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Article published In:
Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 19:1 (2024) ► pp.105–131

Effect of word order asymmetry on the cognitive load of English–Chinese sight translation

Evidence from eye movement data

ORCID logo | Southeast University
ORCID logo | Hong Kong Polytechnic University
This article examines word order asymmetry as one prominent obstacle in the cognitive process of English–Chinese sight translation. A within-subject experiment was designed for 23 MA translation students who sight translated sentences with different degrees of structural asymmetry from English into Chinese in both single sentence and discourse contexts. To measure cognitive load, participants’ eye movements during translation were recorded using an eye tracker. Three major findings were generated: (1) The effect of word order asymmetry was confirmed on both sentence-based and word-based processing; (2) Contextual information did not contribute to less effortful processing in the discourse context (as indicated by more fixations and longer regressions); (3) Segmentation was used far more frequently than restructuring to address asymmetric structures. We expect these findings will enrich our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms involved in interpreting between languages that are structurally very different and help inform training practices.
Keywords: word order asymmetry, cognitive load, English–Chinese sight translation, eye movement
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • Impact of word order asymmetry on interpreting
    • Word order asymmetry in English–Chinese interpreting
    • Cognitive load and processing word order asymmetry in sight translation
    • Summary
  • Research questions
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Design and materials
    • Equipment
    • Procedure
  • Data analysis and results
    • Eye measures and analysis method
    • Overall cognitive load
    • Local cognitive load
    • Strategy preference for processing word order asymmetry
  • Discussion
    • Effect of word order asymmetry on the cognitive process of sight translation
    • Cognitive processing disrupted by word order asymmetry
    • Limited role of context in offsetting asymmetry-induced cognitive load
    • Segmentation as the primary strategy adopted in cases of word order asymmetry
    • Mental workings of sight translation and implications for interpreter training
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 22 March 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19014.ma
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