Translation Process Research Research Articles

Stepping into others’ shoes: a cognitive perspective on target audience orientation in written translation

This paper suggests what might allow translators to orient themselves towards their target audience in the translation process. To shed light on translators’ ability to put themselves into their target audience’s shoes, I adopt a cognitive perspective by drawing on current findings from psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience. I depart from the notion of target audience as applied to written translation. Aspects to this concept and the terminology of audience in translation studies are briefly discussed. Then I turn to translation process research to examine two empirical studies and one theoretical paper for insights into researching translators’ target audience orientation. Next, I introduce concepts from social cognition research that might contribute to give a cognitive account of translators’ behavior towards the target audience. I then touch upon the relation of the functional neurocognitive network presumably supporting target audience orientation with other neurocognitive networks that seem particularly relevant to translation. As a complement, I present a research design for empirically verifying my claim about what enables translators’ target audience orientation, and gaining further insight into the relations between target audience orientation, translation process and translation product. Finally, some conclusions about the benefits of this type of research are offered.

Shared representations and the translation process

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate automated processing during translation. We provide evidence from a translation priming study which suggests that translation involves activation of shared lexico-semantic and syntactical representations, i.e., the activation of features of both source and target language items which share one single cognitive representation. We argue that activation of shared representations facilitates automated processing. The paper revises the literal translation hypothesis and the monitor model (Ivir 1981; Toury 1995; Tirkkonen-Condit 2005), and re-defines it in terms of findings from translation process research. On the basis of the evidence, we propose a recursive model of translation.

A dynamic network model of translatorial cognition and action

As an interdisciplinary research endeavor into the foundations of human and artificial intelligence, cognitive science has substantial contributions to offer to the field of translation studies. Like any other explanatory approach to socially embedded and organized behavior, cognitive science deals with hard-to-resolve dichotomies such as static versus dynamic approaches, lab- or field-based methods or the opposing views of individual and social explanations. To introduce current theoretical developments from cognitive science, we offer a conceptual framework that conceives these apparent dichotomies as complementary perspectives and helps us to cope with the nested and embedded nature of translatorial cognition and action. For this purpose, we specify a dynamic network analytical model which treats acts of individual cognition and (inter)action as being constitutively interwoven with their social, symbolic and material environments and combine all its elements into a coherent dynamic process perspective. In our outlook, we discuss this extended model’s potential to structure the ongoing theoretical debate on translation process research, as well as its ability to serve as a scaffold for defining and contextualizing empirical studies and thus guiding research into the complex dynamics of translation as a situated activity.

Writing and Translation process research: Bridging the gap.

Writing and translation are traditionally addressed as two different objects of study. However, they also share many characteristics - as revealed by the research carried out in the two fields, which often uses the same methods to investigate both areas. In this introduction, it is suggested that writing and translation can be studied as types of text production. Different dimensions of text production are sketched as examples of research topics at the interface between writing and translation. The two articles that follow this introduction explore two such dimensions: competence and profiles.

Indicators of translation competence: Translators' self-concepts and the translation of titles

The parallels between writing research and translation process research range from the objects of study (text producers and texts) to the methods employed in investigating them. Similar to writing research, translation studies has recently moved from an almost exclusive focus on products towards considering workplace and cognitive processes and the effects of those processes on the quality of products. In this paper, we outline how the methods common to both fields can be applied to the investigation of translators’ understanding of their roles and responsibilities as text producers and their treatment of the specific problem of title translation. The data are drawn from a corpus built up in a longitudinal research project about the relationship of translation competence and the translation process. The multi-method approach we use combines keystroke logging, screenshot recording, eye-tracking, retrospection, and interviews. It allows us to monitor translators at their workplace in as controlled and non-invasive a manner as possible. It also provides rich data that make it possible to infer the practices and metalinguistic awareness that characterize the translation competence of translators with different levels of experience.

