Article published In:
TargetVol. 18:2 (2006) ► pp.295–312
Revision from translators’ point of view
An interview study
Although generally agreed to be an essential part of translation, revision receives little attention in translation studies with only a few exceptions such as Breedveld (2002) and Englund Dimitrova (2005). This study aims to establish what revision means to practicing translators, and their views as to what revision involves, in terms of the numbers of revisions they do, the length of their drawer-time (how long they put their draft away) and the aspects they check for in revision. Data show that translators typically claim to revise their draft translation once or twice. They do not normally have extended drawer-time. If they do, it would be overnight at most. They also describe themselves as having certain specific aspects in mind when they revise.
Keywords: think-aloud protocol, interview, revision, self-revision, revision checklist, drawer-time
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Revision checklists
- 3. Aims and objectives
- 4.Interview as a research method
- 5.The study
- 6.Results and discussion
- 6.1Number of revisions
- 6.2 Drawer-time
- 6.3Revision checklist
- 6.4Idiosyncratic revision procedures
- 7.Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
-
References
References (18)
Breedveld, Hella. 2002. “Writing and revising process in professional translation”. Across languages and cultures 3:1. 91–100. 
Brunette, Louise. 2000. “Towards a terminology for translation quality assessment”. The translator: Studies in intercultural communications 6:2. 146–159.
Dijk, Teun A. van, and Walter Kintsch. 1983. Strategies of discourse comprehension. London: Academic Press.
Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta. 2005. Expertise and explicitation in the translation process. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Flower, Linda S. and John R. Hayes. 1980. “The dynamics of composing: making plans and juggling constraints”. Lee W. Gregg and Erwin R. Steinberg, eds. Cognitive processes in writing. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum, 1980. 31–50.
Graham, John D. 1983. “Checking, revision and editing”. Catriona Picken, ed. The translator’s handbook, ed. London: Aslib, 1983. 99–105.
Jääskeläinen, Riitta. 1999. Tapping the process: An explorative study of the cognitive and affective factors involved in translating. Joensuu: University of Joensuu. [University of Joensuu publications in the humanities 22.]
Lörscher, Wolfgang 1996. “Psycholinguistic analysis of translation processes”. Meta 41:1. 26–32.
Mossop, Brain. 1982. “A procedure for self-revision”. Terminology update 15:3. 6–9.
. 2001. Revising and editing for translators. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Newmark, Peter. 1983. About translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Patton, Michael Quinn. 1990. Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park: Sage.
Rose, Marilyn Gaddis. 1991. “Seeking synapses: Translators describe translating”. Marilyn Gaddis Rose, ed. Translation: Theory and practice, tension and interdependence. ATA Scholarly Monograph Series 151. New York: State University of New York Binghamton, 1991. 5–12.
Séguinot, Candace. 2000. “Management issues in the translation process”. Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit and Riitta Jääskeläinen, eds. Tapping and mapping the processes of translation and interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins 2000. 143–148.
Sorvali, Irma. 1998. “The translator as a creative being with special regard to the translation of literature and LSP”. Babel 44:3. 234–243.
Thaon, Brenda M. and Paul A. Horguelin. 1980. A practical guide to bilingual revision. Montreal: Linguatech.
Wang, Jun. 2001. “On the application of van Dijk's discourse macrostructure theory to translation”. Paper presented at the conference of the 3rd FIT Asian Translators’ Forum. Hong Kong, December 2001.
Weaver, William. 1989. “The process of translation”. John Biguent and Rainer Schulte, eds. The craft of translation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cited by (28)
Cited by 28 other publications
Cao, Lu, Stephen Doherty & James F. Lee
2023. The process and product of translation revision: empirical data from student translators using eye tracking and screen recording. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 17:4 ► pp. 548 ff. 
Liang, Yaqing, Yanzhi Li & Zhonggang Sang
2023. A Study on Peer Mediation in Dynamic Assessment of Translation Revision Competence. Language Assessment Quarterly 20:1 ► pp. 108 ff.
Läubli, Samuel, Patrick Simianer, Joern Wuebker, Geza Kovacs, Rico Sennrich & Spence Green
2022. The impact of text presentation on translator performance. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 34:2 ► pp. 309 ff.
Valdez, Susana
2021. Literalization in the self-revision process of novice and experienced biomedical translators. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 8:2 ► pp. 356 ff.
