v UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DEL CARMEN
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EDUCATIVAS
THE SUITABLE KIND OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE FOR TRANSLATION STUDENTS
By
DANIELA FORMOSO ZAVALA
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements For the degree of Bachelor of Lengua Inglesa
Facultad de Ciencias Educativas At Universidad Autónoma del Carmen
Thesis Advisor’s
MTRO. RAFAEL FERRER MENDEZ
Cd. Del Carmen, Campeche a 30 de Agosto de 2012
ABSTRACT
This research is about Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and its relationship
with translation students at UNACAR. The main question to solve in this project
was which of the eight types is the most suitable for them; that is which one of
them gathers the necessary skills to render an accurate translation and the general
purpose was to determine if the translation result of a student with the Linguistic
Intelligence fulfills the requirements of an effective translation. To obtain
information regarding the student’s abilities, checklists and tests were used based
on the results of a translation exercise. To draw the final conclusion, the inductive-
deductive model of the scientific method was followed.
The results showed that it is the Linguistic Intelligence the one that gathers
most, if not all, of the skills any translator student should master prior to any
attempt to translate and which will finally warrantee the achievement of an effective
translation.
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DEDICATIONS
To my parents for the love and support before and after completing my
degree.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank:
My thesis advisor, Mtro. Rafael Ferrer Mendez not only for guiding me
through all this research process since its first stages, but also for being patient
and believing in my abilities; for correcting my mistakes, making suggestions and
contributing with his experience to this work.
The Facultad de Ciencas Educativas at Universidad Autónoma del Carmen
for giving me access to its facilities where I found the resources that made possible
this investigation
My colleague and friends who I shared this challenge with and contributed to
this investigation with valuable feedback and suggestions.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page Dedications iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents v List of Figures vii List of Tables viii List of Abbreviations ix Glossary x
1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1 1.1 Research Topic 2 1.2 Objective 3 1.3 Research Questions 3 1.4 Background 4 1.5 Contextualization 4 1.6 Delimitation 5 1.7 Study Limitations 5
2 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW 7 2.1 Early Studies About Intelligence 8 2.2. Definition of Intelligence 11 2.3 Measurement of Intelligence 12 2.4 The Theory of Multiple Intelligences 15 2.5 The Eight Intelligences 18
2.5.1 The Verbal Linguistic Intelligence 20
2.5.2 The Logical Mathematical Intelligence 22
2.5.3 The Visual-Spatial Intelligence 22
2.5.4 The Musical Rhythmic Intelligence 23
2.5.5 The Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence 23
2.5.6 The Interpersonal Intelligence 24
2.5.7 The Intrapersonal Intelligence 24
2.5.8 The Naturalist Intelligence 25
2.6 What is Translation? 25
2.7 Types of Translation 27
2.8 Communicative and Semantic Translation 30
2.9 The Translation Process 31
2.10 Translation Methods 34
2.11 Equivalence in Translation 36
2.12 Meaning 37
2.13 Meaning in Translation 38
2.14 Quality 39
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2.15 Good and Effective Translation 40
2.16 The Translator and Its Role 42
2.17 Translation as a Profession 46
3 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY 50
3.1 Research Type 51
3.2 StudyType 51
3.3 The Research Process 52
3.4 The Methods 53
3.5 The Techniques 54
3.6 The Instruments 55
3.7 The Subjects 57
3.8 The Objects 57
4 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 59
4.1 Report of the Results 60
4.1.1 The MI Inventory 60
4.1.2 The Checklist 63
4.1.3 The Translation Grades 71
4.2 Analysis and Preliminary Conclusion 72
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 82 Conclusion 83 Suggestions for Further Research 86 List of References 89 Appendixes 91 Appendix A 92
Appendix B 94
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Title Page
2.1 Concept Lens 33 4.1 Standards Achieved In The Translations 66 4.2 Subjects With Interpersonal Intelligence 78
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Title Page
2.1 Oblique translation procedures 28 4.1 Number of statements ticked by the subjects from each category 61 4.2 Subject’s type of MI. 62 4.3 Most popular intelligence among subjects. 63 4.4 Checklist results of translation exercise 64 4.5 Number of standards fulfilled 70 4.6 Grade of translation exercise 71 4.7 Translation's final grade 72
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
IQ: Intelligence Quotient
L1: Another way to call Source Language
L2: Another way to call Target Language
LO: It stands for Lengua Origen (Original Language) in Spanish
LT: It stands for Lengua Terminal (Target Language) in Spanish
SL: Source Language
TL: Target Language
ST: Source Text
TT: Target Text
MI: Multiple Intelligence
UNACAR: Universidad Autónoma del Carmen
PEMEX: Petróleos Mexicanos
ESIT: Ecole Supérieure d’ Interprètes et Traducteurs de la Sorbonne LDRC: Learning Disabilities Resource Community
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GLOSSARY
Colloquialism: Ordinary, relaxed, informal speech (Trask: 1999).
Grammar: The rules for constructing words and sentences in a particular
language, or the branch of linguistics studying this (Trask: 1999).
Idioms: An expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from the meanings
of its constituent words (Trask: 1999).
Linguistics: The scientific study of language (Trask:1999).
Multiple intelligence: Concept proposed by Howard Gardner who claims that a
standardized instrument to evaluate human beings’ IQ doesn’t measure the many
talents and intelligences of humans beings (Klingler: 2000) .
Semantics: The study of the meaning is encoded in language, as distinct from
what speakers mean to say when they use that language (Kramsch: 1998).
Source text: Source text or language will refer to the language which the material
first appears in (Chriss 2002).
Syntax: Sentence structure, or the branch of linguistics which studies this
(Trask:1999).
Target language: Target text and language refer to the language that the material
is translated into (Chriss 2002).
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
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1.1 RESEARCH TOPIC
Multiple Intelligences (MI) applied to translation students at Universidad Autónoma
del Carmen (UNACAR).
This research topic arises from the necessity of knowing why some students
encounter more difficulties when translating than others despite all of them have
been given the same lessons on theory and practice of translation at UNACAR.
Also why some of them produce more effective translation than others? Is the
student’s level of intelligence a critical factor in this achievement? Are some of
these students more intelligent than the others?
In the attempt to answer the previous questions, the first thing that comes to our
mind is that we know for a fact that people are not equal, we all do not think the
same way, therefore we do not act or respond the same way. Since translation is
an activity that requires not only the knowledge of two languages and some
training with linguistics and semantics, but it requires the ability to solve problems
(translators make choices during the whole translating process, choosing which
technique to use, what terms fit best etc.), the person undertaking it must be,
without a doubt, an intelligent person. But, what is it to be intelligent? Is there only
one way to be intelligent? According to Howard Gardner (1983) human beings
have at least eight ways to be intelligent, or in better words, there are different
levels of each kind of intelligence that create a unique combination which makes a
person different from others. It is usually the most prevalent type the one that
defines the type of intelligence.
3
Intelligence and more specifically, types of intelligences are a key concept in
studying the problem of this research. They are a variable factor, however
independent. Such independency results from the notion that students possess
different and unique types of intelligence. Each one of them has a different way to
deal with a text in a foreign language for example, or how to render it in their
mother tongue, and it is exactly there where the success of their translations lies as
the translation examples made by students with different types of intelligence show
in this research. To achieve optimal quality in their final result depends on their
abilities and how they use their intelligence. Hence, ensuring an effective
translation would be a dependent variable that relies upon the translator’s
intelligence.
