The translator’s vocabulary: do our words tell who we are?

This paper investigates the vocabulary used by novice vs. more experienced translators from a longitudinal perspective, so as to describe its nature, distribution and evolution. Data have been gathered in the framework of an empirical longitudinal product-oriented study which investigates the development of translation competence in a sample of novice and (more) experienced translators, whose performances are monitored over three years. Thanks to the specific research design adopted, the variables under investigation can be analysed both synchronically and diachronically, so that any discrepancies in the nature and distribution of the vocabulary used by novices vs. professionals can be observed. Such twofold perspective allows for a thorough investigation of the nature of translators’ vocabulary and its evolution as they gain experience and expertise. Finally, a possible relation between the textual trends observed in more experienced translators as opposed to novices and the participants’ assumed level of competence will be suggested

"All I know is that I know nothing"'? Empirical evidence of self-confidence and inexperience in novice vs. professional translators

In the last few decades, translation competence (TC) has been largely investigated but ``most of the proposals concerning TC have not been empirically tested and only a few of them have attempted to validate their models from an empirical-experimental perspective'' (Hurtado 2009:64). Drawing on this, an empirical longitudinal study has been designed to investigate whether TC can be defined in terms of specific textual and procedural patterns shared by professional translators and observe whether such trends are being developed by trainee translators throughout their training. The investigation mainly relies on the contrastive analysis of multiple translations of the same six source texts produced at regular intervals over three years (2012-2014) by translators at different stages in the development of their TC and considers a variety of textual and procedural features in the attempt to identify possible patterns in the groups of participants. This paper focuses on some process-related results providing evidence of unawareness and self-confidence in novice vs. more experienced trainees and professional translators

Translators in the Making: An Empirical Longitudinal Study on Translation Competence and its Development

