In:Translation in Transition: Between cognition, computing and technology
Edited by Arnt Lykke Jakobsen and Bartolomé Mesa-Lao
[Benjamins Translation Library 133] 2017
► pp. 17–53
Chapter 1Reading for translation
Published online: 30 September 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.133.01sch
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.133.01sch
This chapter describes an eye tracking study which compared eye movements during reading for comprehension with reading for translation. In addition, the number of target words likely to be used for the translation of a single source word was manipulated. Results showed large significant task effect on Total Reading Time, Average Fixation Duration, Fixation Count, Regression Count and Progressive Saccade Amplitude and the manipulation had a 23ms effect on first fixation durations. This is the first eye tracking study which charts the time course of the effect of translation on source text reading in detail. The results are interpreted in terms of co-activation of the two linguistic systems during translation, in line with previous studies which used different methods.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1Horizontal and vertical translation
- 2.A potentially universal phenomenon
- 3.What eye movements during reading can tell us
- 4.Controlling variables
- 5.Self-paced reading and translation
- 6.Method
- 6.1Creation of stimuli
- 6.2Participants
- 6.3Apparatus
- 6.4Materials
- 6.5Procedure
- 6.6Data analyses
- 7.Overall task effects
- 8.Local measures
- 9.General discussion and final remarks
- Appendix
Note References
References (73)
Alves, Fabio. 2003. Triangulating Translation. Perspectives in process oriented research. (Benjamins Translation Library Volume 45). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Alves, Fabio, Adriana Pagano, and Igor da Silva. 2011. “Towards an Investigation of Reading Modalities in/for Translation: An Exploratory Study Using Eye-tracking Data.” In Cognitive Explorations of Translation, ed. by Sharon O’Brien, 175–196. London: Continuum.
Alvstad, Cecilia, Adelina Hild, and Elisabet Tiselius (eds). 2011. Methods and Strategies of Process Research: Integrative Approaches in Translation Studies. (Benjamins Translation Library Volume 94). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Baayen, R. Harald. 2011. LanguageR: Data sets and functions with “Analyzing Linguistic Data: A practical introduction to statistics”. Available at: [URL].
Balota, David A., Alexander Pollatsek, and Keith Rayner. 1985. “The Interaction of Contextual Constraints and Parafoveal Visual Information in Reading.” Cognitive Psychology, 17 (3): 364–90.
Basnight-Brown, Dana M., and Jeanette Altarriba. 2007. “Differences in Semantic and Translation Priming Across Languages: The Role of Language Direction and Language Dominance.” Memory and Cognition, 35 (5): 953–965.
Bates, Douglas M., Martin Maechler, and Ben Bolker. 2011. lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. Available at: [URL].
Bernolet, Sarah, Robert J. Hartsuiker, and Martin J. Pickering. 2013. “From language-specific to shared syntactic representations: the influence of second language proficiency on syntactic sharing in bilinguals.” Cognition 127 (3): 287–306.
. 2007. “Shared syntactic representations in bilinguals: Evidence for the role of word-order repetition.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 33 (5): 931–49.
Biemann, Chris, and Gerhard Heyer. 2007. “The Leipzig corpora collection-monolingual corpora of standard size.” In Proceedings of Corpus Linguistic. Birmingham, UK, pp. 1–13.
Cai, Zhenguang G., Martin J. Pickering, Hao Yan, and Holly P. Branigan. 2011. “Lexical and syntactic representations in closely related languages: Evidence from Cantonese–Mandarin bilinguals.” Journal of Memory and Language 65 (4): 431–445.
Carl, Michael, and Barbara Dragsted. 2012. “Inside the Monitor Model: Processes of Default and Challenged Translation Production.” Translation: Computation, Corpora, Cognition 2 (1): 127–145.
Desmet, Timothy, and Mieke Declercq. 2006. “Cross-Linguistic Priming of Syntactic Hierarchical Configuration Information.” Journal of Memory and Language 54 (4): 610–632.
Dimitropoulou, Maria, Jon Andoni Duñabeitia, and Manuel Carreiras. 2011a. “Masked Translation Priming Effects with Low Proficient Bilinguals.” Memory and Cognition 39 (2): 260–75.
