Translation Process Research Research Articles

Tophoven’s dream: a prototype for genetic translation studies

This article examines a neglected chapter in the history of translation: the formulation and promotion of “la traduction transparente”, Elmar Tophoven’s transparent translation. It charts the history of this form of translation process research, born from Tophoven’s own translation practice and his collaboration with linguists in the late 1960s-1970s, which grew into a vision, inspired by the so-called “Toledo School”, of a pan-European network of residences, where translators would work collaboratively, producing their own translation research by reflecting upon their strategies, problem solving and creativity. Tophoven emerges here with a central project to emancipate translators from a vicious cycle of anonymity, lack of scientific recognition and poor working conditions; he capitalizes upon the most significant technological innovation of his time, the microcomputer. If his method did not ultimately achieve the level of adoption that would have guaranteed its enduring relevance, his efforts to achieve his goal remain an important moment in the history of translation and a foundational chapter in the field known today as genetic translation studies.

Predicting translation behaviorsby using Hidden Markov Model

Abstract The translation process can be studied as sequences of activity units. The application of machine learning technology offers researchers new possibilities in the study of the translation process. This research project developed a program, activity unit predictor, using the Hidden Markov Model. The program takes in duration, translation phase, target language and fixation as the input and produces an activity unit type as the output. The highest prediction accuracy reached is 61%. As one of the first endeavors, the program demonstrates strong potential of applying machine learning in translation process research.

Behavioural indicators of translators’ decisional styles in a translation task: A longitudinal study

Abstract Translation Process Research defines translation as a decision-making process, but a plethora of studies has demonstrated that there is high individual variation in the translators’ styles of making decisions. The present interdisciplinary empirical study combines the theory of personality types and translation process research in order to identify the behavioural indicators that characterise translators’ decisional styles at the stage of end revision, where final decision-making takes place. As based on previous research, such indicators as the duration of end revision, pause length and number, the number of deleted characters and the types of corrections introduced at the stage of end revision may comprise the behavioural variables that define the translators’ styles of decision-making. The analysis of the data shows that two distinct behavioural styles may be distinguished, and their nature lies in the translators’ individual preferences for one of the two dichotomous psychological functions responsible for decision-making.

The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of <i>Wolf Totem</i>

This article draws on a neurofunctional theory of bilingual processing and its application to translation to investigate the dominant cognitive processing route in the literary and subtitle translation and also differences of the dominant patterns between the two translation modes, specifically those involving Chinese-English language pairs. This general investigation has two specific aims: 1) to extract the translation strategy patterns at the textual level and 2) to determine the dominant processing route at the cognitive level by linking the strategies to processing routes. Building on naturalistic translational data, a bilingual corpus was self-built; the linguistic features of the translated products were analyzed. The current study analyzes the renderings of Chinese culture-specific items into English. The results suggest that the dominant processing pattern can be identified in both the literary and subtitle translation. Moreover, based on the empirical evidence, it is found that the meaning-based processing route dominates both literary and subtitle translation. This article concludes that the contextual-intentional-conceptual system handles culture-specific concepts through conceptual mediation, which is required in the translation process due to contextual and pragmatic factors. The issue of cognitive processing routes that may take place in the translator’s brain is of significance to translation process research specifically and translation studies in general.

Investigando o Esforço Cognitivo, o conhecimento sobre Tradução e a Satisfação na Tradução LIBRAS-Português

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de um estudo exploratório-experimental que utilizou rastreamento ocular, registro de ações de teclado e mouse, protocolos verbais retrospectivos livres e questionários prospectivo e de satisfação como ferramentas metodológicas para as suas coletas e análises de dados. A fundamentação teórica apresenta aportes de diferentes áreas, como dos estudos empírico-experimentais com línguas de sinais (EMMOREY; THOMPSON; COLVIN, 2009; WEHRMEYER, 2014) e dos estudos processuais da tradução (JAKOBSEN; JENSEN, 2008; PAVLOVIĆ; JENSEN, 2009; HVELPLUND, 2017, dentre outros), que se apoiam em conceitos e princípios dos estudos da cognição. Os resultados obtidos e as análises e discussões desenvolvidas corroboram a validade e a produtividade do modelo de desenho experimental aplicado para abordar as questões em tela, além de trazerem contribuições relevantes para os ramos dos Estudos da Tradução em que se inserem e potencializarem questões para futuras pesquisas na área.

