translation competence

[Cognitive-discourse approach to translator training: an empirical-experimental research into translation process and product using new technologies] (PHB2002-0010-PC), Programa Hispano-brasileño de Cooperación Interuniversitaria del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte entre el grup Pos-Lin Net de la Universidade Minas Gerais  and PACTE (2002-2004, 2004-2006)

The goal of this project is to continue the cooperation already established between the two groups of researchers. The aims are: (1) to guarantee the joint training of researchers in the field of translation studies; (2) to push forward a joint research into a new approach to the didactics of translation, having a cognitive-discourse focus and based on the empirical-experimental research of translation process and product, using the new available technologies.

To achieve these aims, the mobility and exchange of researchers and PhD candidates from both institutions are pursued, in order to share human resources and infrastructure. 

The ultimate goal is to guarantee, in the context of Spanish and Portuguese languages, translation training and translation studies research (field of recent creation) of high quality, able to compete with other countries with a longer tradition in both of them.  

The aim of this research  project is to analyse  Translation Competence  in written translated texts , using an empirical-experimental approach. It constitutes the first stage of  a much larger research project into  the Acquisition of Translation Competence  undertaken by the group PACTE. Research into Translation Competence  will  be undertaken  by examining both : 1) the translation process - collection and analysis of data obtained from  experimental studies of the mental processes at work in translation, and the  competencies and  skills required to translate; 2) the  translation product  - collection and analysis of the  texts produced  using corpus methodology. The present research proposal follows on from a previous study  undertaken by the same research group (PACTE) in which  the conceptual stages of the project were  established – models of translation competence  and  acquisition of translation competence developed; hypotheses established; and measuring instruments and experiments designed and validated through exploratory studies and pilot tests. The present project aims to collect and analyse data obtained on Translation Competence. To do this: 1) an experimental  study  of Translation Competence will be carried out using professional translators (experimental group) and bilinguals who are not professional translators (control group) to generate  data on the mental processes at work in translation, and  the competencies  and  skills required to translate. Six language combinations will be used: English-Spanish; English-Catalan; French-Spanish; French-Catalan; French-Spanish; German-Catalan. 2) a  computerised multi-lingual corpus of texts will be created using the translations produced by the group of professional translators and the group of bi-lingual speakers to obtain data on text production.

PACTE’s research is funded during this stage, in which they carry out empirical and experimental research on Translation Competence (TC) and its acquisition. Their research involved six language combinations (German, English and French into Catalan or Spanish) and translation into L1 and L2. Research is carried out taking into account two complimentary points of view: (1) translation process, data collection and analysis through empirical studies of the mental processes involved, as well as, the competences and abilities required, with the aid of the software Proxy and Camtasia; (2) translation product, data collection and analysis of the results of translation, with the aid of the electronic corpora analysis methodology. This stage marks the end of the first phase of our research, the study of TC and the beginning of the new phase of research in translation competence acquisition (TCA). The aims of this second phase are: to carry out empirical and experimental research in translation competence acquisition (TCA) and the writing of a book about a CT.

See project website: https://gams.uni-graz.at/fedora/get/container:tc/bdef:Container/get

The aim of this research project is to carry out an empirical study of translation competence acquisition (TCA) in trainee translators. The specific aims of the project are:

1.       To establish the conceptual framework for our research on TCA

2.       To carry out an exploratory study to fine-tune the working hypotheses of our project, and update the design of data-collection instruments.

3.       To carry out a pilot study to validate the instruments designed and determine the tasks to be undertaken in the experiment.

4.       To carry out an experiment involving 130 trainee translators to collect data on TCA.