. 2011b. “Two Words, One Meaning: Evidence of Automatic Co-Activation of Translation Equivalents.” Frontiers in Psychology 2 (August): 1–20.
Dragsted, Barbara. 2010. “Coordination of Reading and Writing Processes in Translation: An Eye on Unchartered Territory.” In Translation and Cognition, ed. by Gregory M. Shreve, and Erik Angelone. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Drieghe, Denis, Keith Rayner, and Alexander Pollatsek. 2005. “Eye Movements and Word Skipping during Reading Revisited.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 31(5): 954–969.
Duñabeitia, Jon Adoni, Maria Dimitropoulou, Oxel Uribe-Etxebarria, Itziar Laka, and Manuel Carreiras. 2010. “Electrophysiological Correlates of the Masked Translation Priming Effect with Highly Proficient Simultaneous Bilinguals.” Brain Research 1359: 142–154.
Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni, Manuel Perea, and Manuel Carreiras. 2010. “Masked Translation Priming Effects with Highly Proficient Simultaneous Bilinguals.” Experimental Psychology 57 (2): 98–107.
Duyck, W., and Warlop, N. 2009. Translation Priming between the Native Language and a Second Language: New Evidence from Dutch-French Bilinguals. Experimental Psychology, 56 (3): 173–179.
Ehrlich, Susan F., and Keith Rayner. 1981. “Contextual Effects on Word Perception and Eye Movements during Reading.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 20 (6): 641–655.
Eskola, Sari. 2004. “Untypical Frequencies in Translated Language: A Corpus Based Study on a Literary Corpus of Translated and Non-Translated Finnish.” In Translation Universals: Do they Exist? ed. by Pekka Kujamäki, and Anna Mauranen. (Benjamins Translation Library Volume 48). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Finkbeiner, Mathew, Kenneth Forster, Janet Nicol, and Kumiko Nakamura. 2004. “The Role of Polysemy in Masked Semantic and Translation Priming.” Journal of Memory and Language 51 (1): 1–22.
Fleischer, Zuzanna, Martin J. Pickering, and Jeanette F. Mclean. 2012. “Shared information structure: Evidence from cross-linguistic priming.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15 (03): 568–579.
Gellerstam, Martin. 1996. “Translation as a Source for Cross-Linguistic Studies.” In Languages in Contrast. Papers from a Symposium on Text-based Cross-linguistic Studies, 53–62. Lund: Lund University Press,
Gollan, Tamar H., Kennewth I. Forster, and Ram Frost. 1997. “Translation Priming with Different Scripts: Masked Priming with Cognates and Noncognates in Hebrew-English Bilinguals.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 23 (5): 1122–1139.
Göpferich, Susanne, Arnt Lykke Jakobsen and Inger M. Mees (eds.). 2008. Looking at Eyes: Eye-Tracking Studies of Reading and Translation Processing. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Grainger, Jonathan, and Cheryl Frenck-Mestre. 1998. “Masked Priming by Translation Equivalents in Proficient Bilinguals.” Language and Cognitive Processes 13 (6): 601–623.
de Groot, Annette M.B. 1997. “The Cognitive Study of Translation and Interpretation: Three Approaches.” In Cognitive Processes in Translation and Interpreting ed. by Joseph H. Danks, Gregory Shreve, Stephen B. Fountain, and Michael K. McBeath, 25–56. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Ivir, Vladimir. 1981. “Formal Correspondence vs. Translation Equivalence Revisited.” Poetics Today 2 (4): 51–59.