The importance of the study lies on the fact that if students are not good at
translating in school, it does not only affects the grades, but the whole training as
translators and, by consequence, their future careers as professionals.
1.2 OBJECTIVE
This research examined the translations produced by the Licenciatura en
Lengua Inglesa students at UNACAR from 7th semester in 2008, and compared
the results within the context of MI. The objectives of this study are the following:
-To determine if a particular MI provides a translator student with the most
appropriate abilities to produce effective translations, and
- If this intelligence represents an advantage over other students with different
types of MI.
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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
By examining the work made by the students this research seeks to explore
how having different types of intelligence influence the quality of their final
translations while using the following questions as guides for this study:
- What is an effective translation?
- What are the desired skills and abilities in a translator?
- Are any of these abilities gathered in a specific type of MI?
- Can the predominant type of MI guarantee an effective translation?
- How can MI help translation students?
1.4 BACKGROUND
The concept of MI is the theory proposed by Howard Gardener in 1983. This
theory suggests that there is more to a person’s intelligence than one single ability
or skill. Gardener put forward eight different types of intelligences originally and
then added a couple more.
On the other hand, Effective Translation is a term defined by Ali Darwish in
2004 referring to translations fulfilling seven standards. Fulfilling these standards,
according to his point of view, guarantee a high reliable result which is also
referred to as the desired effect. The desired effect in this case means translations
that comply with functionality, acceptability and usability acquired through optimal
approximation.
5
The concepts mentioned above were the core of this investigation. The ideas
proposed in this work are mostly based on such definitions and also took part in
the preparation of the instruments.
1.5 CONTEXTUALIZATION
The Universidad Autónoma del Carmen is based in Cd. del Carmen, a city in the
South of the Mexican state of Campeche. Cd. del Carmen was once a fishing
village which was transformed in the mid-1970s when the Mexican oil company,
PEMEX, discovered a wealthy supply of petroleum just off the Yucatan coast.
Mexico's richest industry pumped a new class of services, well-stocked stores and
big buildings into the city as well as foreign companies and personnel. Due to this
new industry and the mix of languages, it was evident the need of bilingual
personnel to work onshore and offshore. Translators and interpreters are in high
demand by the oil industry.
The Universidad Autónoma del Carmen, also known as UNACAR, is an
autonomous public institution of higher education that is located in Ciudad del
Carmen. Currently the university offers several graduate levels in the areas of
natural sciences, social and administrative, education and humanities and
engineering. The Facultad de Ciencias Educativas is one of the departments that
belong to the UNACAR and currently offers two degrees: Licenciatura en Lengua
Inglesa and Licenciatura en Educación. The group involved in this research is the
7th Semester of the Translation Area of Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa,
corresponding to the 2008-2009 term.
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1.6 DELIMITATION
The focus of this research is the study of the translation level of the 7th grade
group of the Lengua Inglesa degree in the area of Translation from the Facultad de
Ciencias Educativas at the Universidad Autónoma del Carmen. The group consists
of 11 students. The aspect to be analyzed is the type of intelligence they have as
well as their translation skills. The study was carried out from August 2008 to
August 2009.
1.7 STUDY LIMITATIONS
Some of the limitations of this research and which may influence the results are
the fact that nobody possesses only one single kind of intelligence. Everybody has
all of the eight intelligences in different grades; thus, it is impossible to state, for
example, that a student is only verbal linguistic or musical intelligent and not logical
mathematical just because one is the most developed intelligence; and that he or
she is not able to perform any mathematical operation. For the same reason, this
research does not aim to say that a student with intelligence other than the
linguistic one is not capable to render a translation, that is, the results of the
research cannot be generalized to all students. There is also the case in which a
person may have more than one kind of intelligence as predominant, for example
some of the tests actually showed students with strong abilities in two or three
areas.
Another factor that could interfere is that the students are aware of what they
are doing; that is, they know that the purpose of the quiz is to recognize the
strongest intelligence in each one of them as they are familiar with the multiple
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intelligence term as such and this may lead to false results. For example, as an
acting student wants to hear he or she has got the skills to make it in the film
industry, a translation student would like his or her results of a MI test to be Verbal
Linguistic, especially when there is only one semester to graduate. On the other
hand, students with little interest in participating or practicing their translation skills
with an exercise that will not count for their real grades may cause some of them
not to give their best effort.
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
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2.1 EARLY STUDIES ABOUT INTELLIGENCE
The investigation of intelligence is undoubtedly a very controversial area of
psychology yet the one that has fascinated scholars the most over the centuries.
The concept was firstly addressed by philosophers as Plato and Aristotle. The
latter, often regarded as the father of psychology, believed that mind was one of
the body’s functions; however, he thought of it as something separable and
impassible, as it can be seen in is following quote, “When intellect is set from its
present conditions, it appears as just what it is and nothing more: it alone is
immortal and eternal… and without it nothing thinks.” (Britannica 1997, cited by
Plucker 2003:7). By using such words, it results obvious that Aristotle regarded the
intelligence as something superior to human body, something almost divine that
even remains after death, and despite this is not true, what is certain is that without
it, nothing works, nothing thinks.
More than 2,000 years later, psychology began to emerge as a discipline apart
from philosophy. Nevertheless, individuals from as diverse fields as biology and
genetics continued to influence psychological discourse and the study of
intelligence. Such was the case of Darwin, who affirmed that the difference
between human and animal intelligence was a matter of degree, not of kind and
that most of an individual qualities were innate (Plucker 2003). He did not believe
education as the main provider of intelligence or training, he thought we were born
with own capacities and our intelligence and performance was inherited through
genes. This theory was supported by his cousin Galton, who was the first to coin
the phrase “nature vs nurture”, a debate which still remains as a classic
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controversy among experts nowadays. The ‘nature’ side of the debate argues for a
hereditary view of the phenomenon of intelligence: that a person maintains his
mental ability solely based on what he is born with genetically. Defending this side
of the debate exclusively would be establishing that a person’s environment plays
no role in determining his mental aptitude. Francis Galton began to study how
genetics influence intelligence and theorized that children inherit their intelligence
from their parents. He believed that genes were responsible for intelligence and
even suggested only the reproduction of gifted people, concept known as
eugenics. According to Seligman (Cited by Plucker, 2003:57), he also established
that "numerous heritable traits, including height and intelligence, exhibited
regression to the mean - meaning that extreme inherited results tended to move
toward average results in the next generation".
Conversely, the nurture camp argues that a person’s environment plays a large
role in his mental aptitude. According to Neil (2005) Supporters of the nurture
theory believe that our behavioral aspects originate mostly from the environmental
factors of our upbringing. Studies on infant and child temperament have revealed
the most crucial evidence for the nurture theory. The nurture camp also took
advantage of the nutrition studies, twin studies, and adoption studies for collecting
evidence for their hypothesis.
The American psychologist John Watson, best known for his controversial
experiments with a young orphan named Albert, demonstrated that the acquisition
of a phobia could be explained by classical conditioning. Watson used an 11
month-old Albert to prove that a person could be conditioned to be afraid of
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something by which he was not previously affected. Albert was put into a room with
no other human and no other distracters present. Watson placed a white rat in the
room. Albert seemed to like the rat; he even showed affection towards it. Sometime
later, Watson would produce a very loud noise every time Albert would reach out to
touch the rat. As a result, the baby became terrified of every white and furry object
in which he came in contact. This important investigation became known as
the Albert experiment. Experiments such as these ones prove that a
person’s environment can have a crucial effect on him and on his manner of
thinking. Watson , a strong proponent of environmental learning, said:
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random
and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor,
lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and
race of his ancestors. (Watson, 1930: 83).
