Research Interests

Wei Teng is an experienced linguist, researcher, translator and translator educator. He is also a practicing translator and interpreter, holding NZSTI Full membership in translation and Affiliate membership in interpreting, as well as NAATI accreditation as a Certified Provisional Interpreter. Teng has developed two sets of assessment criteria aimed at the evaluation of Community Translation/Interpreting quality: The first set of criteria helps determine to what extent a translation has achieved pragmatic equivalence, while the second set of criteria helps investigates possible causes of pragmalinguistic failures. He has applied the assessment criteria to studies on courtroom interpreting and healthcare related translations in New Zealand. In 2021, Teng won a Whitinga Fellowship, funded by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand. The fellowship project allowed him to further investigate the applicability of his two sets of assessment criteria which aimed at the evaluation of Community Translation/Interpreting quality. He hopes his work on Community Translation will make a significant contribution to today’s world, where many societies are welcoming growing numbers of migrants. Community Translation addresses migrants’ needs for good quality translated texts, which preserve the original sociopragmatic function, and facilitate social inclusion by helping migrants to make informed decisions related to the exercise of their basic human rights.