Metaphor in translation

This paper explores potential benefits of closer interaction between metaphor studies and translation process research. It presents some developments within translation studies that make use of conceptual metaphor theory and illustrates some process research methods for investigating metaphors. The paper considers a number of methodological recommendations and argues that the need to take full account of insights from metaphor studies and associated disciplines is of greatest importance. Another significant potential innovation is the use of a multilingual approach in respect of both product- and process-oriented studies in order to increase both the amount and the generality of data available for analysis. Thirdly, it is important to extend the current source-text (ST) oriented approach. The paper concludes by suggesting some options for triangulating data gathered through a combination of methods.

Applying a newswriting research approach to translation

Translation is a situated activity that involves more than simply producing target texts from source texts. In order to understand what translators actually do when they translate, their psycho-biographies as well as the social setting of the workplace and the contextual resources must be considered. In this paper, we outline how a mixed-method approach originally developed to study the newswriting processes of journalists at their workplaces can be applied in translation process research. We argue that progression analysis, which combines keystroke logging, screen recordings, eye-tracking, and cue-based retrospective verbalization, can be profitably used along with version analysis to gain insights into cognitive aspects of the translation process.

Investigating the conceptual-procedural distinction in the translation process

This article draws on relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson 1986/1995) and its application to translation (Gutt 2000) to investigate processing effort in translation in relation to two different types of encodings, namely conceptual and procedural encodings (Blakemore 2002, Wilson 2011). Building on the experimental paradigm of data triangulation in translation process research (Alves 2003; Jakobsen 2005), it analyses the translation processes of eight professional translators when performing a direct and an inverse translation task. The analysis focuses on the number and types of encodings found in micro/macro translation units (Alves and Vale 2009; 2011). Results suggest that processing effort in translation is greater in instances of procedural than conceptual encodings.

Think-Aloud-Based Translation Process Research: Some Methodological Considerations

Mainly structured around issues revealed in a questionnaire survey among 25 eminent translation process researchers worldwide, this paper deals with methodological issues in think-aloud-based translation process research from two perspectives: theoretical and practical. It argues that there is no strong evidence suggesting that TAP significantly changes or influences the translation process, though TAP’s validity and completeness in a specific study might depend more or less on several variables. TAP and such recording methods as keystroke logging and eye tracking serve different specific research purposes, so they can be combined in a multimethod study to answer more complex research questions. Several research designs are available for a multimethod study, and researchers are encouraged to try designs other than one-shot case studies or convergence design. As for the research procedure, this paper touches upon how to transcribe and analyze the protocols. Many stereotypes in this field have been problematized. For example, this paper suggests that researchers transcribe as much as necessary rather than doing a “complete” transcription, or they can even skip the step of transcribing; in choosing test materials, researchers do not have to choose whole passages; they can use a group of sentences.

Introducing Some Psychometric Tests for Researching on Cognitive Processes of the Translators/Translation Students

The recent interest in Cognitive Translation Studies have entailed a growing number of empirical study in translation process research designs (Jaaskelainen, 2000; Hansen, 2003; Munoz, 2008; Baqi & Mobaraki, 2011). Among other methodological issues, subject profiling has become a key factor if we are to control an experiment. Individual differences can act as independent variables, manipulated by researchers in order to gauge their effect, or extraneous variables not directly related to the purpose of the study, which need to be controlled. In Both cases, it is advisable to quantify them. There are different types of instruments for Psychological Evaluation and Description e.g. test measuring, most used in psychological constructs in Translation Studies; together with some factors to bear in mind when selecting the appropriate test for a given study design. Finally, according to the standards of Educational and Psychological Testing, some recommendations for bettering test administration are given.

Towards professionalism — or against it? Dealing with the changing world in translation research and translator education

The aim of this article is to address some of the problems related to the notion of ‘professionalism’ in translation studies. Different definitions of professionalism and expertise are discussed on the basis of translation process research, expertise research and the sociology of translation. Translation quality is also touched upon, as it relates to both professionalism and expertise. We argue that both translation research and translator education need to deal with the developments on the translation market in order to better describe and explain the reality of translating, to change the reality if necessary, and to equip translation students with the skills and knowledge that are essential to cope with the realities.

