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A Competent Translator And Effective Knowledge Transfer
By Dr. Kulwindr Kaur
a/p Gurdial Singh
Lecturer
Department of English Language
Faculty of Languages and Linguistics
University of Malaya
kulwindr@um.edu.my
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Abstract
Based on my study of five experienced
part-time translators of scientific texts from English
to Malay and on the feedback obtained from fifty part-time
translators in the field of science and technology
using the think-aloud protocol (TAP) and questionnaire
techniques, I have found the characteristics a competent
translator must possess to ensure the effective knowledge
transfer from one language to another. This paper
discusses the characteristics of an effective translator
in the transfer of knowledge. The researcher agrees
with the definition of the translation process proposed
by Bell (1991), Sager (1994) and Darwish (2003). The
researcher is also of the opinion that the writing
and translating processes share similar approaches
and features, and a competent translator must be aware
of this. Another finding from this study is that a
competent translator must use Oxford's (1990) direct
and indirect language-learning strategies while translating.
Finally, the researcher will discuss her own model
of translation which she feels a competent translator
must adhere to.
Introduction
In
this world of science and technology there is knowledge
explosion every day. This knowledge which is generally
written in the English language needs to be transmitted
in various languages so that people who do not know
how to speak and write the original langauge can get
the knowledge necessary for industrial development
and technological innovation to keep up with the rest
of the world. To transmit this knowledge effectively,
there is a need for competent translators in various
languages.
Participants
The
participants of this study were fifty-five experienced
Malaysian part-time translators of scientific texts
from English to Malay.
Methodology
Five
of the participants who were from the University of
Malaya participated in the think-aloud protocols followed
by interviews. Another fifty participants came from
universities, translation institutions, and colleges
who completed the questionnaire.
Discussion
of Findings
a.
The Characteristics of an Effective Translator (one
who practices translation)
From
the questionnaire and interviews, the researcher reached
to conclusion that for a translation to be accurate,
clear, natural and effective, a translator must have
the following characteristics:
- For
a translator to translate scientific texts from
English to Malay or between any other pair of languages,
he or she must first of all be a subject specialist
so that the content of the original text is communicated
accurately, clearly and naturally. If the translator
is a chemistry expert, then he or she should translate
mainly chemistry texts rather than texts in other
sciences, because this will ensure both quality
and the speed of the translation.
- A
translator must be very proficient in both the source
and target languages. Mastery of the source language
ensures that the meaning conveyed by the source
text author is very clearly and accurately understood
by the translator. Every aspect of it must be clearly
interpreted by the translator. Mastery of the target
language is even more important. A translated text
is deemed weak if it is delivered in the target
language poorly because the translator is not familiar
with the grammar and nuances of the language. Thus,
it is best if the target language is the translator's
dominant or native language, because only such highly
proficient language users will have the intuitiveness
for the language and will thus be able to deliver
a better translation.
- A
translator must be familiar with the basic principles
of translation theory and practice. A translator's
job is not only to find equivalent terms in the
target language with the help of terminology lists
and dictionaries, but he or she must be able to
deliver the translation according to the rules,
style, and grammar of the target language so that
the translation does not sound awkward and unnatural.
The translated version must be delivered in a manner
that sounds natural and smooth-flowing and is meaningful
to the target reader. According to Ainon Muhammad
(1979:12), an author on translation, a good translator
must be a subject specialist, be good in the source
language, even better at the target language, and
must have received training in translation theory
and practice. The researcher would like to add that
if a translator wishes to translate scientific texts,
then he or she must also receive science training.
About 84% of the translators in this study were
Malays, and they confirmed the fact that it is an
advantage for them to be able to translate into
their own mother tongue, because they know how the
language ought to be written and how it should sound.
- A
good translator must have empathy for his or her
target readers. He or she must ensure that the translated
product is appropriate to the intelligence and proficiency
levels of the target reader. A text translated for
primary school students must cater to their intelligence
and language proficiency level, and a text translated
for university students must be suited to their
level of comprehension. Once the translated text
fulfils these criteria, the target readers will
find it easy to follow the concepts, processes and
other ideas expressed in the translated text and
these reader-friendly translated texts help achieve
the commercial or other purpose of the translation.
In other words, translators must know the skopos
or purpose of their translation task.
- A
translator must be committed and disciplined. The
translation task commissioned to him or her must
be completed by the deadline given so that the information
that is translated does not become outdated and
the user of the translation is properly served.
