LECTURE II. KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION IN INTERPRETATION AND TRANSLATION

Plan

1. Differences between Interpretation and Translation

2. Knowledge Acquisition in Written Translation

3. Knowledge Acquisition Strategies in Translation

4. Knowledge Acquisition in Interpretation

5. Long- term Knowledge Buildup in Interpreters and Translators

1. Difference between Interpretation and Translation

• Linguistic information• Terminological information is necessary to understand

more about source-language terms and to reexpress referents in target-language terms.The acquisition of terminological information is one of the most time –consuming and difficult tasks in translation, while it is probably also the intellectually least gratifying to most people.

• Although no one could fail to understand "front and back”, “left and right", the right note will be struck for a leaflet on a sailing boat referring to "bow and stern", "port and starboard", etc., while for a text on equipment for horses, "fore and hind", "near and off” demonstrate knowledge of appropriate terminology.

• Stylistic information is required mainly for the purpose of reformulating the message in the target language along the same stylistic lines as those followed by native authors writing the same type of text in the target language. For instance, in the commercial description of a microcomputer, the English "…includes math coprocessor socket," taken from an actual text can be translated literally.

• Extralinguistic information• Extralinguistic information is required when linguistic

cues in the source-text are not sufficient to allow the translator to understand it well enough to translate it. This may happen when the text is editorially unclear, in particular when it is ambiguous, when it contains mistakes, or when target-language rules require explicit mention of information that is not explicit in the source language ( for instance, when translating "Dr. Jones" we don’t know whether it is a man or a woman).

2.Knowledge Acquisition in Written Translation

• Information sources for Knowledge Acquisition can be classified in several ways. One is the distinction between sources on paper, human sources and electronic sources.

• Non-human sources can be divided further into terminological and non-terminological or indirect sources. The former—dictionaries, glossaries, terminological files.

• Indirect or non-terminological sources are texts not designed with terminological use in mind: thematic articles, books, catalogs, etc., which can nonetheless be used to retrieve terminological information.

• Source variables in translation work• For the professional translator, the usefulness of

sources for Knowledge Acquisition revolves around five major variables:

• Existence: This variable seems trivial at first glance, but it is an important one, since certain types of sources are more or less likely to exist depending on the field and the circumstances—which has implications for Knowledge Acquisition strategies.

• External access: This variable reflects the cost of access to the source in terms of time, financial outlay, and effort or unpleasantness (for example, when the translator is faced with the unwillingness of a gatekeeper, a librarian, shopkeeper, or owner of a document—to allow access to the source).

• (3) Internal access: This variable is defined by the time and effort required to retrieve the precise information sought from the time the source becomes available. Internal access is a function of the way information is organized in the source.

• (4)Coverage: This variable is defined by the ratio of information sought to information found in the source, which makes it a highly subjective variable. By convention, obsolete or sociologically non-relevant information can be covered without being usable.

• (5) Reliability . This variable indicates the degree to which information found in the source is reliable. A distinction can be made between linguistic reliability, which applies to information given by the source on how language is used to represent reality, and extralinguistic reliability.

• 3. Knowledge Acquisition Strategies in Translation

• Time considerations• In translation the specific knowledge is acquired

during the task as the requirements arise. This allows the translator to optimize efforts none of which are wasted on information not directly used for the task.

• On the other hand, although unlike interpretation, translation allows hours even weeks for individual Knowledge Acquisition operations, the total time available is limited, meaning that the hours, days, or weeks available must accommodate not one or several, but all the Knowledge Acquisition operations. This is why it is important for the translator to be able to assess Knowledge Acquisition requirements and possibilities before accepting an assignment.

• Source selection.Starting-point sources, Intermediate sources and End-point sources

• A useful distinction should be made between three types of sources. The quest for information often leads the Translator to a source whose reliability is uncertain, such as a translated text or a multilingual dictionary. Information originating from this first source (Starting source) must be confirmed through a reliable End-point source. Sometimes there are Intermediate sources as well.

• In terminological Knowledge Acquisition, the Starting-point source may be a monolingual text in the source language and the End-point source can be a monolingual text in the target language . In translation from or into rare languages it is often necessary to go through an Intermediate language: for instance, when translating from Japanese into French it is often necessary to use Japanese- English dictionaries, then English-French dictionaries as Intermediate sources, with French documents serving as End-point sources.

• Starting-point and Intermediate sources may be texts of various kinds written by natives or non-natives, in the source language, target language, or a third language, with high, medium, or low reliability. The important point is that the End-point sources should be reliable.