A discussion of ethnographic research methods and their relevance for translation process research

In recent years, technologically advanced methodologies such as Translog have gained a lot of ground in translation process research. However, in this paper it will be argued that quantitative research methods can be supplemented by ethnographic qualitative ones so as to enhance our understanding of what underlies the translation process. Although translation studies scholars have sometimes applied an ethnographic approach to the study of translation, this paper offers a different perspective and considers the potential of ethnographic research methods for tapping cognitive and behavioural aspects of the translation process. A number of ethnographic principles are discussed and it is argued that process researchers aiming to understand translators’ perspectives and intentions, how these shape their behaviours, as well as how translators reflect on the situations they face and how they see themselves, would undoubtedly benefit from adopting an ethnographic framework for their studies on translation processes.

Data Documentation and Data Accessibility in Translation Process Research

This article addresses the problem that data collected in investigations into translation processes is not made available to the scientific community in most cases, with the consequence that findings based on such data cannot be reproduced and verified and that the data cannot be re-used in other investigations. The article suggests (1) a text annotation system based on the Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), which have been adapted to the specific requirements of translation process research, and (2) the use of asset management systems (AMS) to make translation process data accessible on the Internet. AMS are electronic systems for storing, archiving, annotating, and analyzing digital resources of any type. The advantages and functionality these systems offer are described both from the perspective of researchers and from the perspective of translation pedagogy. The text annotation system is illustrated using transcription examples from a longitudinal study of the development of translation competence in students of translation. Special emphasis is placed on the meta-data required for translation-process transcripts and the different phenomena to be transcribed.

Process research into the development of translation competence: Where are we, and where do we need to go?

This paper gives an overview of the methods employed in process-oriented investigations of translation competence and its development and describes their advantages and drawbacks. Furthermore, it provides a survey of the findings gained in this field of research so far. It then focuses on desiderata. Special emphasis will be placed on the contrastive evaluation of methods, on longitudinal studies, as well as on the documentation and dissemination of process data. The design of one longitudinal study, TransComp, which investigates the development of translation competence in 12 students of translation over a period of three years and compares it to that of 10 professional translators with more than 10 years of experience, will be introduced. Furthermore, asset management systems will be suggested to make translation process data accessible to the scientific community and lay the foundations for a platform for information exchange between scholars working in the field of translation process research. At the end of the article, the contributions collected in this volume will be introduced.

Towards statistical modelling of translators’ activity data

The paper discusses recent advances in human translation process research and presents a methodology for gathering and analysing translators’ activity data. We compare three translations of an English text into Danish. A coherent representation of the User Activity Data and a query formalism is suggested for retrieving source-target language alignment units and for tracing and interpreting the process data for these units. We look at a number of correction patterns and a fixation pause in more detail. With a better and more formalised way of understanding the underlying human processes, new technologies and novel ways of using existing technology could emerge that tighten the integration of speech recognition and automated translation aids into the translation workflow.

Pauses as Indicators of Cognitive Effort in Post-editing Machine Translation Output

In translation process and language production research, pauses are seen as indicators of cognitive processing. Investigating the correlations between source text machine translatability and post-editing effort involves an assessment of cognitive effort. Therefore, an analysis of pauses is essential. This paper presents data from a research project which includes an analysis of pauses in post-editing, triangulated with the Choice Network Analysis method and Translog. Results suggest that the pause-to-keyboarding ratio does not differ significantly for sentences deemed to be more suitable for machine translation than for those deemed to be less suitable. Also, results confirm the finding in research elsewhere that pause duration and frequency is subject to individual differences. Finally, we suggest that while pauses provide some indication of cognitive processing, supplementary methods are required to give a fuller picture.

Translation processes in time

In think-aloud protocol studies of cognitive processes in translation, the analysis of TAPs very often results in the description of overall characteristics of the processes of individual translators or proficiency groups of translators. The problem with this approach is that it does not allow the researcher to draw conclusions about the actual organisation of the cognitive processes and its effects on text quality. In writing research, functional dependency of cognitive processes—the fact that the context, function and effect of different cognitive processes vary according to the moment in the process on which they occur—was demonstrated byRijlaarsdam and Van den Bergh (1996). In the present paper the idea is developed that in translation process research, the inclusion of time as a variable may prove to be useful in improving understanding of the effect of process characteristics on process outcome. A dynamic approach, in which a translation process is viewed and analysed as belonging to a changing task situation, is proposed.