Lecture III Translation Theory and Psycholingusitics I

1. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics I 1/Perception and production in translation perception and production in different languages, →a transcoding section between them. perception and production – despite the transcoding section – can overlap in time perception and production can be nearly simultaneous or can be a more or less considerable time gap (delay) between the two phases (consecutive interpreting:importance of the ability to storeinformation i.e. the role of memory)

2. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics II 2/ In translation two different strategies: • from linguistic form to thought and • from thoughttolinguistic form Additional difficulty: • the expression of someone else’s thoughts →translators work on the basis of “externally defined programmes”(A.A. Leontyev) ; • indirect motivation: translators, as individuals, cannot totally exclude their own involvement in the process of perception and production; • translators are not bilinguals but mediators between two languages

3. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics III 3/ Simultaneous interpreting as a psycholinguisticexperiment: • The analysis of text samples recorded during oral translation reveals much more of the internal processes going on in the mind of the interpreter than the analysis of written translations: • uncombed, unedited, raw and “half-transcoded” texts with seemingly unjustified additions and omissions, well-formulated passages followed by vaguely put ones, jabbering alternating with slow speech or pauses - not so far from „internal speech”as the edited texts of translators

4. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics IV 4/ Simultaneity of listening and speaking • micropauses between listening and speaking • listening is not passive, because it can be divided into phases of • hearing the utterance • matching it as a phonemic pattern • grammatical acceptance • semantic interpretation • understanding (attaching contextual information

5. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics V 5/ Probability prediction (Chernov and Zimnyaya) in simultaneous interpreting production precedes perception: interpreters working with an internal programme consisting of • a long-range hypothesis:time, place, topic, aims, text-types etc.) • a short-range hypothesis: forming a specific idea about the contents of a sentence just started by the speaker (cf. German: predicate often comes at the end): Ich weiß dass er gut schwimmt. ‘I know that he is a good swimmer’ These two hypotheses make it possible for the interpreter to stop the process of listening actively to the speaker and from time to time work on the basis of a hypothesis. Probability prediction rejected by practicing interpreters: the interpreter has no right to translate anything that has not been uttered yet;

6. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics VI 6/ Types of hypotheses Interpreters working on the basis of the • aim of utterance (Sladkovskaya’s experiment – aim misperceived) • everyday practice (Seleskovitch’s story – peformance of the speaker) • short-term memory: stores words on an associative basis • long-term memory: only used if simultaneous interpreting is interrupted • acoustic adjustment: forming hypotheses on the basis of the speaker’s intonation

7. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics VII Conclusion: Being pressed for time the simultaneous interpreter cannot go along the whole way from the SL form to the TL form and often contents himself with transitory solutions in a transitory language, which reflects the characteristics of both the source and the target languages and allows us to conclude what is going on in an interpreter’s mind halfway between the SL and the TL.

8. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics VIII The basic unit of translation/interpreting Not the word or the sentence! • Translating written texts: conventions of sentence boundaries; • Simultaneous interpreting: difficult to find sentence boundaries; • units separated by the uncertainties of speech rhythm, • slow speech suddenly changing into jabber, • pauses.

9. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics IX The personal traits of interpreters (important in their selection and training: They must: • react quickly, • bear monotony, • be self-confident, • be open towards the external world, • be able to divide their attention, • have a well-trained memory, • be able to work without feedback, • stand stressful situations, • possess the necessary general intelligence, • be able to bear being subordinated, • possess the necessary social intelligence, • be able to adjust to the partners (empathy), • be able to continuously control their own work (self-control) • have some technical skills, • be in a good mental and pysical condition during interpretation.

10. Lecture IIITranslation Theory and Psycholingusitics X The translator’s “internal speech” and the introspective method Written translated texts: less indicative of the peculiarities of perception and production in bilingual speech activity. Questions researchers are concerned with: • How long didthe understanding of the text take? • In what stages did it happen? • In what language did it take place? • To what extent was understanding(perception) separated from production, i.e., writing down the text? Method of introspection applied by Hans Krings (1987) to research in the psychological processes of translation – asking translators „to think aloud” while working. It slows down the activity – not reflective of real mental processes.