Computer-aided translation as a distributed cognitive task

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 443-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Dragsted
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Translation Memory ◽  
System A ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Made In

The present article examines the potential effects on the translation process of working interactively with a translation memory (TM) system, a tool for storing and sharing previous translations. A TM system automatically divides the source text into sentences presented to the translator one-by-one. Based on observations made in an empirical study of six professional translators and six translation students, it is argued that full sentences do not constitute a central cognitive processing category in translation, and that the sentence-by-sentence presentation inherent in TM systems therefore creates an unnaturally strong focus on the sentence, which affects the very task of translation (as well as the translation product). Particular attention is given to the impact of the use of TM systems on the informants’ revision behaviour and their tendency to change the sentence structure.

scholarly journals Intermedial Transformation in Comic Book Movie Adaptation of X-Men: First Class

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Nur Saktiningrum
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
Made In

The objects of this study are eight X-Men: First Classcomic books, volume 1 published from September 2006 until April 2007 andX-Men: First Classmovie made in 2011.Texts in the forms of dialogues and visual images taken both from the comic books and the movie are the data which then are analysed qualitatively. Applying intersemiotic translation promoted by Zecca, this study is trying to uncover how social and economic factors influence translation process and whether there are any continuity and changes along the process.             The study focuses on the social and economic aspects involved in the process of transforming X-Men: First Class comic books as the source text, into the movie version as the targeted texts. Some adaptation and changes occurred as the consequence; plot and story lines are twisted, characters involved are replaced for the purpose of meeting the expectation of the targeted market of the movie. Supported by those who were involved in the process and the social issues echoing at the time when the process is happening, the social issues depicted in the texts are also sifted.

Questioning translation readers

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-273
Author(s):  
Yong Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
Mainland Chinese ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Made In

Many claims have been made in translation studies regarding foreignization and domestication, but few empirical studies have been conducted to test those claims. Against this background, a survey was conducted to investigate the impact of foreignized and domesticated translations on three groups of Chinese readers. This study was conducted in two mainland Chinese cities (Beijing and Guangzhou) and one Taiwanese city (Douliou), including a total of 143 readers responding to two renditions of an English source text, one foreignized and one domesticated. The responses were then analyzed to determine the reader’s perception of the text in relation to the concepts of foreignization and domestication. Likewise, the responses were analyzed to determine whether the location of the study had an impact on the respondent’s answers. This paper presents findings of the study and concludes with a number of reflections on the now common concepts of “foreignization” and “domestication.”

‘Monitoring’ in translation

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz J. Schaeffer ◽  
Sandra L. Halverson ◽  
Silvia Hansen-Schirra
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
The Impact

Abstract We assume that visual feedback from the written trace during translation plays an important role in monitoring the emerging translation. In this study, 44 participants translated with and without visual feedback from the target text (TT). Numerous measures were used to explore the differences between the texts that were created in the two conditions and the characteristics of the task performance in the two conditions. The impact of ST-TT semantic and syntactic relationships showed that there were differences on two of three behavioural measures across conditions. In the comparison of features of the translation process, findings show that ST reading times were longer without visual feedback, while increased translational choice (implying more monitoring) affected eye movements on the source text (ST) in the same way in both conditions. We found that, without visual feedback, when faced with more translational options, translators read the ST less linearly. Participants were more likely to look at the TT screen or read the TT the longer they read the ST and the more the more translational options the ST offered, even if the TT window was blank.

