- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK
- Translation Studies, Translation Technology, Translation History, Sociological Models of Translation and Interpreting, Sociology of Science, Translation theory, and 11 moreTeaching Translation, History of Science, Scientific and Technical Translation, Philosophy of Science, Corpus-Based Translation Studies, Translation pedagogy, History of Translation, Science and Technology Studies, Computer Networks, Databases, and Softwareedit
Scientific and Technical Translation focuses on texts that are typically translated in scientific and technical domains, such as technical instructions, data sheets and brochures, patents, scientific research articles and abstracts,... more
Scientific and Technical Translation focuses on texts that are typically translated in scientific and technical domains, such as technical instructions, data sheets and brochures, patents, scientific research articles and abstracts, popular science press releases and news reports. In seven chapters, this practical textbook:
Introduces readers to the typical contexts in which scientific and technical translators work;
Shows how corpus resources can be used for terminological and phraseological research;
Considers how translation technologies are employed in technical and scientific translation;
Explains a range of technical and scientific genres and their translation.
Including a wide range of relevant tasks and activities, examples from the most commonly taught language pairs and a glossary of key terms, this is the essential textbook for modules on scientific and technical translation and specialised translation.
Introduces readers to the typical contexts in which scientific and technical translators work;
Shows how corpus resources can be used for terminological and phraseological research;
Considers how translation technologies are employed in technical and scientific translation;
Explains a range of technical and scientific genres and their translation.
Including a wide range of relevant tasks and activities, examples from the most commonly taught language pairs and a glossary of key terms, this is the essential textbook for modules on scientific and technical translation and specialised translation.
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Despite the crucial role played by translation in the history of scientific ideas and the transmission of knowledge, historians of science have seldom been interested in the translation activity which enabled the spread of those ideas and... more
Despite the crucial role played by translation in the history of scientific ideas and the transmission of knowledge, historians of science have seldom been interested in the translation activity which enabled the spread of those ideas and exerted influence on structures and systems of knowledge. Translation scholars, too, have traditionally shown little interest in theorizing scientific translation. Recent conceptualizations of science as public culture, institution, narrative and rhetorical practice open the way for research on the translation of science to take conceptual and methodological inspiration from studies of discourse, rhetoric, the sociology of science, the history of science, the philosophy of science and other related fields.
This special issue of The Translator foregrounds the work of researchers, within or on the periphery of translation studies, who have begun to interrogate the representation of scientific knowledge through translation. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines and models, contributors engage with different perspectives and approaches to help promote the visibility of scientific translation and shed light on its complex relationship with power and the construction of knowledge.
This special issue of The Translator foregrounds the work of researchers, within or on the periphery of translation studies, who have begun to interrogate the representation of scientific knowledge through translation. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines and models, contributors engage with different perspectives and approaches to help promote the visibility of scientific translation and shed light on its complex relationship with power and the construction of knowledge.
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The use of corpora in translation studies, both as a tool for translators and as a way of analyzing the process of translation, is growing. This book provides a much-needed assessment of how the analysis of corpus data can make a... more
The use of corpora in translation studies, both as a tool for translators and as a way of analyzing the process of translation, is growing. This book provides a much-needed assessment of how the analysis of corpus data can make a contribution to the study of translation.
Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies:
* traces the development of corpus methods within translation studies
* defines the types of corpora used for translation research, discussing their design and application and presenting tools for extracting and analyzing data
* examines research potential and methodological limitations
* considers some uses of corpora by translators and in translator training
* features research questions, case studies and discussion points to provide a practical guide to using corpora in translation studies.
Offering a comprehensive account of the use of corpora by today's translators and researchers, Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies is the definitive guide to a fast-developing area of study.
Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies:
* traces the development of corpus methods within translation studies
* defines the types of corpora used for translation research, discussing their design and application and presenting tools for extracting and analyzing data
* examines research potential and methodological limitations
* considers some uses of corpora by translators and in translator training
* features research questions, case studies and discussion points to provide a practical guide to using corpora in translation studies.