Zappone, Tanina
2021. Translating China’s Power: The Collaborative Work Practice of Translating The Governance of China. In Diverse Voices in Chinese Translation and Interpreting [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 273 ff.
Scarpa, Federica
2020. Quality in Specialised Translation. In Research and Professional Practice in Specialised Translation, ► pp. 291 ff.
Whyatt, Bogusława & Marcin Naranowicz
2020. A robust design of the translator’s skill set: evidence for transfer of metacognitive skills to intralingual paraphrasing. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Angelone, Erik
2019. Process-Oriented Assessment of Problems and Errors in Translation. In Quality Assurance and Assessment Practices in Translation and Interpreting [Advances in Linguistics and Communication Studies, ], ► pp. 179 ff.
Ciobanu, Dragoş, Valentina Ragni & Alina Secară
2019. Speech Synthesis in the Translation Revision Process: Evidence from Error Analysis, Questionnaire, and Eye-Tracking. Informatics 6:4 ► pp. 51 ff.
Marin-Lacarta, Maialen & Mireia Vargas-Urpi
2019. Translators revising translators: a fruitful alliance. Perspectives 27:3 ► pp. 404 ff.
Schaeffer, Moritz, Jean Nitzke, Anke Tardel, Katharina Oster, Silke Gutermuth & Silvia Hansen-Schirra
2019. Eye-tracking revision processes of translation students and professional translators. Perspectives 27:4 ► pp. 589 ff.
Schaeffer, Moritz, Anke Tardel, Sascha Hofmann & Silvia Hansen-Schirra
2019. Cognitive Effort and Efficiency in Translation Revision. In Quality Assurance and Assessment Practices in Translation and Interpreting [Advances in Linguistics and Communication Studies, ], ► pp. 226 ff.
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.
2018. Towards a typology of pedagogy-oriented translation and interpreting research. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 12:3 ► pp. 322 ff.
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.
2020. Translation/Interpreting Process Research. In Translator and Interpreter Education Research [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 85 ff.
Huang, Jin
2018. Chapter 8. Working styles of student translators in self-revision, other-revision and post-editing. In Eye Tracking and Multidisciplinary Studies on Translation [Benjamins Translation Library, 143], ► pp. 145 ff.
Mellinger, Christopher D.
2018. Re-thinking translation quality. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies ► pp. 310 ff.
Park Ji Young
2018. Analysis of Korean Translation Agencies’ Revision Practices: On Revision Parameters and Procedures. The Journal of Translation Studies 19:2 ► pp. 147 ff.
Scocchera, Giovanna
2018. Translation Revision as Rereading. Mémoires du livre 9:1
Scocchera, Giovanna
2020. The competent reviser: a short-term empirical study on revision teaching and revision competence acquisition. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:1 ► pp. 19 ff.
Tiselius, Elisabet & Adelina Hild
2017. Expertise and Competence in Translation and Interpreting. In The Handbook of Translation and Cognition, ► pp. 423 ff.
Vieira, Lucas Nunes
2017. Chapter 6. From process to product. In Translation in Transition [Benjamins Translation Library, 133], ► pp. 162 ff.
Robert, Isabelle S. & Louise Brunette
2016. Should Revision Trainees Think Aloud while Revising Somebody Else’s Translation? Insights from an Empirical Study with Professionals. Meta 61:2 ► pp. 320 ff.
Robert, Isabelle S.
2014. Investigating the problem-solving strategies of revisers through triangulation. Translation and Interpreting Studies 9:1 ► pp. 88 ff.
Robert, Isabelle S.
2016. La relecture unilingue : une procédure de révision de traduction rapide, fonctionnelle, mais déloyale. TTR 27:1 ► pp. 95 ff.
Robert, Isabelle S. & Luuk Van Waes
2014. Selecting a translation revision procedure: do common sense and statistics agree?. Perspectives 22:3 ► pp. 304 ff.
Mossop, Brian
2011. Revision. In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 2], ► pp. 135 ff.
Göpferich, Susanne & Riitta Jääskeläinen
2009. Process research into the development of translation competence: Where are we, and where do we need to go?. Across Languages and Cultures 10:2 ► pp. 169 ff.
Garcia, Ignacio
2008. Translating and Revising for Localisation: What do We Know? What do We Need to Know?. Perspectives 16:1-2 ► pp. 49 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.