An Empirical Research On The Influence Of Decision Making On Translation Quality

For years,much attention has been paid to the study of translation product.Scholars try to put forward translation models or translation strategies through analysis of the translation product.Since 1980s,with the introduction of cognitive science,new research methods such as think-aloud protocols(TAPs),eye tracking,keystroke logging and neural imaging are applied to translation studies.Since then,the focus of translation studies has shifted to the empirical research on translation process,in order to probe into the "black box" of translators' mind during translation process.Decision making(DM),which is prevalent in all stages of translation process,is an important and fundamental element in the translation process.Therefore,it requires more attention and research to dig deeper into the translation process.In the thesis,an empirical research via TAPs,supplemented by questionnaires,is conducted to explore the influence of DM on its demonstration in the translation process,differences in four influencing factors of DM,and the relationship between DM and translation quality.Research findings are listed as follows.(1)In both E-C and C-E translation,all participants experience five translation stages of planning,comprehending,analyzing,transferring and monitoring in the translation process.Besides,four influencing factors of DM are all demonstrated in each stage,with variation of the mean distribution in E-C and C-E translation tasks.(2)Knowledge base(38.80%)and problem space(38.25%)rank the first and the second among four influencing factors,followed with task specification(12.32%)and cognitive system(10.64%).Compared with C-E translation,E-C translation involves more problem space and cognitive system in DM,and less task specification and knowledge base.(3)All four factors of DM exert some influence on the translation quality,with problem space and knowledge base being the most influential factors on translation quality,while task specification and cognitive system the less influential ones.The research suggests that E-C translation is more of a SL-oriented translation task where translators pay more attention to specifying the ST uncertainty in aspects of grammar,structure and logic relation.Besides,retrieving more possible TT candidates in problem space has a higher probability of acquiring a better translation quality.While C-E translation is more of a TL-oriented task where participants consider more on idiomatic expression and sentence pattern.Higher quality group in both translation tasks pay more attention to English,translators' second language.Besides,they frequently apply translation techniques like omission and addition to facilitate the smooth flow of information in TL,employ de-emphasizing and bolstering strategies to ensure the accuracy of information delivery from ST to TT,and consider fluency and idiomaticness as DM criteria to improve the readability and intelligibility of the translated text.More revision of TT candidates,successful retrieval of past translation experience in cognitive system and extra-linguistic knowledge concerning knowledge base are also helpful in improving translation quality.Through the empirical research,the thesis provides a novel aspect of viewing translation process.Theoretically,a general description of DM is made.DM's reflection in translation process is proved through TAPs experiment.In addition,the description of the cognitive process in DM can help to get a glimpse of the "black box".Pedagogically,through analyzing the relationship between DM and translation quality,the research displays different influence that each DM influencing factor exerts on translation quality,which also provides new perspectives on translation teaching and training.