Genre Translation: Article as an Website 1

Music Therapy: An Academic Article to an Advocacy WebsiteGenre Translation: Article as a

Website

Rachel Jang

WRIT 2

University of California, Santa Barbara

Genre Translation: Article as an Website 2

This piece represents a transition from an academic article about the benefits of music

therapy to an advocacy website. The article, “Effects of music therapy and music

based-interventions in the treatment of substance use disorders: A systematic review” highlights

the influence of music therapy in aspects such as motivation, depression, enjoyment, and more.

This article utilizes the quantitative and qualitative measures of experiments which makes the

article appealing to those who study music therapy or have great interest in it, but makes it

difficult for the average person to digest. This is especially apparent for people seeking out help

through music therapy or parents and friends who are doing this for a loved one. Personally,

music plays a big role in my life in terms of healing, so creating an advocacy website was an

obvious translation for me. The article also provides a solution to substance use disorders which

is a prevalent topic today. Through the translation to an advocacy website, I plan to simplify the

experiment and its results to carry and implement its effects and messages towards a larger

audience. Anyone interested would be able to understand without having to do the heavy work of

dissecting an article.

The goal of an advocacy website is to persuade the reader and empower them to enact

change whether that be in the form of donating or changes in their daily life. An advocacy

website was chosen specifically for music therapy because of the general layout as well as the

end goal. An advocacy website, similar to a non-profit one, provides short but impactful

statements. The article provides the results of the experiment that are used for this purpose. It is

now my job to transform to further the advocacy aspect of the website. se eye catching statistics

that highlight only the positives of music therapy. For example, the statistic regarding enjoyment

is not objectively a great feat, but I added words like increased to frame it in a way that it was.

Since the article highlights these benefits, and advocacy websites also only portray positive
Genre Translation: Article as an Website 3

information about the subject, information from the article is easily translated for the website.

Furthermore, the issue presented and solved within the article is relevant in society today and

there is already active knowledge and advocating for music therapy. The topic of substance use

disorder and providing solutions is a moral subject that people feel inclined to listen to and

support. Being able to translate text that is meaningful and provides a solution, will align with

the goal of an advocacy website. People will feel the moral need to donate. So, not only do I

provide only positive results, there is a moral responsibility. It makes the most sense that the new

genre matches this energy of convincing people to support.

The information was easily integrated into the new genre with the detailed understanding

of the new genre and its general outline. Advocacy websites require different eye-catching facts

and statistics that will persuade the audience. The layout and flow of the website had to be

researched and understood to create a successful translation. I had to put myself in the shoes of

someone who would visit my website. SoFurthermore, there are they also have different parts of

their website where you can learn more in depth about what the organization or whatever is

being advocated does, but the home page only includes the eye-catching information as

mentioned above. So, I simplified the context, process, and results of the experiment presented in

the article to create digestible knowledge, almost like fun facts for that part. I had to actively

avoid becoming an Uncle Barry, as stated is someone who is, “grabbing right and left for topics

(or quotes) in an effort to sound authoritative” (Stedman, 2011). I knew that the audience would

lose motivation. Rather, I had to thoughtfully choose what statistics made sense and give each

one purpose. It wasn’t about showing just these fancy facts, but telling what significance they

have. This is also why I chose to only have 3 main statistics and the rest was other context. There

were also other changes in jargon that provided the new audience with the information. For
Genre Translation: Article as an Website 4

example, there is certain wording that would have to be used to not falsify the information, but

present it in a way that is advantageous to the persuasion. However, there For example, there are

certain aspects that were weeded out during the process of the translation. SpecificallyFor

example, nonstandard measurements were cut to simplify the understanding of the statistic

without having an overwhelming amount of context like the participants demographics. The

detailed process was also cut to save space and attention from context to the persuasive facts.

There were difficulties with the translation process which includes: the simplification of

statistics without the addition of context, formatting, and keeping the goal and formatting of an

advocacy website. First, there are layers of context throughout the article, but websites like these

only have enough space for the key information. It was a challenge deciding what to do with the

information. In the end, this led me to provide statistics raw and add more information to those

who wanted to dig deeper. This meant concision and avoiding redundant modifiers which could

ironically enrich the text (Williams, 2014). Not only is there no space for text, but advocacy

websites have no time for fluff. It creates a fancy illusion, but what’s the most powerful with

websites like this is power within simplicity. Throughout the translation process, I had to keep

stopping myself from using this fancy language and it was proven difficult to follow through

with.

This continues to the second hardship: formatting. I had to keep the audience and purpose

in mind, I kept reminding myself that the initial page was all about catching someone's eye and

being able to persuade them within just the main page. This meant that the statistics haddid have

to be simple and I had to constantly be thinking of the new audiencein the shoes of someone who

would be looking at the website. I would have to’d think about what would catch my eye and

how long I’d realistically be interested in reading. There were also pictures that were added to
Genre Translation: Article as an Website 5

create a multimodal composition. I had to choose photos that acknowledge the “ beliefs, values,

and demographics of your intended audience as well as the likelihood that unintentional

audiences will interact with your text” (Gagich, 2020). So, I had to consider aspects of flow, and

choose photos that matched the tone and goal I wanted to portray. This led me to find simple and

obvious photos like the lack of motivation being represented by a worker sadly sitting on their

desk. I also chose peaceful colors like greens, blues, and grays.

Lastly, I had to understand that I wasn’t just changing the formatting of the information,

but manipulating it to fit the conventions of a different genre. This was a translation, not just a

summary. This meant, searching up different references of advocacy or non-profit organization

websites and using them as examples. This is what resulted in the simple graphics, the formatting

and the overall tone of the words. This also meant having to keep in mind the idea of being part

of an academic conversation (Rosenberg, 2011). Essentially, my job was to translate a part of a

conversation: joining a conversation, but in two different modes. I had to understand that each

genre has a different audience, but is still part of the same conversation. I couldn’t change the

meaning, but still had to change the jargon and overall tone. This was difficult because of how

many rules I had to abide by. For example, I mentioned a change in overall connotation of words,

but that didn’t mean I could change the facts. But again, with the proper understanding of the

content of the article as well as the format of the new genre, I was able to properly translate the

information.

In conclusion, the translation from the article, “Effects of music therapy and music

based-interventions in the treatment of substance use disorders: A systematic review” to a

completely new format of an advocacy website required changes. It required me to be hyper

analytical of each genre and choose certain conventions and make choices to properly represent
Genre Translation: Article as an Website 6

the information during the translation. Through the translation, the intended audience has

increased and diversified. The goal of the translation being the change in audience and being able

to cater towards the new audience. To cater to the new audience, but keeping the goals of the

article consistent. Through this process I have learned more about what it means to be part of a

conversation, but in two different modes. To pull writing strategies I’ve learned throughout the

duration of the class to justify writing choices and methods. Future translations to a diverse range

of genres would continue this conversation of music therapy and the appeal to diverse audiences.
Genre Translation: Article as an Website 7

Works Cited

Hohmann, Bradt, J., Stegemann, T., & Koelsch, S. (2017). Effects of music therapy and

music-based interventions in the treatment of substance use disorders: A systematic

review. PloS One, 12(11), e0187363–e0187363.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187363

Gagich, M. (2020). An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing. Writing

Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 3. Parlor Press.

Rosenberg, K. (2011). Reading games: Strategies for reading scholarly sources. Writing Spaces:

Readings on Writing Vol 2, 210-220.

Stedman, K. (2011). Annoying Ways People Use Sources. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing

Vol 2, 242-256.

Williams, J. (2013). Lesson 9: Concision. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (11th ed.),

126-142.