Effortful text production in translation

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Alves ◽  
Adriana Pagano ◽  
Igor Antônio Lourenço da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Text Production ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
The Impact

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.

scholarly journals MT Evaluation in the Context of Language Complexity

Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Dasa Munkova ◽  
Michal Munk ◽  
Ľubomír Benko ◽  
Jiri Stastny
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Complexity Measures ◽  
Language Complexity ◽  
Human Agent ◽  
Mt Evaluation ◽  
The Impact

The paper focuses on investigating the impact of artificial agent (machine translator) on human agent (posteditor) using a proposed methodology, which is based on language complexity measures, POS tags, frequent tagsets, association rules, and their summarization. We examine this impact from the point of view of language complexity in terms of word and sentence structure. By the proposed methodology, we analyzed 24 733 tags of English to Slovak translations of technical texts, corresponding to the output of two MT systems (Google Translate and the European Commission’s MT tool). We used both manual (adequacy and fluency) and semiautomatic (HTER metric) MT evaluation measures as the criteria for validity. We show that the proposed methodology is valid based on the evaluation of frequent tagsets and rules of MT outputs produced by Google Translate or of the European Commission’s MT tool, and both postedited MT (PEMT) outputs using baseline methods. Our results have also shown that PEMT output produced by Google Translate is characterized by more frequent tagsets such as verbs in the infinitive with modal verbs compared to its MT output, which is characterized by masculine, inanimate nouns in locative of singular. In the MT output, produced by the European Commission’s MT tool, the most frequent tagset was verbs in the infinitive compared to its postedited MT output, where verbs in imperative and the second person of plural occurred. These findings are also obtained from the use of the proposed methodology for MT evaluation. The contribution of the proposed methodology is an identification of systematic not random errors. Additionally, the study can also serve as information for optimizing the translation process using postediting.

scholarly journals The online computer-assisted translation class getting faster target language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Memory ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Memory Tools ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
The Impact

Computer-assisted translation technology is complex and, in many cases, intimidating for students new to CAT software. Thus, CAT technology is best taught using a step-by-step approach with exercises first focusing on the basic features and then on more elaborate software functions (scaffolding). The goal is to equip students with the step-by-step instructions and screencast tutorials needed to complete exercises. Students gain further software experience by working on a larger text of their choice throughout the semester. They first prepare and format this source text for CAT tool use, and they then build a termbase and translate the source text into their target language. Finally, students write two essays reflecting on the advantages and disadvantages of using CAT software for producing their target texts. Translation students must be aware of the context in which translation memory tools are used and the impact that their use has on the translation itself.

scholarly journals Translation Process Strategies: Psycholinguistic Aspects

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-183
Author(s):  
Leonid Chernovaty ◽  
Natalia Kovalchuk
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Translation Strategy ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Text Information ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

The aim of the paper deals with the preliminary verification of the hypothesis concerning the impact of the source text structure on the choice of translation strategy (form-oriented or sense-oriented) in the process of rendering a text in a native (Ukrainian) into a foreign (English) language by university students majoring in Translation. The methods of the research included a comparative analysis of the target texts (English) translated (within a predetermined time limit) from the source text (Ukrainian) related to the domain of economics. The structure of the source text, while remaining grammatically acceptable in the Ukrainian language, had been deliberately made structurally non-congruent with that of the direct word order, which is most frequently used in English. The subjects, the fourth-year BA students majoring in Translation, whose command of English ranged between B2 and C1 levels within the CEFR classification, had been properly motivated to achieve the maximum possible result. The analysis of the target texts was based on a number of parameters, which included the preservation of the source text information and its structure in them. Results. It was established that in translating from a native into a foreign language, the subjects have a tendency to replicate the structure of the source text at the levels of clauses and sentences. However, it does not always result in the distortion of the source text sense or/and the violation of the target language norms as the subjects often managed to render the said sense and to keep to the said norms by means of changing the functions of the words in the sentence. The probability of the subjects’ abandoning the source text structure increases when the latter is evidently unsuitable for replication, in which case they switch over to the sense-oriented strategy. The correlation of the two strategies in translating sentence segments is generally identical to the one related to clauses and sentences, while the form-oriented strategy generally prevails in rendering phrases. Conclusions. The source text structure has a certain impact on the choice of translation strategy increasing the share of the form-oriented approach. However, this impact is not unequivocal and may depend on a number of factors, which require additional study. The paper outlines the prospects of further research.

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