Through the research that has been conducted, it seems that heredity, as well
as environment plays an important role in humans’ mentality, but these are not
exactly equal in influence. A person’s entire environment seems to be more
effectual in determining his mental ability than heredity is. The most fundamental
way to explain this opinion is that heredity determines one’s potential, but
environment determines how far one will reach that potential during his lifetime
(Plucker, 2003: 96). In other words, every individual has a destined mental
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potential, but how much of that potential the individual will be able to gain solely
depends on the environment that the individual grows in.
2.2 DEFINITION OF INTELLIGENCE
According to Binet (1916, cited by Plucker 2003:19), “… a person may be a
moron or an imbecile if he’s lacking of judgment; but with good judgment he can
never be either” The French psychologist defined intelligence as the totality of
mental processes involved in adapting to the environment. To be intelligent is also
to be able to solve new problems or to deal with difficult situations. “Para Binet, la
inteligencia implicaba tener juicio, sentido práctico, iniciativa y facultad para
adaptarse a las circunstancia del ambiente”(Prieto, 2002: 88)1. In other words, it is
about discovering relationships or being capable of invention. Judgment is what
makes people aware of relationships. Thus, all intelligent action is characterized by
the comprehension of relationships between the given elements and finding out
what has to be done given those relationships, to create new relationships, solve a
difficulty or reach a desired goal. Intelligence is the ability that allows us to gather
information from within and the world around us, in order to issue the best
response to the demands that we face in daily life. According to general agreement
among experts on the subject, like Gardner and Sternberg, intelligence depends
on genetic background and the experiences that we experience throughout life.
Intelligence and intellect are often seen as synonyms, but the difference
between them is that the first one makes a stand on the skills and aptitudes to
1 “To Binet (1857-1911) intelligence means to have judgment, practical sense, initiative and faculty to adapt to circumstances of the environment”.
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handle concrete situations and to obtain benefit from sensorial experience.
Psychologists think that these abilities are necessary in daily life where individuals
have to analyze new mental and sensorial information in order to address their
actions towards specific goals. An intelligent person is characterized by his
knowledge, quick solution to a problem, maturity, creativity, easiness and
willingness to learn, as well as his ability to combine them.
Current trends in intelligence theory and research involve the formation of
more complex multiple intelligence theories and other ways of measuring
intelligence. At the same time, the availability of relatively cheap computers has
promoted advances in statistical analysis, providing new perspectives on the
measurement of intelligence. Although a strong tendency to view intelligence as a
purely intellectual or cognitive function remains, considerable evidence suggests
that intelligence has many facets. Gardner for example, argues that reason,
intelligence, logic and knowledge are not synonymous and states that “intelligence
is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or
more cultural settings” (1983 cited by Plucker, 2003:29).
2.3 MEASURAMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
The task of trying to quantify a person’s intelligence has been a goal of
psychologists since before the beginning of this century. The Binet-Simon scales
were first proposed in 1905 in Paris, France when Binet was asked by the French
minister of public education to develop a test that could be used to identify children
who would have difficulty in school so they could be given special instruction. The
Stanford-Binet intelligence scale, which is still in use today, was developed in 1916
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when Terman, a psychologist from Stanford University, translated into English and
revised the tasks created by Binet and his collaborator Simon in 1905. “Binet y sus
colaboradores pretendían medir la inteligencia analizando los aumentos de la
capacidad del individuo para resolver tareas relativamente complejas” (Prieto
2002: 88)2. On the other hand, Terman (1915) worked on the Binet’s test in order
to identify and study the individual differences at gifted children and initiated the
first American works about intelligence testing. “Se preocupó por demostrar la
validez del Coeficiente Intelectual para pronosticar el éxito escolar y profesional”3
(Prieto 2002: 89).
However, the British psychologist Spearman (1863-1945) has been considered
one of the greatest theoreticians of human intelligence, and, as stated in
Enciclopedia de Pedagogía “Es el primer psicólogo psicómetra que tuvo una
concepción clara de la teoría clásica del <<test>>”,4(Prieto 2002: 88). According to
Prieto (2002), Spearman proposed in 1904 the existence of a general intelligence
factor <g>. He based this theory on a statistical technique which he invented called
factor analysis. Since its introduction, the factor <g>. has been the cornerstone of
psychometric models of intelligence. Furthermore, Spearman’s <g>. has often
been used by researchers and theoreticians to make the case for the genetic basis
of intelligence and to downplay the importance of environmental influences.
2 “Binet and his collaborators claimed to measure intelligence by analyzing the increase of the individual’s capacity to solve relative complex tasks” 3 “He was concerned to demonstrate the validity of the intelligence quotient in order to forecast the scholar professional success” 4 “He is the first psychometric psychologist who had a clear conception about the classic theory of <<test>>”
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People like Binet (1905), Piaget (1963), and Sternberg (1987) influenced
cognitive science and resulted in the re-thinking of conventional methods of
evaluating individual’s intelligence. As Sternberg insists “real life is where
intelligence operates and not in the classroom… the true measure of success is
not how well one does in school, but how well one does in life” (1996 Cited by
Plucker 2003:89).
Nonetheless, an additional important controversy surrounds the issue of the
validity of IQ tests. That is because such tests measure what they were intended to
measure, namely, human intelligence. Prominent current researchers of human
intelligence such as Sternberg and Gardner argue that IQ test only measure a very
narrow aspect of human intellectual performance. Such researchers also highlight
the importance of considering the cultural context for a proper evaluation of
performance (Plucker, 2003:15).
According to Thurstone (1938), the <<g>> factor formulated by Spearman does
not describe rigorously what intelligence is. In fact, he extracted seven components
of intelligence from his studies. They are: verbal comprehension, verbal fluency,
ability for calculates perceptible speed, spatial representation, memory and
inductive reasoning (Prieto 2002).
After taking into account all the previous points of views, it can be understood
that what they all have in common is the argument that human intelligence is not
unitary, but it rather involves multiple facets.
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2.4 THE THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
One of the theories that have been recently studied more is Gardner’s, who
approaches the study of intelligence from a new perspective of the neurologist and
psychological development. He goes beyond an imposing conception of
intelligence and exposes that cognitive competence is better described as a group
of skills, talents and mental abilities which he calls intelligences. Plucker mentions
that “In contrast to Binet and his initial findings in the field of intelligence, Gardner
fought to prove that intelligence; on one unitary level was not an adequate
measure of a person’s intellect abilities(Plucker, 2003:40). According to Gardner,
intelligence consists of a group of mental abilities which is not manifested in an
independent way, but is located in different areas of the brain.
Gardner developed the theory of MI which suggests that “the traditional
notion of intelligence, based on IQ testing is far too limited. Instead [Gardner]
proposes eight intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in
children and adults” (Armstrong, 1998:2). These intelligences are:
• Verbal Linguistic Intelligence
• Logical Mathematical Intelligence
• Visual Spatial Intelligence
• Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
• Musical Rhythmic Intelligence
• Interpersonal Intelligence
• Intrapersonal Intelligence
• Naturalist Intelligence
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Gardner hypothesizes that everybody has at least eight intelligences which
reflect different ways of interacting with the world, that human beings exist in a
multitude of contexts and that such contexts both demand and support different
varieties and of intelligence. However, the problem, according to him “is that our
education system is not prepared to address the needs of all the intelligences, thus
neglecting to address the development of some of these areas” (Cited by Plucker
2003:39).