Offering a comprehensive account of the use of corpora by today's translators and researchers, Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies is the definitive guide to a fast-developing area of study.
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Ian Mason has been a towering presence in the now flourishing discipline of translation studies since its inception, and has produced some of the most influential and detailed analyses of translated text and interpreted interaction to... more
Ian Mason has been a towering presence in the now flourishing discipline of translation studies since its inception, and has produced some of the most influential and detailed analyses of translated text and interpreted interaction to date. The sophistication, dynamism and inclusiveness that have characterized his approach to all forms of mediation are the hallmarks of his legacy.
Text and Context celebrates Ian Mason's scholarship by bringing together fourteen innovative and original pieces of research by both young and established scholars, who examine different forms of translation and interpreting in a variety of cultural and geographical settings. In line with his own inclusive approach to the field, these contributions combine close textual analysis with keen attention to issues of power, modes of socialization, institutional culture, individual agency and ethical accountability. While paying tribute to one of the most innovative and influential scholars in the field, the volume offers novel insights into a variety of genres and practices and charts important new directions for the discipline.
Text and Context celebrates Ian Mason's scholarship by bringing together fourteen innovative and original pieces of research by both young and established scholars, who examine different forms of translation and interpreting in a variety of cultural and geographical settings. In line with his own inclusive approach to the field, these contributions combine close textual analysis with keen attention to issues of power, modes of socialization, institutional culture, individual agency and ethical accountability. While paying tribute to one of the most innovative and influential scholars in the field, the volume offers novel insights into a variety of genres and practices and charts important new directions for the discipline.
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Intercultural Faultlines offers an exploration of research models and methods in translation studies, as implemented, discussed and critically evaluated by some of the leading researchers in the field of translation and interpreting.... more
Intercultural Faultlines offers an exploration of research models and methods in translation studies, as implemented, discussed and critically evaluated by some of the leading researchers in the field of translation and interpreting. While the focus throughout is on textual and cognitive aspects of translation and interpreting, the objects of study and consequently the methodological considerations are wide-ranging. The volume contains chapters focusing on research conducted in areas as diverse as corpus-based translation studies, dialogue interpreting, simultaneous interpreting, acquisition of translation competence, cognitive processes in translation, translation into the L2, creativity in translation and translation quality assessment. Some research models and methods are applied to translation for the first time, while others are more established and can be assessed in terms of their reliability and the generalizability of the results they yield. Issues of research design and methodology are addressed, and interesting questions are raised which are likely to become the focus of attention in future research, for example with regard to causal models of translation, translational ethics, collaborative research and issues of power in interpreting research.
"... the diversity of approach, interest, and methodology in this volume is testament to the explosion of ideas that is taking away from prescriptive theorising about equivalence to a descriptive analysis of the many ways...translators and interpreters actually do what they do"
(David Katan, Logos and Language)
"... the diversity of approach, interest, and methodology in this volume is testament to the explosion of ideas that is taking away from prescriptive theorising about equivalence to a descriptive analysis of the many ways...translators and interpreters actually do what they do"
(David Katan, Logos and Language)
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Corpus-based translation studies is a relatively new area of research within translation studies, motivated by an interest in the study of translated texts as instances of language use in their own right. This is in contrast to the not... more
Corpus-based translation studies is a relatively new area of research within translation studies, motivated by an interest in the study of translated texts as instances of language use in their own right. This is in contrast to the not uncommon perception of
This essay focuses on conceptualisations of science as culture, drawing primarily on research from the field of science and technology studies. It first highlights differences between traditional, Western positivist views of science and... more
This essay focuses on conceptualisations of science as culture, drawing primarily on research from the field of science and technology studies. It first highlights differences between traditional, Western positivist views of science and more culturally oriented, constructivist perspectives. In doing so, it introduces a conceptualisation of culture that is closely bound up with notions of knowledge-as-practice. It then illustrates how the concept of epistemic cultures can help us to understand how different branches of science are culturally distinct. This is followed by an outline of postcolonial science studies, used as an example to illustrate the kinds of issues that can be addressed when we construe science as culture in global settings. The essay then outlines one way in which scientific discourses construct science, using exclusionary boundaries. These discussions of science are followed by an overview of current trends in research on translating science. Like science studies,...
