Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2014

This study aims to explore the role and possible impact of cultural background knowledge (CBK) on performance in sight translation, specifically the translation of metaphorical expressions (MEs). A between-subjects experiment was designed for 68 interpreting students who were assigned to a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG). They were asked to sight translate a speech containing ten MEs, with only the EG members given relevant CBK beforehand. The study triangulates data from the recordings of sight translation outputs, the transcriptions of the recordings, and the subjects’ guided interviews. The paper concludes with two main findings: (1) CBK markedly alleviates the cognitive load imposed by MEs and thus facilitates the process of translation by shortening the processing time and improving the translation quality; (2) although CBK does not exert a significant influence on the choice of translation strategies as a whole, it discernibly reduces the use of omission as a coping strategy to deal with inadequacies in the understanding of metaphorical meanings.

This article analyzes data generated by the combined use of keylogging and eye tracking to examine grammatical (de)metaphorization as a case of explicitation/implicitation (Steiner 2001). It also aims at investigating effortful text production from the perspective of automaticity and monitoring in the translation process (Tirkkonen-Condit 2005). Brazilian and German physicists and professional translators were recruited to translate one of two versions of an English (L2) source text into Brazilian Portuguese or German, respectively (L1). The versions differed in the level of grammatical metaphoricity of the sentences. Quantitative and qualitative data was analyzed to determine the impact of metaphoricity level on target text renditions as evidence of effort in the translation process. Results showed that regardless of which of the two versions was translated, most subjects opted for a particular wording from the start of their text production process; subsequent changes had to do with attempting more delicate choices in lexis rather than in grammar, evidence in favor of Tirkkonen-Condit’s claims about automatism in the translation process. Variables used to measure effort (i.e., number of renditions in microunits, pause duration, and drafting time) indicated that (de)metaphorization is an effortful procedure. Eye tracking, eliciting more fine-grained data, was instrumental in mapping instances of grammatical (de)metaphorization. The results have implications for issues related to the development of professional competence in translation, suggesting that instances of grammatical (de)metaphorization relate to higher levels of monitoring.

Current forms of web-based external support can easily log user activity and provide researchers with large quantities of an additional type of process data. This paper aims to present a multilingual concordancer used by translators at the EU institutions as an instance of this new data source. To analyze concordance data, a methodological approach will be developed to include searches across multiple language combinations. A concordance search will be broken down into individual components that will be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively with a special focus on the problem unit and the cognitive aspects of problem solving. Results show that searches can be both static (spot searches) and dynamic (search sessions). Moreover, translators often tend to refine their queries by reducing the initial search and progressively highlighting the actual problematic item.

This article reports on a study with two main purposes: on the one hand to look into the revision process in translation from Norwegian into Spanish, especially the revision of the title of a text, and on the other hand to compare the translation behavior of three different groups of participants with regard to the translation and revision of the title. The study was carried out by analyzing Translog keystroke data from language students, translation students, and professional translators during the 2011–2012 academic year at the University of Bergen, Norway. The study results show a lack of cohesion between the title and the body of the text in some of the target texts, and indicate that the number of revisions and the variations in the solutions of the translation of the title increase according to the subjects’ experience and translation training. The study also indicates that an additional phase of the translation process may be identified in keystroke data from Translog.

This article reports on an exploratory follow-up study on the use of problem-solving strategies of professional revisers, and in particular the use of ‘rereading,’ ‘reflection-reformulation,’ and ‘search’ problem-solving strategies. The study focuses on the frequency of these strategies, on the effect of the revision procedure on the use of these strategies, and on the relationship between the use of these strategies and revision quality and duration. Results based on Think Aloud Protocols (TAPs) and keystroke logging data show that the reflection-reformulation and the search strategies are the most frequent. It seems that the more revisers use the reflection-reformulation strategy, whether alone or in combination with another strategy, the better they revise, but the longer they work. Results also show that the type of revision procedure employed does not seem to have any effect on the use of problem-solving strategies.

This study aims to investigate cognitive processing during translation by eight professional translators. In particular, it examines the extent to which the translation process is modulated by the direction of the translation: from English (L2) to Brazilian Portuguese (L1) and vice versa. The data collection was based on the triangulation of translation process data, combining different data elicitation tools to investigate the translation process (Alves 2003a; Jakobsen 1999). The analyses of the translation data drew on linear representations of the variable recursiveness. The recursive movements were calculated and classified, and the results from various tasks were compared. The quantitative data analyses revealed a higher number of recursive movements in L1 when compared to the L2 translation when the participants translated texts on the same topic. However, recursiveness was less in L1 translation when the same participants translated texts on different topics. These quantitative data were analyzed in parallel with the qualitative data provided by the retrospective protocols, permitting meta-reflection instances to be evaluated during decision-making processes (Alves and Gonçalves 2007). Results show that recursiveness and retrospective protocols can be used as indicators to measure translation task difficulty.

This article argues for the need to integrate self-regulatory processes in models of adaptive interpreting expertise. It presents the results of an analysis of self-regulatory competence of experts and novice interpreters, using data from retrospective studies, interviews, and performance analysis. The findings revealed differences between the two groups with respect to the following processes: metacognition, emotion regulation, self-observation, and self-judgment. On the basis of these findings, recommendations for training and professional development opportunities as well as for further research are discussed.

The objective of this paper is to examine students’ understanding of the processes involved in translation if they are asked to write self-reflections on the strategies and procedures that they have employed and to submit these with their translations. The material analyzed in this study comprises retrospective, guided commentaries submitted during two terms by a group of undergraduate students studying translation. The results indicate that commentaries can foster heightened self-awareness of several aspects of the process, such as initial reading and revision. It is argued that the design of instructions for commentaries, including their variation and built-in progression, is of great importance for process-oriented translation teaching and deserves further experimental study.