Translation policies and the role of English/Spanish translation in Charlotte Mecklenburg schools

The following case study assesses the effectiveness of translated documents that are publically available on the Charlotte Mecklenburg School (CMS) website in communicating with non-English speaking parents. Relevance theory is used as the theoretical framework of this research. Communication between CMS and parents is analyzed in light of three different components of Relevance Theory: optimal relevance, schema and text typologies. In addition, this study looks at various local and federal language laws, such as language provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). Based on Relevance Theory, conclusions are drawn regarding the extent to which CMS implements these language policies in its effort to communicate with multilingual families.