- A
good translator must be aware of the culture of
both the source and target language readers. In
this way, he or she will be able to translate to
the target language based on the culture of the
target readers and thus facilitate the reading and
understanding of the translated text by the target
readers.
- An
effective translator must learn to divide the workload
among his colleagues who are subject specialists
when translating voluminous academic books or long
documents in the field of science and technology
so that the process of translation can be speeded
up and thus the readers are updated with the latest
in these fields.
- An
effective translator should have all the necessary
translation tools such as monolingual, bilingual
and subject dictionaries, thesauri, terminology
lists, a computer, a printer etc. available while
translating so that no time is wasted searching
for them while translating.
- A
translator must be aware of the whole translation
process so that he or she will be able to translate
quickly, accurately, clearly and naturally to the
target language. Robinson (1997:49) has proposed
that the translator is a learner and he suggests
that "translation is an intelligent activity involving
complex processes of conscious and unconscious learning."
The researcher agrees with his proposal and also
with the statement that translation is basically
a problem-solving task. Robinson (1997:51) suggests
that "translation is an intelligent activity, requiring
creative problem-solving in novel, textual, social,
and cultural conditions." A translator should know
that translation is a learning activity and it involves
the use of the main direct (memory, cognitive and
compensation) and indirect (metacognitive, affective
and social) language-learning strategies proposed
by Oxford (1990). A translator who uses these strategies
will be able to perform a good translation.
- An
effective translator must be aware that writing
and translating involve similar features. The writing
stages involve determining the message content (what?)
and general purpose of the message (why?), defining
the recipients (who?) and function (expected reaction
of the recipients), planning the amount and order
of content (What is assumed) and the realisation
(what is expressed linguistically and what by some
other means). The preparatory phase for writing
involves the choice of text type (letter, novel,
literary, non-literary, expository, informative,
argumentative etc.). Here the writer must consider
the format, publication, circulation, presentation
involving the questionswhere?, when? how?
and the writer also must consider the alternative
modes of communication. In addition to considering
the above, the writer, according to Sager (1994:186),
also must determine the structure, division of the
written material into chapters, headings and paragraphs.
This will lead to the message production. Sager
(1994:186) suggests that the writer must evaluate,
revise, modify and finally present his written work
for publication. Like writing, translating too involves
these stagesidentification of the SL document,
identification of intention, interpretation of specification
and cursory reading and choice of TL text type and
the other preparatory activities as in writing and
original work. The researcher agrees with Sager's
(1994) suggestion that writing and translation share
similar features. In fact, the researcher is of
the opinion that of the four skills in language
learning, writing seems to come closest to translation.
The researcher also agrees with Smith-Worthington
and Jefferson (2005:80) in that the process of writing
involves planning (prewriting, shaping, researching),
drafting, revising and copy-editing (proofreading
and publishing). She also agrees with Smith-Worthington
and Jefferson's (2005:84) suggestion that the three
features of writing are as follows:
- Writing
is recursive or circular in natureit is
a backward and forward process. The recursive
nature means that the thinking process sometimes
circles back to earlier stages.
- Writing
takes timetime is needed for ideas to emerge
and develop. Different stages have their own activities.
It takes sufficient time to complete a document.
- Writing
is different for everyoneit varies from
one person to the next. This is because people
are different, their thinking processes and learning
styles vary. A person writes to fit his or her
personality and thinking style.
- A
good translator must be aware of the importance
of cognitive information processing of texts so
that they can be accurately understood, processed
and transformed by their cognitive system.
- Based
on the researcher's experience as a translator,
on her discussions with other translators, and on
this research, the researcher strongly feels that
the above writing processes and the three features
of writing put forward by Smith-Worthington and
Jefferson (2005) can be extended to the process
of translation. Here too we see a close parallelism
between writing and translating because they share
similar features and approaches.
b. The Process of Translation
A
competent translator must be aware of the process
of translation to make effective knowledge transfer
from one language to another possible. From the feedback
obtained from the five participants who took part
in the think-aloud protocols and interviews, the researcher
discovered that the main direct and indirect strategies
proposed by Oxford (1990) were used by them while
translating. These strategies are shown in Table 1
on the next page. From the TAPs analysis using the
inductive method, the researcher matched her analysis
of the TAPs transcriptions to Oxford's (1990) Strategy
Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and found three
additional strategies used by the participants which
were not present in Oxford's SILL. The new findings
comprise one metacognitive and two cognitive strategies.
The three new strategies comprise the following:
1.
Stating one's own beliefs on how to translate and
giving the reasons supporting them (metacognitive
strategy).
