Research questions Overarching question: How is Yeeyan a community of practice? (Where) Sub-questions: How is collaborative translation a meaning negotiation experience? (For whom) How are regimes of competence developed through the collaborative translation process in Yeeyan? (By whom) How does a socially defined competence form a shared history of learning? (Why)

Methodology: An ethnographic study A qualitative study using an ethnographic methodology premised on an interpretive hermeneutic epistemological stance. Seeks to understand people and their actions; Recognizes the intertwinement of objective and subjective meanings; Locates me as a researcher, an observer and a participant in the real collaborative translation world; Provides me with both emic and etic perspectives. researcher participant observer How the knowledge is and can be obtained and what I have done and how. Has its roots in social and cultural anthropology; I do not intend to make generalizations of universal laws. Ethnography is used as a methodology premised on a post-postpositivist epistemology.

Methodology: An ethnographic study -graphy Participant observation Discourse analysis Ethnographic narratives Fieldnote writing Interactive interviews Ethnography (ethno- + -graphy) a process and a product Methods used in this research

Participant observation in Yeeyan Explain chapters here. Ethnography

Ethnography study: A cyclical and recursive inductive reasoning process Asking ethnographic questions Collecting ethnographic data & making ethnographic record Selecting a theory Analyzing ethnographic data Writing an ethnography Rethinking theories & generating new concepts Initiating an ethnographic project Analyzing ethnographic data Rethinking theories

Theoretical framework and findings Theoretical framework draws on: Wenger’s social learning theory of Communities of Practice (CoP theory) Yeeyan is a CoP, which is a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. and in which UGCCT is practiced. (based on Wenger 2015[2006]:1). CoP theory: a social learning theory that examines human experience as meaning negotiation and locates identity constitution in a social world. CoP: “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger 2015[2006]:1). UGCCT: a dynamic social activity in which translators regularly interact with each other and through which they negotiate meanings in the process of translating and collaborating.

Findings Overarching Q: How is Yeeyan a community of practice? Q1: How is UGCCT a meaning negotiation process? Mutual recognition; Shared repertoire; Joint enterprise. Q2: How are regimes of competence developed and negotiated throughout the process of UGCCT in Yeeyan? Q3: How does a socially defined competence form a shared history of learning?

Conclusions Overarching Q: How is Yeeyan a community of practice? Yeeyan: an online CoP where a group of translators interact with each other regularly for the shared practice they are passionate about and for the shared enterprise they care for. During this process, they learn how to do things better as they constantly negotiate a competent membership. UGCCT in Yeeyan: an experience of meaning negotiation in online communities of practice.

Contributions 1. Methodological contributions Holism Depth 2. Theoretical contributions Systematic use of CoP theory to conceptualize and analyze both translation communities and practice. Online communities & communities of practice + discourse communities. A modified theoretical framework in studying similar social phenomena. Mention ‘partial truths’ orally when ‘depth’ is discussed. Holism: a holistic picture of the process of collaborative translation, UGCCT. Inductive reasoning process: new findings challenge the received wisdom. Methodology in a TS 1. Methodological contributions UGCCT as a social practice in a natural setting. A holistic view of UGCCT practice and the participants (multiple methods + data holism). Depth: in-depth understanding of the Yeeyan community; the practice and the social actors. Serendipitous findings challenge the received wisdom.

Limitations & future research In TS Translation quality Translators’ identities Yeeyan’s pedagogical implications for translator education Interdisciplinary implications Identity management Yeeyan as a participatory platform (Communication and Media Studies) Human behaviour and Chinese Internet culture (Anthropology and Sociology) China’s Internet policies (Politics) Chinese Internet language (Linguistics) Online CoPs’ Knowledge management (Information Systems; Management, etc.)

How do they collaborate, i.e. the process of UGCCT in Yeeyan? Selecting an ST Recruiting collaborators Trial translation Revising; editing; proofreading. As comments in the broad Yeeyan CoP Translating in parallel or in rotation Receiving comments As Tiaocuo 挑错 at a semi-backstage Publishing in the Yeeyan CoP Revising & editing

Who they are Name Occupation Yeeyan history (in days) Role(s) in Yeeyan Yeeyan award Wayne PhD researcher in immunology 994 Member Historical medal 1 Carmen Civil servant 2943 N/A El Dor Regulatory affairs professional 867 Xuan Full-time translator 541 Arrow Freelance translator; UN translator 2510 Translation senator Historical medal 4; Excellent Translator of 2014 Maria 572 Sandra Executive officer at a science museum 920 Brian Editor 1815 Yeeyan editor and site manager Historical medal 4 Larry Undergraduate student in English 369 Mike Graduate student in neurology 823 Lisa Executive officer in a foreign trade cooperation 133 Alex 918 Former Yeeyan editor and site manager, translation senator Iris Undergraduate student in clinical medicine 263 Ben Graduate student in physics 1870 Historical medal 4, Translation Senator, Excellent Translator of 2014 Sophie Graduate student in Translation 512 Humphrey Professor in Information Systems Non-Yeeyan member

Mutual recognition

Novice/new member; translator T3 Participant Task Roles   Carah T1 Novice/new member; translator; administrator; proofreader; copyeditor; TT publisher T2 Novice/new member; translator T3 Novice/new member; translator; proofreader T4 Experienced member; translator T5 Experienced member; project initiator and manager; copyeditor; TT publisher T6 Experienced member; co-project initiator and manager; proofreader; copyeditor; TT publisher Carmen Novice member; translator Sophie Project manager; translator; copyeditor Iris Experienced member; translator; subject expert; proofreader; copyeditor Brian Yeeyan editor; project initiator and manager; TT publisher Alex T4, T5 and T6 Former Yeeyan editor; project manager; translator; proofreader; copyeditor Wayne Experienced member; project initiator and manager; subject expert; translator; proofreader; copyeditor Buzhizhi Experienced member; project initiator and manager; translator; copyeditor Mike Translator; proofreader; copyeditor Zoe Novice member; subject expert Pan Novice member; translator; proofreader; copyeditor Lisa