A learner generated corpus to direct learner-centered courses

Clara Inés López RodríguezUniversity of Granada (Spain)

Bryan RobinsonMaría Isabel Tercedor Sánchez

Maastricht, May 2005

Research and teaching context

R&D project of the Spanish Ministry of Education:PUERTOTERM: knowledge representation and the

generation of terminological resources within the domain of Coastal Engineering (Reference BF 2003-04720)Scientific and Technical translation classroom:

English <> SpanishTeaching innovation action

Localización del Texto multimedia: generación de recursos en el aula de traducción científica y técnica

(importance of audiovisual and multimedia material)Close collaboration between teachers

Kiraly (2000: 72)

Social constructivism, collaborative learning

Objectives

To build a sound foundation for new classroom activities

to make students aware of their mistakes/errors deriving from lack of understanding of the subject field and their inability to grasp the meaning of the text.

Analyze data extracted from a corpus of student translations so as to focus on the patterns and problems regularly generated by our learners.To see the effect translation problems related to meaning have on the type of mistakes/errors students make.

Theoretical foundations: use of corpora in the translation classroom

DIY corpus: Zannetin (2002), López Rodríguez (2002)Learner corpus: Uzar (2002)Evaluation corpus: Bowker (2001)

Quality: comparable corpusQuantity corpusInappropriate corpus

Theoretical foundations: evaluation Learner error vs. learning mistake (Miller 1966;

Corder 1973) Approaches to evaluation: Waddington (2001)

Analytical: Martínez Melis and Hurtado (2001)Analytical + holistic: González Davies (2001)Holistic: Waddington (1999, 2001) and

Robinson (1998)

Adapted from: Bryan Robinson 1998. Traducción transparente: métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos en la evaluación de la traducción. Revista de Enseñanza Universitaria (Número extraordinario):577-589. ISSN 1131-5245.

DECODING ENCODING

Content Register, vocabulary, terminology

Translation brief and orientation to target text type

Written expression

0The text fails to meet minimum requirements

The text fails to meet minimum requirements

The text fails to meet minimum requirements

The text fails to meet minimum requirements

1-2

Comprehension limited.Major content errors.Substantial omissions of ST content.

Choice of register sometimes inappropriate or inconsistent.Vocabulary limited with some basic errors.Limited awareness of appropriate terminology.

Formal or literal translation.Little or no use of rhetorical devices appropriate to TT type.

Limited, with errors in basic constructions.

3-4

Comprehension adequate.Minor content errors.Some omissions of ST content.

Choice of register occasionally inappropriate or inconsistent.Occasional mistakes of basic vocabulary. Clear awareness of appropriate terminology although some errors.

Elements of formal or literal translation.Limited use of rhetorical devices appropriate to TT type.

Ineffective, with errors in complex structures and mistakes in basic structures.

5-6

Comprehension good. Minor omissions of less relevant ST content. Over- or under-translation distorts ST content or results in ambiguity

Choice of register mostly appropriate and consistent.Vocabulary effective despite mistakes.Terminology appropriate despite occasional errors.

Clear orientation towards TT type.Appropriate use of many TT type rhetorical devices

Effective.Complex structures are clear. Occasional mistakes.Some errors in use of articles, prepositions or spelling of less common words.

7-8

Comprehension very good.Over- or under-translation does not distort ST content or result in ambiguity.

Choice of register appropriate and consistent.Vocabulary effective despite occasional mistakes. Terminology appropriate despite mistakes.

Effective production of TT type.Consistently appropriate use of TT type rhetorical devices

Good and effective.Occasional systematic errors of advanced usage only.No mistakes.

9-10

Comprehension excellent. ST content, including subtle detail, fully understood.

Choice of register consistently effective and appropriate.Sophisticated, highly effective choice of vocabulary.Terminology appropriate and wholly accurate.

Effective, sophisticated production of TT type with few or no mistakes.

Very good.Sophisticated use of language with no mistakes and occasional or no errors of advanced usage.

