Cover not available
Article published In:
Interdisciplinarity in Translation and Interpreting Process Research
Edited by Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow, Susanne Göpferich and Sharon O'Brien
[Target 25:1] 2013
► pp. 77–92

Applying a newswriting research approach to translation

| Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

Translation is a situated activity that involves more than simply producing target texts from source texts. In order to understand what translators actually do when they translate, their psycho-biographies as well as the social setting of the workplace and the contextual resources must be considered. In this paper, we outline how a mixed-method approach originally developed to study the newswriting processes of journalists at their workplaces can be applied in translation process research. We argue that progression analysis, which combines keystroke logging, screen recordings, eye-tracking, and cue-based retrospective verbalization, can be profitably used along with version analysis to gain insights into cognitive aspects of the translation process.

Keywords: translation process, newswriting research, progression analysis, eyetracking, version analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The relevance of newswriting research for translation studies
    • 2.1Parallels between writing and translation process research methods
    • 2.2Methodological considerations
  • 3.Progression analysis in newswriting research
  • 4.Tracing translation processes with progression analysis
    • 4.1First level of progression analysis: the translation situation
    • 4.2Second level of progression analysis: translation activities and practices
      • 4.2.1Computer logging
      • 4.2.2S-notation
      • 4.2.3Progression graphs
      • 4.2.4Eye-tracking
    • 4.3Third level of progression analysis: awareness of decision-making
    • 4.4Version analysis of translation products
  • 5.Transferring research findings to training and back to the workplace
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 March 2013
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.25.1.07ehr
References
Archer, Margaret
2003 Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bremner, Stephen
2012 “Socialization and the Acquisition of Professional Discourse.” Written Communication 29 (1): 7–32.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen, and Alexander Künzli
2010 “Methods of Accessing Metalinguistic Awareness: A Question of Quality?” In New Approaches in Translation Process Research, ed. by Susanne Göpferich, Fabio Alves, and Inger Mees, 113–132. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur. [Copenhagen Studies in Language, 39.]Google Scholar
Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta
2005 Expertise and Explicitation in the Translation Process. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Gyde
2006 “Retrospection Methods in Translator Training and Translation Research.” Journal of Specialised Translation 51: 2–41.Google Scholar
Jääskeläinen, Riitta
2011 “Back to Basics: Designing a Study to Determine the Validity and the Reliability of Verbal Report Data on Translation Processes.” In Cognitive Explorations of Translation, ed. by Sharon O’Brien, 15–29. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Geert
2011 “Press Conferences on the Internet.” Journal of Pragmatics 43 (7): 1900–1911.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jakobsen, Arnt L.
2006 “Research Methods in Translation — Translog.” In Computer Key-Stroke Logging and Writing: Methods and Applications, ed. by Kirk P. H. Sullivan and Eva Lindgren, 95–105. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Jones, Deborah, and Maria Stubbe
2004 “Communication and the Reflective Practitioner. A Shared Perspective from Sociolinguistics and Organisational Communication.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics 14 (2): 185–211.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Juzwik, Mary M., Svjetlana Curcic, Kimberly Wolbers, Kathleen D. Moxley, Lisa M. Dimling, and Rebecca K. Shankland
2006 “Writing into the 21st Century: An Overview of Research on Writing, 1999 to 2004.” Written Communication 23 (4): 451–476.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kollberg, Py
1998 S-Notation — A Computer-Based Method for Studying and Representing Text Composition. Licentiate thesis, Royal Institute of Technology, IPLab, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Kollberg, Py, and Kerstin Severinson Eklundh
2001 “Analyzing Writers’ Revising Patterns with S-Notation Analysis.” In Contemporary Tools and Techniques for Studying Writing, ed. by Thierry Olive and C. Michael Levy, 89–104. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Krohn, Wolfgang
2008 “Learning from Case Studies.” In Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research, ed. by Holger Hoffmann-Riem et al.., 369–383. Berlin: Springer.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee-Jahnke, Hannelore
2005 “New Cognitive Approaches in Process-Oriented Translation Training.” Meta 50 (2): 359–377.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Levy, C. Michael, J. Pamela Marek, and Joseph Lea
1996 “Concurrent and Retrospective Protocols in Writing Research.” In Theories Models and Methodology in Writing Research, ed. by Gert Rijlaarsdam, Huub Van den Bergh, and Michael Couzijn, 542–556. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar
Massey, Gary, and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow
2010 “Investigating Demands on Language professionals.” Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquée (Special Issue 1): 127–141.Google Scholar
Mossop, Brian
2007 “Empirical Studies of Revision: What We Know and Need to Know.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 81: 5–20.Google Scholar
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo
2010 “On Paradigms and Cognitive Translatology.” In Translation and Cognition, ed. by Gregory Shreve and Erik Angelone, 169–187. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Perrin, Daniel
2003 “Progression Analysis (PA). Investigating Writing Strategies at the Workplace.” Journal of Pragmatics 35 (6): 907–921.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 “Progression Analysis: An Ethnographic, Computer-Based Multi-Method Approach to Investigate Natural Writing Processes.” In Writing and Digital Media, ed. by Luuk Van Waes, Mariëlle Leijten, and Christine M. Neuwirth, 173–179. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
In press. The Linguistics of Newswriting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.   DOI logo
Perrin, Daniel, and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow
2008 “Media Competence.” In Handbook of Communicative Competence, ed. by Gert Rickheit and Hans Strohner, 277–312. New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Rijlaarsdam, Gert, Huub Van den Bergh, and Michael Couzijn
(eds) 1996 Theories, Models and Methodology in Writing Research. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tashakkori, Abbas, and Charles Teddlie
2003 “Major Issues and Controversies in the Use of Mixed Methods in Social and Behavioral Research.” In Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social and Behavioral Research, ed. by Abbas Tashakkori and Charles Teddlie, 3–50. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Van Hout, Tom, Henk Pander Maat, and Wim De Preter
2011 “Writing from News Sources. The Case of Apple TV.” Journal of Pragmatics 43 (7): 1876–1889.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Waes, Luuk, and Mariëlle Leijten
2006 “Logging Writing Processes with Inputlog.” In Writing and Digital Media, ed. by Luuk Van Waes, Mariëlle Leijten, and Christine M. Neuwirth, 158–165. Oxford: Elsevier. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 14 other publications

