Translation Studies

Translation Studies 11. Methodological issues in the teaching of translation Krisztina Károly, Spring, 2006 Source: Klaudy, 2003

Pedagogical translation  real translation Different • function, • object, • addressee

Pedagogical translation: • function: translation is a tool (to improve L proficiency: consciousness raising, practice, test) • object: learner provides information about his/her proficiency • addressee: teacher/examiner, wanting to find out about the L proficiency of the learner (compelled to find mistakes

Real translation: • function: translation is the goal of real translations (to develop translation skills) • object: the translator communicates information about reality • addressee: reader, wanting information about reality •  real translator training starts where FL teaching ends

Creating life-like situations in the teaching of translation • paradox: the teaching situation itself makes real translation impossible (teacher is not a real customer or consumer) • question: How to bring teaching closer to life, i.e. how to create life-like situations in the translation class?

Solution 1: in translation classes realistic situations should be created, in which the teacher acts as a “requester”. Can act as a client and answer questions, like: • Who wrote the source text? • Who are the target group? • What is the context of use? • Has the source text been translated into other languages? • What is the status of these translations?” etc. Solution 2: real translation situations can be created through the selection of authentic texts.

Solution 3: realistic communicative needs should be translated, i.e. texts that are commonly translated in the case of a particular language pair in either direction (e.g., the users' manual of a car is obviously more often translated from German to Portuguese than vice versa) Solution 4: not only teachers should read translations, but they should be exchanged among students and assessed together in groups

Teacher vs. editor or reviser • if the end-point of the "translation chain" is the teacher, then we cannot speak of real translation • teacher should act as a reader or editor • difference between editors and teachers: in error correction strategies • aim of teachers' error-correction strategies = to develop students' translation skills (process- or product-oriented approach) • aim of editors' error-correction strategies = to make sure that communication between the SL writer and the TL consumer is achieved (always product-oriented approach)

Different approaches to error correction Process-oriented approach: • radically denies the importance of error correction; • teachers do not expect perfect end products from students, but use translations to gain insights into the process of translation and raise questions rather than criticise.

Different approaches to error correction cont. Product-oriented model: 3 methods: • (1) method of systematic feedback • (2) method of student-centred correction, • (3) humanistic approach to students’ errors.

Different approaches to error correction cont. Method of systematic feedback (Dollerup, 1994): • corrections in translations which the students have handed in • oral discussion in the class covering adequate as well as inadequate renditions, • feedback form assessing strengths and weaknesses with each student

Different approaches to error correction cont. Student-centred approach (Sainz, 1994): • (1) the human rights of students should not be disregarded in error correction, that is, students have the right to know the criteria according to which their translations are evaluated and also who assessed their translations, etc. • (2) error correction should not be aggressive (recommendation: Correction Card, filled in by the students for self-assessment)

Different approaches to error correction cont. Humanistic approach (Seguinot, 1989): • regards errors committed by translators not as violations of linguistic norm, but rather as valuable pieces of information: "…the surface manifestations of the phenomena which are the object of study” (p.74).

Different strategies in error correction • strategies NOT for PROFESSIONAL translator training • strategies for PROFESSIONAL translator training

Strategies NOT for PROFESSIONAL translator training (would be misleading, professional editor is not so tactful): Teachers should avoid (1) making corrections in the text they should write their suggestions on the margin. (2) making corrections in the text they should attach their remarks on a separate sheet of paper. (3) making a list of the mistakes and attach it to the translation. (4) correcting errors they should appreciate good solutions, and disregard incorrect ones. (5) including their correct solutions in the text, because this would suggest that those are the only correct solutions, and it is well known that all translation problems have several possible good solutions.