Criterion descriptors (Robinson 1998)

Advantages of this scale

FormativeHolisticTransparent, easy to understand and conducive to self-assessment The learner acquires “editor like” trainingYou can adapt the scale and give different weights to different aspects of the scale, depending on the level of the course and the directionality of translation

Adapting the descriptors to final year students translating into their mother tongue

4. Written expression (ES > EN)4. Translation brief and professional aspects

3. Translation brief and orientation to target text type (ES > EN)3. Fluency and orientation to target text type

Implementing learner-centered courses (I)

3rd and 4th year translation students (EN<>ES)Scientific translation, technical translation and localisation, audiovisual translation Subject field: coastal engineering

Design of learner-centered activities:Acquisition of field knowledgeGetting familiar with corpora and annotation Identifying translation problemsDeveloping translation strategiesEvaluating the solutions given by peers and by themselves: self-assessment of mistakes/errors and acquisition of “editor like” training

Implementing learner-centered courses (II)

1. Acquisition of field knowledge and relevant cognitive and lexical structures

Analysis of visual and multimedia aids

Reading skills: skimming and scanning

Compiling a DIY corpus

Conceptual modeling: elaborating ontologies and glossaries

a. Describing and comparing images using the target language (Scene-and-frame semantics, Kussmaul 1991, 1995).

b. Matching images with their captions.

Analysis of visual/multimedia aids

PROCESS-ORIENTED TERMINOLOGY AND TRANSLATION

http://cil-www.coas.oregonstate.edu:8080/frames/motivate/motivate.htmlhttp://coastview.ims.plym.ac.uk/video.htmlhttp://wldelft.nl/cons/appl/argus/index.html

CAPTIONS

• Instrument deployment during SandyDuck’97.

• Diver installing pressure transducer on the sea bead.

• Time-lapse movie camera on Oregon Coast.

Argus collects three basic image products for beach studies. These include the traditional snapshot, showing wave activity, ten-minute time-exposure (timex) images of the wave dissipation patterns (revealing submerged sand bars and rip channels) and variance images (separating dynamic from steady areas of the image. The greatest scientific value currently come from the timex images.

White bands in a timex image, locations of enhanced breaker dissipation, provide a proxy for submerged sand bars.

Click for an AVI or RealPlayer version of an animation demonstrating

the conversion of live video like that from

Duck, NC on the left, into a finished timex image,

below.

c. Associating images with the body of the text and with animations

a. assessing reliability of textsb. improving documentation and terminology

skills: elaborating ontologies and glossaries• acquiring the basic concepts that shape

knowledge• interrelation between concepts• dynamic and process-oriented

conceptual structure: Barsalou 2003 (apud Faber, Márquez y Vega in press)

PROCESS-ORIENTED TERMINOLOGY AND TRANSLATION

DIY corpus and conceptual modeling

COASTAL ENGINEERING EVENT (Faber, Márquez and Vega (in press)

MICRO-EVENTS

After reading different texts on a specific topic (monitoring systems in coastal engineering-video imaging), students elaborate their own ontology:

MindManager X5 Pro http://www.mindjet.com

Protégé http://protege.stanford.edu/

Cmap http://cmap.ihmc.us

PATIENT/ RESULT TEMPLATE

PROCESS TEMPLATE

AGENT TEMPLATE

NATURAL AGENT

Water Movement of water: waves, tide, currents

Atmospheric Wind, storms,…

Geological earthquakes

HUMAN AGENT

NATURAL PROCESS

Movement Accretion Loss

ARTIFICIAL PROCESS

Construction Addition Subtraction Movement

CAUSES CARRIES OUT

PATIENT

Coast features Coastline River Seabed Island

Water mass Material Fauna/flora

RESULT

Modified coastal area Material

RESULT

Hard construction Part of Management of

AFFECTS AFFECTS

BECOMES

CREATES

INSTRUMENT

BY MEANS OF

DESCRIPTION TEMPLATE

Attributes of

Speed Height

Measurement of

Time Space

Representation of Simulation of Prediction of Disciplines for study of Instruments for description of Procedures of description of

