Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 11, 2017:

Hi Anne Offending someone is the farthest thing from my mind! As you said, "Those guidelines are, after all, just one individual's opinion and don't reflect every context." This is true of us all and (almost) EVERY term you can possibly imagine.
Note, the word 'perform' in your first example, which once more takes the term out of a functionary role and places it in its original role of a person on stage.
It's academic anyway, as I will NOT use it, and you and many other will. As with matters of taste, there's no judging style.

Anne Brackenborough (X) Jan 11, 2017:

(continued...)

- "Governments set the rules of the game that shape what organizations can do, and even what will count as an “organization” (as opposed to another kind of actor)."
(Organizations and Organizing: Rational, Natural and Open Systems Perspectives, W Richard Scott, ‎Gerald F. Davis of Stanford University and the University of Michigan, 2015)

- ""11.2 Viewing the Organisation as a Network of Actors"
(Learning Through Practice: Models, Traditions, Orientations and Approaches, Prof. Stephen Billett, Griffith University, Australia)

Again, I'd also be very wary about using it without explanation in a non-specialist context, but in certain contexts (and this sounds like it might have been one) it feels wrong to me to avoid a term which has a very specific meaning in a certain field, and is used by native speakers of English working in that field.

Anne Brackenborough (X) Jan 11, 2017:

It's always good to get some critical feedback, so no need to worry that you might be offending anyone - or rather, me - Ramey. I'm afraid I'm still not convinced by your argument, though, despite the persuasive comments in the EU's own guidelines! (Ironically...) Those guidelines are, after all, just one individual's opinion and don't reflect every context.

What convinces me is not just how often I see the term "actor" used in this way but also the credentials of the people using it. I've dug up some published examples to check that this is not just my imagination:

- "As Barnett and Duvall explain, social relations of constitution, such as the deontic powers Searle develops, do not result from the interaction by which actors exercise “power over” one another, but are social arrangements by which actors acquire “power to” perform various acts or functions."
(Central Banking as Global Governance: Constructing Financial Credibility, by Rodney Bruce Hall of St. Cross College, Oxford University)

(more in next comment)

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 10, 2017:

Widely used does not mean correct. As a US native speaker, well-versed in literature, I would never use actor in this context. I stick with what I know to be fluent, grammatically correct and translated texts. Let the buyer beware...

Björn Vrooman Jan 10, 2017:

I wouldn't go there if I were you, Ramey...

Quote from the document you just posted:
"On the other hand, the increasing, though as yet not widely recognised, use of ‘actor’ just to mean ‘someone who does something’ may be the result of the combined effect of both EU and US usage."

She goes on to explain that it is used both in "EU-speak" and the US, just not in the UK and Ireland.

Interestingly, though, from a British native speaker (2010 blog entry; Disclaimer: Yes, he's quoting a US newspaper):
"Noch vor einem Jahr hätte ich jeden Praktikanten, der „Akteure“ im Sinne von „Teilnehmer im Markt“ mit actors übersetzt hätte, schnurstracks in den Keller zum Aufräumen geschickt. Aber inzwischen scheint sich diese neue Geschmacksrichtung etabliert zu haben.

Hier ein Beispiel von The Wall Street Journal:

Deceptive recruiting should be stopped and for-profit schools should do a better job of policing the bad actors in their industry."
http://false-friends.crellin.de/2010_12_01_archive.html

Plus, this has little to do with "actors" in a sociological context (see my comment about Steffen's); the term is established as it pertains to certain theories (see my link below).

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 10, 2017:

LOOKIE, LOOKIE Actor is also on the list!
http://www.eca.europa.eu/Other publications/EN_TERMINOLOGY_P...

Björn Vrooman Jan 8, 2017:

Thank you, Michael (and thank you, Steffen).

Have a nice Sunday evening

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 8, 2017:

Thanks Michael and happy translating.

Michael Alger (asker) Jan 8, 2017:

Sorry: - will not *solely* determine ... the word *is* encompassed ...

