Legal meta-comments in the think-aloud protocols of legal translators and lawyers: A qualitative analysis

Cornelia Griebel
University of Geneva
Abstract

In order to ensure successful subprocesses within the overall legal translation process, a correct and comprehensive understanding of the source text is crucial. Legal translators must be able to grasp all the legal, linguistic, communicative, and situational dimensions of the text. The focus of this study is on the cognitive processes involved in the first reading phase of the legal translation process and, in particular, on the question of whether legal translators and lawyers have different text reception processes. By analysing the think-aloud protocols recorded in a mixed-methods study, legal meta-comments (LMCs) from translators and lawyers are examined and compared. The results suggest that the two groups approach the text from different angles, which leads to some suggestions for further developing the training of legal translators.

Keywords:
Publication history

Date received: 10 March 2021

Date accepted: 10 March 2021

Published online: 6 April 2021

Table of contents

Translation competence and the translation process are mutually dependent and are therefore inextricably linked. On the one hand, translation competence manifests as a system of subcompetences in the process of translation. On the other hand, translation competence can only be defined on the basis of translational action, and developing competence normally entails improving the translation (sub)processes.

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