Strategies for PROFESSIONAL translator training: (1) The work of teachers of translation should resemble the work of revisers and editors in publishing houses, which is of course only possible if the teacher has practice and experience in translation, revising and editing. (2) The teacher-student relationship should resemble the relationship between an experienced translator (reviser, editor) and a beginner translator. (3) Pedagogical corrections should be similar to revisers’ corrections (teachers should use the standard correction symbols and not wavy, dotted or broken lines). (4) All errors should be corrected, and not only those that are interesting from the pedagogical point of view. (5) Corrections must be included in the text. (6) Corrections must be made not only on the sentence level but on the discourse level as well, the outcome of which should be a coherent, publishable text. (7) Each and every text should be of publishable quality.

Assessment criterion of translations: • = how much work (correction, editing) is needed to obtain a publishable translation. • If revising and editing takes more time than the translating itself, then the translation is obviously unusable as a translation.

Difference between revising/editing and marking tests: • Marking tests = underline mistakes and indicate them on the margins to prepare a subsequent pedagogical discussion, • Editing/revising = making the text publishable

Types of translation tasks Text-preparation tasks • Aim: familiarising students with the texts before translating them • students should be taught to read as translators do: asking questions like (1) Could you make a guess as to who ordered the translation of the above article and with what purpose? (2) Is it for internal use or for publication? (3) Is it for the radio or for the printed media? (4) To what extent does the supposed use of the translation affect the translator's solutions? (5) What is the text about? (6) Mark the key words of the paragraphs. (“sign-posting”) (7) On the basis of the key words, summarise briefly (in 5-10 sentences) the main points in the text, etc.

Types of translation tasks cont. Lexical preparation • = consists of dictionary research • separate genre-specific general vocabulary and topic-specific special vocabulary. Both can give rise to problems • work with various dictionary types (monolingual, bilingual, specialised, dictionaries of synonyms, slang, etc.)

Types of translation tasks cont. Suggested translation with variants • students begin to translate • to help them in translations, they are sometimes given "multi-option" translations, in which several different but possible translation options can be found • students are required to evaluate the options offered, and with this help they can choose their own version of the text.

E.g., (Bart, Klaudy and Szőllősy 1996, p.149) THIRTY YEARS OF ROCK Suggested translation with variants The (highly) popular singer Kati Kovács will celebrate thirty years as performer tonight at a gala concert to be held at the Buda Park Theatre (...) The singer is against / not enthusiastic/ far from enthusiastic/ less than enthusiastic about the commercialisation of today’s pop culture. She is planning nevertheless two new CDs. Within a few short months /the space of just a couple of months/ within a couple of months / within a matter of months, in the mid-sixties Kati Kovács, a doctor’s assistant from Eger became a nationally known singer, a real star. (...) In the wake of Kati Kovács’s first/ early successes there soon came film offers too/ in addition / as well. (...)

Types of translation tasks cont. Guided translation • = certain parts of some TL sentences have been translated in advance by one of the authors of the book., and the authors ask the trainee translators to include them in their translations. • Aim: to develop translators' word selection and sentence construction skills by making them do things they would not have done otherwise.

E.g., (Bart, Klaudy and Szőllősy 1996, p.75) THE GREAT BRITISH BANGER Guided translation The sausage (1) is one of the oldest forms of processed food (2). The name is derived from Latin “salus”, meaning salted - and thereby preserved - meat or mixtures of meat encased in animal gut (3). The first authentical reference (4) appears in the Greek poet Homer’s Odyssey, written (5) around the 9th century BC. Later (6), Greek literature frequently mentions(7) sausages using the term oraye (8). • 1. a virsli- vagy kolbász (készítés) • 2. az élelmiszer feldolgozásának • 3. ami ... (és ezáltal ... ) ... töltött húst jelent • 4. hiteles említés / utalás .... (kolbászra) • 5. íródott • 6. a későbbiekben • 7. esik/ történik említés • 8. .... néven/ -nak neveznek

Types of translation tasks cont. Revising = comparison with the original • It is by no means easy to correct somebody else's translation: many would rather translate the text instead of bothering with corrections. • Translators must learn to do corrections "with the least possible effort", which does not involve rewriting the text, but "mending" it to make it functionally "usable". ***

Translation Studies