The effectiveness of second-person reference in enhancing reader memory in English-Chinese advertisement translation

Abstract

This research aims to account for readers’ perception of second-person pronouns and to test their effectiveness in enhancing reader memory in English-Chinese advertisement translation. We conducted an experiment in which 62 participants read the Chinese translations of 16 previously unseen English print advertisements. Two parallel Chinese versions were prepared for the experiment, one with second-person reference and the other without. The participants were first asked to read the translations and indicate which version they liked better. Two weeks later, they were divided into two groups and asked to rate their memory of the two Chinese versions. Statistical analysis shows that the ratings of the second-person version are significantly higher, which implies that second-person reference is effective in enhancing the participants’ memory.