Anne Lise Laursen

Text Corpora in Translator Training

Abstract Specialized translation programmes are traditionally expected to transform trainees into linguistic experts in terms of specialized languages and semi-experts in terms of specialized domains such as economics, technology and law. This type of education aims to teach trainees how to manage a host of encyclopaedic and linguistic data adequately for professional translation purposes within a relatively short period of time. A practical approach to this challenge requires teaching specific processes that can be applied systematically to new contexts. This paper demonstrates how comparable text corpora and concordance software can be used as an efficient and versatile tool for classroom training within the syllabus of specialized translation between Spanish and Danish. In concurrent classroom sessions consisting of software introduction and translation training, trainees acquire the relevant basic software skills related to the concordance program as well as the ability to analyze a set of comparable corpora within a specific genre, in this case the genre of annual reports. The analysis they undertake teaches them how to identify differences in stylistic features between Spanish and Danish, and how to base their own translation choices on corpus data.AbstractSpecialized translation programmes are traditionally expected to transform trainees into linguistic experts in terms of specialized languages and semi-experts in terms of specialized domains such as economics, technology and law. This type of education aims to teach trainees how to manage a host of encyclopaedic and linguistic data adequately for professional translation purposes within a relatively short period of time. A practical approach to this challenge requires teaching specific processes that can be applied systematically to new contexts. This paper demonstrates how comparable text corpora and concordance software can be used as an efficient and versatile tool for classroom training within the syllabus of specialized translation between Spanish and Danish. In concurrent classroom sessions consisting of software introduction and translation training, trainees acquire the relevant basic software skills related to the concordance program as well as the ability to analyze a set of comparable c...

Using an AD-HOC Corpus to Write About Emerging Technologies for Technical Writing and Translation: The Case of Search Engine Optimization

Technical writers and translators struggle with language consistency in emerging technologies. Corpus linguistics can track language structures in such quickly developing environments. An ad-hoc corpus may be the tool needed for technical communicators. Key concepts: Mega-corpora versus ad-hoc corpora: The term “mega-corpora” typically covers the existing national corpora, whereas ad-hoc corpora can be created quickly for technical communication. Variation versus consistency: variation covers the range of possible solutions compared to the need for consistency of terminology in given contexts. Representativeness versus adequacy: representativeness defines the possibility of variation within the scope of the field; in contrast , adequacy represents contextual suitability. Key lessons: To use ad-hoc corpora as a tool for keeping track of and understanding language variation in texts about emerging technology: (1) design and compile a small set of relevant descriptions regarding the emerging technology, (2) use the software corpus tool representation of corpora to evaluate whether the ad-hoc corpus is representative-meaning that adding new texts does not add new words or variations in terminology use, (3) use the software corpus tool AntConc to analyze the ad-hoc corpus finding concordance patterns and variation in terminology usage, and (4) use linguistic strategies for selecting terminology based on linguistic evidence rather than intuition. Implications for practice: The ad-hoc corpus method offers an evidence-based approach for determining patterns of terminology. This method can be applied to standardizing product documentation or tracking variations in language use and can help technical writers and translators keep track of evolving terminology for emerging technologies.

Exploring the Potential of Corpus Use in Translation Training: New Approaches for Incorporating Software in Danish Translation Course Design

This chapter describes the corpus analysis strategies used with the translation master’s students at the Department of Business Communication at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences (formerly Aarhus School of Business or ASB). Corpus analysis is both coherent with the methodological and theoretical approaches followed within this master program. The short time available for the training of specialized translators only allows for teaching the students methods that they can apply systematically to several professional tasks. The theoretical contents of the syllabus are based on two complementary approaches to applied linguistics: (a) Vermeer and Nord (SKOPOS), Bhatia and Trosborg (genre analysis), and Vinay, Darbelnet, and Korzen et al. (contrastive stylistics); (b) theories of specialized lexicography (Tarp), which have been developed within the former ASB. We illustrate here how the traditional translation training strategies can be combined with the use of concordancing software to cope with translations.

Tracking anglicisms in domains by the corpus-linguistic method — A case study of financial language in stock blogs and stock analyses

Lay investors and semi-professionals lean on professional stock bloggers and stock analysts for advice on stock investments; semi-professionals and professionals write about investments globally, and stock information has to be available in many local markets. Using the correct terminology for professionals, semiprofessionals and to some extent lay investors is a challenge. Articles, blogs or translations involve a certain amount of specialized terminology. Against this backdrop, rub-off from leading English-language financial markets must be expected in local financial markets. In our case study, we compare the use of specialized Anglicisms in the Spanish and Danish markets, respectively. We discuss critical sense versus randomness in the adoption of Anglicisms in specialized financial contexts in the Danish and Spanish languages, thus arguing that the much coveted translators or a writers critical sense is not enough to make the right choices. Our corpus-linguistic tool can be a help in this specialized field.