The reception of translated vaccination information: evidence from a reading and stops-making-sense judgment task

Abstract

Reception-oriented research on health communication, especially when

focusing on migrant populations, allows for an exploration of what it means

to provide access to health information, shedding light on migrants’ communicative needs with practical implications for translators’ work. Adopting a multi-method approach, this study explores the potential for reading difficulty and for misinterpretation of translated vaccination-related public health information. For this purpose, we conducted a reception- oriented study that used a participant-paced, region-by-region reading method coupled with an incremental stops-making-sense judgment task and a post-hoc comprehension questionnaire with two participant groups (native and non-native English speakers). Three main findings stand out from our analysis. First, the triangulation of multiple data sources indicates that reading difficulty and misinterpretation were not exclusive to the non- native group but affected both participant groups. Second, while participants generally responded correctly to comprehension questions, average reading times showed that both groups took longer to read most texts than expected. Third, medical language was the most challenging aspect for our participants, as indicated by data from online and offline subjective measures.