A Metacognitive Reflection: Translating Digital Competence

Alani Orantes-Verduzco
Writing 2
March 06, 2024
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When writing a newsletter article there is a set structure that should be followed: crucial

information presented to the reader up front, followed by additional story details. This set

structure allows the reader to know the genre in which the message is told, but taking the same

message and applying it to a scientific research article there will be a shift in structure along with

genre conventions. With the changes in genre and translating it to more feasible language it

introduces a wider audience. When selecting the research article, “Digital Competence in Higher

Education: Students’ Perception and Personal Factors,” by Yu Zhao, there was a set of findings

that were presented through the Psychology discipline. These researchers analyzed the data and

came to the conclusion of the knowledge gaps students in higher education face in the digital

realm.1 In aiming to simplify the findings to a more accessible genre, I translated the material of

a scholarly research article into a newspaper article format, emphasizing the importance of

effective language and structure between researched material and a more public understanding.

Being that the research article is from a Psychology discipline, it's intended to be written

distinctly to ensure clarity, transparency, and adherence to the scientific method. Research

articles in psychology are written with an intended structure to make it understandable for

scientists to share information and be concise about their methods and findings. This allows

other researchers to check and repeat their studies in their area of expertise. Though this

discipline follows a structure that can be understandable from an outside audience it includes

writing conventions that challenge the simplicity of the research. With the use of jargon

throughout the piece and its use of abbreviations such as WHO and ICT which is limited to its

field of study, it challenges the audience's insight on the understanding of digital competence.2

Along with the language used in the article there is a specific structure followed: abstract,

1
Yu Zhao, “Digital Competence in Higher Education: Students' Perception and Personal Factors.” MDPI.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12184
2
Zhao, Yu, “Digital Competence in Higher Education," 13.
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introduction, method, results, discussion, and references. This pattern is followed in this genre to

accurately present the material for its intended audience of academic scholars and give a

step-by-step leading to the importance of the article. In Rosenberg’s, “Reading Games,” he

discusses the importance of understanding that in a research article you may not be the intended

audience and the initial challenges in navigating topics that may not be understood into

translation.3 So, when translating this information of the research findings I had to take into

account that in a newspaper article there's a drastic shift in the way it is intended to be written

and its use of general language.

In translating the material into a newspaper article there was a breakdown of the original

text (research article) that was needed to translate only the important information. Sampling the

structure from newsletter articles such as The Washington Post and Time, there were visible

features in both these articles that applied to its genre. This non-academic genre includes a title,

and an image, and is structurally short to make for a fast read. The Time article, “Why We Have

Leap Years,” written by Jeffery Kluger, demonstrates the accessibility of information in

newsletter articles. Without having to read the actual article you gain information just from the

title which tells you enough to know the topic, the writer being easily accessible, and in some

instances, like this Time article, it tells you the length/time it would take to read: “4 MINUTE

READ.” 4 Along with the automatic visuals from this genre there is importance in the actual

material written. Newspaper articles have an “inverted pyramid” organization utilizing shorter

paragraphs, fact and not opinion-based, and told from a third-person perspective.5 With a

research article the structure used will lead you to the importance of the research that is the
3
Karen Rosenberg,“Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” In Writing Spaces: Readings on
Writing, Parlor Press.
4
Jeffrey Kluger, “Why We Have Leap Years | TIME.” Time, February 26, 2024.
https://time.com/6835208/leap-year-is-a-nifty-solution-to-an-ancient-problem/
5
“The Writing Center | News Writing Fundamentals | Writing...” GMU Writing Center,
https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/news-writing-fundamentals
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findings. But with a newspaper article, the important part of the article is written first to grab the

reader's attention. This is following the “inverted pyramid” structure which is meant for readers

of this genre who are trying to get as much information in a short length. Having the “important”

information first would allow for this writing convection to be executed. Along with the layout

and written information, the language used is also important. A previous reading from Jessie

Szalay states the importance of, “[having] different words work with different tones and

audiences and can be used to develop your voice and authority,”6 using the advice by Szalay I

wanted to appeal to a wider audience in my new translation. Using more generic language and

translating phrases that may not be known to a wider audience is important. When conducting

my translation of a research article to a newspaper article, I had to keep in mind the importance

of these genre conventions and why this non-academic genre is structured the way it is.

Knowing the importance of including information that is purely valuable to the reader in

a newspaper article it was important that I narrow down the part of my original text that held the

most value. This led me to translate the findings. The findings included tables and a variety of

factors that affect digital competence being that it is a psychology discipline. It was evident that I

needed to leave out a lot of information and analyze the pivotal details in the findings for my

newspaper article. This led to the decision to focus on gender differences and strategy changes in

higher education. When translating into my newspaper article I started with the introduction of

the transition piece. I included the who, what, where, and why it should be important to the

reader. This allowed me to follow the “inverted pyramid” method and execute the information to

its new audience. The more challenging transition from academic text to newsletter article was

the language used in this new genre. For example in the research article by Yu Zhao the jargon

6
Jessie Szalay, “Making Choices in Writing – Open English @ SLCC,” Pressbooks Create,
https://pressbooks.pub/openenglishatslcc/chapter/making-choices-in-writing/
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used is complex academic language to follow its research, but with the newsletter, I had to

remove the jargon to have a broader readership. When I was translating the findings there were

several uses of jargon like Qualtrics (describing a software company) and the use of several

percentages in presenting the research data.7 But I had to consider the importance of some of the

academic language used. I “bent” the structural integrity of the newspaper article by using the

same terminology that was presented in the academic journal. The reason for not simplifying

certain ideas in the text was to not take away the credibility and importance of the research

findings. It was important to keep the majority of the genre change simplified while still

retaining the integrity of the paper. Concerns that I kept in mind were the change of language and

the lack of information presented. Since I've presented the findings of the article in my new

genre there is detailed information that was left out to solely give the facts and be thoughtful

with the information with the limitation of length.

In translating a scholarly article to a newspaper article I adjusted language, structure, and

content. Aiming to broaden the audience and translating the necessary information on the

findings of digital competence. In understanding the differences between both genres there was a

shift in the way the research was presented. Overall the translation has accurately presented the

information for its given audience and presented the issues in higher education with digital

competence.

7
Yu Zhao,“Digital Competence in Higher Education.”
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References

Kluger, Jeffrey. 2024. “Why We Have Leap Years | TIME.” Time, February 26, 2024.

https://time.com/6835208/leap-year-is-a-nifty-solution-to-an-ancient-problem/

Zhao, Yu. 2021. “Digital Competence in Higher Education: Students' Perception and Personal

Factors.” MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12184

“The Writing Center | News Writing Fundamentals | Writing...” GMU Writing Center,

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/different-genres/news-writing-fundamentals

Szalay, Jessie, 2016, “Making Choices in Writing – Open English @ SLCC,” Pressbooks Create,

https://pressbooks.pub/openenglishatslcc/chapter/making-choices-in-writing/

Rosenberg, Karen, 2010, “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” In

Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Parlor Press.

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