Translation Students Research Articles

Visible masters and invisible students? Educational translation in the early modern Low Countries

ABSTRACT In the sixteenth-century Low Countries, a market developed for a specific type of translation, designed for educational purposes. From the second half of the century onward, in particular, many bilingual editions appeared, presenting two versions of the same texts parallel to each other. These works furnished authoritative models that students could use to verify their own translation exercises. Children whose native language was Dutch, both boys and girls, used the pedagogical tool of translation to learn the prestigious French language that was crucial for a career in international trade or public service, or Latin, required for an academic trajectory. In this context, translation not only offered an authoritative published end product, but also an educational activity. This article maps the visibility of the various actors involved in these educational translations: printers, schoolmasters, and students. By analysing published schoolbooks designed for translation exercises, as well as handwritten material by schoolmasters and their pupils, it explores the involvement of different actors of translation and questions to what extent the activities of student translators can be retraced.

A Questionnaire-based Research and Analysis Report on the Demand and Status of Language Services in the Energy and Power Industry in Hebei Province

This report analyzes the demand for language service professionals in Hebei’s energy and power industry from three key perspectives: enterprise requirements, translation education, and student employment planning. The 45 valid questionnaires cover four key aspects related to enterprises including the business scope, international business activity, language service team building and employment requirements. Despite the energy and power industry in Hebei Province have made significant strides in international collaboration, there is a gap between professional training and industry requirements. Enterprises demand language service personnel to maintain proficiency in terminology, have industry knowledge, master technical competence, and own international communication skills that most translation students lack. It can be seen that there are issues with the alignment between educational content and the actual need of enterprises. In addition, the results from teachers’ survey identified challenges in terms of aspects of teaching methods, curriculum setting, and the cooperation with enterprises. The report thus recommends to enhance the professional skills and industry knowledge of energy and power language services of translation students through various measures, including establishing professional knowledge bases and terminology bases of energy and power, designing relevant courses and practical projects, and strengthening school-enterprise cooperation. By performing these practices, it could better adapt to the future energy and power industry market demand. Furthermore, this report emphasizes that the education system needs to better adapt to the development of the industry, especially in the cultivation of interdisciplinary language service capabilities, and strengthen cooperation with energy and power companies to jointly develop language service talent training programs that meet the specific needs of the industry.

Investigating Translation Students’ Challenges in Rendering Arabic Idioms and Proverbs into English: Insights and Recommendations

This study investigates the challenges faced by 4th-year students majoring in Translation at Al-Buraimi University College in Oman when translating proverbs and idioms from Arabic into English. These expressions pose particular difficulties in translation due to their cultural and linguistic specificity, often requiring more than literal translation to convey their intended meaning accurately in the target language. Understanding these challenges is crucial for enhancing the effectiveness of translation education programs and improving students’ proficiency in handling idiomatic expressions. The findings showed that 4th-year translation students experienced three main difficulties in translating proverbs and idioms, ranging from the semantic and syntactic fields to cultural differences. First, semantically speaking, they struggled to grasp the meaning of the source text and find the closest equivalent proverb or idiom in the English language. Second, from the syntactic perspective, learners showed several deficiencies in making a correct structure in English. Third, the high percentage of wrong answers revealed a lack of cultural awareness regarding the target culture. This research employs qualitative methods to identify common difficulties that students encounter, offering insights into potential strategies and pedagogical approaches to address these challenges effectively. By focusing on idiomatic expressions and proverbs, this study contributes to the broader discourse on translation education and highlights the importance of cultural competence in achieving accurate and nuanced translations.

Saudi Learner Translation Corpus: The design and compilation of an English-Arabic learner translation corpus.

