Miguel A. Jiménez-Crespo

Translation and web localization

1. Technology and the Emergence of Localization 2. The Web Localization Process: From GILT to Web Usability 3. Web Localization and Text 4. Web Localization and Digital Genres 5. Web Localization and Translation Quality 6. Web Localization and Empirical Research 7. Web Localization and Training 8. Future Perspectives in Localization

Crowdsourcing and Online Collaborative Translations

Crowdsourcing and online collaborative translations have emerged in the last decade to the forefront of Translation Studies as one of the most dynamic and unpredictable phenomena that has attracted a growing number of researchers. The popularity of this set of varied translational processes holds the potential to reframe existing translation theories, redefine a number of tenets in the discipline, advance research in the so-called “technological turn” and impact public perceptions on translation. This book provides an interdisciplinary analysis of these phenomena from a descriptive and critical perspective, delving into industry approaches and fostering inter and intra disciplinary connections between areas in which the impact is the greatest, such as cognitive translatology, translation technologies, quality and translation evaluation, sociological approaches, text-linguistic approaches, audiovisual translation or translation pedagogy. This book is of special interest to translation researchers, translation students, industry experts or anyone with an interest on how crowdsourcing and online collaborative translations relate to past, present and future research and theorizations in Translation Studies.

A corpus-based error typology: towards a more objective approach to measuring quality in localization

This paper examines current localization quality assessment through a product-based analysis of error typologies and the role they play in producing reliable and valid measurements. In order to provide a more objective foundation for localization quality, the methodology used is based on a monolingual comparable corpus of original and localized Spanish corporate websites. The contrastive analysis of this corpus highlighted recurrent inadequacies that are difficult to control with current evaluation metrics and, as a result, a comprehensive error categorization for localization is presented. It incorporates certain aspects, such as pragmatic errors, that are absent in current testing instruments used in the industry. In order to observe whether this typology can provide a more holistic and valid approach, it is applied to a case study that measures the errors in a localized Spanish website from one of the largest US companies. The results shed some light onto the shortcomings of current Quality Analysis practices and illustrate the benefits of adopting a bottom-up corpus approach in quality assessment. The wider implications for testing practices in localization are also described.

Testing explicitation in translation: Triangulating corpus and experimental studies

During recent years, scholars have stressed the need to combine corpus-based translation studies (CBTS) and cognitive translatology to gain insights into the cognitive foundation for the general features of translated language (Halverson 2010; Alves and Vale 2011). This paper responds to previous calls to test explicitation phenomena on different translation modalities and types (Chesterman 2004a:47), and their cognitive basis (Halverson 2010, 2003). The paper presents a triangulation model on the basis of which hypotheses from descriptive corpus-based studies are generated, testing instruments are developed using previous corpora and the results of experimental studies are triangulated using these same corpora. The empirical study departs from two previous comparable corpus studies that focus on corporate (Jimenez-Crespo 2011a) and social networking sites (Jimenez-Crespo 2013). It uses their results and corpora to develop an experimental design to test the explicitation hypothesis. The study tests and co...

How much would you like to pay? Reframing and expanding the notion of translation quality through crowdsourcing and volunteer approaches

ABSTRACT This paper examines the reconceptualization of translation quality since the emergence of new paid and volunteer crowdsourcing approaches both in the industry and in Translation Studies (TS). It explores how economic considerations have led to a dynamic conceptualization of translation quality. Its main focus is the impact of innovative crowdsourcing workflows and practices that currently offer on free and paid models different quality tiers. In this process, translation quality has been reconceptualized from a desirable, static and high cost commodity that can be certified through international standards, to a new dynamic construct in which the fitness for purpose of the translation product, rather than quality, is negotiated by different actors and through a wide range of process-based factors that directly correlate to different prices charged for the translation. The evolution of quality from static to dynamic approaches will be explored. The article will end with a discussion on whether the expansion of the notion of translation quality can help consolidate the so-called economic turn in the discipline.

The role of translation technologies in Spanish language learning

ABSTRACTTranslation for language learning has reemerged during recent years as an additional asset for foreign language instruction. In this time, the professional practice and training of translat...

International business, marketing and translation studies: Impacting research into web localization

This chapter delves into the different approaches to localization of websitesand the interdisciplinary links between two disciplines that have an interestin the exploration of this phenomenon, translation studies and internationalbusiness and marketing. The chapter explores how the cultural, user-basedand goal oriented perspectives in international business and marketing haveimpacted translation studies research into web localization. At the same time, itexplores through an interview and commentary with Dr. Nitish Singh, author ofLocalization Strategies for Global E-Business (2012), The Culturally CustomizedWebsite (2005) and many other contrastive web localization studies, whetherand how translation research has been introduced in the conceptualization andtheorizations in the partner discipline.

Translation under Pressure and the Web: A Parallel Corpus-Study of Obama's Inaugural Speech in the Online Media