From
this research, it was apparent that the participants
had their own mindset or schema about how to go about
translating. They verbalized aloud this preconception
or design of the expected completed version or virtual
blueprint of their translated product. While translating
they reminded themselves that they should abide by
these beliefs which were arrived at from past experience
and translation training. Some examples include:
- "Now
that I know the meaning in my head, I shall translate
it using my own words in Malay so that the original
meaning is not lost. I do not believe in and do
not practice word-for-word translation. I prefer
understanding first before translating," and
- "I
don't translate word-for-word. Being a Malay, I
have language intuitiveness and upon further reading,
I always refine my translated work."
Table
1
OXFORD'S
STRATEGY INVENTORY FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING (SILL)
DIRECT STRATEGIES |
INDIRECT STRATEGIES |
1. Memory Strategies
- Creating mental linkages
(e.g. grouping, associating, elaborating)
- Applying images and sounds
(e.g. using imagery, semantic mapping)
- Reviewing thoroughly (structured reviewing)
- Employing action
(e.g. using physical response or sensation)
2. Cognitive Strategies
- Practicing (repeating, formally practicing
with sounds and writing systems, recognising
and using formulas and patterns, recombining
and practicing naturalistically.
- Receiving and sending messages
(getting the idea quickly, using resources
for receiving and sending messages.)
- Analysing and reasoning (reasoning deductively,
analysing expressions, analysing contrastively
(across languages), translating, transferring)
- Creating structure for input and output
(taking notes, summarising, highlighting)
3. Compensation Strategies
- Guessing intelligently (using linguistic
clues, using other clues)
- Overcoming limitations in speaking and writing
(switching to the mother tongue, getting help,
using mime or gesture, avoiding communication
partially or totally, selecting the topic,
adjusting or approximating the message, coining
words, using a circumlocution or synonym)
|
1. Metacognitive Strategies
- Centering your learning (overviewing and
linking with already known material, paying
attention, delaying speech production to focus
on listening)
- Arranging and planning (finding out about
language, organising, setting goals and objectives,
identifying the purpose of a language task,
planning for a language task, seeking practice
opportunities)
- Evaluating (self-monitoring, selfevaluating)
2. Affective Strategies
- Lowering your anxiety (using progressive
relaxation, deep breathing or meditation,
using music, using laughter)
- Encouraging yourself (making positive statements,
taking risks wisely, rewarding yourself)
- Taking your emotional temperature (listening
to your body, using a checklist, writing a
language learning diary, discussing your feelings
with someone else)
3. Social Strategies
- Asking questions (asking for clarification
or verification, asking for correction)
- Cooperating with others (cooperating with
peers, cooperating with proficient users of
the language)
- Empathising with others (developing cultural
understanding, becoming aware of others' thoughts
and feelings)
|
Source:
Oxford (1990). Language Learning StrategiesWhat
Every Teacher Should Know.
New York:Newbury House Publishers
- Finding
one's own solutions to the problems identified and
carrying them out (cognitive strategy)
Problem
identification comes under the metacognitive strategy,
but here, the participants moved one step forward.
They used cognitive strategies to solve their problem.
All five participants, using the TAP technique,
found that some sentences in the English language
scientific texts were very long and confusing, and
found such complex sentences very difficult to translate
into the Malay language, which has a different pattern
of grammar. If they were to maintain the complex
sentences in the Malay translation, the target readers
might become confused. In an effort to overcome
this problem, they found a solution. They decided
to divide the complex sentences into two shorter
sentences for easier analysis and comprehension.
In this way, the translation process became more
manageable and simpler. The meaning was communicated
much more easily and accurately and the participants
were satisfied with their completed translated version
in the Malay language.
- Using
the discrimination strategy to choose the closest
equivalent term from two or three alternatives identified
in the target language based on the context of the
situation (contextual meaning) and the culture of
the target readers (cognitive strategy).
A word may have many meanings
in different situations, so, the participants had
to decide on choosing the most appropriate equivalent
terms in their translation for the terms given in
the English-language scientific source text. For this,
they had to choose from a number of alternatives identified,
using the discrimination strategy. The equivalent
term which is finally chosen was also based on the
context of the situation or contextual meaning of
the text and the culture of the target readers, so
that the target readers of their translated versions
would not get confused. Some examples taken from the
TAPs analysis of the five cases are as follows:
- For the word "responsible", the
participant had to decide between the two terms
tanggungjawab and berperanan; she
chose berperanan as it suited the scientific
context, whereas tanggungjawab is used
for people in a social sense.