Jakobsen, Arnt Lykke. 2011. “Tracking Translators’ Keystrokes and Eye Movements with Translog.” In Methods and Strategies of Process Research: Integrative approaches in Translation Studies, ed. by Alvstad, Cecilia, Adelina Hild, and Elisabet Tiselius. (Benjamins Translation Library Volume 94), 37–55. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Jakobsen, Arnt Lykke, and Kristian T.H. Jensen. 2008. “Eye Movement Behaviour Across Four Different Types of Reading Task.” In Looking at Eyes. Eye-Tracking Studies of Reading and Translation Processing, ed. by Susanne Göpferich, Arnt Lykke Jakobsen, and Inger M. Mees, 103–124. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Jakobsen, Arnt Lykke, Inger M. Mees, and Susanne Göpferich (eds.). 2009. Behind the Mind: Methods, Models and Results in Translation Process Research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Jensen, Kristian T.H. 2011. “Distribution of Attention Between Source Text and Target Text During Translation 1.” In Cognitive Explorations of Translation, ed. by S. O’Brien, 215–237. London: Continuum.
Jensen, K.T.H., Sjørup, A.C., and Balling, L.W., 2009. "Effects of L1 Syntax on L2 Translation.” In Methodology, technology and innovation in translation process research: A tribute to Arnt Lykke Jakobsen, ed. by Fabio Alves, Susanne Göpferich, and Inger M. Mees, 319–336. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Jiang, Nan. 1999. “Testing Processing Explanations for the Asymmetry in Masked Cross-Language Priming.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 2 (1): 59–75.
Jiang, Nan, and Kenneth I. Forster. 2001. “Cross-Language Priming Asymmetries in Lexical Decision and Episodic Recognition.” Journal of Memory and Language 44 (1): 32–51.
Kaakinen, Johanna K., and Jukka Hyönä. 2010. “Task Effects on Eye Movements during Reading.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 36 (6): 1561–1566.
Kantola, Leila, and Roger P.G. van Gompel. 2011. “Between- and within-Language Priming is the Same: Evidence for Shared Bilingual Syntactic Representations.” Memory and Cognition 39 (2): 276–90.
Keatley, Catherine W., John A. Spinks, and Beatrice de Gelder. 1994. “Asymmetrical cross-language priming effects.” Memory and Cognition 22 (1): 70–84.
Kim, Jeesun, and Chris Davis. 2003. “Task Effects in Masked Cross-Script Translation and Phonological Priming.” Journal of Memory and Language 49 (4): 484–499.
Liang, Percy, Ben Taskar, and Dan Klein. 2006. “Alignment by Agreement.” In Proceedings of NAACL, 104–111.
Loebell, Helga, and Kathryn Bock. 2003. “Structural Priming Across Languages.” Linguistics 41 (5): 791–824.
Lund, Kevin, and Curt Burgess. 1996. “Producing high-dimensional semantic spaces from lexical co-occurrence”. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 28: 203–208.
Macizo, Pedro, and Maria Teresa Bajo. 2004. “When Translation Makes the Difference: Sentence Processing in Reading and Translation.” Psicológica 25: 181–205.
. 2006. “Reading for Repetition and Reading for Translation: Do they Involve the Same Processes?” Cognition 99(1): 1–34.
Mees, Inger M., Fabio Alves, and Susanne Göpferich (eds). 2009. Methodology, Technology and Innovation in Translation Process Research: A Tribute to Arnt Lykke Jakobsen. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Mees, Inger M., Susanne Göpferich, and Fabio Alves (eds). 2010. New Approaches in Translation Process Research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Meijer, Paul J.A., and Jean E. Fox Tree. 2003. “Building Syntactic Structures in Speaking: A Bilingual Exploration.” Experimental Psychology 50(3): 184–195.
Paradis, Michel. 2004. A Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
R Development Core Team. 2011. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Available at: [URL].
Rayner, Keith. 1998. “Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research.” Psychological Bulletin 124 (3): 372–422.
. 2009. “Eye Movements and Attention in Reading, Scene Perception, and Visual Search.” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 62 (8): 1457–506.
Rayner, Keith, Jane Ashby, Alexander Pollatsek, and Erik D. Reichle. 2004. “The effects of frequency and predictability on eye fixations in reading: implications for the E-Z Reader model.” Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance 30 (4): 720–32.
Rayner, Keith and George W. McConkie. 1976. “What Guides a Reader’s Eye Movements?” Vision Research 16 (8): 829–837.