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This paper develops a practice-theoretical conceptualization of post-editing, as an activity that increasingly forms part of translation practice. This contrasts with a prevailing conceptualization of post-editing as a practice in its own... more
This paper develops a practice-theoretical conceptualization of post-editing, as an activity that increasingly forms part of translation practice. This contrasts with a prevailing conceptualization of post-editing as a practice in its own right, competing with or complementing translation practice. Adopting a genealogical perspective, I trace this particular evolution of the translation practice through some of the interdependent changes in the materials constituting the practice, the competences or know-how that transpire in the practice, and themeanings of the practice, in particular as constructed through the discourse of language service providers and the international standards that normatively regulate the practice. The paper concludes with some implications of this practice-theoretical approach for future research on post-editing.
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This paper addresses the relationship between practice and knowledge in translation. It employs practice theory to conceptualize ‘knowing-in-practice’, introducing a theoretical approach to translation studies that enables an analytical... more
This paper addresses the relationship between practice and knowledge in translation. It employs practice theory to conceptualize ‘knowing-in-practice’, introducing a theoretical approach to translation studies that enables an analytical focus on the practice of translating, rather than on the cognitive processes of translators or the textual features of translations. Against this practice-theoretical backdrop, knowing is construed as an emergent phenomenon that is sited in translation practice. Drawing on an empirical analysis of translating in a research organization, the paper then illustrates how this situated and embodied knowing is materially and discursively mediated and transpires in translation practice. Through its interdisciplinary approach, this research offers new sociological perspectives on the human and material interdependencies constituting translation in the workplace.
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Translation studies and social theories of translation tend not to deal adequately with questions regarding the role of technology in translation and have neglected the ways in which technologies, as non-human entities, embody and... more
Translation studies and social theories of translation tend not to deal adequately with questions regarding the role of technology in translation and have neglected the ways in which technologies, as non-human entities, embody and materialize hegemonic and power relations. This paper seeks to address this shortcoming by looking to science and technology studies (STS) for conceptual frameworks to help us to understand and articulate (a) how popular, deterministic perceptions of translation technology are perpetuated through the discourses of hegemonic actors, (b) how decisions regarding design and use of translation technologies may be studied with reference to their construction and interpretation by relevant social groups, and (c) how a critical theory of technology and an analytical focus on practices can help to focus our attention on the exercise of hegemonic control in the translation sector.
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Against a backdrop of growing interest in historical and sociological approaches to the translation of science, this paper explores the conceptual potential of Andrew Pickering’s ‘mangle of practice’ (Pickering 1992; 1993; 1995; Pickering... more
Against a backdrop of growing interest in historical and sociological approaches to the translation of science, this paper explores the conceptual potential of Andrew Pickering’s ‘mangle of practice’ (Pickering 1992; 1993; 1995; Pickering and Guzik 2008) as a sociological framework for research into the translation of science. Pickering’s approach is situated within a performative idiom of science and seeks to account for the interplay of material and human agency in scientific practice. It sees scientific and technological advances as emerging temporally from a dialectic of resistance and accommodation, metaphorically the mangle of practice. This paper introduces the main tenets of Pickering’s argument, contextualizing it within the field of science and technology studies. It then explores some of the implications of construing translation in these terms. Firstly, this conceptual approach helps to recognize the role of translation in the performance of science and to seek ways of s...
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"Translation studies as an academic discipline has traditionally devoted a good deal of research effort and output to literary translation. It can,however, be argued that the concentration on literary, religious and philosophical... more
"Translation studies as an academic discipline has traditionally devoted a good deal of research effort and output to literary translation. It can,however, be argued that the concentration on literary, religious and philosophical texts and their translation has been disproportionate, given that most professional translation activity involves texts that belong to scientific, technical and commercial domains. Moreover, it is undisputed that translation has had a crucial role in the production and distribution of scientific knowledge through cultures and times. Against that backdrop, this paper investigates the current position of scientific translation within translation studies. Drawing on existing research on scientific communication more generally, and considering both textual and sociocultural aspects, the paper then proposes some research issues which may be addressed by scholars interested in scientific translation. A range of approaches, frameworks and methodologies may be adopted, depending on the focus of research, and it is argued that there is considerable scope for enhancement of our understanding of the role which translation plays in the dissemination of scientific knowledge."