- For "emotional response", the
participant had to choose between
gerakbalas or tindakbalas; she chose
the former as it suited the context of the situation
or the contextual meaning of the text, whereas
the latter is used in the context of a chemical
reaction and was thus not suited to the text.
c. Translation Strategies Used by
the Participants
A
competent translator must be able to use translation
strategies while translating from the source language
to the target language. To investigate the translation
strategies used by the five participants in this study,
the researcher first analysed the transcripts of the
TAPs and then mapped them on to Oxford's (1990) SILL
to find out whether SILL was used by them and also
to find out the other strategies used which were not
given in Oxford's (1990) SILL. The strategies used
by the five case studies as mapped on to Oxford's
(1990) SILL model is presented in Table 2.
The participants who had more time translated two
texts while those who were pressed for time only agreed
to translate one text aloud. The strategies marked
with an asterisk and highlighted are the additional
strategies found by the researcher in this study.
The key to Table 2 is explained in the box below.
KEY to Table 2
The
first two columns represent the number and types
of strategies used, that is both the direct
and indirect strategies and the remaining five
columns in Table 2 represent the cases
while the rows represent the types of strategies
used. A tick was put in the column next to the
strategy if the strategy was used by the participants
for this study, while a cross was put if the
strategy was not used by them. The strategies
used which are marked with an asterisk mark
and bolded are the additional strategies found
from this study of the process of translating
scientific texts from English to Malay. |
TABLE 2
The Strategies Used by the Participants
in their TAPs
Strategies Used by Participants In This Study |
Case 1 - One Text |
Case 2 - Two Texts |
Case 3 - One Text |
Case 4 - Two Texts |
Case 5 - Text |
No. |
DIRECT STRATEGIES |
|
|
|
|
|
A |
Memory Strategies |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Using imagery |
/ |
/ |
x |
/ |
x |
2. |
Reviewing |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
x |
B |
Cognitive Strategies |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Reading and comprehension |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
2. |
Summarising |
|
|
|
|
|
3. |
Highlighting |
/ |
x |
x |
/ |
x |
4. |
Analysing and Reasoningtranslating |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
5. |
* Choosing equivalent terms based on the contextual
meaning in the text (situation) and the culture
of the target readers by using the discrimination
strategy to choose the closest equivalent term
in the target language from two or three alternatives
identified. |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
6. |
Academic Elaboration |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
x |
7. |
* Finding their own solutions to the translation
problems and carrying them out. |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
8. |
Repetition |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
9. |
Resourcing |
x |
x |
x |
/ |
x |
C. |
Compensation Strategies |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Overcoming limitation in writing:
paraphrasing |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
2. |
Overcoming limitations in writing:
switching to the source language. |
x |
x |
x |
/ |
x |
II |
INDIRECT STRATEGIES |
|
|
|
|
|
A |
Metacognitive Strategies |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Planning and organisationMaking
decisions |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
2. |
Selective attentionattending
to one sentence at a time. |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
3. |
* Stating one's own beliefs on how to translategiving
reasons supporting those beliefs and implementing
them. |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
4. |
Problem Identification |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
5. |
Comprehension monitoring |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
6. |
Ability evaluation |
/ |
/ |
x |
/ |
x |
7. |
Self-monitoring/Production monitoring |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
8. |
Performance evaluation |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
x |
B |
Affective Strategies |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Encouraging yourself: Marking
verbally the end of a paragraph and end of a
task. |
x |
x |
x |
/ |
/ |
C. |
Social Strategies |
|
|
|
|
|
1. |
Empathising with others |
/ |
x |
x |
/ |
x |
2. |
Asking questions |
/ |
/ |
/ |
/ |
x |
d. Researcher's Proposed Translation
Model
External processes of translation
are situation-specific inasmuch as internal processes
are unique to the individual. Based on the findings
obtained from the internal translation process and
the external factors involved in translation, the
researcher has proposed a translation model which
is shown in Figure 1. This translation model
is divided into three phases: before, during and after
the translation process and these are discussed below.
1. Before Translation: Here, the
authorities at the publishing house apply and obtain
the copyright approval for translating a chosen English-language
science book to the Malay language. Then the prospective
translator, who is a subject specialist is chosen.
A contract is signed between the publishing house
and the translator. A deadline is given to the translator
to complete his or her translation task. If the chosen
translator feels that he or she cannot complete the
translation on a part-time basis, he or she is free
to divide the chapters among his or her colleagues
who are also subject specialists, but he or she must
supervise their translation to ensure that there is
uniformity and consistency of the terms used in the
translated text. The translator gets his translation
tools such as the bilingual and monolingual dictionaries,
writing tools or computer, thesauruses, terminology
lists etc. ready.