Ruiz, Carmen, N. Paredes, Pedro Macizo, and Maria Teresa Bajo. 2008. “Activation of Lexical and Syntactic Target Language Properties in Translation.” Acta psychologica 128 (3): 490–500.
Salamoura, Angeliki, and John N. Williams. 2006. “Lexical Activation of Cross-Language Syntactic Priming.” Bilingualism 9 (03): 299–307.
Schaeffer, Moritz J., and Michael Carl. 2013. “Shared Representations and the Translation Process: A Recursive Model.” Translation and Interpreting Studies 8 (2): 169–190.
Schoonbaert, Sofie, Robert J. Hartsuiker, and Martin J. Pickering. 2007. “The Representation of Lexical and Syntactic Information in Bilinguals: Evidence from Syntactic Priming.” Journal of Memory and Language 56 (2): 153–171.
Schoonbaert, Sofie, Wouter Duyck, Marc Brysbaert, and Robert J. Hartsuiker. 2009. “Semantic and Translation Priming from a First Language to a Second and Back: Making Sense of the Findings.” Memory and Cognition 37 (5): 569–586.
Schoonbaert, Sofie, Phillip J. Holcomb, Jonathan Grainger, and Robert J. Hartsuiker. 2011. “Testing Asymmetries in Noncognate Translation Priming: Evidence from RTs and ERPs.” Psychophysiology 48 (1): 74–81.
Schoonbaert, Sofie, Robert J. Hartsuiker, and Martin J. Pickering. 2007. “The Representation of Lexical and Syntactic Information in Bilinguals: Evidence from Syntactic Priming.” Journal of Memory and Language 56 (2): 153–171.
Shreve, Gregory M., and Erik Angelone (eds). 2010. Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja. 2004. “Unique Items: Over- or Under-Represented in Translated Language?” In Translation Universals: Do they Exist? ed. by Pekka Kujamäki, and Anna Mauranen. (Benjamins Translation Library Volume 48), 177–184. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. 2005. “The Monitor Model Revisited: Evidence from Process Research.” Meta: Translators’ Journal 50 (2): 405–414.
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja, Jukka Mäkisalo, and Sini Immonen. 2008. “The Translation Process – Interplay between Literal Rendering and a Search for Sense.” Across Languages and Cultures: A Multidisciplinary Journal for Translation and Interpreting Studies 9 (1): 1–15.
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Cited by (12)
Cited by 12 other publications
Li, Defeng, Jiayi Wang & Zhengyu Zhang
Ma, Xingcheng & Dechao Li
2024. Effect of word order asymmetry on the cognitive load of English–Chinese sight translation. Translation and Interpreting Studies 19:1 ► pp. 105 ff.
Neveu, Anne & Isabel Lacruz
2023. Early processes in reading for translation. In Translation in Transition [American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series, XX], ► pp. 236 ff.
Jacob, Gunnar, Moritz Schaeffer, Katharina Oster, Silvia Hansen-Schirra & Shanley E. M. Allen
2021. Towards a methodological toolset for the psycholinguistics of translation. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 8:2 ► pp. 440 ff.
Ma, Xingcheng, Dechao Li & Yu-Yin Hsu
2021. Exploring the impact of word order asymmetry on cognitive load during Chinese–English sight translation. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 33:1 ► pp. 103 ff.
Ruíz, Jason Omar & Pedro Macizo
Su, Wenchao & Defeng Li
2020. Exploring processing patterns of Chinese-English sight translation. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation 66:6 ► pp. 999 ff.
Vogeleer, Svetlana
Schaeffer, Moritz J., Sandra L. Halverson & Silvia Hansen-Schirra
Bangalore, Srinivas, Bergljot Behrens, Michael Carl, Maheshwar Gankhot, Arndt Heilmann, Jean Nitzke, Moritz Schaeffer & Annegret Sturm
2015. The role of syntactic variation in translation and post-editing. Translation Spaces 4:1 ► pp. 119 ff.
Halverson, Sandra L.
2015. Cognitive Translation Studies and the merging of empirical paradigms. Translation Spaces 4:2 ► pp. 310 ff.
Halverson, Sandra L.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
