Collaborative Translation Research Articles

Quo Vadis, Crowdsourcing and Online Collaborative Translation?

Online collaborative translation experienced a meteoric rise in the e first decade of the 20th century thanks to the affordances provided by the Web 2.0. Two distinct models emerged, solicited and unsolicited models. In the first one a company or institutions request the help of volunteer or participants with translation tasks. In unsolicited models, fans, activists or different collectives self-organize to start a translation initiative. These practices quickly attracted the attention of the Language Industry after large corporations implemented crowdsourcing models (Google, Facebook or Twitter). Translation providers and tech companies explored collaborative initiatives in a context of exciting possibilities for growth, while it quickly became a serious cause for concern for professional translators and professional associations such as the International Federation of Translators (FIT) or the American Translators’ Association (ATA). As a rapidly growing phenomenon, Translation Studies scholars were quickly drawn to research this emerging set of phenomena. Initially, the main issues that appeared on Translation Studies literature were related to motivation, epistemological/ conceptual research, ethics, translator visibility, or the description of existing initiatives. The second decade of the 20th century saw the consolidation of these activities through technological developments and innovative workflows and the expansion to non-profit ventures, while new technology-driven models based on collaborative micro-task approaches emerged, such as “paid crowdsourcing”. By 2020, the number of providers offering translations crowdsourcing has been dramatically reduced. Many start-ups have been absorbed or have disappeared, while non-for-profit models of translation collaboration, such as educational, NGO or activist initiatives continue to grow. This paper offers a critical analysis of the evolution of translation collaboration on the web and potential future directions, as well as a review of existing research trends within Translation Studies. The paper ends with an exploration of potential future research trends and directions in this ever-changing area driven by technological innovation.

A Cautionary Tale of Arrogance: How the US Government Shattered Harry Benda's Collaborative Translation Project on Japanese Scholarship on Wartime Indonesia

A Cautionary Tale of Arrogance: How the US Government Shattered Harry Benda's Collaborative Translation Project on Japanese Scholarship on Wartime Indonesia

Tandem and Translation: A bilingual telecollaboration course in social science translation

We describe here strategies inspired by translation studies and implemented in a bilingual translation class pairing two student groups of native speakers of English (from Barnard College, Columbia University) and of French (from the École Normale Supérieure, Lyon). Student etandems use CMC (computer mediated communication) to collaborate on the translation of a set of French and English source texts from the human and social sciences, giving the language learners the experience of translating both into and from their own language. Using a workshop format, our approach emphasizes horizontal language learning through linguistic sharing, with students reciprocally developing their language skills by being paired with a learner whose mother tongue is their target language. To provide continuous stimulation for the linguistic exchanges, we assign each student pair a "real-life" task: that of translating two book reviews that are then submitted for publication in academic journals. This goal provides them with strong motivation to produce a careful and better-informed translation, while sensitizing them to the broader academic usefulness of their work. Our objective is to broaden language exchange by advancing collaborative translation into the realm of knowledge-sharing in the human and social sciences.

Priority Setting for Collaborative Health Systems Research in India: A Method and the Way Forward

A comprehensive and collaborative knowledge translation and decision-making approach can help reduce the longstanding barriers to using research in policy and practice. Regular interaction between researchers and decision-makers increases the likelihood of using research knowledge. This interaction continuing over the entire research cycle is critical for developing research directions and potential use of the research outputs that benefit the health system. The India Health Systems Collaborative and ACCESS Health International have conducted a rigorous exercise to arrive at the priority research topics. A consensus-based method customised to the existing need was created, adapting from the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method for research priority setting. In this method, conducting literature reviews, key informant interviews and survey-based stakeholder consultations are critical steps for identifying policy-relevant research topics that demand utmost attention in the Indian setting. This article documents the processes followed to develop a preliminary list of core research priorities requiring urgent attention to facilitate policy development. Additionally, the article is about the essential and immediate next steps and the critical actions taken to undertake collaborative research on the identified research topics. The special issue of the Journal for Health Management dedicated to strengthening the Indian health system sets the foundation for promoting collaborative research, its dissemination for broader use by researchers and ensuing policy dialogues.

Collaborative translation of Wikipedia: with whom do trainee translators collaborate and for what purpose?

