Translation, Cognition & Behavior - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2020

MT literacy means knowing how MT works, how the technology can be useful in a particular context, and what the implications are of using it for various purposes. As MT usage grows, the necessity for MT literacy also grows. This knowledge forms part of the greater need for digital literacies. In this contribution, we relate MT literacy to the concept of cognitive load in professional translation production and in translator training scenarios. We then move beyond the sphere of translation studies to examine other use-case settings—crisis communication, academic writing and patent publishing—to consider how MT can offer solutions and how MT literacy can impact cognitively in those settings. We discuss how training in MT literacy can empower language professionals and present two proposals for course content designed for MT users in other sectors.

In recent years, the motivation of translators has attracted attention from TS scholars but there is a clear gap about the Chinese context. This paper explores the motivating factors of a Spanish-Chinese fansubbing group of volunteer translators that constitute a community nicknamed The Burrow. It probes into their perceptions in relation to their task and the public, and hints at the possible link between motivation, collaborative translation, and audiovisual content production by fans. A netnographical method was adopted for data gathering, via two questionnaires, a self-designed open-probe survey (OPS) and a modified version of the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI) proposed by Clary et al (1998). Most fan translators think of themselves as consumers-producers and show traits similar to those of their readers. They believe producing content by themselves is related to higher motivation and also consider a relation between collaborative translation and higher motivation to exist. Self-determination theory was used for the analysis of motivations, and the emerging key motivating factors were understanding, enhancement and values. Passion and attaining experience were the two most important motivators before starting to fansub, and finding friends and having a volunteering platform were the two key motivating factors after becoming fansubbers.

Until recently, the translator’s personality was a relatively unexplored area of research, but growing evidence points to the influence of personality on the translator’s decisions. Although findings are not always statistically significant, empirical research indicates that professional translators’ profiles differ from that of the local population, and that certain personality types are more likely to make creative translation choices. This article explores the relationship between personality traits as defined by the Big Five Inventory (Costa & McCrae 1989), and translation choices as defined by Baker (2018) and Molina & Hurtado (2002). The findings indicate that professional translators with a dominant neurotic personality trait are the most creative, whereas those with a dominant conscientious personality trait prefer literal translation choices. However, the findings also indicate that age and experience are competing variables, both indicating a preference for literal translation.

The article reviews the author’s research on two selected eyetracking parameters, i.e., spatial saccades and pupil dilation, and their relationship with the mental activity of the translator during sight translation performance. An overview and discussion of the results of studies conducted in recent years show how we can detect particular mental processes involved in translation thanks to the analysis of specific saccadic movements. It also points out the advantages and limitations of pupil dilation in the assessment of the cognitive load. Both eyetracking parameters have been analysed in relation to their neurobiological determinants.

This piece introduces a lifespan perspective on cognitive changes associated with sustained practice of simultaneous interpreting. First, I briefly describe the elevated demands posed by this activity in training and work settings. Second, I argue that a broad lifespan perspective on it requires tracking psychobiological reconfigurations in the preparation for, course of, and withdrawal from sustained professional practice. Third, I summarize the core foci and findings of three articles addressing each of those stages. To conclude, I propose that the field’s ongoing agenda should gravitate towards more age- and experience-sensitive models and practices.

Findings about interpreter advantages in cognitive flexibility have been discrepant. To examine whether task differences and interpreters’ L2 proficiency contributed to the discrepancy, we tested two groups of university students (interpreting trainees vs. control participants) with two color-shape switching tasks differing in stimulus valence (univalent vs. bivalent). The results showed that: (1) only the univalent task detected a switch cost advantage for the interpreter group, indicating the task condition for observing interpreting trainees’ early advantage in local switching ability (as indexed by switch cost); (2) only the interpreter group with an advanced L2 proficiency showed a marginally significant mixing cost advantage over the control group, indicating a tendency toward an advantage in more global and sustained control. These findings suggest tentative explanations for the discrepant results in the literature and conditions for the presence and development of interpreter advantages in cognitive flexibility.

The linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neural processes underlying simultaneous interpreting and translation have attracted widespread interest in the research community. However, an understanding of the cognitive load associated with these bilingual activities is just starting to emerge, and the underlying behavioral and physiological mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this article, we describe a promising interdisciplinary approach to assess the behavioral and physiological indices of cognitive load during interpreting and translation in laboratory and simulated workplace settings. In this context, we emphasize the importance of ecological validity and explain how comparisons between authentic non-standard input and edited English versions of the same stimuli can be used to evaluate cognitive load while controlling for the general cognitive demands associated with interpreting and translation. The perspective we present in this article might pave the way for a clearer understanding of the multifaceted dimensions of cognitive load during simultaneous interpreting and translation as well as during the processing of English as Lingua Franca.

This article reports part of the first phase of the AIIC Lifespan Study, for which ten conference interpreters over 70 years old were interviewed to learn how interpreters’ professional language experiences interact with their cognitive functions and, specifically, if they demonstrate different patterns of cognitive decline regarding language use. The interview transcripts were coded to identify examples that matched the items in the research-informed interview guide or any emerging patterns that informed the theme of cognitive changes. The interview­ees experienced some aging-induced cognitive challenges, such as comprehension difficulties in less than optimal environments, concentration and memory issues, and slowness in lexical retrieval. Some of these challenges had an impact on some interview­ees’ decision to quit interpreting.