The basic assumptions of the MI theory specify on these points:
• Each person possess the eight intelligences
• Most of the people can develop each intelligence until an adequate level of
competence
• The intelligences generally work together in complex ways and
• There are many ways of being intelligent according to each category.
(McGrath& Noble, 1993:56).
On the other hand, the similarities and differences between the MI Theory
and the most traditionalist assumption can be summarized as:
• Gardner (1984), as others psychologists, maintains a plural notion of
intelligence. He considers that it is not permanent since birth, but that it
changes and develops when the individual responds to the experiences of
his environment.
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• Gardner (1984), as other researchers and education psychologist supports
that the intelligences are the result of the constant interactions between
biological and environmental factors and can be educated.
• Contrary, Gardner understands traditional notions of intelligence, which hold
that intelligence is always present in every circumstance and it does not
change, that the intelligence can be replaced in different contexts.
Intelligence never exists isolated from the others, every task, role and
product of our society demands a combination of intelligences, even when
only one stands out. (McGrath& Noble, 1993:57).
All students will come into the classroom with different sets of developed
intelligences. This means that each child will have his own unique set of intellectual
strengths and weaknesses. These sets determine how easy (or difficult) it is for a
student to learn information when it is presented in a particular manner. This is
commonly referred to as a learning style (Brualdy, 1996:3). Many learning styles
can be found within one classroom. Therefore, teachers have to structure learning
activities around in such a way that they develop strategies that will allow learners
to demonstrate multiple ways of understanding and valuing their uniqueness.
Gardner's theory provides a theoretical foundation for recognizing the different
abilities and talents of students. This theory acknowledges that while all students
may not be verbally or mathematically gifted, children may have an expertise in
other areas, such as music, spatial relations, or interpersonal knowledge.
Approaching and assessing learning in this manner allows a wider range of
students to successfully participate in classroom learning. (Brualdy, 1996:4).
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2.5 THE EIGHT INTELLIGENCES
When we hear the word intelligence, the concept of IQ testing may
immediately come to mind. Intelligence is often defined as our intellectual potential;
something we are born with, something that can be measured and a capacity that
is difficult to change (Cornwall, 2012) In recent years, however, other views of
intelligence have emerged. One such conception is the theory of multiple
intelligences (MI) proposed by psychologist and Harvard professor Howard
Gardner.This theory suggests that traditional psychometric views of intelligence are
too limited. Gardner first outlined his theory in his book Frames of Mind: The
Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983), where he theorizes that all people have
different kinds of intelligences. He originally proposed that there are seven types
of intelligences, later on he added one more, being eight in total.
The theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) was the product of surveyed
information Howard Gardner and his colleagues collected from a wide selection of
literature. Information was processed from developmental data, psychometric
findings, and descriptions of special populations. The populations included
prodigies, gifted, brain damaged patients, idiots savants, normal children, normal
adults, experts in different lines of work, and individuals from different cultures
(Gardner, 1983). His goal was to find the best way to describe or define the
domains of cognition and symbolization. Gardner’s preference for concluding his
case was to use evidence from the biological factors of the nervous system found
in readings of neurobiology.
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The conclusion from his research is that intelligence can be found and
isolated. It appears as a single intelligence because of its harmonious nature, but
looking closer with the proper intent, it is possible to visualize discreet intelligences
cooperating in a very organized way.
The research and conclusion allowed Gardner to redefine the term
intelligence from the concept of one intelligence to that of many intelligences.
Intelligence was first thought of as a “single, general capacity that every human
possesses to a greater or lesser extent; and that, however defined, it can be
measured by standardized verbal instruments, such as short answer, paper-and-
pencil tests” (Gardner,1993:86). However, Gardeners’ definition states that
intelligence “is an ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued
within one or more cultural settings” (Gardner & Hatch, 1989:23).
Although the intelligences are anatomically separated from each other,
according to Gardner, he claims that the different intelligences very rarely operate
independently. Rather, the intelligences are used concurrently and typically
complement each other as individuals develop skills or solve problems.
In addition to biology, Gardner (1983) argues that culture also plays a large
role in the development of the intelligences. All societies value different types of
intelligences. The cultural value placed upon the ability to perform certain tasks
provides the motivation to become skilled in those areas. Thus, while particular
intelligences might be highly evolved in many people of one culture, those same
intelligences might not be as developed in the individuals of another. Using
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biological as well as cultural research, he formulated a list of eight intelligences.
This new outlook of intelligence differs greatly from the traditional view which
usually recognizes only two intelligences, verbal and mathematical. The eight
intelligences Gardner defines are described as follows:
2.5.1 THE VERBAL-LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE
This type of intelligence is often called ‘word smart’ or ‘book smart and
involves the knowing which comes through the language; through reading, writing,
and speaking. Wessman stated that “It consists of the ability to thinking words and
to use language to express and appreciate complex meanings” (Wessman,
2004:11).
It involves understanding the order and meaning of words in speech, writing
and how to properly use the language. It involves understanding the sociocultural
nuances of a language, including idioms, plays on words, and linguistically-based
humor. People who are strong at this intelligence have highly developed skills for
reading, speaking, and writing and tend to think in words. Some of the abilities
which people with the Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence present are:
• Ability when using syntax, phonetics, semantics, and pragmatic usage of
language.
• Easiness to convince and persuade people or exert influence in others by
using clear ideas.
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• Great condition to communicate clearly ideas and listen to others at the
same time.
• Ability to retain structured information as well as to give and get
explanations. (Wessman, 2004)
2.5.2 THE LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCE
In Howard Gardner's words, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason
deductively and think logically. (Gardner & Hatch, 1989: 18) This is the ability to
reason inductively and deductively and to recognize and use abstract patterns and
relationships. Students with strengths in logical-mathematical intelligence usually
enjoy and may show competency in maths and problem solving and reasoning,
and often ask logical questions. They enjoy ordering objects, categorizing,
calculating, experimenting, stating hypotheses and inferring consequences,
conducting research, finding out facts, analyzing findings and developing logical
arguments. This intelligence is normally tested in multiple choice questions on
standardized tests where our ability to mentally process logical problems and
equations.
2.5.3 THE VISUAL-SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE
This is the ability to create visual representations of the world and
manipulate spatial relationships. According to Wise (2001), it refers to “the
capability to think in images and orient oneself spatially. (Wise, 2001: 15) This
intelligence enables individuals to orient themselves and make their way readily in
an unfamiliar environment. Students with strengths in this ability tend to understand
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new information best if they ca n make a mental picture by visualizing the new
information or by creating a physical picture such as a map, chart or diagram which
helps them to develop their mental images. They usually enjoy mazes and can
design, draw and create things. They also enjoy things presented visually, for
example by video, photographs, pictures and charts. These individuals have a
good visual memory and are able to recognize a shape when it appears in a new
context. They have the ability to orient themselves in a home or outdoors.
2.5.4 THE MUSICAL-RHYTMICAL INTELLIGENCE
Students who remember melodies or notice pitch and rhythm tend to have
strengths in musical intelligence. They are often very aware of sounds around them
and enjoy producing music through playing musical instruments or making sound
effects. This intelligence “involves skill in the performance, composition, and
appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and
compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms” (Smith, 2002). According to
Gardner (19383), musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to
linguistic intelligence. This intelligence allows people to create, communicate, and
understand meanings made out of sounds.