ABSTRACT This study aims to establish a model of collaboration that illustrates the various channels of collaboration that (trainee) translators go through in the course of translation, who they collaborate with, and why they choose to do so. To this end, it draws on an in-depth analysis of 21 medium-length Wikipedia articles translated by undergraduate English/Arabic translation students at Sultan Qaboos University, the Wikipedia ‘talk’ pages of the articles, and the reflective journals kept by the students. The study sets up a model of collaboration in which the translator collaborates with Wikipedia editors, translators, and subject-matter experts for the purpose of producing their translation. The model outlines the aspects of language and translation wherein translators seek collaboration for such Wikipedia article style and formatting and terminology clarification. The study also aims to determine what the students have learned and/or gained from their collaborative experience. The results illustrate that engaging students in discussing translation and language choices with the above-mentioned collaborators can help them produce better translations.

Yinbian yanyu in twentieth-century China

Abstract The blended concept of translaboration has received considerable attention since 2015 when it was introduced by Alexa Alfer and colleagues. Yinbian yanyu [An English Poet Reciting from Afar], Lin Shu and Wei Yi’s collaborative translation of Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, is a typical product of translaboration in twentieth-century China. Following a social historiographical path, this article seeks to identify contributions of the various stakeholders who participated in the production of Yinbian yanyu as well as its reception. By exploring what role translaboration played in the success of this translation, this article aims to present a more comprehensive view of translaboration as a concept and its applicability as an interdisciplinary tool.

Collaborative Translation of English Foreign Formulas in the Hybrid Economic Texts into Arabic

The current paper investigates the English foreign formulas in the hybrid economic texts to maintain the economic flavour by means of the collaborative translation .This paper tries to extend the horizon of interest in the collaborative translation through which translators can carry the major informational weight in the hybrid economic texts. Due to the space limitations of the paper, it is far better to lay great focus only on the foreign formulas that have acquired pure economic meanings. Since neologisms of English economic texts develop continually, the paper tends to adopt the collaborative translation. Thus, three professors of economics are consulted regarding the economic-based meanings to render the formulas collaboratively and in a non-traditional way. The study also verified that through the collaborative translation, translators can convey the essence of the source economic text into the target one .

Human-Computer Interaction Environment Monitoring and Collaborative Translation Mode Exploration Using Artificial Intelligence Technology.

Artificial intelligence now plays a significant role in both daily life and scientific research because of the rapid advancement of this technology in recent years. Making full use of the phrases in the translation phrase table for translation is challenging since the phrase matching is too accurate when the translation machine decodes. Fully automatic machine translation struggles to meet the expectations of its users since there are more or less translation faults brought on by data bottlenecks. Therefore, we require collaborative assisted translation technology for human-computer interaction. This work strengthens the research on collaborative translation techniques and ways for monitoring the human-computer interaction environment in order to further improve translation quality. This essay investigates and discusses human-computer translation techniques as well as related ideas in collaborative translation and human-computer interaction. The translation similarity model is incorporated into the translation system model together with an overall qualitative knowledge and logical reasoning capability of human-computer interaction to offer fresh strategies and methods for collaborative translation between humans and computers. According to the experimental findings, the accuracy rate of the collaborative translation system for human-computer interaction based on artificial intelligence technology can achieve 98.2% and 95.6%. The quality of the translation is enhanced after human-computer interaction, and the editing gap between the incorrect and auxiliary translations is narrowed, demonstrating the efficiency of the system and demonstrating its viability. In order to enhance the accuracy of system translation and the effectiveness of system operation, it is important to investigate the collaborative translation mode of human-computer interaction based on artificial intelligence technology.