This article introduces the Saudi Learner Translation Corpus (SauLTC), an innovative multi-version English-Arabic parallel corpus featuring part-of-speech tagging. We describe the corpus parameters and compilation process and explain how textual processing and sentence alignment are conducted. The participants include 366 student translators, 48 instructors, and 23 alignment verifiers. The corpus provides access to two target versions of every ST to allow the detection of the changes in the translation and revision processes from the initial to the final draft. The translations were collected over three years, yielding 5,160,386 tokens. The metadata of 23 sentence alignment verifiers were added to the analysis as a unique variable to investigate individual differences in the manual verification process. This unidirectional corpus can be used to identify student translators' strategies and errors in translation and analyze the efficacy of instructors' feedback. Furthermore, it is accessible via an application and a website. It provides translation teachers and researchers with a database that can help develop corpus-based and corpus-driven teaching materials.

Investigating Iraqi Translation Students ' Mastery of Translating Cultural Terms, Arab Headdress Articles As a Case Study

Culture specific terms are problematic in translation as they are normally laden with a host of cultural associations and contextual components rendering them challenging and difficult to translate. Hence, the current research attempts to identify and address this problem through a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the research sample`s renderings of Arab headdress articles` terms (AHDATs) into English. The research sample consists of 25 4th grade translation students in translation department / Faculty of Arts / Wasit university. Each student is asked to translate sentences containing such terms in order to assess their renderings, diagnose the reasons of failure(if any) in grasping the intended meanings and in conveying the cultural associations involved. The researcher designed a 10-item translation test and students are asked to translate them based on the knowledge and experience they have obtained. Later the translations are collected to be scrutinized and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively so as to identify the frequency of usage and the rate of occurrence of different renderings . This would assist in figuring out the types of problems faced and what remedies and solutions can be suggested for improving their performance. The present study attempts to figure out the erroneous translations and shortcomings in the rendering of Arab Headdress Articles terms (AHATs) into English and the sources and causes of difficulty faced by students in conveying the SL intended meaning along with their culture- specific associations. As such, it can be identified what applicable measures and practical steps should be taken to enhance translation students` ability to overcome the arising challenges and what recommendations can be made. It is concluded at the end that such challenges and shortcomings can be addressed through including sufficient material and theorization illustrating the techniques and strategies proposed by theorists in dealing with culture – specific terms as well as exposing students to texts containing this kind of terms.

The Future of the Translation Profession in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Survey Results from Polish Translators, Translation Trainers, and Students of Translation

Technological advancements in computer science have led to the progressive change of the translation profession. In particular, this concerns machine translation, which has fundamentally changed the role of the translator. AI-driven tools, such as neural machine translation systems, have significantly improved translation speed and accuracy, with the translator role resembling that of an editor or proofreader. While translators have viewed the technological progress as a threat to their jobs, machine translation comes with some persistent issues, such as bias or inaccuracies stemming from insufficient context understanding and cultural nuances. Accordingly, the question of the future of human translation is more complex than it may initially appear. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on the perception of the future of the translation profession in the era of artificial intelligence.

Polyphony as a Transformative Factor in Solopreneurship Education of Language Specialists

This article aims to demonstrate that the notion of multiple voices (polyphony) is a powerful educational idea that can bring value to translator education programmes. Based on a class dedicated to entrepreneurial functioning of MA students in translation, the article strives to show how polyphony can be entrenched in class content and classroom dynamics. It is argued that polyphony can empower students’ polyphonic approach to career choices. The empirical part discusses the responses from the class participants in 2023 concerning their perception of the modes of work they find most attractive. Conclusions outline areas for enhancements in class content and classroom dynamics.

Linguistic, Aesthetic And Cultural Aspects Of Translating Literary Texts (Arabic-English): A Model For Translation Pedagogy

The main aim of this paper is to explore the different linguistic, aesthetic, and cultural aspects of literary translation. The paper examines the various features of literary translation at both macro and micro levels. It focuses on those features of literary texts that are characteristic of literary works. First, we follow the standard linguistic paradigm in the discussion of literary translation, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and the aesthetic and cultural features of literary texts. The qualitative method is used to explore the various features of literary translation to identify the recurring linguistic and literary devices lacking systematic forms and patterns to find a comparable genre-specific form in the target language. The model proposed consists of five stages: (1) Retention of sound devices, (2) Retention of syntactic patterns, (3) Retention of semantic features, (4) Retention of figurative language, and (5) Retention of the cultural aspects. The model is a descriptive model for analyzing literary translation procedures and can be used as a pedagogical model for translation practice. Findings show that employing this model would offer translation students new insights to describe challenging linguistic, aesthetic, and cultural features in the source texts to think of some practical solutions for translating literary works.

