-the-
world/IFRS-translations/Pages/IFRS-translations.aspx.
Simon S. Translation, postcolonialism and cultural studies. Meta: Journal des traducteurs 1997;42(2):462–77.
Temple B. Casting a wider net: Reflecting on translation in oral history. Oral History 2013;41(2):100–9.
Venuti L. The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation. London: Routledge; 1995.
Xian H. Lost in translation? Language, culture and the roles of translator in cross-cultural management research. Qualitative Research in Organizations and
Management: An International Journal 2008;3(3):231–45.

Selected further reading

Alexander D. A European true and fair view? European Accounting Review 1993;2(1):17–46.
Archer S, McLeay S. Issues in transnational financial reporting: A linguistic analysis. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development 1991;12(5):347–61.
Baskerville RF, Evans L. The darkening glass: Issues for translation of IFRS. Edinburgh: Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland; 2011.
Belkaoui A. Linguistic relativity in accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society 1978;3(2):97–104.
Davidson RA, Chrisman HH. Interlinguistic comparison of international accounting standards: The case of uncertainty expressions. International Journal of
Accounting 1993;28(1):1–16.
Davidson RA, Chrisman HH. Translations of uncertainty expressions in Canadian accounting and auditing standards. Journal of International Accounting,
Auditing and Taxation 1994;3(2):187–203.
Doupnik TS, Richter M. Interpretation of uncertainty expressions: A cross-national study. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2003;28(1):15–35.
Doupnik TS, Richter M. The impact of culture on the interpretation of “in context” verbal probability expressions. Journal of International Accounting
Research 2004;3(1):1–20.
Fuertes-Olivera PA, Nielsen S. The dynamics of accounting terms in a globalized environment: The role of English as Lingua Franca. In: Temmerman R, Camp-
enhoudt MV, editors. Dynamics and terminology: An interdisciplinary perspective on monolingual and multilingual culture-bound communication.
John Benjamins; 2014.
Huerta E, Petrides Y, Braun GP. Translation of IFRS: Language as a barrier to comparability. Research in Accounting Regulation 2013;25(1):1–12.
Nobes C. The survival of international differences under IFRS: Towards a research agenda. Accounting and Business Research 2006;36(3):233–45.
Parker RH. Read with care: Financial reporting translations. Accountancy 2001;June:102.
Wong PHY. Challenges and successes in implementing international standards: Achieving convergence to IFRSs and ISAs. New York: International Federation
of Accountants; 2004.
Zeff SA. Some obstacles to global financial reporting comparability and convergence at a high level of quality. The British Accounting Review
2007;39(4):290–302.
See more at: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/call for papers.htm?id=6463#sthash.OjXUFCbm.dpuf.