2. During Translation/Internal Translation
Process. In this stage, the translator plans
and organises his or her translation, that is, makes
and implements decisions. First, the translator decides
to read and comprehend the source language scientific
text. Then he or she actually reads the text and summarises
it. Next, he or she analyses the difficult keywords
and phrases, paraphrases them and tries to find the
most appropriate equivalent terms from two or three
options identified in the target language which best
suit the context of the situation of the scientific
text and the culture of the target readers. Then he
or she translates the source language scientific text
sentence by sentence into the target language. Monitoring
is also done after completing the translation of each
sentence. Revision is done if deemed necessary. Then
the translator evaluates his or her whole performance
of the whole completed translated version against
the original scientific text in the source language.
Then he or she gives his or her colleagues to read
the translated version for reviewing purposes and
makes the necessary changes if necessary.
Figure 1
3. After Translation.
Here the proofread translated text is submitted to
the publication house for editing. Once the editors
at the publication house have edited the translated
text, it is returned to the translator who reads it
again to ensure that the content has not been distorted
or made ambiguous. Once the translator is satisfied
with the translated and edited text, it is returned
to the publication house for publishing. If there
are any issues with the editing performed by the editors
at the publishing house, then these are discussed
between the parties. Once both parties have reached
a consensus regarding the revision, the translated
text is published and then marketed.
From the translation model depicted
by the researcher in Figure 2, it is apparent that
the translator starts the internal translation process
by planning and organising, followed by reading and
comprehension, analysing the source text information,
translating, monitoring and evaluating his or her
own performance.
The longer two-headed arrow on the left shows that
the translation strategies, comprising the main direct
and indirect language strategies and the three translation
strategies found from this study are used from the
start to the end of the translation process. The six-sided
diagram shows that the translation strategies are
flexible and can be used in any combination, for example
metacognitive with social, social with compensation,
cognitive with affective etc.
The shorter two-headed arrow on the right in Figure
2 of the proposed translation model shows that the
internal translation process is iterative, cumulative
and integrative. It also shows that while translating
the translators use all the four approaches: cognitive,
linguistic, communicative and pragmatic to ensure
that the final translated version suits the culture,
intelligence, context of situation and language proficiency
level of the target readers of the translated version.
In other words, the researcher suggests that the skopos
or purpose of the translation must be emphasised.
Furthermore, the translation process is iterative
and cascaded, that is, it involves forward and backward-looking
activities. In addition, translators often review
and revise their work while translating. A final evaluation
is done upon completing the whole translation task.
This proposed translation model by the researcher
is derived from the findings from this study. It is
open to further research by future researchers in
the field of translation who can experiment it with
other kinds of texts or text-types and with other
pairs of languages in the world.
Conclusion
In brief, in order to be a competent and reliable
translator in transferring knowledge effectively from
one language to another, the researcher believes that
a translator should try his or her best to acquire
the characteristics of a competent translator as presented
in this paper. Also, a competent translator should
be familiar with the translation process and the translation
strategies that need to be used while translating.
Finally, the translation model proposed by the researcher
can be used as a guide to achieve a good translation.
References
Ainon Muhammad. (1979). Pengantar
Terjemahan. Kuala Lumpur: Adabi.
Bell, R.T. (1991). Translation
and Translating. London: Longman.
Danks, Joseph H. et al. 1997. Cognitive
Processes in Translation and Interpreting. Applied
Psychology: Volume 3. London: Sage Publications.
Darwish, A. (2003). The Transfer
FactorSelected Essays on Translation and Cross-Cultural
Communication. Melbourne: Writescope Pty Ltd.
Kulwindr Kaur a/p Gurdial Singh. (2003).
A Study of the Process of Translating Scientific
Texts from English into Malay. PhD Unpublished
Thesis. University of Malaya.
Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook
of Translation. Hertfordshire: Prentice-Hall.
Oxford, R.L. (1990). Language Learning
StrategiesWhat Every Teacher Should Know. New
York: Newbury House Publishes.
Robinson, D. (1997). Becoming a
Translator: An Accelerated Course. London: Routledge.
Sager, J.C. (1994). Language Engineering
and Translation: Consequences of Automation. Philadelphia:
John Benjamins.
Smith-Worthington and Jefferson. (2005).
Technical Writing for Success. USA:Thomson
South-Western.
This article was originally published at Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).
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