2013/2014ABSTRACT. In the last few decades, research on translation competence (TC) has been quite productive and fostered the conceptualisation and analysis of translation-specific skills. TC is generally assumed to be a non-innate ability (Shreve 1997, 121), which is “qualitatively different from bilingual competence” (PACTE 2002, 44–45) and, as a “basic translation ability[,] is a necessary condition, but no guarantee, for further development of a (professional) competence as a translator” (Englund Dimitrova 2005, 12). However, apart from these agreed-on assumptions, the definition and modelling of TC still remain open questions and have resulted in a wide variety of concurrent (near-synonymic) terms and conceptual frameworks aiming to identify the essential constitutive components of such competence. From the mid-1980s, empirical studies have considerably contributed to the investigation of TC and, in some cases, led to the development of empirically validated definitions and models (e.g. PACTE 2003; Göpferich 2009). However, most empirical analyses focus on the translation process, i.e. the behavioural and procedural features of (un)experienced translators, and aim to identify possible patterns which might be conductive to high (or poor) translation quality. To provide a complementary perspective to this approach, an empirical longitudinal study was designed which is mainly product-oriented but also encompasses process-related data. The aim of the study is to observe whether different levels of competence reflect on different linguistic patterns and common procedural practices, which might be used to define TC and the stages of its development. The study monitored the performances of a sample of professional translators and BA- and MA-level translation trainees, who carried out six translation tasks over a three-year period. Each translation task involved the translation of a non-specialist English source text into the participants’ L1 (i.e. Italian) as well as the compilation of a post-task questionnaire inquiring on their translation processes. The synchronic and diachronic analysis of data mainly adopted a descriptive perspective which considered both product-related data, i.e. mainly lexical and syntactical features, and the process-related data concerning delivery time and the participants’ responses to the post-task questionnaires. Moreover, the assessment of translation acceptability and errors allowed for the association of specific descriptive trends with the different levels of translation quality which have been identified. The findings led to the profiling of three different stages in the acquisition of TC (i.e. novice, intermediate, and professional translator) and to the development of training guidelines, for both translation trainers and trainees, which may help anticipating and preventing possible unsuccessful behaviours and speeding up the learning process.RIASSUNTO. A partire dalla seconda metà del XX secolo, la ricerca sulla competenza traduttiva ha conosciuto un forte sviluppo, che portato all’individuazione di abilità specifiche ai fini della traduzione. La competenza traduttiva viene generalmente concepita come un’abilità non innata (Shreve, 1997, p. 121) e distinta dalla competenza bilingue (PACTE 2002, p.44–45); quest’ultima, nella sua forma embrionale, rimane una condizione necessaria ma non sufficiente allo sviluppo di una competenza traduttiva di tipo professionale (Englund Dimitrova 2005, p. 12). Fatte salve queste premesse, la natura e la struttura della competenza traduttiva rimangono ancora da definire. Nel tentativo di individuarne le componenti, la ricerca ha prodotto un’ampia varietà di termini e concetti simili e spesso sovrapponibili. Dalla metà degli anni ’80, un significativo contributo allo studio della competenza traduttiva è giunto dalla ricerca empirica, grazie alla quale è stato possibile sviluppare e testare alcuni dei modelli e delle definizioni proposti (ad es., PACTE 2003; Göpferich 2009). Gli studi empirici sulla competenza traduttiva hanno generalmente adottato un approccio orientato al processo, ovvero volto a individuare le caratteristiche comportamentali e procedurali di traduttori più o meno esperti che potessero essere associate a determinati livelli di qualità del testo tradotto. Allo scopo di fornire un approccio complementare a quello appena citato, è stato progettato uno studio empirico volto ad indagare la traduzione principalmente come testo tradotto, ma anche, in seconda battuta, come processo. Obiettivo principale dell’analisi è osservare se traduttori con livelli di competenza ed esperienza simili producono traduzioni con caratteristiche simili e/o seguono gli stessi modelli procedurali, così da definire la competenza in base alle tendenze eventualmente emerse dall’analisi sia del testo, sia del processo traduttivo. A questo scopo, l’indagine ha monitorato per tre anni la performance traduttiva di un campione di traduttori professionisti e di studenti dei corsi di Laurea triennale e magistrale in traduzione presso l’Università di Trieste. Sono state svolte in tutto sei prove di traduzione (due per anno accademico), che consistevano nella traduzione di un testo non specialistico dall’inglese all’italiano (la lingua madre dei partecipanti), seguita dalla compilazione di un questionario sul processo traduttivo. Lo studio ha adottato un approccio sincronico e diacronico principalmente di tipo descrittivo e rivolto all’analisi lessicale e sintattica del testo tradotto e dei dati relativi ai tempi di consegna e agli aspetti procedurali analizzati attraverso le risposte al questionario. È stata inoltre svolta un’analisi qualitativa delle traduzioni basata sulla valutazione dell’accettabilità del testo tradotto e degli errori di traduzione, così da associare le tendenze individuate nell’analisi descrittiva a specifici livelli di qualità. I risultati dell’indagine hanno permesso di tracciare il profilo di tre stadi nel processo di sviluppo della competenza traduttiva (‘principiante’, ‘intermedio’ e ‘professionista’) e di sviluppare delle linee guida per docenti e studenti che possono aiutare a prevedere e prevenire errori procedurali e ad accelerare il processo di apprendimento.XXVII Ciclo198

Empirical modelling of translation and interpreting

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data

Empirical modelling of translation and interpreting

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data

Empirical modelling of translation and interpreting

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data

Empirical modelling of translation and interpreting

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data

Empirical modelling of translation and interpreting

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data

Empirical modelling of translation and interpreting

Empirical research is carried out in a cyclic way: approaching a research area bottom-up, data lead to interpretations and ideally to the abstraction of laws, on the basis of which a theory can be derived. Deductive research is based on a theory, on the basis of which hypotheses can be formulated and tested against the background of empirical data. Looking at the state-of-the-art in translation studies, either theories as well as models are designed or empirical data are collected and interpreted. However, the final step is still lacking: so far, empirical data has not lead to the formulation of theories or models, whereas existing theories and models have not yet been comprehensively tested with empirical methods. This publication addresses these issues from several perspectives: multi-method product- as well as process-based research may gain insights into translation as well as interpreting phenomena. These phenomena may include cognitive and organizational processes, procedures and strategies, competence and performance, translation properties and universals, etc. Empirical findings about the deeper structures of translation and interpreting will reduce the gap between translation and interpreting practice and model and theory building. Furthermore, the availability of more large-scale empirical testing triggers the development of models and theories concerning translation and interpreting phenomena and behavior based on quantifiable, replicable and transparent data