Michael Alger (asker) Jan 8, 2017:

The text I'm translating is a chapter from a book looking into the German higher education system. Intended audience is therefore academics, educationalists and students. This particular section of the book examines the "increasingly (pro)active role" of universities generally. Specifically, in this sentence/paragraph/section, institutions of higher education - for many reasons, including the increasing internal and external demands on governance - are having to evaluate their courses/programmes by involving past students. The translation of Akteurswerdung itself will not determine the readers' understanding of the text nor the author's intention. The word in encompassed in pages of examples and cited research. The text is sociological in nature and therefore, IMHO, the use of 'actor' would - in this academic sense - be an acceptable translation. But I feel that in the context of the sentence/paragraph/section it is not appropriate - I can't supply you with the pages of text to justify this 'feeling' of mine (call it writer's/translator's instinct). For this reason, however, this "increasingly (pro)active role" satisfies my purpose. Thank you all for the interesting conversation.

Steffen Walter Jan 8, 2017:

Speculation Björn, your sources/reasoning etc. are all fine and dandy, but at this stage we don't know anything about the wider context in the case at hand, so for the moment it is 'reading into it' indeed. I am not sure if the term is actually used with the specific meaning you were referring to or if the author of Michael's text is even aware of it rather than just using a term he picked up somewhere else to produce 'well-sounding academic speak', as it were, without really thinking about it.

Michael, it'd be best if you chimed in again and quoted some more context and/or provided more background information - thank you.

Björn Vrooman Jan 8, 2017:

One (commonly used) option:
"instrumental in shaping the future of higher education"

Or increased self-management/autonomy if you want to emphasise that the government (or, more precisely, the German state governments, since education is "Ländersache") no longer has such a tight grip on education policy.

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 8, 2017:

what it says and what it MAY mean - the translator's dilemma. If 'werdung' means transformation/becoming, then Akteurswerdung means becoming active or, if that's too weak for you, becoming instrumental, but in what?
"This development is founded on colleges becoming increasingly instrumental in...."
"This development arises from colleges intensifying their ??? performance..."
Either way, something is missing.

Björn Vrooman Jan 8, 2017:

@Ramey I said "start with," as it's the best starting point, IMO. It was my field of studies. BTW, "transformation" = "-werdung".

As we have virtually no context, what can I say...I'm only suggesting things based on what I've found in regard to "Akteurswerdung."

Here, I don't think the suggested translation works:
"Diese impliziert eine Organisations- bzw. Akteurswerdung von Hochschule mit einer Verschiebung von einer ideellen hin zu einer instrumentellen Perspektive."
https://www.uni-flensburg.de/fileadmin/content/abteilungen/s...

Government as main "Akteur" (cf. Illinois link below):
"Wichtigster Akteur im deutschen Bildungswesen ist der Staat selbst: Zum einen ist er wichtigster Anbieter und Träger von Bildungseinrichtungen. Zum anderen ist der Staat zuständig für die politische Gesamtsteuerung und die strukturelle Rahmensetzung im gesamten Bildungswesen."
http://www.bpb.de/gesellschaft/kultur/zukunft-bildung/145238...

Another example ("autonomy"):
https://www.sfu.ca/pres/president/speeches/20045.html

I just don't agree with "active" b/c it's too weak, IMO, and "role" b/c it's imprecise.

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 8, 2017:

You're reading into it Björn, "institutional transformation" is nowhere in the context we have and the suggestion "increasingly active role" suggests more than becoming more active, ROLE being the esssential word in the suggestion.

Björn Vrooman Jan 8, 2017:

Additionally, "die verstärkte Akteurswerdung" won't have been explained in the preceding sentence, I think. Hard to explain right now, but "dieser Entwicklung" is not a reference to "Akteurswerdung" because of "im Hintergrund." And "Akteurswerdung" seems to be (near-)scientific terminology, so replacing it by "Aktivwerdung" wouldn't cut it for me. When you talk about "Akteurswerdung an Hochschulen" in German, you know exactly what is meant. When you say "universities get more involved/increasingly active," you don't.

I'd start with "institutional transformation" and work my way down to something like "increased self-management" (as described below); I think this is much closer to the source text.

But unless Michael chimes in, this is probably a lost cause.

