Cultural competence in translation studies and its assessment

In this chapter, I consider the role that cultural competence has been given in different translation competence models and I will discuss different options for assessing cultural competence, both as a separate construct and as part of translation competence as a whole. With regard to the latter option, I will contend that a norm referenced assessment method is best suited to put cultural competence on a par with all other subcompetences of translation ability. Not only does this method allow the reliability of the assessment to be checked, but it also has two important advantages when it comes to the validity of measuring (cultural) translation competence: it takes into account that sub-components of translation ability are more or less inextricable in actual performances, and it subscribes to the notion that the manifestation of cultural competence is always dependent on the interaction of a particular translator with a particular text

When does assonance make L2 lexical phrases memorable?

Among the challenges that second language learners face is that of acquiring a large num-ber of lexical phrases such as collocations and idiomatic expressions (e.g. Pawley & Syder, 1983; Willis, 1990; Nattinger & DeCarrico, 1992; Lewis, 1993). There is evidence that post-childhood learners master this dimension of L2 vocabulary very slowly (e.g. Li & Schmitt, 2010; Laufer & Waldman, 2011). In recent years, researchers have tested diverse proposals about how learners can be helped to acquire L2 phrases (see Boers & Lind-stromberg, 2012). The factor we explore in the present article, however, is a phonological feature that may make word combinations relatively noticeable and easy to acquire, namely, assonance

Metalinguistic awareness in L2 vocabulary acquisition : which factors influence learners’ motivations of form-meaning connections?

Research has shown that prompting learners to elaborate on the appropriateness of form-meaning links can be an efficient vocabulary learning exercise (Deconinck, Boers & Eyckmans, 2017). In this paper we wish to shed more light on the mental processes that occur during this specific elaborative task by investigating the influence of individual learner variables pertaining to prior linguistic knowledge and a number of word-specific features. To this end fifty Dutch-speaking EFL learners rated the congruency they perceived between the form and meaning of 24 English words on a 6-point Likert scale. The motivation of their scores was elicited by means of a think-aloud protocol, the transcriptions of which were analysed with regard to the type of elaborations made. Vocabulary size tests and a language background questionnaire provided us with additional information about the learners. We identified five types of elaborations: cross-lexical associations, sound-symbolic associations, word-form comparisons, morphological associations, and idiosyncratic associations. The data also reveal that the individual learner variables and word-specific features examined in the present study have an influence on the number of elaborations made by the learners. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed

The effect of frequency on learners’ ability to recall the forms of deliberately learned L2 multiword expressions

In incidental learning, vocabulary items with high or relatively high objective frequency in input are comparatively likely to be acquired. However, many single words and most multiword expressions (MWEs) occur infrequently in authentic input. It has therefore been argued that learners of school age or older can benefit from episodes of instructed or self-managed deliberate (or intentional) L2 vocabulary learning, especially when L2 is learned in an EFL environment and most especially when productive knowledge is the goal. A relevant question is whether the objective frequency of vocabulary items is an important factor in production-oriented deliberate L2 vocabulary learning. We report three small-scale interim meta-analyses addressing this question with regard to two-word English Adj-Noun and Noun-Noun expressions. The data derive from 8 original studies involving 406 learners and 139 different MWEs. Our results suggest that objective frequency has a weak, possibly negative effect in the deliberate learning of MWE forms

Item-based assessment of translation competence : chimera of objectivity versus prospect of reliable measurement

In the course of the past decade, scholars in Translation Studies have repeatedly expressed the need for more empirical research on translation assessment. Notwithstanding the many pleas for “objectivity” that have been voiced in the literature, the issue of reliability remains unaddressed. Although there is no consensus on the best method for measuring the quality of human or machine translations, it is clear that in both cases measurement error will need to be accounted for. This is especially the case in high-stake situations such as assessments that lead to translation competence being certified. In this article we focus on the summative assessment of translation competence in an educational context. We explore the psychometric quality of two assessment methods: the CDI method (Eyckmans, Anckaert, & Segers, 2009) and the PIE method (Kockaert & Segers, 2014; 2017; Segers & Kockaert, 2016). In our study, the reliability of both methods is compared empirically by scoring the same set of translations (n > 100) according to each method

Game on! Young learners’ incidental language learning of English prior to instruction

In this paper the incidental language acquisition of 11-year-old Flemish children (n = 30) who have not received any formal English instruction is investigated. The study looks into children’s English proficiency and the learner characteristics that can be associated with it. In order to measure the children’s English proficiency, a receptive vocabulary test and a proficiency test (which measured listening skills, speaking skills, reading skills and writing skills) were used. Information about learner characteristics was gathered through two questionnaires (for children and parents). The results show that a significant proportion of the 11-year-olds can already perform tasks at the A2 level (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) without having had any formal instruction. The study confirms that children learn English from the input they receive through different media (especially gaming and computer use). Furthermore, the data reveal a strikingly positive attitude towards English and demonstrate that in some situations Flemish children prefer using English over their L1 with their peers