| Eye tracking technology can record eye movement data of readers in real time.By matching the eye movement data with the cognitive process,researchers can analyze the mental activities in detail,so as to effectively infer the cognitive process of individuals.The objective of the study is to use Tobii Pro X3-120 screen-based eye tracker to track the changes of eye movement path of learners when translating legal English texts.On the basis of eye-tracking movement data,SPSS software is used to analyze the cognitive process of the learners in translating legal English texts and then to compare cognitive efforts of English learners in the translation of different types of relative clauses so as to explore difficulties English learners encounter and provide guidance for the teaching of legal English.The pre-experiments were conducted to eliminate possible interference to ensure the validity.The present study aims to answer the following research questions:(1)What similarities and differences are there in the eye-tracking process between the translation of non-restrictive and restrictive clauses in legal texts?(2)What similarities and differences are there in the eye-tracking process between the translation of double relative clauses and multiple relative clauses in legal texts?(3)Are there any significant differences in learners’ eye-tracking process while dealing with the translation of different types of relative clauses?Eight relative clauses of four major types have been chosen from WTO cases and the comparative experiments are carried out in two groups with restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses as one group and double and multiple relative clauses as the other.15 MTI students are chosen as subjects to finish the task of sight interpreting of relative clauses and the translation process was recorded by the eye tracker.Major eye movement indexes such as total fixation duration,time to first fixation,first fixation duration,fixation count,visit count and total visit duration are compared and analysed based on the eye-tracking data collected during the sight interpreting process.The data of eye movement indexes were compared and analyzed by means of and SPSS.Statistics show that there is a significant difference in learners’ eye tracking movement on translating non-restrictive relative clauses and restrictive relative clauses.Compared with restrictive relative clauses,more cognitive efforts are paid on the translation of non-restrictive relative clauses with no significant differences found at the beginning period of translating restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses.Significant differences are found in learners’ cognitive efforts on translating double relative clauses and multiple relative clauses with more cognitive efforts paid on the translation of double relative clauses and no significant differences shown at the beginning period of translating double and multiple relative clauses.The findings of the study will shed light on working out effective strategies to provide guidance for the teaching and learning of legal English translation. |
