Drawing on empirical research methods and design from cognitive psychology and translation studies, this dissertation focuses on cognitive effort during the translation process when translation memory is used. More specifically, two questions are addressed by means of an experimental study. The first question is whether the use of translation memory affects the cognitive effort of the translator during the process of translating segmented texts compared to translation without the use of a TM. The second research question addressed in this study is whether translators perceive translation memory proposals as useful to the translation task. Both of these questions are experimentally investigated in an attempt to illuminate the effects resulting from the use of translation memory.
This study first provides an overview of translation technology, and outlines key concepts, such as translation memory, post-editing, working memory, and cognitive effort. These concepts are explored within the context of professional translation and the existing literature is reviewed. Next, a novel, Web-based data collection method is proposed to elicit translation process data from Spanish-to-English translators with four to seven years of professional experience. Following this description, the results are presented in light of the two overarching research questions. Moreover, the results are examined in light of Angelone's (2010) notion of triadic metacognitive bundles, consisting of problem recognition, solution proposal, and solution evaluation behaviors. The dissertation concludes by suggesting implications for translation pedagogy, research design, and translation tool design. Finally, the economic ramifications are highlighted, and potential avenues for future research are proposed.
