A Study Of Reading-ahead Phenomenon In Sight Translation-based On Eye-tracking Data

As a preliminary training of simultaneous interpretation,sight translation is an effective multi-task method integrating reading,comprehension and expression.Reading-ahead in sight translation has always been the focus of academic attention.This thesis aims to study the phenomenon of reading-ahead in sight translation through the combination of production analysis and eye movement data.Using para-sense group as the unit of analysis and with the first first-pass fixation on each unit,the study analyzes the probability of reading-ahead and units of ahead in sight translation.Then,in reference to the Effort Model of Gile(1995),reading-ahead is discussed in depth around two questions: First,is there any difference in reading-ahead phenomena of English-to-Chinese sight translation and Chinese-to-English sight translation? Second,is there any difference in reading-ahead behaviors of advanced learners and novice learners?The experimental data analysis shows that in 75.79% of the cases,production of subjects lagged behind their first-pass fixation,with an average span of 2.56 para-sense groups,which proves that reading-ahead is a common phenomenon in sight translation.Besides,influenced by different reading patterns of Chinese and English and the characteristics of Chinese sentences,the amount of reading-ahead units in Chinese-toEnglish sight translation is larger than that in English-to-Chinese sight translation.The lower probability of reading-ahead in Chinese-to-English sight translation may be related to more considerable output pressure.The eye movement data combined with the performance analysis of subjects shows that advanced learners can better use the technique of reading-ahead to improve their sight translation performance,while novice learners have difficulty in coordinating reading and production.Also,more units of reading-ahead may be associated with a higher short-term memory ability of advanced learners.At the end of this thesis,limitations of experimental design and analysis are pointed out,and suggestions for future research and teaching directions are proposed.