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This paper examines the work of project managers in two UK-based translation companies. Drawing on participant observation, interviews, and artifacts from field sites, our analysis focuses on the ways in which trust is developed and... more
This paper examines the work of project managers in two UK-based translation companies. Drawing on participant observation, interviews, and artifacts from field sites, our analysis focuses on the ways in which trust is developed and maintained in the relationships that project managers build, on the one hand, with the clients who commission them to undertake translation projects, and, on the other, with freelance translators who perform the translation work. The project manager’s ability both to confer and to instill trust is highlighted as key to the successful operation of the company. Conceptualizing trust as a dynamic process, we consider what this process of trusting entails in this context: positive expectations vis-à-vis the other parties; willingness to expose oneself to vulnerabilities; construction of bases for suspending doubts and uncertainties (leaps of faith). We observe the important role of communication and discursive strategies in building and maintaining trust and...
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Growing interest in studying translation through a sociological lens and the relative lack of attention by translation scholars to the production of scientific translations provide impetus and rationale for this case study. Richard... more
Growing interest in studying translation through a sociological lens and the relative lack of attention by translation scholars to the production of scientific translations provide impetus and rationale for this case study. Richard Taylor's editorial work for the Scientific Memoirs periodical is examined, with a particular focus on his conception of the utility of translation in the service of scientific advancement in Britain. The roles of gate-keeper and localizer of scientific material are attributed to Taylor, roles which he exercised through promotion of scientific translation, selection of texts to publish and editorial interventions in translations. The historical case study sheds light on activities of editing, translating and publishing science in mid-nineteenth-century Britain but is also illustrative of research areas where the interests of translation scholars and historians of science may converge. By centring attention on Taylor's editorial role, some of the ma...
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Traditional Translation Memory systems that find the best match between a SL input sentence and SL sentences in a database of previously translated sentences are not ideal. Studies in the cognitive processes underlying human translation... more
Traditional Translation Memory systems that find the best match between a SL input sentence and SL sentences in a database of previously translated sentences are not ideal. Studies in the cognitive processes underlying human translation reveal that translators very rarely process SL text at the level of the sentence. The units with which translators work are usually much smaller i.e.
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The history of translation is seen variously as examining the role of translation in historical episodes or investigating the phenomenon or understanding of translation itself historically. These different historiographical perspectives... more
The history of translation is seen variously as examining the role of translation in historical episodes or investigating the phenomenon or understanding of translation itself historically. These different historiographical perspectives involve potentially different research aims, approaches, concepts, methods and scholarly interlocutors. The paper focuses on this question of disciplinary commensurability in historical studies, and draws parallels between the history of translation and the history of science. Themes addressed include the tensions between local and global, national and transnational histories, and concomitant tensions between established historiographical norms and alternative, interdisciplinary approaches. It is argued that both the history of translation and the history of science are following a similar trajectory, towards a reflexive, transnational history that seeks productive modes of engagement with other historical disciplines. By bringing to the attention of translation scholars some of the key debates in the history of science and by identifying commonalities, this paper hopes to encourage historians of translation and of science to collaborate in the pursuit of a transnational history of science, the conceptual and methodological requirements of which could be usefully fulfilled by that combined expertise.