A Design Methodology for a Computer-Supported Collaborative Skills Lab in Technical Translation Teaching

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this study is to adopt more systematically the collaborative learning dimension in the technical translation teaching at Master Degree level. In order to do so, a computer-supported skills lab approach is targeted. This approach is aimed at enhancing traditional courses on Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) so that student competences and soft skills are enhanced. Background: In traditional CAT courses, laboratory sessions complement theoretical lessons, thus providing students mainly with tool-oriented operational knowledge, while nowadays more intertwined competences are required by the labor market. Moreover, this sector lacks skills labs which engage students in collaborative activities mimicking professional workflows, thus not exploiting team-based learning potential effectiveness. Methodology: In this paper, therefore, a design methodology to deploy and operate an enhanced skills lab as a remote Computer-Supported Collaborative Simulated Translation Bureau (CS2TB) is proposed and validated. The proposed methodology is based on a set of intertwined methodological frameworks that address: 1) student competences and educational requirements, 2) collaborative aspects, 3) regulatory policies as well as functional and interactional guidelines for the simulated fieldwork. The overall effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been assessed by using pre-post questionnaires to ascertain student feedback. The improvement in technology skills has been evaluated by collecting and examining student help requests as well as system error logs. Contribution: The CS2TB provides a technology-enhanced simulation-based learning environment whose aim is twofold: first, enriching traditional approaches with a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) experience and, second, incorporating widely adopted approaches for the translation-teaching domain as the required grounding knowledge. Findings: Results demonstrate the effectiveness of CS2TB in improving students’ competences (specifically in the IT area but also in the technical translation area), students’ willingness to operate in a fieldwork-like context and cooperative learning efficacy. Recommendations for Practitioners: The educational implications of the proposed approach concern the development of a full range of competences and soft skills for students in the technical translation teaching at the higher education level, ranging from language and translation proficiency to the usage of IT platforms as well as personal and interpersonal interactional soft skills. Recommendation for Researchers: This study offers a wide overview of all the aspects entailed by the design, implementation, management, and evaluation of a skills lab for technical translation teaching. Researchers may benefit from the rigorous modelling approach as well as from the adopted assessment techniques. Moreover, the study stresses the pivotal role of a tight collaboration between language/translation teaching and computer engineering. Impact on Society: Higher education institutions that already have courses on computer-assisted translation may benefit from the proposed CS2TB approach, which allows them to design new thematic activities leveraging team-based learning, collaborative learning, and fieldwork-situated simulation. Moreover, the presented broad range of assessment approaches can be used to measure the impact of CS2TB on learning outcomes of the involved students. Future Research: Future research activities will be dedicated to examining the impact of a different set of enabling IT platforms on the collaborative learning perspective, to evaluate alternative scaffolding approaches (e.g., chatbots or augmented reality), and to increase simulation fidelity further, so that even more student competences can be fostered.

Enhancing students’ metacognitive development in higher education: A classroom-based inquiry

This paper reports on a classroom-based inquiry that investigates university students’ learning experiences in a peer collaborative translation activity in a language classroom. Drawing on qualitative research data from in-depth interviews, observational notes, and written reflections, the study shows that the students fostered their metacognitive knowledge and strategies through a systematic process of text selection and translation, peer review, class conferencing, as well as individual revisions and reflections. Such metacognitive experiences deepened their autonomous, analytical thinking and promoted their language awareness and translation skills. However, some challenges (i.e., limited English proficiency and a lack of individualized support) arose when the students engaged in the activity. This study provides pedagogical implications on how to incorporate a metacognitive focus into classroom teaching.

Maximum Structural Generation Discrepancy for Unsupervised Domain Adaptation.

Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) has recently become an appealing research topic in visual recognition, since it exploits all accessible well-labeled source data to train a model with high generalization on target domain without any annotations. However, due to the significant domain discrepancy, the bottleneck for UDA is to learn effective domain-invariant feature representations. To fight off such an obstacle, we propose a novel cross-domain learning framework named Maximum Structural Generation Discrepancy (MSGD) to accurately estimate and mitigate domain shift via introducing an intermediate domain. First, the cross-domain topological structure is explored to propagate target samples to generate a novel intermediate domain paired with the specific source instances. The intermediate domain plays as the bridge to gradually reduce distribution divergence across source and target domains. Concretely, the similar category semantic across source and intermediate features tends to naturally conduct the class-level alignment on eliminating their domain shift. In terms of no target annotation, the domain-level alignment manner is suitable to narrow down the distance between intermediate and target domains. Moreover, to produce high-quality generative instances, we develop the class-driven collaborative translation (CDCT) module to generate class-consistent cross-domain samples in each mini-batch with the assistance of pseudo-labels. Extensive experimental analyses on five domain adaptation benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of our MSGD on solving UDA problem.