AFFECTS

GLOSSARY

1 Video imaging

1.1 types of images

1.1.1 (nearly unprocessed)

1.1.1.1 snap shot

1.1.1.2 time exposure image (timex)

1.1.1.3 variance image

1.1.2 (photogrammetrically-generated)

1.1.2.1 rectified image

1.1.2.2 merged image

panoramic

rectified

2. Corpus-based exercises and annotation: tagging the corpus

Initial tags referring to style, translation brief and professional aspects

<style=5><t-brief=1><professional=3>Tags placed after the problem or mistake/error Tags specify:

Type of problemType of error/mistakeAdequacy /appropriateness of translated sentences

López and Tercedor (2004)

<Number> referring to sentence number nConceptualization <CON>Procedural <PRO>Transfer (due to linguistic and cultural differences) <TRA>Lack of quality of the Source text

<QTO>

3. Identifying translation problems (tagging)

and consists of: 3 Snap Shots<3><PRO>: These images are instantaneo

4 Time exposure images (Timex)<4a><PRO>: These images average the

ver a time period of 10 minutes<4b><CON>. 5 Typically images are rec

frequently over shallow sanbars<6><QTO><CON> generating foam appear a

. 7 The wave-breaking patterns<7><PRO> highlighted in the timex imag

the surface. 8 Variance images<8><PRO>: These images represent the v

ude the waters edge (swash zone)<10><CON><PRO> where the beach is p

projected on the ground plane<11a><CON>, resulting in rectified image

s with real world co-ordinates<11b><CON>. 12 These rectified images

ously, so-called merged images<13a><CON> can be obtained, which give a

lan view of the nearshore zone<13b><PRO>. 14 The figure below shows

time domain of optical signals<15a><CON>, by rapidly sampling the inte

l elements of the image (pixels)<15b><TRA>. 16 It is now possible

ow possible to define an array<16a><PRO> of pixels in the image which

l moving oceanographic targets<16b><CON>. 17 Tests have shown pixels

ampled at high frequencies (1Hz)<18><CON>, so that a time series of

4. Translation of the text(tagging their own TT)

Students use translation strategies and produce a translation which includes tags pointing to problematic segments:

Numbers: <1>, <16a>, <16b>)

5a. Evaluating translation segments of peers (tagging)

Students evaluate potentially problematic segments of texts from group assessments:

Tagging these segments according to the type of mistake/errorTagging according to adequacy or appropriateness of translated sentencesRelating meaning problems with mistakes/errors

Tagging: type of error/mistake and adequacy of translation(1) Offer students a list of “filtered” concordances with their own rendering of the problematic segment(2) Students identify type of error/mistake and tag the segments(3) They grade the segments according to quality parameters (Laurscher 2000, López and Tercedor 2004): adequacy /appropriateness of translated sentences(4) Justify own choice of “best” segment

FILTERED CONCORDANCES1 bre bancos de arena poco profundos<6><lx> generando espuma, en las imá2 en bancos de arena poco profundos<6><lx> generando espuma aparecen co3 re barras de arenas poco profundas<6><colx>, aparecen indicadas en la4 arras de arena en zonas de poca profundidad<6><AA>, generando espuma, apa5 las barras de arena poco profundas<6><se>, lo que genera espuma, aparecen 6 n barras de arenas no muy profunda<6><se>, provocando espuma, se represent7 as barreras de arena superficiales<6><lx>, genera<ccsx><FF> la aparici8 en una barra de arena superficial<6><lx>, lo que hace que se produzca9 bancos de arena son poco profundos<6><lx>. Para inferir la posición y 10 superficie. Imágenes de varianza<6><lx>: estas imágenes representan 11 <sx><FF> sobre las barras de arena<6><mise> generando espuma en el agu12 arras de arena de poca profundidad<6><se> produciendo espuma aparecen 13 obre las barras de arena del fondo<6><se>, generando espuma, aparecen

SOURCE TEXT

Regions where waves break frequently over shallow sanbars<6><QTO><CON> generating foam appear as bright white bands in the timex images. The wave-breaking patterns<7><PRO> highlighted in the timex images can be used to infer the position and shape of sandbars, even though the bars are not visible above the surface.