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Growing interest in studying translation through a sociological lens and the relative lack of attention by translation scholars to the production of scientific translations provide impetus and rationale for this case study. Richard... more
Growing interest in studying translation through a sociological lens and the relative lack of attention by translation scholars to the production of scientific translations provide impetus and rationale for this case study. Richard Taylor's editorial work for the Scientific Memoirs periodical is examined, with a particular focus on his conception of the utility of translation in the service of scientific advancement in Britain. The roles of gate-keeper and localizer of scientific material are attributed to Taylor, roles which he exercised through promotion of scientific translation, selection of texts to publish and editorial interventions in translations. The historical case study sheds light on activities of editing, translating and publishing science in mid-nineteenth-century Britain but is also illustrative of research areas where the interests of translation scholars and historians of science may converge. By centring attention on Taylor's editorial role, some of the material and social contingencies of this publishing activity are highlighted, enabling us to gain a deeper appreciation of scientific translation as sociohistorical practice.
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Many organizations today mobilize vast volunteer translation efforts, but there is little research into how the volunteering of translation may be understood in sociological and psychological terms. This paper introduces translation... more
Many organizations today mobilize vast volunteer translation efforts, but there is little research into how the volunteering of translation may be understood in sociological and psychological terms. This paper introduces translation scholars to some of the complexities of investigating volunteering and motivation, informed by research from sociology, behavioural economics and social psychology. It then makes a methodological contribution to the study of volunteer translation motivation by assessing the potential of qualitative analysis of translators' discourse to derive conceptually sound categories of motivation. This methodology is tested on a small set of statements from volunteer translators for TED. The test case prepares the ground for much-needed, larger-scale studies into volunteer translation motivations. The paper concludes by advocating a mixed-methods approach which can accommodate multidimensional perspectives and contexts of volunteering.
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This paper constitutes a first attempt to theorize volunteer translation using behavioural economic models of altruism. It applies the notions of pure and impure altruism to the study of a nineteenth-century journal of scientific... more
This paper constitutes a first attempt to theorize volunteer translation using behavioural economic models of altruism. It applies the notions of pure and impure altruism to the study of a nineteenth-century journal of scientific translations, Scientific Memoirs. Volunteer translating and editing activities were instrumental in ensuring the commercial survival of that periodical over a 15-year period. A range of motivations may be posited for the volunteer work carried out, from the purely altruistic wish to expand scientific knowledge to motivations which could be linked to a sense of satisfaction (warm glow) or enhancement of personal, professional or social standing. Differences can be observed in the utility likely to have been derived from their volunteer activities by men of science and women translators, and an insight is offered into how volunteer contributions were encouraged and managed by the journal’s editor, Richard Taylor. By drawing on research on altruism and volunteering undertaken by disciplines other than translation studies, the paper offers a fruitful starting point for further research on volunteer translation and interpreting in both present-day and historical settings.
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Andrew Pickering’s view of agency in scientific practice challenges other views from the sociology of science in that he seeks to account for both human and non-human agency within a performative idiom of science. His approach has been... more
Andrew Pickering’s view of agency in scientific practice challenges other views from the sociology of science in that he seeks to account for both human and non-human agency within a performative idiom of science. His approach has been applied in various contexts, within and beyond the sciences. This paper explores the potential of mobilizing Pickering’s notions of the ‘‘mangle of practice’’ and the ‘‘dance of agency’’ to conceptualize translation practice, specifically to develop a deeper understanding of translators’ interaction with translation technology, both individually and collectively. I argue for the relevance of this conceptualization and make a case for a ‘‘mangle-inspired’’ reading of translators’ contributions to an online technical forum. However, I also reflect on how this analysis deviates from the principles of the mangle and conclude by discussing some of the methodological challenges of researching the interaction between translators and translation technology within this framework.
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The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art account of the complex field of translation studies. Written by leading specialists from around the world, this volume brings together authoritative... more
The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art account of the complex field of translation studies. Written by leading specialists from around the world, this volume brings together authoritative original articles of pressing issues including the current status of the field and its interdisciplinary nature, the problematic definition of the object of study, and the various theoretical frameworks and research methodologies available.
