Applying Internalised Source-culture Knowledge to Solve Cultural Translation Problems. A Quasi-experimental Study on the Translator's Acquisition of Cultural Competence

Abstract

In this article the ability to efficiently apply internalised source-culture knowledge when solving cultural translation problems is analysed at different stages of acquisition of the translator's cultural competence by means of a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental study. Thirty-eight BA students from the first through fourth year studying Translation and Interpreting at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, as well as ten professional translators participated in this investigation. The subjects' knowledge of German culture and their knowledge of a selection of cultural translation problems in a text were measured prior to its translation. The translation strategies employed by the subjects to solve these problems were recorded and classified using PACTE's (2017b) sequences of actions. The quality of the subjects' solutions to the cultural translation problems of the text was assessed with PACTE's (2017a) acceptability index. These data were combined to compute the source-culture knowledge application index. Results show that the students in all cohorts preferred to utilise information-seeking strategies even when they possessed cultural knowledge about a specific cultural translation problem, while the professional translators in this study were able to apply their internalised source-culture knowledge. The solutions proposed by both the translation students and the professional translators were of a higher quality when internalised source-culture knowledge was applied.

Measuring Trainee Translators’ Knowledge of German Culture. Design and Validation of a Cultural Declarative Knowledge Questionnaire

“…Findings such as those obtained in the studies conducted by Olk (2009), Bahumaid (2010), Gutiérrez Bregón (2016), andOlalla-Soler (2019) suggest that possessing declarative cultural knowledge not only leads to better resolution of cultural translation problems but is also considered very valuable by professional translators, as indicated by the translators who participated in Gutiérrez Bregón's study (2016). These translators stressed the need for knowledge on topics such as history, geography, beliefs, customs, institutions, literature, gastronomy, music, art, politics, values, legislation, and the socio-economic context of both the source and target cultures.…”

“…These three tasks were: characterising the culturemes in a text, explaining the meaning of some of these culturemes, and filling in a declarative knowledge questionnaire on German culture. The results of these tasks can be found in Olalla-Soler (2019).…”

“…Cultural knowledge has been considered of great importance in both translation competence and translator (inter)cultural competence models (see Section 2) and, from a didactic point of view, contrastive approaches are favoured in teaching this knowledge, whereas approaches based on the transmission of information are widely criticised. However, the limited empirical data currently available indicate that not only do professional translators consider declarative cultural knowledge essential for their profession (Gutiérrez Bregón 2016), but that possessing cultural knowledge and being able to contrast it are two different aspects (Olk 2009;Bahumaid 2010;Olalla-Soler 2019). Thus, this would suggest that cultural knowledge is acquired in two phases: an initial, declarative phase and a second contrastive phase.…”

The Effect of Critical Thinking on Translation Technology Competence Among College Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy and Cultural Intelligence

“…Translators should be equipped with adequate information literacy to access external sources to ensure that translations are accurate and appropriate. 119 Therefore, Hypothesis 3 was proposed as follows: H3: Student translators' cultural intelligence has a positive and significant impact on their translation technology competence.…”

Formation of Future Specialists’ Information Competence

“…Schaeffer et al (2020) offered a translation accuracy survey questionnaire: an on-line tool for researching interpreters, which formed the basis of the author's questionnaire. Olalla-Soler (2019) applied internalized knowledge about the culture of the source to solve problems of cultural translation in a quasi-experimental study of the translator's acquisition of cultural competence in different languages and cultures. Sycz-Opoń (2019) substantiated the informational behavior of translation students of Silesia University in the process of legal translation.…”