Exploring The L2Access Model In Translating Ambiguous Words

This study investigates the effect of the L2word-proficiency level and the working-memory span on the access of the ambiguous words by means of an experimental design, as well as a comparative descriptive method.It is a cross-disciplinary attempt to connect translation studies to linguistic studies.The thesis presents two tests and two experiments to answer three research questions. Grouping Test One is a test of vocabulary breadth. Grouping Test Two is a test of vocabulary depth. Experiment One is a calculation-based working-memory span test. Experiment Two is a translation task, which probes into the access time and the accuracy rate in ambiguous words translation.The research questions are as follows:1. What are the effects (in terms of accuracy rate and reaction time) of L2word-proficiency on Chinese EFL learners of different proficiency levels in translating ambiguous words?2. What are the effects (in terms of accuracy rate and reaction time) of working-memory span on Chinese EFL learners of different proficiency levels in translating ambiguous words?3. Are there any interactive effects (in terms of accuracy rate and reaction time) of L2word-proficiency and working-memory span on Chinese EFL learners of different proficiency levels in translating ambiguous words?Subjects of this study include30postgraduates from English department in Yangzhou University and30college students in Yangzhou Vocational College of Environment and Resources who major in International Commence, they are all randomly chosen.The subjects were chosen to represent the high and low L2proficiency levels, which therefore can successfully guarantee the proficiency difference of the subjects. The entire subjects’data is collected as first-hand data.With the aid of SPSS16.0, the author acquired the following results and findings: 1) As to the effects of the L2word-proficiency on the ambiguous word translation:a) Despite the differences in the word proficiency, the accuracy rate of polysemy translation is higher than that of homonymy translation; the reaction time of polysemy translation is shorter than that of homonymy translation.b) Despite the difference in word type, the high word-proficiency group is significantly higher in the accuracy rate and significantly shorter in the reaction time in translation than the low word-proficiency group.c) Viewing the part of (polysemy or homonymy) and the overall ambiguous word (polysemy and homonymy) translation performance, the high word-proficiency group is significantly higher in the accuracy rate and significantly shorter in the reaction time than the low word-proficiency group.2) As to the effects of the working-memory span on the ambiguous word translation:a) Despite the differences in working-memory span, the accuracy rate of polysemy translation is higher than that of homonymy translation; the reaction time of polysemy translation is shorter than that of homonymy translation.b) Despite the difference in the word type, the high working-memory span group is significantly higher in the translation accuracy rate than the low working-memory span group and the reaction time in translation of the low and high working-memory span groups are not different.c) As for the part of (polysemy or homonymy) and the overall ambiguous word (polysemy and homonymy) translation performance, the high working-memory span group and the low work-memory span group do not manifest a significant difference in reaction time and accuracy rate..3) As to the effects of the L2word-proficiency and the working-memory span on the ambiguous word translation:The working-memory span has no significant main effect on the accuracy rate and the reaction time of both polysemy and homonymy translation, while the word proficiency has a main effect on the accuracy rate in polysemy and homonymy translation and the reaction time in polysemy translation but has no main effect on the reaction time of homonymy translation. There is no interactive effect of word proficiency and working memory span on the reaction time and the accuracy rate in translating both polysemy and homonymy.The above findings are discussed from the perspectives of the cognitive process involved in the ambiguous word translation with the differences in the L2word-proficiency levels and in the working-memory span. Finally, some implications have been drawn both theoretically and pedagogically. Theoretically, an access model, which is suitable for the translation access of ambiguous words, is put forward in this study. Pedagogically, the findings acquired from this research have some implications for the teaching and learning as well as the designing of teaching material of lexical translation, especially for the ambiguous words.