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Research in translation has until quite recently tended to eschew the translation of scientific material as a possible site of critical inquiry, with the exception perhaps of popular science, despite the prevalence of scientific texts and... more
Research in translation has until quite recently tended to eschew the translation of scientific material as a possible site of critical inquiry, with the exception perhaps of popular science, despite the prevalence of scientific texts and their related fields in translation practice. Moreover, historical perspectives on the transmission of scientific knowledge have not generally acknowledged translation and its potential to generate epistemological, narrative and ideological shifts in the dissemination of scientific discourse. In contrast, social constructivist perspectives which account for human intervention and contingency in the representation of science promote an analysis of translated scientific material that focuses on issues of rhetoric, ideology and translator’s agency. Drawing on the sociology and history of science, the history of ideas as well as various frameworks for textual analysis, the contributors to this special issue engage with different perspectives and approaches to help promote the visibility of scientific translation and shed light on its complex relationship with power and the construction of knowledge.
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This paper examines some of the features of the translation services sector, based on economic performance data, industry-specific surveys and developments in the formulation of international standards for translation services. A section... more
This paper examines some of the features of the translation services sector, based on economic performance data, industry-specific surveys and developments in the formulation of international standards for translation services. A section of the paper is devoted to each of these aspects. The picture which emerges from the economic data is of a fragmented sector consisting of predominantly freelance translators on the one hand and ever-expanding international companies reaping most of the financial benefits on the other. Industry-specific surveys confirm what we learn from the economic data, and provide us with some additional information about the freelance translator's profile and training needs. An analysis of the new European standard for translation services brings into focus some possible future directions for translation companies and freelancers. In a final section, the paper reflects critically on the relevance of these issues for translator training, using intended learning outcomes as a means of formulating the connections between the current state of the language services industry and the professionalization element in university translator training programmes.
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Successful supervision of doctoral research is a defining feature and prerequisite to the survival of any research group within the academy. Within translation studies, unlike sociology for instance, relatively few scholars have acquired... more
Successful supervision of doctoral research is a defining feature and prerequisite to the survival of any research group within the academy. Within translation studies, unlike sociology for instance, relatively few scholars have acquired extensive experience in research supervision, and the discipline as a whole has so far paid little attention to examining the design of research projects at doctoral level. An attempt is made to address this gap by focusing on the design and coherence of doctoral research projects that involve the analysis of translation or interpreting data, drawing on concrete examples of current doctoral projects at the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies, University of Manchester. A broad overview of the UK context, in terms of increased monitoring and formalization of research training in recent years, is followed by a detailed discussion and exemplification of design issues in the initial stages of a doctoral project. The paper ends with an outline of a research design workshop for Year 1 and Year 2 students. Although equally valid in many other contexts, the workshop is designed within the context of doctoral study in the UK.
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This encyclopedia entry provides an overview of past and current research in commercial translation.
This encyclopedia entry provides an overview of past and current research in scientific and technical translation.
Translation studies as an academic discipline has traditionally devoted a good deal of research effort and output to literary translation. It can,however, be argued that the concentration on literary, religious and philosophical texts... more
Translation studies as an academic discipline has traditionally devoted a good deal of research effort and output to literary translation. It can,however, be argued that the concentration on literary, religious and philosophical texts and their translation has been disproportionate, given that most professional translation activity involves texts that belong to scientific, technical and commercial domains. Moreover, it is undisputed that translation has had a crucial role in the production and distribution of scientific knowledge through cultures and times. Against that backdrop, this paper investigates the current position of scientific translation within translation studies. Drawing on existing research on scientific communication more generally, and considering both textual and sociocultural aspects, the paper then proposes some research issues which may be addressed by scholars interested in scientific translation. A range of approaches, frameworks and methodologies may be adopted, depending
on the focus of research, and it is argued that there is considerable scope for enhancement of our understanding of the role which translation plays in the dissemination of scientific knowledge.
on the focus of research, and it is argued that there is considerable scope for enhancement of our understanding of the role which translation plays in the dissemination of scientific knowledge.