Björn Vrooman Jan 8, 2017:

Hello Ramey,

Yes, the context problem again. I could not readily confirm what Michael described below. Here's a nearly perfect explanation of what is meant, IMO:
"Until recently, educational governance and management structures have been primarily bureaucratic in their mode of operation, based on centralized and top-down control, from systems to districts to schools to departments to teachers to students. More recent organizational theories and practices, however, suggest that more effective organizations afford greater degrees of self-management and lateral collaborations, tempering and reforming the vertical chains of command that characterized bureaucratic school management."
https://education.illinois.edu/newlearning/reform-leadership...

Cf.:
https://evolllution.com/opinions/wicked-problem-transforming...
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/539b050fe4b077b40b221...

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 8, 2017:

@Björn You say ""active role/assertive role/actors involved" will inevitably lead to: "Role in what?"
the context given does not provide the answer to the question but infer that it has been answered in the previous sentence.

Björn Vrooman Jan 7, 2017:

I bet this is related to "institutional transformation":
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/institutional-t...
http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/stibbe-handbook-of-sustainability...
https://advance.washington.edu/resources/transformation.html
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2016091...
https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/gover...

Björn Vrooman Jan 7, 2017:

actors and Akteurswerdung Personally, I don't see anything wrong with "market actors," although this is usually translated as "Marktteilnehmer." The word has become commonplace in ENS documents.

A separate issue is sociology: "actor" is indeed, as Anne said, a term used there and this has absolutely nothing to do with "EU speak" (the terminology is much older).

...Parsons, anyone?

I do have to say, though, that it depends on your specialization. The word was hardly if ever used throughout the thousands of pages I read for my sociology studies. But "institutional actors" is perfectly fine:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-institutions/

"active role/assertive role/actors involved" will inevitably lead to: "Role in what?" Akteurswerdung and Aktivwerdung are not necessarily the same thing.

"Akteurswerdung":
"Schaffung hierarchischer Entscheidungsstrukturen (u.a. zur Umsetzung von offiziell proklamierten verbindlichen Zielen) sowie fortschreitende Differenzierung und Spezialisierung der Hochschulverwaltung /
Entstehen neuer Tätigkeitsfelder im Hochschulmanagement"
https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/sowi_le...

See also her book (Katharina Kloke).

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 7, 2017:

@Anne In this context, the institutes are increasing their activities on a certain sector. They are NOT actors, in any way shape or form (in my not so humble opinion, in this case). Using 'actors' in this context detracts from the content. The same applies to the temdency to call an investor a 'player', which infers they are not taking their investments seriously. Guess I'm just old school...no offens(c)e intended.

Anne Brackenborough (X) Jan 6, 2017:

Actors Without knowing the target audience for this text it is hard to say whether "actor" might be suitable, but it is not the case that "actor" is mainly/only used in translations or is never used this way by native speakers. It is indeed used by native speakers of English, not only when writing about the EU but in the contexts of (obviously) actor-network theory, stakeholder analysis, etc. (Which reminds me that "stakeholder" is a good alternative in more general contexts!)

So though I can understand a reluctance to use "actor", and a good rule of thumb is to think twice before using it, it is the only appropriate word in some contexts, and should not be avoided altogether.

http://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/wps/media/objects/2143/2195136/gl...
http://www.issti.ed.ac.uk/resources/glossary
http://dl.lshtm.ac.uk/DLTesting/HTML - GHM103 CAL material/g...

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 5, 2017:

@Steffen Yes, usually, but you never know what's coming your way with ever more machine translations...no offense Michael!

Michael Alger (asker) Jan 5, 2017:

Universities and colleges are taking on greater responsibility for their graduates - becoming much more aware of what is happening to them after they graduate and using their experience to develop academic programs

Steffen Walter Jan 5, 2017:

Definitely not high schools 'Hochschulen' are universities/institutions of higher education.

Ramey Rieger (X) Jan 5, 2017:

Hi Michael It would be extremely useful to know if the text concerns high schools/colleges in general (faculty/staff) or is referring to the students. WHO is developing their ability to take on more responsability?