Subtitling Without Context

In this article, subtitling without context refers to situations in which subtitlers do not have access to the image and sound of an audiovisual text, which they need to carry out their translation processes efficiently and successfully. Audiovisual texts, such as movies, need to be seen and heard to be understood and their meaning translated. What happens if the video material is not available or incomplete? This is the question that this study strives to answer. The key concepts discussed in this article are the multimodality of audiovisual texts, context, relevance, and cognitive load. An empirical subtitling test was conducted with translation students at a Finnish university to examine these concepts and their impact on translation processes and products. Two sets of translations were analyzed with a multilayered contrastive analysis. In addition, the participants wrote short translation diaries that were analyzed using content analysis. The students’ translation diaries indicated that it is impossible to time subtitles, make line breaks, and understand references to places and characters, to name but a few difficulties reported by the participants in the test. In addition, the analysis of the diary entries revealed that translating without context reportedly increased the participants’ cognitive load, which in turn made translation processes less efficient and more time-consuming. Lay Summary Movies, television series and videogames can be called audiovisual texts as they convey their meaning with sounds and images. The translators of such texts are called subtitlers and the end products of their translation processes, subtitles. In this article, subtitling without a context refers to situations in which the subtitler does not have access to the image and sounds of an audiovisual text. Audiovisual texts need to be seen and heard to be wholly understood as well as translated efficiently and successfully. What happens if the video material is no available or it is not ready? This is the questions we wish to answer. The key concepts discussed in this article are the multimodality of audiovisual texts, context, relevance, and cognitive load. Multimodality means that audiovisual texts use different ways, such as pictures, texts, music and speech to tell the stories. Context refers to the situation in which language is used and translated. Relevance theory weighs what are the most important things needed to be told with minimal costs, costs in this case being the number of characters in the subtitles. Cognitive load on the other hand refers to the psychological processes and memory use that are ongoing in translation processes. We made a translation test with students from a Finnish university. They translated a written dialog list without seeing the video material it was from. Then they translated it again, but this time with the video. Then these translations were compared with each other as well as with the video’s images and sounds. This method of comparison in this article is called multilayered contrastive analysis. The students also wrote short translation diaries about their experiences. They reported that timing and doing line breaks were impossible without the video. Timing refers to the process of making the subtitle lines appear at the same time as the characters are speaking and line breaks refer to the division of sentences and words in the subtitle lines. The participants wrote to their translation diaries that it was difficult to translate without the video. It was mentally tiresome and because of this, it took much time to finish the translations. The students also were afraid that they made many mistakes, and they used a lot of time second guessing their solutions.

Translating Traditional Folk Poetry: The Perception of Translators and Translation Students and the Reality in Saudi Society

Despite the massive presence and influence of traditional folk poetry (TFP) within Saudi society, the efforts to translate such works remain very limited. While many authors and researchers have examined the impact of this literary genre and illustrated its prominence, academic investigations into the difficulties of translating TFP works are almost nonexistent. This is also true about studies that focus on the overarching sentiment regarding these efforts among those who are associated with the field of language and translation and among members of the general public. This paper thus aims at examining these perspectives and outlining the challenges translation trainees face when performing tasks in this field. The data for this study was collected through the dissemination of a questionnaire and the analysis of a translation task assigned to university students in an academic program for English language and translation. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data shows that the level of acceptance of TFP translation efforts is strongly connected to the degree of association with the field of languages and translation, with individuals from outside these circles being less supportive of initiatives in this domain. Additionally, the paper identified several obstacles and challenges encountered by translation students working on TFP texts. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations and suggestions that can, hopefully, contribute to the efforts to raise awareness about translating TFP and to the process of improving the current state of translation within this field.

