| Translation process is essentially a cognitive process of information processing, and automatic processing and controlled processing is one of the three important pairs of processing mode in cognitive psychology. It is significant to apply them to the field of translation, which is not only conducive to the exploration of translators' mental activities and processing pattern in translation, but also helps deepen the understanding of translation process in general. The instruments of Think-Aloud Protocols(TAPs), observation notes and post-interviews are used in this paper. Based on the differences identified between professional translators and student translators in their automatic processing and controlled processing, this study attempts to delineate essential qualities that might constitute the construct of translation expertise. It is expected that the results can provide thesis base for translation teaching.This thesis is intended to answer the following research questions:(1) How are translators' automatic processing and controlled processing reflected in the translation process?(2) What are the differences between professional translators and student translators in terms of automatic processing and controlled processing?(3) What constitutes translation expertise in reference to the differences of student and professional translators in terms of automatic processing and controlled processing?The findings are as follows:(1) The whole translation process is comprised of automatic processing and controlled processing. They reflect themselves with different cognitive moves. Automatic processing is represented by spontaneously produced translation solutions for ST units at different levels, i.e. word, group(more than one word; not a complete clause), clause and sentence. Controlled processing is essentially a problem-defining and –solving processes in which translators use translation strategies to solve translation problems, therefore it is represented by the translation problems encountered and translation strategies implemented. Automatic processing and controlled processing are different but parallel and complementary to each other. The automatic processing of simple words and groups can be foundation for the controlled processing of difficult groups and sentences, while the latter can compensate for the former in the context.(2) Distinctive differences have been found between 3 professionals and 4 students in terms of automatic processing and controlled processing. Firstly, processing level and success rate of automatic processing are both much higher for professional translators than for student translators. Professional translators tend to automatically retrieve translation solutions on the group level, and these solutions are standard equivalents and are routinized mapping from their long-term memory. Student translators' automatic processing mainly happens on the word level, and they tend to focus on the word-for-word retrievals and mechanically replace the ST unit with an equivalent stored in their memory. Secondly, as for differences in controlled processing, professional translators can recognize translation problems on higher levels and proceed in a more strategic manner in solving these problems than student translators. Professional translators pay more attention on identifying conceptual and rhetorical problems and carry out translation strategies in a more strategic and effective way. Student translators are often struck with linguistic problems, and employ translation strategies frequently but not in a goal-oriented manner, which leads to disorganized and inefficient problem-solving processes.(3) The translation expertise is identified in terms of automatic processing and controlled processing. Professional translators are more engaged in automatic processing on higher levels than word level and they retrieve standard equivalents for the ST units rather than mechanically replace them with awkward TT units. With a larger set of episodic knowledge and more balanced distribution of the limited cognitive resources, professional translators expect rather than simply identify translation problems along the way and they tend to be skeptical of translation units and expect to discern potential translation problems on a higher level. Professional translators proceed in a strategic manner in their problem-solving processes. They follow a clear strategy in the sense that they consciously use strategies to achieve a goal they have specified in advance.This research is interdisciplinary and exploratory. It adopts theories and methods from cognitive psychology to study the different performances of professional translators and student translators in terms of automatic processing and controlled processing in translation process and attempts to identify the translation expertise. |
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