Joint creative process in translation

AbstractIn this article, we explore socially distributed cognition (SDC) as a theoretical model of translation and investigate it empirically as an aspect of the collaborative and creative translation workflow. With the aim of developing a better understanding of SDC and collaborative workflows in translation, we analyzed two different settings where more than one person works on a translation: commercial specialized translation (CST) services, and the production of audio descriptions (AD) as teamwork between blind and sighted describers. The analysis focuses on how the process of co-creation unfolds in the communication that binds together the systems of SDC. While the process of co-creation was strikingly similar in the two different translation contexts, the differences were bound to channels of communication (with or without direct contact between participants), and the draft translation was identified as a central artifact that carries much of the communication when the participants do not work in the same space. With an emphasis on socially distributed cognition, our study provides a framework for both the cognitive and social aspects of translation and develops the understanding of collaborative translation processes. It also contributes to the development of translation practices by helping translation operators and trainers make choices between alternative workflows.

Langue et culture de l’Autre à l’épreuve du fansubbing : des Chtis en Chine du Nord…

À l’ère du web 2.0 se développe le fansubbing nouvelle pratique de traduction audiovisuelle : les internautes « fans et traducteurs » s’engagent dans le sous‑titrage pour (faire) accéder à de nouveaux univers linguistiques et culturels. Reposant sur une rédaction collective dans un but non commercial, ce phénomène inventif relève de la culture participative et favorise la réflexion, l’interaction et la créativité. L’article aborde le devenir de cette pratique en Chine et explore les stratégies de traduction et leurs enjeux à partir d’une étude de cas.

Using an Online Collaborative Translation Technique to Develop English Majors’ Translation Competence and their Attitudes towards Online Collaboration

Mixing technology with translation pedagogy is considered one of the recent methodologies in translation classrooms. The current research aimed to explore the effect of using an online collaborative translation technique based on Google Classroom on developing translation competence for English Majors and exploring their attitudes towards online collaboration. The study used the quasi-experimental pre-posttest. Two groups were randomly chosen amongst English Section Students at faculty of Education at Assiut University. The experimental group received training on translation through the suggested online collaborative translation technique while the control group received regular translation instruction. The experimental group students were engaged in collaborative translation tasks via Google Classroom three times a week for five weeks. Tools of the study included a pre-post translation test and a questionnaire to measure students’ attitudes towards online collaboration. Results of the study showed that using the suggested collaborative translation technique improved English majors’ translation competence. In addition, the results revealed that students developed positive attitudes towards online collaboration.

PRC History in Crisis and Clover

AbstractThe history of the People's Republic of China is now an established discipline, with a built-in theoretical framework—aspirational socialism—and a first draft written by social scientists. The growth of the field of PRC history has been aided by an avalanche of unique grassroots sources. Grassroots documents, many of which are local archives discarded by the state, have prompted new research questions and uncovered hidden dimensions of the Mao years, but they remain inaccessible to the broader research community unless scholars go out of their way to digitize and share them. This solution, however, reveals a deeper crisis facing the field: even though new types of sources will continue to fuel the growth of PRC history, scholars farthest from Xi Jinping's organs of repression can share sources and write about them freely, while academics subject to authoritarian restrictions cannot. There is no easy fix to the two-tier system created by Document Nine's prohibition against evidence-based history research. Nonetheless, collaborative translation projects and vigorously pushing for a more diverse and inclusive field in and outside of China can help PRC history continue to flourish.

Co-creating a repository of best-practices for collaborative translation

Collaborative translation has the potential for significantly changing how we translate content. However, successful deployment of this kind of approach is far from trivial, as it presents potential adopters with a rich and complex envelope of processes and technologies, whose respective impacts are still poorly understood. The present paper aims at facilitating this kind of decision making, by describing and cataloguing current best-practices in collaborative translation. More precisely, we present a collection of Design Patterns which was created collectively by a small group of practitioners, at a one-day roundtable hosted by the Translation Automation Users Society in October of 2011. This collection has been put on an open wiki site (www.collaborative-translation-patterns.com) in the hopes that other practitioners in the field will refine and augment it.