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This paper analyses contractions in translated language, comparing the use of contracted forms by translators of fiction and biography into English with the contraction patterns of writers of similar texts in English. Significant... more
This paper analyses contractions in translated language, comparing the use of contracted forms by translators of fiction and biography into English with the contraction patterns of writers of similar texts in English. Significant differences are found between the English of literary translation and contemporary literary English writing, in terms of both variety of contracted forms encountered and frequency of occurrence of contractions. Qualitative analyses then focus on the functional description of some contracted and non-contracted forms, and also consider the contraction practices of different translators. The relationships between contractions and other linguistic features, explicitation in translation, translator style, discourse function and genre are touched upon, and avenues for further research of this nature are suggested.
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This paper focuses on one particular parallel development in linguistics and translation studies, namely corpus-based analysis of language use. Recent years have seen the compilation of corpora of translations, designed specifically to... more
This paper focuses on one particular parallel development in linguistics and translation studies, namely corpus-based analysis of language use. Recent years have seen the compilation of corpora of translations, designed specifically to investigate the language and features of translation, usually by comparing translations with non-translations. Some of the interactions between corpus linguistics and corpus-based translation studies are traced in terms of perceptions of translated texts and underlying assumptions of corpus-based studies. Corpus-based translation studies is placed in the context of current theoretical trends in translation studies and, through brief reference to research which has aimed to investigate potential features of translation, attention is drawn to the importance of contextualising translation by combining corpus-based investigations with other kinds of methodologies and analyses.
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This paper sets out to provide evidence of explicitation in translation into English through an analysis of patterns of inclusion and omission of optional that with the reporting verbs SAY and TELL. The notion of explicitation in the... more
This paper sets out to provide evidence of explicitation in translation into English through an analysis of patterns of inclusion and omission of optional that with the reporting verbs SAY and TELL. The notion of explicitation in the context of translation is first introduced and explained. An overview of the literature relating to that-clauses in English is then given, and this forms the basis for subsequent data analysis. The sources of the data to be analysed are briefly described: the TEC (Translational English Corpus) providing us with translated English, and the BNC (British National Corpus) containing original English. On the basis of a comparison of concordance data from the two corpora, quantitative results serve to illustrate the marked differences in use of that and zero with forms of SAY and TELL. Thus it is shown that the that-connective is far more frequent in TEC than in BNC, and conversely that the zero-connective is more frequent for all forms of both verbs in the BNC corpus than in TEC. A detailed investigation of the instances of occurrence of that/zero constructions in both corpora attempts to categorise, compare and contrast patterns of occurrence, and provides potential starting points for further research of this nature.
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This paper discusses the use of a comparable corpus in translation research, where a comparable corpus comprises, on the one hand, a corpus of translations and on the other hand a corpus of non-translated texts, both corpora being similar... more
This paper discusses the use of a comparable corpus in translation research, where a comparable corpus comprises, on the one hand, a corpus of translations and on the other hand a corpus of non-translated texts, both corpora being similar in composition, size and other attributes. The Translational English Corpus, housed at the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies in Manchester, is presented as an example of a comparable corpus used in researching translation. The rationale for using a corpus of this kind to research translation is addressed. Results of a number of empirical analyses are then summarised, and the potential development and future exploitation of this corpus resource are outlined.
Concepts of domain conceptualisation and scene construal, adopted from cognitive linguistics, are outlined briefly and subsequently discussed in the context of translation, with the aim of explaining processing which may take place... more
Concepts of domain conceptualisation and scene construal, adopted from cognitive linguistics, are outlined briefly and subsequently discussed in the context of translation, with the aim of explaining processing which may take place during translation. Of particular interest here is the link between domain conceptualisation in students and the development of their linguistic and translational competence. Data from think-aloud studies involving intermediate and more advanced students provide some evidence of the extent of these students’ conceptual awareness while translating a text from German
into English. The paper concludes by positing that models of cognitive processing underlying cognitive linguistics may also help to explain how and why processes of translation investigated in corpus-based translation studies, e.g. explicitation and normalisation, may come about."
into English. The paper concludes by positing that models of cognitive processing underlying cognitive linguistics may also help to explain how and why processes of translation investigated in corpus-based translation studies, e.g. explicitation and normalisation, may come about."