2.5.5 THE BODILY-KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE
This intelligence “promotes the ability to use the body to express emotion, to
play a sport, and to create a new invention” (Wessman, 2004:5). In other words the
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence is about to using the body to perform, to
communicate ideas and emotions and to solve problems. Students with strengths
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in this intelligence usually like physical activity and prefer active learning by doing,
rather than what they hear or see. Some of the learning capacities of students with
this type of intelligence are the exploration of environment trough touch and
movement and the develop of coordination and a sense of timing. (Wesman,
2004).
2.5.6 THE INTERPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
This intelligence refers to the ability to understand people and work with and
get along effectively with others. In Gardner’s words is “ability to understand and
interact effectively with others” (Gardner & Hatch, 1989: 20). It involves effective
verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to note distinctions among others,
sensitivity to the moods and temperaments of others, and the ability to entertain
multiple perspectives (Armstrong, 2004). Students with strengths in this intelligence
learn best in cooperative group work, often show strong leadership and
organizational skills and are skilled at communicating, performing for others,
negotiating and understanding other people's behavior. They often show strong
empathy for other people's feelings. These individuals have the particular ability to
perceive the moods, temperaments, motivations and intentions of others. They
understand and care about individuals, have a lot of friends, like to socialize.
2.5.7 THE INTRAPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
Intrapersonal intelligence focuses on the self and involves the ability to be
aware of and understand one's own feelings, strengths, weaknesses and overall
behavior (McGrath & Noble 1995). Students with strength in this intelligence tend
to reflect readily on their own learning, their feelings and behaviors. They tend to
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be good at goal setting and enjoy activities which further their understanding of
themselves as individuals. The person with this intelligence has the keen
understanding of oneself. It is their desires, strengths, weaknesses and how to
operate on the self-model. They focus inwards on feelings and dreams. They like
working alone and following their instincts as well as pursuing their own interests
and goals. A strong intrapersonal intelligence can lead to self-esteem, self-
enhancement, and strength of character that can be used to solve internal
problems.
2.5.8 THE NATURALISTIC INTELLIGENCE
These "nature" people learn best through the interactions with the
environment including outdoor activities, field trips, and involvement with plants
and animals. They see the subtle meanings and patterns in nature and the world
around them. They are able to adapt (Lamb: 2004). Today, naturalist intelligence
may be seen in the way we relate to our surroundings and the role that each part of
our surroundings play. People who are sensitive to changes in weather patterns or
are adept at distinguishing nuances between large numbers of similar objects may
be expressing naturalist intelligence abilities. Naturalist intelligence allows people
to distinguish among, classify, and use features of the environment.
2.6 WHAT IS TRANSLATION?
Translation is a millenarian profession which has been presented in political,
commercial and military contact between different towns and civilizations. It has
always existed in human life since first human beings conceived their first ideas
and needed to translate them into a mean of communication through language.
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This idea supports Robinson’s (2003) conception about the translator’s task.
“Translation was almost born with us. Language, being one of the man’s ancient
aptitudes to communicate, is but a translation of our thinking” (Robinson 2003:45).
Sharing this, Paz (1992:154 cited by Bassnett 1999:3) wrote “… language itself, in
its very essence, is already a translation –first from the nonverbal world, and then,
because each sign and each phrase is a translation of another sign, another
phrase”.
However, it is very hard to define the concept of translation since there are
many authors who have a unique conception about this term. Catford for instance,
states that “translation is an operation performed on languages: a process of
substituting a text in one language for a text in another” (1965:7).
On the other hand, others think that translating does not only involve
substituting words, but transferring culture. According to Lefevere, a translation “…
will to all intents and purposes function as that text [the original] in the receptor
culture, certainly for those members of that culture who do not know the language
in which the text was originally written” (1992:1). This author considers a
translation as “a channel opened, often not without certain reluctance, through
which foreign influences can penetrate the native culture, challenge it, and even
contribute to subverting it”. (Lefevere 1992:2)
Translation is sometimes considered a science and an art, and perhaps
because it has always been concerned with the representation of meaning, it has
much to contribute to further discussions. Translation, as a theory, was initiated in
27
the 1950’s and 1960’s being Fedorov (1954), Nida (1964), Catford (1965), and
several others pioneers. Nowadays, a lot of research is taking into account three
main aspects of it: theory, history and practice. One of these new conceptions
about its theory is the one conceived by Bassnett for whom translation is:
A highly manipulative activity that involves all kinds of stages in the
process of transfer across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Translation
is not an innocent, transparent activity, bit is highly charged with
significance at every stage; it rarely, if ever, involves a relationship of
equality between texts, authors or systems. (Bassnett, 1999:2)
Taking into account the above definition, it can be understood that
translation is not about rendering words, but ideas. This means that a lot of
different aspects must be taken into account in order to transfer what an original
message represents to one culture and to another. It is also important to be aware
that a perfect translation does not exist as Newmark (1993:35) states: “A
translation is a dynamic process within limits. A translation is never finished
(normally you go on changing it a little every time you reread it) and never perfect”.
2.7 TYPES OF TRANSLATION
There are two main translation strategies, direct and oblique translation,
covering all together seven concrete procedures. Direct and oblique translation in
some degree are correspondent to literal and free translation respectively, one of
the difference for their theory from the theories in ‘pre-linguistics period’ is that
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Vinay and Darbelnet use detailed categories to substitute for macro-level’s literal
and free (Newmark, 1981:4 ).
Vinay and Dalbernet (1995 ) in the book Comparative Stylistics of the English
and French Languages show how translation is applied and make the distinction
between two kinds of translation: direct translation and indirect or oblique
translation. With regard to the first one, it has three procedures:
1) Literal translation: This type of translation occurs when there is an exact
correspondence of structure and meaning and word for word equivalence between
two sentences in different languages. Example: The team is working to finish the
report would be translated as El equipo está trabajando para terminar el informe.
2)Linguistic Transfer: A linguistic transfer is when a simple or a compound
word in the Source Language (SL) is used to mention a new idea or object that
already exists in the Target Language (TL). Example: Snow White, Blanca Nieve.
3) Linguistic Loan: This procedure refers to the phenomenon occurring when a
TL incorporates a new term that belongs to another language. Such loan can
existed in two ways: a) when the translation of a term from SL into TL respects the
rules of TL, which is called lexical loan; example: hamburguer, hamburgesa); and
b) when the term in SL is translated into TL with no change at all. This one is called
pure loan; example: rating,rating.
With regard to the indirect or oblique translation Vinay and Darbelnet propose
four basic procedures (Transposition, Modulation, Equivalence and Adaptation)
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and Vázquez-Ayora (1977) four complementary ones (Expansion, Explicitation,
Ommission and Compensation):
BASIC PROCEDURES COMPLEMENTARY PROCEDURES
Transposition Expansion Modulation Explicitation
Equivalence Omission Adaptation Compensation
Table 2.1 Oblique translation procedures
1) Transposition: “By this procedure we can replace a part of speech of
a text in LO by a different one keeping the same main context in LT. It is
based on the principle that in two different species can exist the same
semantic stress or semantic density” (Vázquez-Ayora, 1977:268).
Carlos sueña con terminar la Universidad Charle’s dream is to finish University
2) Modulation: “It is an idea of comparative stylistics consisting in a
change of the ‘”conceptual base” in a proposition without changing its
meaning. That produces a “modified point of view” or a different
metaphorical base” (Vázquez-Ayora, 1977:291).