Type of error/mistake (from corpus)

<se> meaning <chse> Lack of cohesion

<mise> less information than ST <pluse>more info than ST <tvse> wrong tense that causes change in meaning <cose> change in meaning due to wrong collocation <dtse> changes in the data

1. CONTENTES > EN

EN >ES (x 2)

<lx> lexis and terminology <colx> wrong collocation <rglx> term that is not appropriate for the register of the text

<rg> register (inconsistencies)

2. REGISTER AND LEXISES > EN

EN >ES

<o> organization <pr> pragmatic mistakes

<rtpr> Grammatically correct but it sounds unnatural. The rhetorical effect of the ST is missing. Literal translation.

<ist> inappropriate style <ot> orthotypography <f> layout, wrong accomplishment of

style sheet or computer requirements

3. TRANSLATION BRIEF AND ORIENTATION TO TARGET TEXT

TYPEES > EN

<o> organization<pr> pragmatic mistakes

<rtpr> Grammatically correct but it sounds unnatural. The rhetorical effect of the ST is missing. Literal translation.

<ist> inappropriate style <ot> orthotypography

3. FLUENCY AND ADEQUACY TO ORTHOTYPOGRAPHICAL, TEXTUAL AND PRAGMATIC CONVENTIONS

OF TARGET LANGUAGEEN > ES

<or> spelling<ptor> punctuation

<sx> syntax<ccsx> lack of concord

4. WRITTEN EXPRESSIONES > EN

<f> layout, wrong accomplishment of style sheet or computer requirements

<or> spelling <ptor> punctuation

<sx> syntax<ccsx> lack of concordance

4. TRANSLATION BRIEF AND PROFESSIONAL ASPECTS

EN > ES

A syntactic, spelling or punctuation mistake will reduce the mark in the fourth column to the minimum

Excellent solution<AA>

Inappropriate<type of error/mistake>

Very bad-serious mistake/error<type of

error/mistake><FF>

Adequacy of translated sentences

Relating problems with mistakes

Students see that when they concentrate on specific problems and do not revise, inadvertent mistakes slip in. As a result, the quality of their translation diminishes dramatically.Students keep a record of mistakes and errors in a “learner diary”.Conceptual problems -> serious mistakes.

Merged image (panoramic and rectified view) of Noordwijk. Five individual time-exposure images are used to compose these

merged images. In the rectified image (lower panel)<12a><TRA>, the shoreline is located at the lower side, around x = 0 m

<12b><CON>. The bright band of 3000 m length at about 900 m off-shore<13a><CON> indicates the location of a 1.25

Mm³<13b><TRA> shoreface nourishment<13c><CON>.

En la imagen rectificada (panel inferior)<12a><lx> el litoral esta<or><FF> situado en el lado inferior, aproximadamente x =

0 m<12b><se>. La banda luminosa de 3000 metros<ot> de longitud a aproximadamente 900 m de altamar<13a><se><FF>

indica la localización de una regeneración de la zona costera<se> de 1.25 Mm3<13b><ot><FF>.

5b. Evaluation of full translations: tagging and criterion descriptors

They evaluate the translation of other students and their own translation. They tag the translation and give a mark according to the criterion descriptors

6. Additional exercises

Corpus analysis with lexical analysis software (Wordsmith Tools)

Proposal of new texts to be translatedAccess to DIY corporaAccess to quality corpus (Puertoterm)Access to the learner corpus: solutions to translation problems

Conclusions and future researchIn specialised translation, the aim of activities should be to increase learner autonomy: different skills and tasks involved in the translation process and in evaluation. Students who understand the basic conceptual structure of the subject field (visual aids and DIY corpus) do better translations.

Conclusions and future research

Bottom-up, top-down approach to translationLearner corpora as input for lexical analysis software

consistency analysis and statistical analysis of translations: false friends, most common mistakes/errors, etc.