Written alternative translation solutions in the translation process

Abstract Alternative translation solutions (ATSs) are a core and abundant element of the translation process. Despite being a recurrent topic in translation process research (TPR), the majority of previous studies deal with verbal ATSs while written ATSs remain an underresearched aspect. This article focuses on written ATSs and their role in the translatorial decision-making process. Drawing mainly on research into translatorial decision-making and TPR, it investigates 188 written ATSs present in the first draft of a Maltese literary translation from French produced by an experienced translator. Various categorisation systems were created to analyse the textual data. The results indicate that written ATSs are a complex phenomenon worth exploring further as they seem to be a shared behaviour by many translators.

Chinese scholarship in Cognitive Translation Studies

Abstract In the last two decades, cognitive translation studies in China has been gaining momentum, which is spurred by three lines or perspectives of inquiry: psychology (especially cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics), cognitive linguistics, and translation process research (TPR). Despite the limited numbers of researchers in the first two lines, their increasing number of monographs reflects their influence. Also, while the first two lines have distinctive Chinese characteristics, TPR has been quite parallel to its Western counterpart. This paper offers a survey of Chinese researchers in the three lines, mainly including those in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It briefly presents dissertations, publications and current lines of work. As many of the researchers publish in Chinese only, this paper provides a window for looking at the Chinese research scene in cognitive translation studies.

Translating foregrounding in literary and non-literary texts, foregrounding translator’s conscious and unconscious thought

Foregrounding, the linguistic deviation and novelty, is endowed with literary-aesthetic value which is closely associated with “literariness.” My project offers a renewed attempt to enquire into literariness in a spectrum of text types ranging from academic discourse and newspaper articles to fiction and poetry by investigating foregrounding practices in both literary and non-literary texts. Through a comparative foregrounding analysis of the translations of the four selected text types and their respective source texts, I focus on whether the foregrounding practice is retained, altered or removed in the translated texts. The analysis has identified significant stylistic differences between the source texts and their translations, which enable me to reconstruct the translator’s conscious and unconscious thought in making decisions with regard to foregrounding. My investigation shows that the translator has a varied degree of awareness of foregrounding depending on the text types. The findings highlight the needs for both translators and translation scholars to be aware of the foregrounding practice in literary and non-literary texts. For translators, such an awareness helps enhance their professional reliability; for the translation scholars, it broadens their horizons in translation process research.

(Re)translation from a process-oriented Approach

O presente artigo reporta um conjunto de três estudos orientados ao processo e baseados em rastreamento ocular, cujo objetivo é explorar a tarefa de (re)tradução em três pares linguísticos diferentes (espanhol-português, francês-português e inglês-português). Estes estudos basearam-se em um design de tarefa exigindo potencial atenção aos três textos que serviram de estímulo, a saber: um texto-fonte e duas traduções previamente publicadas do mesmo, com o objetivo de gerar um quarto texto, uma nova tradução. Os resultados apontam para mais amplas transições do texto-fonte ao texto-meta, e vice-versa, como sendo o fluxo de atenção mais frequente, com ocasionais desvios para as traduções prévias para a solução de problemas de compreensão ou produção durante o ato de produção da tradução. O resultado de tais estudos e a descrição pioneira do processo de (re)tradução sob condições experimentais pode contribuir para a pesquisa do processo tradutório ao franquear evidência de como os participantes lidam com diversos estímulos em sua produção do texto-meta.

Can self-esteem and creative intelligence foster accuracy and creativity in professional translators?

Abstract Over this last decade translation process research has provided evidence for the importance of studying translators and interpreters’ individual differences so as to gain a better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in translation and the potential impact of the translator’s personality and emotions on translation performance. Drawing on previous research on the impact of self-esteem and creativity on translation, the present paper describes an experiment to measure the effect of self-esteem and creative intelligence on the written translation performance of a sample of 44 Spanish professional translators. The results reveal that (a) the more creative translators are, the more creative translations they produce; and (b) the higher translators’ self-esteem is, the lower the scores for accuracy.

