A Preliminary Study On The Productive Side Of Translation Process--An Empirical Approach

In this thesis, TAPs in cognitive psychology, together with the interim solutions the translator makes, are combined to investigate the aspects of the translating process. This study concentrates on the productive side of the translation process, with focuses on the lexical search and the generation of target sentences. Some features in the course of translating are uncovered.Translation Studies usually attach importance to the study of the end product of translating while playing down the study on the process of translating for one reason or another. To begin with, therefore, the necessity and the possibility of the process study in translation are discussed. It is believed that, without process-oriented study, Translation Studies could not stand itself as a separated discipline, and that with research method used in cognitive psychology, it is possible to unveil the 'black box' in translating.Along the two approaches to translation process, i.e. theoretical and empirical, a panoramic view of the development of the process study is presented. Four typical theoretical models are reviewed with their strengths and weaknesses evaluated. And fieldwork in the area is summarized and commented.In addition, discussion on TAP is made and some suggestions on the execution of TAP are presented. In order to reduce the possible problems with TAP, a three-state framework is proposed.This study shows that the translator moves usually from the core meaning or the one s/he often uses in the lexical search, which is represented by the priority of the use of strategies. Besides, the priming words earlier retrieved are differentiated, which often affect the retrieval of other words collocated. In the generation of target sentences, such priming effect is observed in affecting the choice of other words and the formation of a new sentence. The author tries to interpret the phenomena from the perspective of psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology in an attempt to make the findings more general.Translation process study is a very promising field with encouraging prospects. But it cannot be accomplished in a single stroke. There is a long way to go before the researchers.