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Article published In: Target
Vol. 19:1 (2007) ► pp.1–19

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Methodological questions about translation research

A model to underpin research into the mental processes of translation

 | University of Western Sydney
 | University of Western Sydney
Published online: 2 August 2007
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.19.1.02cam
Research on the mental processes of written translation has benefited less from the findings of psycholinguistic and cognitive research than interpreting research has. This has left translation research relatively impoverished in the theoretical grounding of research methodology. While the performance speed of interpreting seems to make interpreting research closer to bilingual speech research, the shared features of interpreting and translation suggest that they are points on a continuum rather than discrete production modes. A Translation-Interpreting Continuum is proposed, which allows various production modes to be described in terms of psycholinguistic notions, and which includes a language development dimension to account for second language production. The Continuum allows some very basic questions about translation research methodology to be answered, and opens up the opportunity for a better integration of translation and interpreting research.
Résumé
L’étude des processus mentaux en traduction écrite a, moins que la recherche en interprétation, pu bénéficier des résultats de recherches psycholinguistiques et cognitives. En conséquence, les méthodes de recherche appliquées à la traduction n’ont pas d’assises théoriques comparables. Alors que la vitesse de performance de l’interprétation semble rapprocher la recherche en interprétation de la recherche en parole bilingue, les traits partagés par l’interprétation et la traduction semblent des points sur un continuum plutôt que des modes de production différents. L’article propose un “continuum traduction-interprétation”, qui permet de décrire différents modes de production en termes de notions psycholinguistiques ; ce continuum comprend une dimension de développement linguistique qui permet de rendre compte de la production d’une seconde langue. Le continuum permet de poser des questions fondamentales à la méthodologie de la recherche en traduction ; il crée également des possibilités pour une meilleure intégration de la recherche en traduction et en interprétation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1A knowledge gap in translation research
    • 1.2Methodological problems in translation research
    • 1.3Two principal elements of the Translation-Interpreting Continuum
  • 2Prerequisites for a model of the mental representation of the translation task
    • 2.1Mental representation and discourse
    • 2.2Attention switching
    • 2.3Automaticity and control
    • 2.4“Transcoding”
    • 2.5Word order
    • 2.6Retention and decay of source text
  • 3The developmental dimension
    • 3.1Specialised expertise
    • 3.2Second language competence
  • 4The Translation-Interpreting Continuum in overview
  • 5Methodological questions revisited
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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