The development of the TPR-DB as Grounded Theory Method

Abstract Initial versions of the translation process research database (TPR-DB), were released around 2011 in an attempt to integrate translation process data from several until then individually collected and scattered translation research projects. While the earlier individual studies had a clear focus on quantitative assessment of well-defined research questions on cognitive processes in human translation production, the integration of the data into the TPR-DB allowed for broader qualitative and exploratory research which has led to new codes, categories and research themes. In a constant effort to develop and refine the emerging concepts and categories and to validate the developing theories, the TPR-DB has been extended with further translation studies in different languages and translation modes. In this respect, it shares many features with Grounded Theory Method. This method was discovered in 1967 and used in qualitative research in social science ad many other research areas. We analyze the TPR-DB development as a Grounded Theory Method.1

Decision-making and alternative translation solutions in the literary translation process: A case study

This paper explores decision-making in literary translation focusing in particular on written alternative translation solutions (ATSs) and their role in the translation process. Drawing on psychological research on decision-making and translation process research, it investigates why an experienced translator produces various written ATSs in Draft 1 and how he chooses among the various possible solutions during the subsequent phases of the translation process. The investigation is carried out at the translator’s workplace who is studied as he self-revises a literary translation from French into Maltese. Data collected through think-aloud, translator observation and analysis of drafts pertaining to decision-making processes behind four sets of written ATSs concerning a similar lexical item are analysed and discussed. Results indicate that the translator produces written ATSs for strategic reasons.

Book Review: Reembedding translation process research

Book Review: Reembedding translation process research

Processes of what models?

In a recent article, Chesterman (2013) elaborates on Toury’s (2012) distinction between ‘translation acts’ (cognitive process) and ‘translation events’ (sociological process), and adds a third, superordinate level of ‘translation practices’ (cultural, historical, anthropological). Such successively nested models seem intuitively correct when applied to categorizing different approaches within translation studies. However, when used within cognitive and psycholinguistic approaches, such categories are found to lead to flawed reasoning. When Chesterman’s proposal is considered from perspectives such as the level of abstraction and the dynamicity of the models, many examples provided as illustration turn out to be misleading. The bulk of such errors points to an implicit notion of cognition which is contested by a growing number of researchers within translation process research: a view of thought as an internal, neutral, and logical brain process, mainly focused on problem-solving.

New directions in empirical translation process research exploring the CRITT TPR-DB

New directions in empirical translation process research exploring the CRITT TPR-DB

Does personality matter in translation? interdisciplinary research into the translation process and product

AbstractThe paper reports on the first pilot study planned within a broader interdisciplinary research project on translator’s personality profile viewed from the psychological and cognitive perspectives. The study aims to test the assumption that there is a link between personality features and translation performance. It is our initial attempt to incorporate translation process research and product evaluation into the investigation of personality factors involved in translation. Two major directions of analysis have been selected: personality traits as related to the quality of the translation product, and cognitive functions as related to the process of translation. The tentative conclusions confirm the idea that personality characteristics are important building blocks for further development of translation competence and expertise.

Design and Statistics in Quantitative Translation (Process) Research

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The TREC network – Past, present, and future inquiries into translation process research

The TREC network – Past, present, and future inquiries into translation process research

Challenges of translation process research at the workplace

Translation usually takes place at translators’ workplaces, yet much translation process research refers to data collected under controlled conditions such as the classroom or the lab. Pursuant with recent descriptions of translation as a situated activity comes the necessity of investigating that activity where and when it occurs. Many of the methods that have proved useful in the lab have also been applied in the field, and some of the challenges associated with investigating translation at the workplace are common to any kind of empirical translation research. However, certain workplace constraints present special challenges to everyone involved. Some solutions that were developed for a workplace study in Switzerland may prove useful in other investigations and might allow new questions to emerge in this developing field.

Translation process research as interaction research: from mental to socio-cognitive processes

The main methodological approaches used in cognitive translation process research have hitherto been inspired by methods originally developed in the behavioural sciences, especially psychology. This article contends that mainstream experimental research in laboratory settings needs to be complemented with other methodological approaches such as qualitative, ethnographic research in order to be able to account for the situated, embedded and extended aspects of cognition – as described in current cognitive science approaches. In addition, it presents the empirical research design and initial results of an ethnographic field study into the socio-cognitive aspects of translation. The results show the complexity of the social network involved in the observed case of freelance translation, the tendency of the translator to externalize parts of the process and thus transform the internal processing into an interaction with self-produced outer stimuli—thereby reconfiguring the cognitive space—and the existence of distinct, iterative interaction patterns that stand out as behavioural and cognitive routines in the way the translator works.