Problems of Translating English Compound-Complex Sentences into Arabic

The study focuses on problems encountered by translation students when translating English compound-complex sentences into Arabic. It explores their structure, their components, and the appropriate way of translating them with the preservation of the same structure and meaning into the TL. The study hypothesizes: 1) compound-complex sentences can be found in English and Arabic. 2) Such structures are problematic for students when translating them into Arabic. 3) Vinay& Darbelnet’s translational model is applicable in translating compound - complex sentences. The study presents a comprehensive theoretical explanation on compound-complex sentences in both English and Arabic. Then, (3) English compound-complex sentences have been selected from different English grammar books and handed over to (20) undergraduate 4th stage students at the Department of Translation_ College of Arts_ University of Mosul, to handle the task of translating these sentences into Arabic. Their translations were analyzed syntactically and semantically by adopting Vinay& Darbelnet’s translational model(1958/1995) as well as Catford’s classification of translation-shifts (1965); in order to detect the difficulties and problems encountered in translating the sentences; thus, it’s a qualitative study. The study concludes that:1) compound-complex sentences are found in English and Arabic, 2) such sentences are problematic for students when translating them into Arabic either by the difficulty of identifying their parts, making unnecessary shifts, or adopting inappropriate strategy during the translational process that affect their translation accuracy, syntactically and semantically. 3) Vinay& Darbelent’s translational model is applicable to translating compound-complex sentences by adopting literal translation procedure within direct translation strategy. Based on that, the study is classified as a descriptive one.

The Role of Elements of Text Analysis in Consecutive Interpreting Performance: A Mixed-Methods Study

Despite the theoretical importance of text analysis in translation process, there is a paucity of experimental research into the role that the elements of the text can play in enhancing interpreting performance. The present study, adopting a mixed-methods design, aimed to investigate whether knowledge of text elements enhances consecutive interpreting performance. In so doing, a sample of 36 homogeneous undergraduate translation students participated in this study based on convenience sampling, and a pool of six students participated in the qualitative phase of the study based on purposive sampling, following the data saturation method. Following Nord’s guidelines for text analysis, the experimental group was exposed to the elements of text during the intervention. A validated assessment rubric was utilized to measure students’ interpreting performance, taking the inter-rater reliability of the scores also into consideration. The results of one-way ANOVA confirmed that there was a statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group; the experimental group outperformed the control group. Having calculated the inter-coder reliability of the responses emerged from the interviews, the number of common factors included six themes, namely unique, new information, message analysis, motivating, general lexis, and semiotics. In the end, some practical implications are offered for interpreting students and teachers.

Students’ Multilingual Experiences With Online Machine Translation: Implications for General Language Use

This article discusses how online machine translators (OMT) can influence the way people use general language or languages. The latter distinction has to do with the fact that contemporary lifestyles turn language users into plurilingual communicators. Online shopping, travelling abroad or social media often require at least some degree of plurilingual text mediation skills. Irrespective of foreign language competences, a lot of plurilingual communicators seek OMT support in making sure their messaging with international partners is correct and effective. The article discusses research results concerning how a selected group of BA and MA students in education use machine translation for day-to-day plurilingual communication tasks. We asked them about the relation between machine translation, language learning and language use. We give some insight into the machine translation engine DeepL Translator, which can effectively be used in support of plurilingual text mediation. The article also contains basic educational implications for why and how to make OMT part of foreign language curricula.

Exploring the Use of Subtitling in Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language: Theories and Applications

Technology occupies a significant resource that can be exploited empirically to contribute to translation learning and research, as it can give enormous opportunities for language learners and educators to exploit in their teaching and provide students with practical learning activities. Many researchers highly recommend the extensive use of IT in enhancing the competence of translation students and L2 learners' language skills. Since there has been an abundance of empirical research studies carried out over the last two decades, many novice researchers cannot review and handle them within their limited time. For this reason, this paper introduces the key researchers who carried out studies on the employment of audiovisual translation (AVT) in language learning and teaching; it explores and reviews the main previous research studies conducted on the impact of audiovisual translation, namely subtitling and subtitles on enhancing language learning. It first considers briefly how audiovisual translation emerged as an independent branch of Translation Studies (ST), then discusses its development as well as its continuity within Translation Studies. It also explores its classifications and highlights future research avenues.