¡Tranquilízate! Don’t get so excited!
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3) Equivalence: “This is the most extreme case of the modulation
procedure. That is to say, equivalence is a modulation that can be
lexicalized” (Malblane in Vázquez-Ayora, 1977:314).
¡Qué tipazo! What a hell of a fellow!
4) Adaptation: “It is a procedure of forming content to the particular point
of view of each language. That is to say, a message in L1 is expressed
with another equivalent situation in L2” ( Vázquez-Ayora, 1977:322,324).
Ahora me alegro mucho de no haber ingresado a la escuela secundaria con lengua clásicas hace cinco años. I am now more than glad that I did not pass into more grammar school five years ago.
5) Expansion: “By this procedure, we use more words in LT that the
ones we use in LO to express the same idea” (Malblanc and Vinay and
Darbelnet in Vázquez-Ayora, 1977:337).
¡Acuéstense! Go to bed!
6) Explicitation: “By this procedure we can express in LT all the implicit
information of the context in LO” (Vázquez-Ayora, 1977:349).
¿Qué debe entonces perseguir una amplificación, como recurso
traduccional, para transmitir la idea?
So what should an expansion sep to convey?
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7) Omission: “This is another procedure that lets us do an oblique
translation. It consists of omitting some parts of the sentence in LO that
are unnecessary to the same sentence in LT” (Vázquez-Ayora,
1977:359).
He is a doctor Es doctor
8) Compensation: “The most appropriate balance of the amount of
information can be achieved by this procedure. We must take into
account that there is no exact balance since each language organizes
its experience in a different way. For that reason we cannot find an
exact correspondence between L1 and L2” (Vázquez-Ayora 1977:268-
337).
Pero eres tú quien no me ha dejado hacerlo Only you wouldn’t let me
As seen above, the authors have their own conception about translation and
may differ in the way they classify it. However, many of them agree with the fact
that it should be accurate, natural and communicative even tough, in practice, this
goal may be carried out with differing result by different translation teams.
In this research, the concept defined by Bassnet, “the process of transfer
across linguistic and cultural boundaries” (1992) is the one to be taken into account
at the time of evaluating the translation exercises made by the subjects.
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2.8 COMMUNICATIVE AND SEMANTIC TRANSLATION
One of the ongoing debates about translations revolves around the
question of whether, and in what degree, the translation should reflect the
syntax, or form, of the original language. All translators agree that the
translation should reflect faithfully the message of the original, but not all of
them agree on whether the translation should adhere closely to the
grammatical forms of the original language.
In Approaches to Translation, Newmark (1981) distinguishes two types
of translation: semantic and communicative. He states, “communicative
translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible
to that obtained on the readers of the original” (Newmark, 1981:39). Referring
to the first type, he mentions that “semantic translation attempts to render, as
closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language
allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original” (Newmark, 1981:39).
According to this author, semantic translation is not the same as literal
translation taking into account its linguistic approach; it may be inferior than
its original, due to a loss of meaning that is unavoidable during the translation
process. Since its main aim is the original text not the target culture, it is a
translation that can be linguistic and encyclopaedic at the same time.
Semantic translation is applied to philosophic, religious, anthropologist and
political texts. It is considered as an art since it is about one person’s work
and it is related to the thinking process.
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Communicative translation is strictly functional, and it can be better than
its original since it is a creative and questioning work that is orientated to the
receptor. This kind of translation is generally applied to informative texts and
texts that have instructions. It is often considered to be a skill and is generally
a team’s work related to speaking acts (Newmark, 1981).
To Newmark, these two approaches are never applied isolated from
each other during the translation work, but blended and they complement
each other. Newmark considers that a translation can be less semantic and
less communicative.
2.9 THE TRANSLATION PROCESS
According to Darwish (1989:2), translation is “… a complex dichotomous and
cumulative process which involves a host of activities drawing upon other
disciplines related to language, writing, linguistics and culture”. For him, the
translation process involves three great activities that operate jointly, these are:
“1) Transfer of data from the source language to the target language; 2)
Synchroanalysis of text and translation and research of subject- matter; 3)
Continuous self-development and learning” (Darwish, 1989:2).
Darwish (1989:2) also goes further in his analysis of the translation process
and proposes a model of what happens in the translator’s mind at the moment of
translating. He claims that there are two repertories in the translator’s mind; one
of them is the linguistic one (in which all the knowledge of the grammar and
structure of a language lays) and the other is the cultural one (which embraces all
the cultural knowledge of both languages’ culture). In his own words:
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When the translation analysis begins, the two parallel repertoires move
constantly to match and replace lexis, grammar, stylistics, phonology, cultural
and situational equivalents and to give universal concepts language properties. In
the transfer of text from the source language to the target language, all (or nearly
all) the attributes of text/discourse travel from one repertoire to the other through
the concept “lens”, which is also in constant focusing converting concepts
invoked by the flagged attributes in context in the source language repertoire
through the activation of matching attributes in the target language. This binary
action-reflex mechanism results in the translation product. (Darwish, 1989: 3)
This author illustrates his model with the following figure:
Fig. 2.1 Concept Lens (Taken from Darwish,1989:3)
On the other hand, Newmark (1988) in A textbook of Translation begins on
translating procedures with choosing a method of approach. Then, this author
35
suggests four levels that according to him, a translator has in mind more or less
consciously. These levels are:
(1) The Textual Level occurs when the original text is read and the
translator automatically translates the lexical units into the ones
he/she thinks are the most appropriate according to the TL.
(2) The referential level is when the translator has to sort out the text
and finds out what it is about and what it is in aid of.
(3) The cohesive level regulates the coherence between the structure
and the moods of the text and adjusts emphasis.
(4) The level of naturalness, aims to fulfill two aspects that are very
important in a translation. The first one is that it makes sense, and
the second one is that it sounds natural. In order to achieve the later,
it is proposed to use common vocabulary, grammar idioms and
words that meet the kind of situation in the text to be translated.
(Newmark , 1988: 22-30)
2.10 TRANSLATION METHODS
There is still no uniformity that indicates a universal approach or explanation
to the phenomenon of entropy, the fatal loss of meaning that occurs whenever we
move from one text to another. Traditionally, to overcome this obstacle, translators
have tried to find that dynamic equivalence by keeping the message and not the
original form. Thus, there is not one single method of translation; all translations
should be somewhat semantic and communicative, social and individual. What
36
varies is the emphasis placed on one or the other of these aspects (Newmark
1991).
In semantic translation the emphasis is on the author, on the target
language to surrender the exact contextual meaning of the original. In
communicative translation the emphasis is on the receiver of the text. Either way,
the translation must be to "play in the target language the message of the original
language through the nearest natural equivalent and, firstly regarding to sense and
then regarding style” (Ordudar, 2008).
There are many translation methods that are available today and depending
on what is needed, some are more useful than others. Depending on the use that
will be given to the text, it is more convenient to use a translation method than
another. Some are much easier, but the end result is rather poor, whereas others
lead a more specialized, but the result is much better.
Newmark proposed eight methods which he divides in two types: the first
four make emphasis in the SL, and the others in the TL. (Newmark,1988)
Word-for-word translation: The SL word-order is preserved and the
words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context.
(Literal translation: The SL grammatical constructions are converted to
their nearest TL equivalent but the lexical words are again translated
singly, out of context.
37
Faithful translation: …attempts to reproduce the precise contextual
meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical
structures.