• Access.• Specializing helps to reduce the scope of

the problems. Not only does it allow repeated use of knowledge and sources, but it also enables translators to use their financial investment to go deeper in the exploration subject, with a more efficient investment policy, than when taking up assignments in many fields, each requiring Knowledge Acquisition .

• Direct contact with the intended readers of a translation is generally best way to access reliable sources in the target language. From another angle, it also makes it possible to discuss and adopt a consensus-based solution to problems that cannot be solved entirely by the translators.

• Individually developed sources. The value of any paper source decreases steadily over time, because of developments in the field and the associated rapid aging of information. It does not make much financial sense to purchase every new edition of a dictionary or textbook either, because of high cost involved and because only a small proportion of the content changes from one edition to the next. Electronic sources are updated periodically.

• To ensure reliability, the source of information should be indicated for each entry, with a date and a reliability assessment whenever possible. This is also a preventive step: when a client challenges the use of a term, in either good or bad faith, the source can be quoted to establish authority.

• Good internal access should be designed into the source from the start, for fear of losing information. Alphabetic sorting of the files is one possibility; hence the use of index cards, one per entry, by many translators. Data processing allows electronic sorting, along with other forms of organization when databases are used. This is another major benefit of the microcomputer era for translators.

• Human sources• It should be pointed out that the human source

is potentially the most powerful of all: an expert in the field can provide highly reliable information more rapidly than any book or database. Experts who are native speakers of the language can almost invariably be found, as can experts who are native speakers of the target language. The former can serve as Starting-point sources and the latter as End-point sources. When the same expert is a native speaker of the target language and understands the source language, the situation is ideal. The main problem with human sources lies with external access: first translators do not necessarily know how to reach such experts; and second these are not necessarily motivated to help.

• When it is the experts themselves who happen to be the end-users, for instance when they ask the translator to translate a text in a foreign language for their own use, more cooperation can be expected from them. Another factor conducive to such cooperation is a close personal relationship between the translator and the expert. Moreover, whether motivation results from a close personal relationship or plain good will, it cannot be counted on to last. Beyond a certain threshold, willing sources may become more reluctant, or do the work less carefully. One possible way to do this is to enter into professional consultancy agreement with the experts: a fee is offered for information, to be determined on the basis of time spent, the number of pages of source text read or the number of items processed.

• 4. Knowledge Acquisition in Interpretation• With respect to the minimum content of the

Knowledge Base required for Translation, interpretation differs from translation on two important points:

• It is generally less demanding as regards linguistic “correctness” of terminological usage;

• In conference interpretation, a significant amount of relevant information is available to interpreters from conference documents and from the presence of experts on the premises.

• It follows that minimum knowledge requirements are lower for interpretation.

• On the other hand, before starting a conference, interpreters should acquire as much specific knowledge as possible, while translators acquire knowledge while translating their text.

• Three steps of preparation of conferences• The preparation of conferences can be divided

into three stages: advance preparation, last minute preparation, and in-conference preparation.

• Advance preparation• Conference organizers are systematically asked

by the interpreters to provide them with a full set of documents in all the working languages of the conference well before the meeting. The documents requested include the conference program, list of participants, background information about the conference, and, most important, documents on the content of the conference, including drafts of papers to be read or presented, abstracts, etc.

• Briefings. Briefings are potentially a very useful part of advance preparation. They are meetings organized for the interpreters, with the participation of the organizers of the conference, and experts in the field. They generally last about half an hour to a few hours. During briefings, general information is given to the interpreters, who can ask specific questions, generally on concepts and terminology. Most briefings are held very close to the beginning of the conference, often a few minutes before the opening. Otherwise, it is up to the organizers to think of the type of information which will probably be required by the interpreters, an exercise at which they are generally not very adept.

• Last-minute preparation• It is a fact of life that conference documents

are not always available, mostly for organizational reasons. People who hire interpreters are not always the ones who do the actual organizing on the participant and they may not be in a position to collect the necessary data. As for the speakers, they do not always have a paper ready in advance, and some are unwilling to disclose the content of their presentation before it is their turn to speak, let alone in written form. It follows that many documents are only available at the very last moment, on the premises. A significant amount of Knowledge Acquisition revolves around them, just before the beginning of the conference.

• In-conference preparation• Finally, much information is gained during the

conference itself, through documents which are only handed out after it has started, partly through conversations with participants during breaks, and partly through the content of presentations and discussions, which provide more information than do documents. Even after the conference has started, knowledge gained is useful, because it improves conditions for interpretation of the subsequent presentations. In particular, during the conference information may be heard in languages for which there were no documents, thus providing solutions to terminological problems. Because of the cost of translation, only rarely are papers and other documents available in all the conference's working languages.

