A Study Of Translators'Searching Behavior In English-Chinese Professional Translation

The digitalized information and Internet have facilitated high speed communication today.In the translation industry,retrieving information from information resources with the aid of CAT software and computers has become part of professional translation skills and relies on the high speed,easy access,and high efficiency of Internet and big data.As a result,the traditional ways of consulting dictionaries,encyclopedia and other reference materials are no longer the dominant methods.Previous research findings have shown that searching,as a component of translation competence,plays a coordinated and strategic role in translation problem solving process.However,little research effort has been made on translator's searching as compared to its practical norms.This study aims at exploring professional translators' searching behavior and features while they undertake familiar and/or unfamiliar translation tasks.By comparing their searching behavior,the study analyzes how professional translators construct relevant knowledge infrastructure in case of knowledge deficiency via compensation mechanism of searching.Five hypotheses have been developed based on the observation of the subjects' searching behaviour selected from some companies of translation industry.Patterns of search frequency,types of information resources,duration of a searching session,the change of information needs representations in relation to the domains of the translation tasks have been closely looked into.Four conclusions were drawn: 1)The search frequency was not correlated with translation tasks,but new Dale-Chall score was correlated with the number of information needs and with the search frequency.2)The frequency of the use of domain-specific information resources was not correlated with translation tasks,while that of dictionaries and other non-domain specific information resources increased significantly in the unfamiliar translation task.3)The number of changes of information needs representations increased significantly in the unfamiliar translation task with 3 special query change tactics and more diversified search styles.4)The duration of searching and that of source texts comprehension/target texts production decreased significantly in the unfamiliar translation task,and the duration of searching and that of information resources were negatively correlated with the adequate solution of information needs.Through screen recording,retrospective report and questionnaires,the study gathers,compares and statistically analyzes the translators' searching behavior data to finally form a profile of professional translators searching behavior.Based on the research findings,the study aims to construct a map of translators' searching strategies and factors.Moreover,the study finds out the tracks of searching sequences in line with the application of various hardware and software,the contribution of big data,and the translators' dependence on digitalized information system.Searching in translation is therefore characterized as being synthetic,situational,compensational and peripheral.Given the intricate relationships of the above-mentioned factors,the study suggests that the importance of searching training should not be underestimated in translation education.And the research findings may provide theoretical foundation for the evaluation of professional translators in the searching aspect,and the search indicators statistically tested may well serve as possible evaluation parameters for the acquisition of professional translators' search competence.