Semantic translation: … differs from ‘faithful translation’ only in as far as
it must take more account of the aesthetic value …of the SL text,
compromised at ‘meaning’ where appropriate so that o assonance,
word-play or repetition jars in the finished version.
Adaptation: …the ‘freest’ form of translation. It is used mainly for plays
(comedies) and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually
preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and the text
rewritten.
Free translation: … reproduces the matter without the manner, or the
content without the form of the original.
Idiomatic translation: … reproduces the ‘message’ of the original but
tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and
idioms where these do not exist in the original.
Communicative translation: … attempts to render the exact contextual
meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language
are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership. (Newmark
1988:45-47)
This author also mentions that “only the semantic and communicative
translation fulfil the two main aims of translation which are accuracy and economy
and the first one is generally used for expressive texts and the second one for
informative and vocative texts” (Newmark 1988:47). In the evaluation of the
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translation tests made by the subjects both translations, semantic and
communicative, are taken into account.
2.11 EQUIVALENCE IN TRANSLATION
The comparison of texts in different languages inevitably involves a theory of
equivalence. Equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation
although its definition, relevance, and applicability within the field of translation
theory have caused heated controversy, and many different theories (Menoufy,
2004).
To Newmark, this concept is “to produce the same effect (or one as close as
possible) on the readership of the translation as was obtained on the readership of
the original” (Newmark 1988:48). Vinay and Darbelnet viewed equivalence as a
procedure which “replicates the same situation as in the original, whilst using
completely different wording” (Vinay and Darbelnet 1995:342). They also suggest
that, if this procedure is applied during the translation process, it can maintain the
stylistic impact of the SL text in the TL text. According to them, equivalence is
therefore the ideal method when the translator has to deal with proverbs, idioms,
clichés, nominal or adjectival phrases and the onomatopoeia of animal sounds.
Some translation specialists established their careers on the notion of equivalence.
Nida (1964:166) defines dynamic equivalence as "the closest natural equivalent to
the source-language message". Dynamic equivalence is defined as a translation
principle according to which a translator seeks to translate the meaning of the
original in such a way that the TL wording will trigger the same impact on the TL
39
audience as the original wording did upon the SL audience. Nida and Taber argue
that:
Frequently, the form of the original text is changed; but as long as the
change follows the rules of back transformation in the source language,
of contextual consistency in the transfer, and of transformation in the
receptor language, the message is preserved and the translation is
faithful. (Nida and Taber 2003:200)
The notion of equivalence is undoubtedly one of the most problematic and
controversial areas in the field of translation theory. The term has caused, and it
seems quite probable that it will continue to cause, heated debates within the field
of translation studies. This term has been analysed, evaluated and extensively
discussed from different points of view and has been approached from many
different perspectives. The difficulty in defining equivalence seems to result in the
impossibility of having a universal approach to this notion.
2.12 MEANING
In Language and Culture (1998), Kramsch states, “The crucial feature that
distinguishes humans from animals is human’s capacity to create signs that
mediate between then and their environment. Every meaning-making practice
makes use of two elements: a signifier and a signified” (Kramsch 1998:15).
Meaning is the attribute of the sign or symbol. De Saussure's terminological
distinction between the signifiant and the signifié implies that what is employed to
mean and what is meant is intrinsically linked to each other. According to Kramsch
there are three types of meaning:
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Denotative meaning: The meaning that can be looked up in the
dictionary.
Connotative meaning: This is the associations that are evoked in the
mind of the readers.
Iconic meaning: This is a meaning that words can entertain with their
objects. This meaning not only point to, and is associated with their
objects, it can also be an image. (Kramsch 1998:16)
This author also makes a distinction and recognizes that in order to
understand what a speaker or writer transmits through a message it is necessary
to be aware of two aspects: the context of situation and the context of culture. In
his words “One had to understand why they [individuals] said what they said and
how they said it to whom in a specific context of situation. In addition, one had to
link their words, beliefs, and mindset to a larger context of culture…” (Kramsch
1998:26).
The above conception is of a great importance for understanding whatever
transmitted message, however, this is not easy to be achieved effectively. George
Yule states that “meaning is never achieved once and for all, it must be conquered
anew in every utterance trough the verbal actions and interactions of speakers and
hearers, writers, and readers” (Yule 1996:25)
2.13 MEANING IN TRANSLATION
One of the prime concern while translating content from one language into another
is retaining the meaning of the content and ensuring that the translation stays true
to the spirit of the original document (Bassnet, 1980) This can be a rather
41
challenging process as words or terms used innocently in one region could take on
a totally inappropriate meaning in another despite it being written in the same
language. Many words and terms within the same language vary in meaning from
region to region. Another issue is the absence of certain words in certain cultures.
The primary concern of the translator is to transfer the meaning of the
source language message to the target language. Meaning is at once the point of
departure and the end product of translation operations. It forms the central
problem of translation. The most frequent difficulties in a translation are those that
result from failure to recognize the meanings of words or phrases related to a
particular context in the mind of the listener or reader. This makes understanding
between the speaker and listener or reader dependent on the agreement in context
in the mind of each. That is where most misunderstandings in communication
occur. When translating, it is essential to recognize that every sentence has
meaning in the context in which it occurs and only in that context. Therefore, where
context is not shared between speaker and audience, there can be no true
communication, no mutual understanding (Melby & Foster, 2010).
The goal of the translator is to produce a target language text that has the same
meaning as the source language, but it is expressed in the natural form of the
target language. The meaning, not the form, is retained. (Venuti, 1995:10)
Retaining the original mean of the word can take on renewed significance if the
material being translated is of a medical nature, or has safety implications. A tiny
error in the use of words can result in danger or loss to life; it can also affect the
good reputation of the translator. A good translation is well written and well
42
structured, without changing the meaning of the text. Undoubtedly, it is a complex
and time consuming task.
2.14 QUALITY
When dealing with quality, two basic principles must be acknowledged:
Quality is relative; people perceive different quality levels in the same product.
Quality levels are subject to constraints in requirements. Most quality problems in
translation have little to do with mistakes, and more to do with a mismatch of
assumptions and goals between the people requesting a translation and the people
supplying it. The definition of quality, as stated in ISO 8402:1994, 3.1 reads, “The
totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability
to satisfy stated or implied needs” (AS/NZS ISO 8402:1994,1994:7).
Quality, in Muzzi’s words, is “an integration of the features and
characteristics that determine the extent to which output satisfies the client’s
needs” (Muzzi, 2009). The most important need in translation is accuracy. People
who use the services of translators don’t ask for an accurate translation; they just
assume that it will be accurate. Another implied need is successful communication
of the text’s message to the readers. And for both needs, the client is usually the
de factor judge of quality. Therefore, a translation is of adequate quality,
supposedly, if the client does not complain about it.
In translation, quality assurance refers to “the full set of procedures applied
before, during, and after the translation production process to ensure that quality
objectives, those that are important to the client, are being met” (Muzzi, 2009: 19).
43
Because quality is so subjective, and its definition is such a relative thing,
developing quality specifications for each new project is a good method for clearly
setting quality parameters. Translation quality should be tracked from different
perspectives: the number of reviews, and the time spent on each of them, the
number of errors found, productivity, and suitability.
