Cognitive research on translation processes Anthony Pym
A map of Translation Studies Products People Processes © Intercultural Studies Group
What we teach comes from… Mindless reproduction Suppositions about the market Evaluations of output (grading schemes) Surveys of market needs? Process research comparing novices and professionals? © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Process studies use Think-Aloud Protocols (TAPs) Translog Screen recording Eye-tracking Post-performance interviews © Intercultural Studies Group
A simple translation problem
A simple translation problem
© Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Translog © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Eyetracking © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Eyetracking © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Eyetracking © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 1) use more paraphrase and less literalism as coping strategies (Kussmaul 1995, Lörscher 1991, Jensen 1999) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 2) process larger translation units (Toury 1986, Lörscher 1991, Tirkkonen-Condit 1992) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 3) spend longer reviewing their work at the post-drafting phase but make fewer changes when reviewing (Jensen and Jakobsen 2000, Jakobsen 2002, Englund Dimitrova 2005) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 4) read texts faster and spend proportionally more time looking at the target text than at the source text (Jakobsen and Jensen 2008) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 5) use top-down processing and refer more to the translation purpose (Fraser 1996; Jonasson 1998; Künzli 2001, 2004, Séguinot 1989, Tirkkonen-Condit 1992) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 6) rely on encyclopaedic knowledge as opposed to ST construal (Tirkkonen-Condit 1989) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 7) express more principles and personal theories (Tirkkonen-Condit 1989, 1997, Jääskeläinen 1999) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 8) incorporate the client into the risk-management processes (Künzli 2004) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 9) automatize some complex tasks but also shift between automatized routine tasks and conscious problem-solving (Krings 1988, Jääskeläinen and Tirkkonen-Condit 1991, Englund Dimitrova 2005) © Intercultural Studies Group
More experienced translators… 10) display more realism, confidence and critical attitudes in their decision-making (Künzli 2004) © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Jensen 2001 Planning and problem-solving activities were reduced with increased time pressure, “signaling a more rapid and linear translation process”. Expert translators “engage in less problem-solving, goal-setting and re-analyzing behavior vis-à-vis young professional translators” So to translate fast is to translate in a more expert way? © Intercultural Studies Group
Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987) Why is writing difficult? Why do people learn while they write? Knowledge telling vs. knowledge transforming: Goal-directed strategies Reformulation Distinction between content and rhetoric, each informing the other “For routine tasks, experts use the knowledge-telling strategy.” © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group Jensen 2001 again: Expert translators use the Knowledge Telling model as a more permanent strategy since they “engage in less problem-solving, goal-setting and re-analyzing behavior vis-à-vis young professional translators”. (Jensen 2001: 177) © Intercultural Studies Group
© Intercultural Studies Group The focus of teaching? © Intercultural Studies Group
Aspects not normally covered Speed The capacity to distribute effort in terms of risk The restrained use of external resources (both written and human) The key role of revision/reviewing (new technologies). © Intercultural Studies Group
A simple translation problem Ting Ting Maggie Hui, RISK MANAGEMENT BY TRAINEE TRANSLATORS: A STUDY OF TRANSLATION PROCEDURES AND JUSTIFICATIONS IN PEER-GROUP INTERACTION (2012)
“Enjoy your adventure”
“Enjoy your adventure” C4: Hmm… hmmm… “(ST) Enjoy your adventure” 呢? C7: “(ST) Enjoy your adventure”, “愛你的冒險”, haha… C4: “冒險” 不好…… 不要 “冒險”, 但是說…… C7: 這是說, 你來第一次你會享受…… 對, 第一次來你會享受…… 只要來一次你會想享受這裡面…… C4: 對呀對呀! 因為他有點敢著說…... 來到一個…... 一個地方, 然後你…… 你享受可以找到很多東西…… 所以這個要翻成…… “好好享受你的新發現吧!” C7: Hmm, 挺好的! C4: Hmm… hmmm… “(ST) Enjoy your adventure”? C7: “(ST) Enjoy your adventure”, “Love your adventure”, haha… C4: “Adventure” is not good… Not to say “adventure”, how about… C7: So it means: When you come the first time you enjoy… right, when you come the first time you enjoy… just come once and you enjoy being here… C4: Right, right! Because it seems to say… come to a… a place, then you… you enjoy making many discoveries… so it can be translated as… “Enjoy the discoveries you make!” C7: Hmm, sounds good!
Literal back-translation “Shop fearlessly” No. Solution Literal back-translation Procedure Risk management 1 购物愉快! (during the process) Happy shopping! Adaptation R- 2 享受这个旅程! Enjoy your tour! Substitution 3 祝您购物愉快哦！ Wish you happiness when you do the shopping! Explicitation 4 享受你在该店的“旅程” 。 (in final TT) Enjoy your “tour” in the shop.
“Enjoy your adventure” No. Solution Literal back-translation Procedure Risk management 1 爱你的冒险 Love your adventure Literalism R -> ST 2 好好享受你的新发现 Enjoy the discoveries you make Shift of focus R-
“GET HUNGRY, Shop fearlessly” No. Solution Literal back-translation Procedure Risk management 1 感到饿，就大胆的…… Get hungry, audaciously… Exaggeration R+ 2 感到饿，就行动吧！ Get hungry, act now! Omission R-
“fearless”
Translator’s risk profile