• Preparation as it is practiced• Advance preparation consists mainly of reading

documents, taking notes, preparing glossaries, marking documents with pencil and marker to highlight important concepts and problems, writing comments, explanations, or glosses on the documents or in one's own notebook, etc. In briefings and in last-minute preparation, the consultation of experts also comes in. In in-conference preparation there is Knowledge Acquisition from listening to the conference itself, as well as from documents available in the booth, including dictionaries.

• There seems to be general agreement among conference interpreters on preparation methods, except for one basic question relevant mainly to advance preparation: some believe that advance Knowledge Acquisition should focus essentially on extralinguistic knowledge, while others think priority should be given to terminological preparation.

• Proponents of the second approach believe that interpreters should focus on the study of specific terms likely to come up in the conference and leave most of the extralinguistic Knowledge Acquisition to the conference itself, on the grounds that such extralinguistic knowledge is less important, and that much of the required “thematic” knowledge will come up during the conference. Since very little time is available for advance preparation, they generally have to choose between primarily extralinguistic preparation and primarily terminological preparation. Most of them give preference to terminology.

• Interpreter glossaries• Interpreter glossaries are prepared more rapidly than

translator glossaries because of time pressure. typically, a few hours are available for advance preparation during a crowded conference period, and additional entries are added and corrections are made during the conference itself, i.e. over one to a few days. Glossaries are primarily prepared for immediate communication in a given context, not to serve as a reference for long periods or for a wide range of conferences. In their glossaries, interpreters tend to list terminological indications appropriate for one particular occasion and to add very little in form regarding the reliability of the information, its source, its range of application, the meaning or nature of the referents, etc. Because of their rather low accuracy and reliability, such glossaries cannot always be depended on for use in conferences other than the one they were prepared for. They are more varied but less reliable for general use, than translators' glossaries.

• Glossaries are not very useful if their internal organization does not make the internal access easy. Often, because of time pressure, interpreters just write down entries as they encounter them in documents or during the conference, sometimes on sheets of paper they happen to have on hand. Microcomputer changed the situation, in that it has become very easy to enter terms in a computer in a single operation using the keyboard, and then do all the processing as many times as required, including printing, updating, etc. Information has therefore become easy to store, maintain, and access. In view of the value relevant glossaries have in interpreting at specialized conferences, this is certainly an important change, the more so because the ease of glossary preparation makes it possible to go much further than in past years when everything had to be done manually.

• Reference documents• As explained previously, interpreters prepare for

specific conferences under severe time pressure, and they work on a very wide variety of themes, some of which they encounter only once or twice throughout their career. This is probably one of the reasons why they tend not to keep exhaustive written records of information they acquire—the other reason being the sheer mass of documents that comes their way during interpretation work. Therefore, with the exception of a look at their existing glossaries, interpreters tend to start their preparation afresh at every conference with the new documents sent to them on that occasion. Translators tend to write down more carefully pieces of information acquired at work, and use their notes more often for reference.

• 5. Long- term Knowledge Buildup in Interpreters and Translators

• No scientific study seems to have been made to date regarding knowledge

• accumulated by interpreters and translators in the course of their career, but a few hypothesis can be formulated. During written translation, knowledge can be acquired systematically, over rather long periods of time, and information is checked for reliability and reinforced by the numerous loops in both the comprehension and reformulation phases. In interpretation, much attention is given to instantaneous cognitive operations; each task is given consideration only once, for a very short time.

• It therefore seems likely that as regards extralinguistic knowledge, interpreters acquire a wider but more superficial and more volatile and unstructured knowledge than translators. This difference is probably less true of interpreters mainly in one field (such as staff interpreters in international organizations, or interpreters who have specialized), and of translators working in a large number of fields and very rapidly.

• After a recent conference or translation assignment, interpreters and translators may hold highly specialized, highly up-to-date knowledge that even experts do not have: they often deal with state-of-the-art information before it is widely publicized among specialists. However, this knowledge does not tie in with a solid foundation of knowledge such as the specialist's, and can generally not be used by the Translator as it could be by a specialist.

• Translators are very much aware of this “inferiority” and it sometimes breeds frustration, probably more among interpreters, who are in direct contact with the specialists they work for, than among translators, who work in isolation.

• On the other hand, linguistic knowledge, and in particular terminological knowledge, is essential in both interpretation and translation. Over time translators tend to acquire specialized terminological information, which is probably the most valuable part of the knowledge they build up, in that it is often the key to translation in specialized fields.