A Tentative Study On Translation Strategies In Translation Process

Translation Studies usually attach importance to the study of the end product of translating while playing down the study on the process of translating for one reason or another. However, it is believed that, without process-oriented study, Translation Studies could not stand itself as a separated discipline, and that with research method used in cognitive psychology, it is possible to unveil the "black box" in translating.The main concern of this thesis is to explore the translation strategies employed by Chinese participants when they fulfill both E-C and C-E translation tasks. The participants under this study are college-level translation majors from Grade Two and Grade Four in China. Psycholinguistically-oriented Thinking-aloud method is used to collect data from the participants' self-reports of their translating processes. The TAPs data collected from the experiment are then coded according the rules designed before-hand. Then, combined with questionnaires and interviews, the coded data are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, with focuses on the frequency and distribution of translation strategies in the translating process.The major findings for the present study are as follows:1. There are no appearances of Kiraly's strategies (1997) : "Back Translate" and "Break off translation and start over" in the translation process of Chinese participants. And eighteen strategies have been more or less employed by the participants in this study. In addition, six other strategies are identified in this study, they are the following: Interim Selection; Postpone Attempt; Tentative Solution; Self-correction; Read ST Segment and Read the Whole ST.2. Among the twenty-four strategies, the participants employ "Monitor for TL accuracy"; "Self-correction" more in E-C translation tasks than in C-E translation tasks. On the other hand, they employ "Accept interim solution"; "Identify problem"; "SL-TL dictionary search"; "Make intuitive acceptability judgment"; and "Rephrase ST Segment" more frequent in C-E translation tasks than in E-C translation tasks.3. The translation scores vary with the change of the translation tasks (E-C or C-E) and also with the growth of university grades. The participants do fairly well in E-C translation than in C-E translation. The number of the strategies employed by the participants increases by the development of their bilingual proficiency and the experiences gained in translation training.4. The participants are more likely to employ strategies in the second (incubation) and the third phases (illumination). They apply fewer strategies in the first phase (preparation) and hardly any strategies used in the last phase (evaluation). There were significant differences on the strategy use of the participants from two grades in the incubation and the evaluation phases.The thesis consists of six sections. Section one is devoted to the explanation of the significance of the present study. Section two reviews the previous translation process and translation strategy studies, and then the distinguishing features of the present study are presented. Section three introduces the theoretical background of the study. Section four is the research design including aim, research questions and method, participants and testing materials, instruments and research procedures. Section five launches an analysis and discussion of the collected data. The quantitative and qualitative analyses are equally emphasized. Eventually, the conclusion is drawn in section six and the implications for the translation teaching and the suggestions for the further study are also concluded in this section. Translation process study is a very promising field with encouraging prospects. But it cannot be accomplished in a single stroke. There is a long way to go before the researchers.