Impacts of LMS Socio-Linguistic and Psychometric Factors on Students' English and Translation Proficiency and Communicative Competence: A Paradigm Shift During COVID-19 Pandemic

This quantitative study investigated the impacts of Learning Management Systems’ (LMS) socio-linguistic and psychometric factors on students' English and translation proficiency and communicative competence. The participants were enrolled at the College of Languages and Translation, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The results highlighted the positive experiences students had with the LMS platforms, with a notable frequency of (79.6%). Additionally, a significant percentage (86.2%) affirmed the effectiveness of these platforms in aiding them in achieving academic objectives. However, (52%) indicated that students consistently or often faced challenges when using technology. The findings highlighted improvements in various areas, including linguistic abilities (71.7%), translation skills (73.7%), social skills (62.5%), and psychometric abilities (70.3%), emphasizing the role of online environments in fostering effective communicative skills. The study also revealed the benefits of language and translation technology for students, with (84.1%) using computer-assisted translation, (82.9%) engaging in dubbing and voice translation, and (75.6%) utilizing language audio/video resources. Positive impacts on proficiency and communicative competence were evident, with frequencies of (74.4%) and (69.1%), respectively. These findings underscore the positive influence of technology on language and translation learning, emphasizing communicative approaches that enable students to develop competencies based on language socialization and real-time translation practices. The study recommends ongoing technology training for students and advocates for the use of psychometric tools embedded in LMS to encourage self-assessment and independent learning. The study's significance lies in understanding the intricate relationship between cognition, educational technology, and language and translation learning, particularly in the context of higher education.

Does Translation Technology Affect Translators' Performance? A Meta-Analysis

Translation technologies, including computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, translation memory (TM) systems, and machine translation (MT), are increasingly utilized in professional translation workflows and training. However, the effects of these technologies on translators' performance remain inconclusive. This meta-analysis examines the overall impact of translation technologies on translator performance by synthesizing data from 12 experimental studies published between 2000 and 2023. The study investigates the effectiveness of translation technologies compared to traditional translation methods. The findings reveal a significant positive effect size, indicating that translation technologies have the potential to improve translators’ performance relative to purely human translation. The integration of advanced interactive CAT systems and post-editing MT demonstrates larger advancements compared to basic TM match retrieval. Moreover, experienced professional translators derive greater benefits from incorporating technologies than student translators, highlighting the importance of leveraging automation capabilities alongside human expertise. However, the study identifies significant heterogeneity among the studies, influenced by factors such as translation direction. Translators translating into their native language exhibit greater advancements, emphasizing the advantages of technologies that strengthen fluency in the target language.

Linguistics for Translators

What makes a translator truly exceptional? Is it their grasp of both source and target languages, or perhaps their sensitivity to cultural nuances? Linguistics for Translators by Ali Almanna and Juliane House delves into these questions with the ambition to bridge the gap between linguistic theory and translation practice. This ambitious textbook does not just present linguistic concepts but intricately weaves them into the fabric of translation studies, making it an indispensable resource “for a diverse audience, including students of translation and linguistics, practising translators, and readers from neighbouring disciplines who are interested in the subject” (Alamnaa and House, 2024, p.4). Almanna and House (2024) begin with a captivating premise: understanding the intricate mechanisms of language is fundamental for any translator. They set the stage by discussing why linguistic knowledge is crucial, not just as an academic exercise, but as a practical toolkit for enhancing translation quality. “Our aim with Linguistics for Translators is to emphasize that the linguistic dimension of translation cannot be overlooked,” Almanna and House (p.1) assert, highlighting the book’s relevance from the outset. This approach aligns with the views of Hatim and Munday (2004), who also emphasize the significance of linguistic competence in translation. The book’s twelve chapters cover a broad spectrum of linguistic areas, each crucial for the aspiring translator. Each chapter is meticulously designed to build on the previous one, from the basics of phonetics and phonology to the complexities of cognitive linguistics. The authors provide an engaging overview of linguistics, linking it directly to translation through practical exercises and discussion points. They introduce linguistic universals and translation universals, sparking curiosity about their application in real-world translation. This discussion echoes the foundational work of Catford (1965), who first articulated the need for linguistic theory in translation.