Has translation gone online and collaborative?: An experience from Minna no Hon'yaku

We have been running Minna no Hon'yaku (MNH: Translation of/by/for all), an open online translation hosting and translation-aid service, since April 2009, with use by NGOs specifically in mind. We subsequently started two sibling services, i.e. Ryugakusei Net @ MNH, a commercial "crowdtranslation" site, in March 2010, and Kotoba no Volunteer @ MNH, a project for collecting and making available expressions useful in disaster and post-disaster situations in different languages, in May 2011. This paper aims first to introduce basic features of these three systems and their state of usage, and second, to clarify the nature of activities being carried out using these systems and the relationships between the nature of activities and various factors that contribute to shaping the activities. While what is discussed is based mainly on the insights we have obtained from our experience designing, developing and running these systems, we attempt to situate the observation within a general framework discussion of online and/or collaborative translation.

Community Translation: Translation as a social activity and its possible consequences in the advent of Web 2.0 and beyond

This introduction to the 10th issue of Linguistica Antverpiensia New Series – Themes in translation Studies (LANS-TTS) begins by discussing the central concept of community translation, highlighting its terminological ambiguity. This is in part due to the already well-established field of community interpreting where the term is often used to mean the written translation of public information for immigrants. It is also an indication of the terminological instability typical of an emerging paradigm. For example, community translation is used more or less synonymously with such terms as translation crowdsourcing, user-generated translation and collaborative translation. The meaning of the term as we discuss in this issue can be best specified when the concept is anchored in the context of Web 2.0 (second generation web-technologies). This in turn acknowledges its intrinsic tie to online communities and directs us to new dynamics resulting from general Internet users acting as translators. While participants in community translation are not necessarily all unpaid, untrained volunteers community translation is used by some organisations as a mechanism to obtain free translations by going outside the professional translation sphere. To this end the ethical question of profit-making enterprises accessing free labour on the pretext of openness and sharing remains. That said, the author believes community translation is far more than a dilettante, anti-professional movement. Building on the emerging picture from the contributions in this volume, the author suggests some of the future directions that research on community translation might take, emphasising the need to reflect on the current translation practices and be open to the new developments and opportunities arising from the free and social Internet.

Facebook me!: Initial insights in favour of using social networking as a tool for translator training

This paper argues in favour of integrating and using online social networking, more specifically Facebook, within the translation classroom. This has numerous benefits in terms of aptly preparing trainees for the marketplace and also helping to foster a classroom community by encouraging a collaborative learning environment. A descriptive analysis of five undergraduate courses suggests that using online social networking as a teaching strategy has a significant impact: from engaging students through collaborative translation projects, to peer-reviewing assignments, to establishing ‘telepresence’, Facebook allows the trainer to ‘connect’ the classroom.

Visualizing DEPICT: A Multistep Model for Participatory Analysis in Photovoice Research for Social Change.

As a critical narrative intervention, photovoice invites community members to use photography to identify, document, and discuss issues in their communities. The method is often employed with projects that have a social change mandate. Photovoice may help participants express issues that are difficult to articulate, create tangible and meaningful research products for communities, and increase feelings of ownership. Despite being hailed as a promising participatory method, models for how to integrate diverse stakeholders feasibly, collaboratively, and rigorously into the analytic process are rare. The DEPICT model, originally developed to collaboratively analyze textual data, enhances rigor by including multiple stakeholders in the analysis process. We share lessons learned from Picturing Participation, a photovoice project exploring engagement in the HIV sector, to describe how we adapted DEPICT to collaboratively analyze participant-generated images and narratives across multiple sites. We highlight the following stages: dynamic reading, engaged codebook development, participatory coding, inclusive reviewing and summarizing of categories, and collaborative analysis and translation, and we discuss how participatory analysis is compatible with creative, interactive dissemination outputs such as exhibitions, presentations, and workshops. The benefits of Visualizing DEPICT include feelings of increased ownership by community researchers and participants, enhanced rigor, and sophisticated knowledge translation approaches that honor multiple forms of knowing and community leadership. The potential challenges include navigating team capacity and resources, transparency and confidentiality, power dynamics, data overload, and streamlining “messy” analytic processes without losing complexity or involvement. Throughout, we offer recommendations for designing participatory visual analysis processes that are connected to critical narrative intervention and social change aims.