What You See Is What You Get?

What You See Is What You Get?

Access to Visual Informationin Translation Interfaces:

A Pilot Experiment

José Ramón Biau Gil 2007Intercultural Studies Group of Research

Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain)

Outline

What You See Is Waht You Get?

José Ramón Biau Gil 2007Intercultural Studies Group


1. Intro to a problem

2. Pilot experiment design

3. Results

4. Conclusions

1. Intro to a problem




Translation Interfaces

A definition:

A translation interface is the visual environment that translators see on screen as they “edit the text”.




A Bit of Text Linguistics

A text is made up by verbal and non-verbal information elements.

• Verbal elements: the characters• Non-verbal elements:

– Images – Layout – Space distribution of information

(tables, headings, paragraphs, etc.)




The Problem

In many translation interfaces, the non-verbal information elements are not present or displayed as they are displayed in the source text, or will be displayed in the target text.




Hypotheses• Filtering out the non-verbal information of

texts when students translate using a non-WYSIWYG translation interface affects negatively on the quality of the target texts produced, and on the production speed.

• Texts translated using WYSIWYG translation interfaces include fewer errors than those translated using non-WYSIWYG interfaces.

• When translators use WYSIWYG translation interfaces, they work faster than when they use non-WYSIWYG interfaces.




2. The Pilot Experiment




Experiment Design I

Informants:

• 6 Postgrad Students

• En >> Es language combination

• Semi-professionals

• Limited expertise using TM tools




Experiment Design II

Tools:

– Trados + Word: WYSIWYG Interface

– Trados TagEditor: non-WYSIWYG Interface

• Same Tool

• 2 Translation Interfaces




Experiment Design IIITexts:• 2 Texts (En >> Es)

• User manuals

• Comparable length and structure

• Adapted to evaluate the informants’ performance in specific situations: – Punctuation errors and foreign rules

– Unclear syntax

– References to images

– Homonymy




Experiment Design IV

Data Compilation:

• Translated Texts

• Direct Observation (researcher present during translation)

• Screen-recording videos of the computer activity

– Analyze decisions

– Evaluate time devoted to the activities




3. Results




Punctuation

All the informants had the same or fewer errors when they translated with the WYSIWYG interface.

Total errors– WYSIWYG: 12 – Non-WYSIWYG: 20




Images, Homonymy, Syntax

• Subject-matter knowledge more relevant than visual information – Little subject-matter knowledge + non-

WYSIWYG interface = More risk of errors• No clear group patterns • Qualitative data from each informant

– References to images in text




Other Observed Issues

• Inconsistent marking of button names with punctuation marks.

• Inconsistent use of capitalization. • Problems not detected because the

informant focused on another confusing element of the same segment.




Timing

No clear time difference between time needed and the interface used.

When they used the non-WYSIWYG interface, informants worked faster in the “easy” parts, and needed extra time to make “complex” translation decisions.




4. Conclusions




Final Thoughts I

Lack of visual information in the translation environment is directly related to:

– punctuation problems – inadequate translation decisions because of

lack of awareness of a problem (in some scenarios)

– extra time needed to make right translation decisions (when aware of a potential problem – in some scenarios)




Final Thoughts IILack of visual information in the translation

environment may also involve faster translation decisions in low-risk parts of the text (fewer distraction elements).

Translation strategies changed depending on the tool used.

Training on tools for translators should go beyond the technical know-how.




Discussion

José Ramón Biau Giljoseramon.biauATurv.cat

Intercultural Studies Grouphttp://isg.urv.es

Universitat Rovira i VirgiliTarragona (Spain)




mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://isg.urv.es/

http://isg.urv.es/

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What You See Is What You Get?