2.15 GOOD AND EFFECTIVE TRANSLATION
Danica Seleskovitch (1993) conference interpreter and director of the ESIT
(Ecole Supérieure d’ Interprètes et Traducteurs de la Sorbonne) conceives the
Interpretative Theory, which aims to transmit the message by moving away from
the original text and using the extra linguistic knowledge of the translator to get
the sense of the sentence and retransmit it in the TL later (this kind of analysis is
also named discourse analysis. This kind of translation cares a little about
comparative linguistics since, it has been determined that the main goal of
translation it is not the language but the sense, which is the content. (Giles: 2009)
Bearing in mind the above information, Duriex (1988) broaches the question
what is a good translation? and suggests some parameters that, according to her,
exist in a good translation. The first of them is the faithfulness to the information,
which is not about being faithful to the structure of the SL but to the informative
content of the text. The second one is the correctness of the language which the
text is translated into, this refers to using the appropriate words and the suitable
language. The third parameter implies the awareness of what is underlying and the
contribution of all the translator’s cognitive elements. The fourth criteria is the
idiomatic resources of the TL, which it is necessary for the translator to have
44
because this enables him to transfer more nuances of the translated text; and the
last of these parameters establishes that a good translation is which results
adequate to the receiver. This author mentioned that the translator’s task is to
double the author of the original text and that the text. Adaptation should be made
at the moment of translating, not at the end, as some authors believe.
For Darwish (2004), a translation specialist, the definition of a good
translation is the one that produces the desired effect, he calls this an effective
translation which in order to be achieved, the following standards must be fulfilled:
1. Accuracy: It refers to conformity to the information content or the
original, keeping within the parameters of the source text.
2. Precision: Refers to the quality of being exact and definite.
3. Correctness: It is free from errors of meaning, spelling, grammar and
translation-induced or introduced errors of fact.
4. Completeness: Refers to the preservation of the integrity of
information in terms of content and intentions.
5. Consistency: Refers to the uniformity of terminology, presentation,
transliteration and transcription and presentation and conventions.
6. Clarity: It is as clear as the original text is in terms of what it actually
appears to declare.
7. Fitness for purpose: Meet the information needs of its intended
readers or users. (Darwish 2004).
It is important to have in mind that the best translation is the one that no one
recognizes as a translation. In other words, the document should read as though it
45
were written in the target language originally. This implies, by extension, that the
translator's time and effort are transparent, and the translator ends up being
invisible. Translators do their best work when no one realizes that they have done
anything. For this research, the model proposed by Darwish (2004) was used when
preparing a checklist to evaluate the subject’s translations.
2.16 THE TRANSLATOR AND ITS ROLE.
Enani defines the translator as "a writer who formulates ideas in words
addressed to readers. The only difference between him and the original writer is
that these ideas are the latter's” (1994:5 Quoted by Solhy 2002:80).
Translators are language professionals. They are applied linguists, competent
writers, diplomats, and educated amateurs. Like linguists, translators have to be
capable of discerning nuances in their languages, researching terminology and
colloquialisms, and handling new developments in their languages. Like writers,
translators have to be accustomed to working long hours alone on a subject which
interests few people and with a language that few people around them know. Like
diplomats, translators have to be sensitive to the cultural and social differences
which exist in their languages and be capable of addressing these issues when
translating. And like educated amateurs, translators have to know the basics and
some of the details about the subjects they deal with (Chriss, 1994).
Solhy (2002) suggests four main macro-skills for any translator who begins
his/her work in the field of translation:
46
1. Reading Comprehension: Solhy claims that reading, which is the first step in the
translation process, is an unconscious activity that has to do with syntax when the
reader reconstructs the possible structure of a sentence, with semantics when the
relevant areas within the semantic field of any word or sentence is identified, and
with pragmatics as the reader has to deal with the possible meanings of a text. He
advises to mastering the following basic reading comprehension skills:
• Read for main ideas.
• Identify the meaning of new words and expressions using components of the
structural analysis clause and of the contextual analysis.
• Identify the writer’s style.
• Identify the language and the cultural references used in the text.
2. Researching Skills: It is mentioned that looking up unknown words in the
dictionary is the most commonly heard advice to translators and they are
encouraged to follow these basic researching tips:
• Using bilingual dictionaries for looking up meanings of new words.
• Using monolingual dictionaries to check the usage of the new words in the
SL and in the TL.
• Using related encyclopaedias and glossary lists for specialized terms.
• Using software dictionaries if necessary and available.
• Referring to specialized magazines and journals to help translators
familiarize with the text, particularly when it is a technical text.
47
3. Analytical Skills: Solhy (2002) states that a text is analysed in two ways (micro
and macro analysis) in order to find cohesion and coherence in a paragraph and to
check cohesion between all paragraphs of the text. Translators are advised to use
the following strategies in the analysis stage:
• Identify the “best” meaning that fits into the context.
• Identify the structure in the TL that “best” represents the original.
• Identify transitions between ideas and the best connectors in the TL that
represent the original.
4. Composing Skills: This author states that when translators have finished their
work, they have to externalise the set of impressions caused by the text and
translate into speech elements belonging to the TL and to make this product
coherent within itself. According to this, translators are invited to make use of the
following strategies.
• Using correct word order as used in the TL.
• Using correct sentence structures as used in the TL.
• Transmitting the ideas of the text in clear sentences in the TL.
• Using and transmitting TL.
• Rephrasing certain sentences to convey the overall meaning translated;
• Making changes to the text as a whole to give it a sense of the original
without distorting the original ideas.
This author also suggests:
48
a. Syntactic strategies:
o Shift word order.
o Change clause/sentence structure.
o Add or change cohesion.
b. Semantic strategies:
o Use superordinates.
o Alter the level of abstraction.
o Redistribute the information over more or fewer elements.
c. Pragmatic strategies:
o Naturalize or exoticize.
o Alter the level of explicitness.
o Add or omit information.
The knowledge of the field the translator is working in is often overlooked by
translators and those that hire them. Translators are by definition language
professionals, but they also have to cultivate knowledge of the areas they work in.
Few translators claim to be able to translate anything written in their languages,
just as few people can claim to be experts in everything. Most translators have to
specialize, working with one or a few related categories of material: legal, financial,
medical, computers, or electrical engineering, to name a few. Each field has its
own vocabulary, syntax, and style; the translator has to work hard to develop the
knowledge necessary to deal with such material (Solhy, 2002).
A good translator is by definition bilingual. The opposite is not necessarily
true, however. A born and bred bilingual will still need two things to become a
49
translator: first, the skills and experience necessary for translation; second,
knowledge of the field in which he or she will translate. The skills and experience
for translation include the ability to write well in the target language, the ability to
read and understand the source language material thoroughly, and the ability to
work with the latest word-processing and communications hardware and software.
2.17 TRANSLATION AS A PROFESSION
A translator converts written material, such as newspaper and magazine
articles, books, manuals, or documents, from one language into another. This is
not to be confused with an interpreter, who converts spoken material, such as
speeches, presentations, and the like, from one language to another. “Although
there is some vague connection between the abilities involved in translation and
interpretation, translators cannot necessarily interpret, nor can interpreters
necessarily translate” (Chriss, 1994: 25), Moreover, the best translators are not
good interpreters, and; likewise, truly great interpreters are not much for
translation. And while many professional training programs require interpreters to
develop some skill in translation, professionally trained translators often have no
exposure to the skills of interpretation.
Newmark defines the term profession as “A calling requiring specialised
knowledge and long and intensive academic preparation” (Newmark 1991:5).
Translators come from all backgrounds. Most translators are very well-read in their
languages, and can write well. Some are writers who use translation as a way to
write for a living. Others are fascinated by language and use translation as a way
to be close to their favourite subject. