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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 66:6 (2020) ► pp.999–1024

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Exploring processing patterns of Chinese-English sight translation

An eye-tracking study

 | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
 | University of Macau
Published online: 23 November 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00192.su
Abstract
The exploration of processing patterns is a major topic within the behavioural-cognitive approach to translation and interpreting studies, but existing studies have mainly focused on processing patterns in written translation while largely overlooking other important modes of interlingual transfer, for example sight translation. To fill this gap, the present study investigated processing patterns in rehearsed sight translation from English into Chinese (L1) and vice versa (L2) using eye-tracking technology and examined how translation directions influenced processing patterns in sight translation. It was found that (1) translation students spent more time but invested less cognitive effort in reading the source text in the preparatory reading than the actual sight translation; (2) the coordination time between comprehension and production in sight translation was similar to that with simultaneous interpreting; (3) the processing patterns in each translation direction also showed distinctive differences in both preparatory reading and reading-speech coordination. This was the first study to investigate processing patterns in sight translation that involved two linguistically distinct languages, i.e., English and Chinese, in both L1 and L2 translation and it is hoped that the findings will generate further research along this line.
Résumé
L’exploration des modèles de traitement est un sujet majeur dans l’approche comportementale et cognitive de la traductologie et de l’interprétologie, mais les études existantes se sont principalement concentrées sur des modèles de traitement dans la traduction écrite, tout en négligeant largement d’autres modes de transfert interlinguistique importants, par exemple, la traduction à vue. Pour combler cette lacune, la présente étude a exploré des modèles de traitement dans la traduction à vue de l’anglais en chinois (L1) et vice versa (L2), en utilisant la technologie de l’oculométrie, et elle a examiné comment le sens de la traduction influence les modèles de traitement dans la traduction a vue. L’étude a révélé que (1) les étudiants en traduction consacraient plus de temps mais déployaient moins d’efforts cognitifs en lisant le texte source lors de la lecture préparatoire qu’à la traduction à vue proprement dite ; (2) le temps de coordination entre la compréhension et la production dans la traduction à vue était similaire à celui de l’interprétation simultanée ; (3) les modèles de traitement dans chaque sens de traduction ont également révélé des différences spécifiques tant dans la lecture préparatoire que dans la coordination lecture-discours. Il s’agissait de la première étude visant à explorer des modèles de traitement dans la traduction à vue impliquant deux langues linguistiquement distinctes, à savoir l’anglais et le chinois, tant dans la traduction L1 que L2, et l’on espère que les résultats déboucheront sur d’autres recherches dans ce domaine.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Rehearsed sight translation
  • 3.Preparation patterns
  • 4.Coordination patterns
  • 5.The present study
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Materials, apparatus and display of stimuli
    • 5.3Procedure
    • 5.4Data analysis
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Processing patterns in both translation directions
    • 6.2Processing patterns in each translation direction
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Summary and conclusion
  • References
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