Cover not available
Part of
Instrumentalising Foreign Language Pedagogy in Translator and Interpreter Training: Methods, goals and perspectives
Edited by Olaf Immanuel Seel, Silvia Roiss and Petra Zimmermann-González
[Benjamins Translation Library 161] 2023
► pp. 196–214

Chapter 11
Do translators need a different knowledge of their target language?

Extrapolations from an empirical study of linguistic interference in English translations by native Spanish speakers

| Jaume I University , Spain

This chapter aims to identify areas in which students of translation can benefit from specific language teaching geared towards their needs as future translators who will normally be expected to translate from as well as into their second language. Drawing on data from translations by several hundred students at a Spanish university, it is shown that general English teaching as it is currently conceived is not sufficient to prepare these students for the job, mainly because they require specific knowledge and contrastive awareness to be able to produce linguistically, stylistically and formally correct translations of the written texts they will be confronted with as professional translators. The data allows us to distinguish several types of frequent mistakes caused by linguistic interference, providing insights into the specific language teaching needs of translation students and setting a starting point for establishing a cross-linguistically valid inventory of the most common types of interference-based errors in translation.

Keywords: translator training, reverse translation, linguistic interference, linguistic transfer, language teaching for translators, L2 English, constituent order, toponyms, genre conventions, punctuation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Translation into a non-native language (“reverse translation”)
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Typical errors
    • 4.1Syntax: Mistakes regarding constituent order in complex sentences and non-canonical constructions
    • 4.2Lexicon: Toponyms and other proper names
    • 4.3Genre: Characteristic conventions of specific textual genres
    • 4.4Punctuation
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.161.11sch
References
Beeby, Allison
2004 “Language Learning for Translators: Designing a Syllabus.” In Translation in Undergraduate Degree Programmes, ed. by Kirsten Malmkjær, 39–66. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cerezo Herrero, Enrique
2021 “La didáctica de lenguas extranjeras en los estudios de Traducción e Interpretación: ¿qué nos dice la investigación?” Hermēneus 22: 41–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Colegiul National “Unirea” Focşani
2022 Die Geschichte vom Nationalkollegium „Unirea“. [URL]
Erichsen, Gerald
2020 “Where to Place Spanish Adverbs.” ThoughtCo. [URL]
Kelly, Dorothy, Marie-Louise Nobs Federer, Dolores Sánchez, and Catherine Way
2003 “La traducción A-B en el mercado profesional.” In La direccionalidad en traducción e interpretación: perspectivas teóricas, profesionales y didácticas, ed. by Dorothy Kelly, Anne Martin, Marie-Louise Nobs Federer, and Dolores Sánchez, and Catherine Way, 43–64. Granada: Atrio.Google Scholar
Kiraly, Don C.
1995 Pathways to Translation. Pedagogy and Process. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.Google Scholar
Lord, Carol, and Kathleen Dahlgren
1997 “Participant and Event Anaphora in Newspaper Articles.” In Essays on Language Function and Language Type Dedicated to T. Givón, ed. by Joan Bybee, John Haiman, and Sandra A. Thompson, 323–356. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Luk, Gigi, and Ellen Bialystok
2013 “Bilingualism Is Not a Categorical Variable: Interaction between Language Proficiency and Usage.” Journal of Cognitive Psychology 25.5: 605–621. DOI logo.Google Scholar
May, Stephen
(ed) 2013 The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education. London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Newmark, Peter
1988 A Textbook of Translation. Hemel Hampstead: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Richards, Jack C.
2006 Communicative Language Teaching Today. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rivers, Wilga Marie
(ed) 2000 Interactive Language Teaching (10th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Roiss, Silvia
2008 Desarrollo de la competencia traductora: Teoría y práctica del aprendizaje constructivo (Traducción inversa: Español–Alemán). Granada: Comares.Google Scholar
Ursulescu, Nicolae
2008 “Modèles d’organisation de l’espace aux habitations de la culture Précucuteni entre Siret et Prut.” In Etablissements et habitations préhistoriques. Structure, organisation, symbole. Actes du Colloque de Iaşi. 10–12 décembre 2007, ed. by Vasile Chirica, and Mădălin-Cornel Văleanu, 207–238. Iaşi: PIM.Google Scholar
Vega Cernuda, Miguel Ángel
1996 “Hacia una recalificación del perfil del traductor.” Hieronymus Complutensis 3: 42–50.Google Scholar