Using the features of translated language to investigate translation expertise

Abstract

The study reported on in this article set out to test the hypothesis that linguistic operationalisations of the features of translated language will demonstrate significant differences in the work of experienced and inexperienced translators. A custom-built comparable English corpus was used, comprising three subcorpora: translations produced by experienced translators, translations by inexperienced translators, and non-translated texts. A number of linguistic operationalisations were selected for three of the features of translated language: explicitation, simplification and normalisation. The differences in these linguistic features in the three subcorpora were analysed, using parametric or non-parametric ANOVA, and T-tests or Mann-Whitney U-tests as post-hoc tests where applicable. The findings of the study indicate substantial (though not unqualified) support for the hypothesis. It is argued that experience-related variation in register sensitivity, language competence, awareness of written language conventions and sensitivity to translation norms are the main factors contributing to expertise.

Predicting the Linguistic Accessibility of Chinese Health Translations: Machine Learning Algorithm Development

“…This includes notably textual logic or coherence devices, such as pronouns, personal pronouns, or conjunctions. In corpus translation studies, the enhanced use of these functional linguistic devices is known as translational features or translationese [17][18][19][20]. However, whether these functional categories in translationese can be deployed systematically in professional health translations to increase the readability of translated health resources remains underexplored.…”

Levelling-out and register variation in the translations of experienced and inexperienced translators: a corpus-based study

“…The features selected for the investigation are: omission of the complementiser that, conjunctive markers, standardised type-token ratio, word length, readability scores, contractions, and neologisms. These particular linguistic features were chosen as they can be used as operationalisations of the other features of translated language, in particular explicitation, simplification and normalisation (see Redelinghuys and Kruger (2015) for a discussion on the selection of the features). This study is similar to Kruger and Van Rooy (2012) in its conceptualisation of levelling-out in terms of register variability but it should be noted that translations from different source languages were included in the present investigation (rather than just translations from Afrikaans), and some of the linguistic features differ from those investigated by their study.…”

“…This study is an extension of the one carried out by Redelinghuys and Kruger (2015) in that it uses the same features of translation as proposed indicators of translation expertise in respect of explicitation, simplification and normalisation. This investigation starts with an overview of ways in which levelling-out has been conceptualised in other studies, its various operationalisations and the results of other investigations.…”

“…While Redelinghuys and Kruger's (2015) study illustrates the relationship between translation expertise and the occurrence of the features of translated language, they do not discuss the effect of experience on levelling-out, the fourth universal proposed by Baker (1996). Following Kruger and Van Rooy (2012), levelling-out will be investigated as a feature across register in this study; that is to say levelling-out is conceptualised as a reduction of the distinctness of various registers in favour of a more neutral "middle" register.…”

“…Therefore, these features may act as indicators of translation expertise. In this regard, the hypothesis of Redelinghuys and Kruger's (2015) study was based on the assumption that if the features of translated language are conceptualised as the textual "sediment" of translation strategies and/or processes, differences in inexperienced and experienced translators' translation strategies and/or linguistic processing ought to be manifested in terms of different frequencies of these features in their translation output. Their findings provide substantial (though not unqualified) support for the hypothesis in terms of explication, simplification and normalisation.…”