Peer Feedback in Translation Training: A Quasi-Experiment in an Advanced Chinese-English Translation Course.

Zhong Lin,Xinyu Song,Feng Wang,Jingwen Guo

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631898

Zhong Lin, Xinyu Song + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631898

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Abstract

Although research on peer feedback in second language teaching and learning has been developed from various perspectives over the past three decades, less is known about feedback in translation settings. This study reports the results of a quasi-experiment with advanced second language learners in a Chinese–English translation course. It examines how effective peer feedback is in improving the quality of translations. The following data were collected from 30 students: their initial translation drafts, the drafts with the feedback of their peers, and the final corrected translations. The whole process was facilitated by computer assistance and under anonymity. It was found that most students drew on direct or indirect corrective feedback while few students drew on metalinguistic corrective feedback. Text genres were also proved to impact the types and counts of peer feedback. An analysis of the accuracy rate of corrections after peer feedback showed that it had a positive impact on translation quality. The findings shed light on the applicability of peer feedback in other pedagogical activities.

Highlights

Peer feedback is an essential activity in L2 teaching and learning and has gained much attention since the 1990s (Nelson and Murphy, 1992; Connor and Asenavage, 1994)
Against the above background, this study aims to fill in the gap of a lack of study in peer feedback with computer assistance in an advanced Chinese–English translation class
Regarding the influence of peer feedback on the translations, this study found that peer feedback improved the overall quality, which echoed the study by Yu et al (2020), the latter is a study on English–Chinese translation

Summary

Introduction

Peer feedback is an essential activity in L2 teaching and learning and has gained much attention since the 1990s (Nelson and Murphy, 1992; Connor and Asenavage, 1994). Since teachers find it time-consuming to correct the assignments of each student (Shen et al, 2017), organizing peer feedback can ease their tutoring burden. In-depth research has scarcely been done on peer feedback effects on translation teaching and learning (Min, 2006). This study explores peer feedback in an advanced Chinese–English translation class to investigate how peer feedback contributes to translation achievement

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