Observations on the linguistic issues of translating official documents in local government institutions – a study based on monthly minutes of Pradhesiya Sabha, Rattota

Abstract

Translation is a kind of skill involving a process of rendering meaning, ideas or messages of a text from one language to another language. Sri Lanka is a multilingual country where Sinhala and Tamil languages are recognized as national and official languages and English is a link language. Converting Sri Lanka into a bilingual country is essential to make reconciliation and implement all important official decisions. Sri Lanka is a multilingual country however; it is not in a position to offer satisfactory service in both languages mostly it does in Sinhala. Further, government institutions in Sri Lanka do not have sufficient translation service in Tamil language. Therefore, the main concern of this study is to understand the official languages policy by ensuring a better effective and efficient translation service to the institution by establishing an enabling environment that facilitates proper implementation of official languages policy. Comparative and descriptive analyses are applied by the researcher in order to investigate the problems encountered during the translation process and how the challenges are met by applying appropriate techniques, strategies and guidelines. Finally, this study will provide guidance to the students of translation studies and official document translators.