This is an exploratory inquiry into signed language interpreters’ perceptions of interpreter e-professionalism on social media, specifically Facebook. Given the global pervasiveness of Facebook, this study presents an international perspective, and reports on findings of focus groups held with a total of 12 professional signed language interpreters from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, all of whom are also Facebook users. The findings reveal that Facebook is seen to blur the traditional boundaries between personal and professional realms – an overlap which is perceived to be compounded by the nature of the small community in which signed language interpreters typically work –necessitating boundary management strategies in order to maintain perceptions of professionalism on the site. Facebook is considered a valuable professional resource to leverage for networking, professional development, problem solving and assignment preparation, but it is also perceived as a potential professional liability for both individual interpreters and the profession at large. Maintaining client confidentiality was found to be the most pressing challenge Facebook brings to the profession. Educational measures to raise awareness about e-professionalism were generally viewed favourably.The study probes into translation students’ perception of the value of online peer feedback in improving translation skills. Students enrolled in a translation degree in Australia translated a 250-word text on two separate occasions. On each occasion, the students were given another fellow student’s translation of the same text to mark and provide anonymous peer feedback. The original translations from all the students, together with any peer feedback, were uploaded onto an online forum. The students were encouraged to download their own translation to review the peer feedback in it. They were also encouraged to download and peruse other students’ peer reviewed translations for comparison. Upon completion of the project, the students were surveyed about their perceptions and appreciation of their engagement in the process in the following three capacities: (i) as a feedback provider, (ii) as a feedback recipient, and (iii) as a peruser of other students’ work and the peer feedback therein. Results suggest that translation students appreciate online peer feedback as a valuable activity that facilitates improvement. The students found receiving peer feedback on their own translation especially rewarding, as it offered alternative approaches and perspectives on tackling linguistic/translation issues. In comparing the three capacities, students perceived reviewing feedback on their own work and perusing other students’ work as more beneficial than engaging in giving feedback to others.Title: Tarjamat al-khadamaat al-’aammah ( Community Interpreting and Translation) Author: Dr. Mustapha Taibi (University of Western Sydney) Year of publication: 2011 Publisher: Dar Assalam , Rabat (Morocco) ISBN: 978-9954-22-088-7 191 pagesAccent is known to cause comprehension difficulty, but empirical interpreting studies on its specific impact have been sporadic. According to Mazzetti (1999), an accent is composed of deviated phonemics and prosody, both discussed extensively in the TESL discipline. The current study seeks to examine, in the interpreting setting, the applicability of Anderson-Hsieh, Johnson and Koehlers (1992) finding that deviated prosody hinders comprehension more than problematic phonemics and syllable structure do. Thirty-seven graduate-level interpreting majors, assigned randomly to four groups, rendered four versions of a text read by the same speaker and then filled out a questionnaire while playing back their own renditions. Renditions were later rated for accuracy by two freelance interpreters, whereas the questionnaires analysed qualitatively. Results of analyses indicated that 1) both phonemics and prosody deteriorated comprehension, but prosody had a greater impact; 2) deviated North American English post-vowel /r/, intonation and rhythm were comprehension problem triggers. The finding may be of use to interpreting trainers, trainees and professionals by contributing to their knowledge of accent.The title Conference of the Tongues at first sight raises questions as to the particularities of its pertinence to translation studies, i.e. the range of possible subject matters subsumed, and is somewhat loosely explained in the preface by a short and factual hint to its historical origins (in sixteenth-century Spain in a paratext to a translation of Aesop). There is no further elaboration on the motivation for the choice of this title however.The market for translation services provided by individuals is currently characterized by significant uncertainty because buyers lack clear ways to identify qualified providers from amongst the total pool of translators. Certification and educational diplomas both serve to reduce the resulting information asymmetry, but both suffer from potential drawbacks: translator training programs are currently oversupplying the market with graduates who may lack the specific skills needed in the market and no certification program enjoys universal recognition. In addition, the two may be seen as competing means of establishing qualification. The resulting situation, in which potential clients are uncertain about which signal to trust, is known as a signal jam . In order to overcome this jam and provide more consistent signaling, translator-training programs and professional associations offering certification need to collaborate more closely to harmonize their requirements and deliver continuing professional development (CPD) that help align the outcomes from training and certification.Interpreting is rather like scuba diving. With just a bit of protective equipment, we interpreters plunge for a short time into an often alien world, where a mistake can be very serious, not only for ourselves but for the other divers who are depending on us to understand their surroundings. And as all who dive, we interpreters find this daily foray into a new environment fascinating, exhilarating, but also at times, challenging. One of the high-risk dive sites into which we venture often is the sea of healthcare, where the strange whale-song of medical dialogue, the often incomprehensible behavior of local denizens such as doctors, and the tricky currents of the healthcare system itself require special knowledge and skill to navigate successfully. Did you ever wish for a dive manual for unique world of healthcare? Well, here’s a good one, from linguist, RN and interpreter trainer, Dr. Ineke Crezee of New Zealand.Among all the difficulties inherent in interpreting, numbers stand out as a common and complex problem trigger. This experimental study contributes to research on the causes of errors in the passive simultaneous interpretation (SI) of numbers. Two groups of Italian Master’s degree students (one for English and one for German) were asked to interpret simultaneously a number-dense speech from their respective B language into their mother tongue, Italian. Note-taking was allowed during the test and both the study participants and their lecturers completed a questionnaire afterwards. Data analysis was conducted with statistical and qualitative methods, combining the cognitivist and contextualist approach. The objective was to ascertain whether one main variable may be held responsible for the high error rate related to interpreting numbers and the difficulty perceived by students in the task. The analysis quantifies the relative impact of different causes of difficulties on participants’ delivery of numbers. It stresses the crucial role of the subjective variable represented by interpreters’ skills. Didactic implications and directions for future research are discussed in the conclusion.

Crowdsourcing and Translation Quality: Novel Approaches in the Language Industry and Translation Studies

Crowdsourcing involves the outsourcing of processes previously conducted by professionals in structured ways to communities and crowds using innovative workflows in order to achieve the best possible results. This chapter deals with the way in which the notion of quality has been impacted by the crowdsourcing revolution in translation. After defining the scope of what crowdsourcing is in translational contexts, it delves into the impact of crowdsourcing in terms of how the industry and translation studies conceptualise and implement quality. The main issues reviewed will be the consolidation of process-based approaches to guarantee quality, the expansion of the fitness for purpose model, and the distribution of responsibility to different agents that participate in the translation event. The chapter ends with an exploration of novel practices and workflows to guarantee quality inspired both by professional approaches and by MT research in existing crowdsourcing initiatives.