Alves, Fabio
2015. Translation process research at the interface. In Psycholinguistic and Cognitive Inquiries into Translation and Interpreting [Benjamins Translation Library, 115], ► pp. 17 ff. DOI logo
Alves, Fabio, Amparo Hurtado Albir & Isabel Lacruz
2021. Introduction. Translation Spaces ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Dam-Jensen, Helle, Carmen Heine & Iris Schrijver
2019. The Nature of Text Production – Similarities and Differences between Writing and Translation. Across Languages and Cultures 20:2 ► pp. 155 ff. DOI logo
Liu, Xiaodong
2024. Mapping translation process research: A bibliographic study on special issues since year 2005. Forum for Linguistic Studies 6:2 ► pp. 1169 ff. DOI logo
Massey, Gary
2017. Translation Competence Development and Process‐Oriented Pedagogy. In The Handbook of Translation and Cognition, ► pp. 496 ff. DOI logo
Perrin, Daniel
2016. Investigating the Backstage of Newswriting with Process Analysis. In Advancing Media Production Research, ► pp. 161 ff. DOI logo
Perrin, Daniel
2018. On, for, and with practitioners. AILA Review 31 ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo
Qassem, Mutahar & Buthainah M. Al Thowaini
2023. Cognitive Processes and Translation Quality: Evidence from Keystroke-Logging Software. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 52:5 ► pp. 1589 ff. DOI logo
Valdeón, Roberto A.
2015. Fifteen years of journalistic translation research and more. Perspectives 23:4 ► pp. 634 ff. DOI logo
Wengelin, Åsa & Victoria Johansson
2023. Investigating Writing Processes with Keystroke Logging. In Digital Writing Technologies in Higher Education, ► pp. 405 ff. DOI logo
Wright, Alicia V.
2022. On the [translated] record: Journalistic translation and creative agency in India’s multilingual reporting. Journalism 23:7 ► pp. 1449 ff. DOI logo
Zanettin, Federico
2021. News Media Translation, DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2017. Researching Translation Competence by PACTE Group [Benjamins Translation Library, 127], DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2017. Argumentation in the Newsroom [Argumentation in Context, 13], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 april 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.