The Difficulties of Translating English Phrasal Verbs into Arabic,”The Case of Libyan EFL Graduate Translation Students at the Libyan Academy”

The Difficulties of Translating English Phrasal Verbs into Arabic,”The Case of Libyan EFL Graduate Translation Students at the Libyan Academy”

Реконтекстуалізація в перекладі студентського сленгу

Student slang as a secondary communication system is used by students exclusively in the context of informal conversation, since slang units cannot be used appropriately without knowing specific university terminology. The difficulty of translating such profanity is caused by the need for recontextualization – the translator's reconstruction of the source and target text contexts. The study of student slang words, in particular the techniques of translating them from English into Ukrainian, is relevant due to the dynamic nature of student slang, as well as the expansion of the boundaries of contemporary academic mobility of students. The purpose of the article is to determine the peculiarities of using the recontextualization strategy in the main techniques of translating student slang from English into Ukrainian. The integrated study of recontextualization in student slang translation involved the application of the following methods: the method of continuous sampling (for assembling slang units from student web-blogs), the method of descriptive observation (for defining possible techniques of translating student slang), methods of analysis and synthesis (for singling out lexical and stylistic peculiarities of student slang translation and formulation of conclusions). Results. Within the framework of sociocognitive approach, context is considered to be a special mental construct generated by participants in their episodic memory in the course of communicative interaction. The relevant constituents of the unique, subjective and dynamic context model include the sender and receiver of the message, their relationship, personal (situational) and sociocultural knowledge, evaluations and emotions, place and time of communication. A translator as a mediator of communicative interaction between the sender and the receiver of the message, also constructs a context model. Effective translation activity is possible only if the peculiarities of the context models of both the sender and the receiver of the message are taken into account. That is why the translator's context model is formed by incorporating the context models of both communicative partners into an integrated context model. Recontextualization as a linguistic and cognitive operation is aimed at reconstructing a communicative situation in the conceptual coordinates of communicative partners. Recontextualization in translation is a comprehensive translation strategy that affects all structural and communicative levels of the text and is used to adapt the translated text to the conditions acceptable in the target environment and the pragmatics of bilingual interaction. The strategy of recontextualization in student slang translation includes several stages: reconstructing the integrated context model that will resonate with the usual, everyday conditions of student life; domesticating the source text through analogy and specification; using appropriate translation techniques and transformations to reproduce the meaning of student slang in the target language. A comprehensive analysis of the illustrative material proved that the strategy of recontextualization involves such most frequent techniques of translating student slang as the search for appropriate equivalents in the target language, descriptive translation, explication and calquing. The highlighting stylistic features of translating student slang include metaphor, metonymy and antonomasia. The stylistic load of student slang often causes translation difficulties, since the strategy of recontextualization requires the involvement of a wide range of not only situational background, but also encyclopaedic knowledge. Originality. The article presents the attempt of making a deep insight into the application of the recontextualization strategy in translating student slang from English into Ukrainian. Conclusion. The results of the study prove that student slang is a multifaceted and emotionally coloured linguistic phenomenon that serves not only as a means of communication but also as a kind of sypher encoded in a mosaic of words and phrases. The strategy of recontextualization as a multi-stage linguistic and cognitive operation is focused on the reconstruction of the communicative situation by the translator in order to adapt the target text and adequately translate slang units. It is proved that the main techniques of translating student slang from English into Ukrainian are the search for appropriate equivalents in the target language, descriptive translation, explication and calquing. Metaphor, metonymy and antonomasia are the most effective and frequent stylistic means aimed at fulfilling the pragmatic function of slang units. We consider the study of possible ways of translating student abbreviations and phraseological units from English into Ukrainian to be much promising.

The Role of Metacognitive Strategies in Enhancing Students Translation Skills

The Role of Metacognitive Strategies in Enhancing Students Translation Skills