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Article published In: Target
Vol. 26:1 (2014) ► pp.98–127

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Measuring translation difficulty

An empirical study

 | Beijing Foreign Studies University
 | Kent State University
Published online: 7 March 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.26.1.04sun
The purpose of this study was to find a method to measure difficulty in a translation task. Readability formulas have been suggested to be a useful tool and yet this needs to be empirically tested. In this study, NASA Task Load Index, a multidimensional scale for measuring mental workload, was used to assess the level of translation difficulty for the translator. It was found that a text’s readability only partially accounts for its translation difficulty level. Translation quality score was found to be an unreliable indicator of translation difficulty level, while time-on-task was significantly, but weakly, related to translation difficulty level. A formula was developed to predict a text’s translation difficulty level for a translator by using the translator’s pre-translation rating.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Materials
      • Test passages
      • Translation ratings
    • 2.3Design and procedure
      • Experimental design
      • Test procedure
      • Grading the translations
      • Calculating interrater reliability
      • Checking for normality
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Checking NASA-TLX’s reliability
    • 3.2Translation difficulty level and translation quality score
    • 3.3Translation difficulty level and time on task
    • 3.4Translation difficulty level and text readability
    • 3.5Predicting the level of translation difficulty of a text
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Readability formulas and translation difficulty
    • 4.2Good translators and poor translators
    • 4.3Workload and performance
    • 4.4Limitations of this study and suggestions for further study
  • Appendixes
  • References
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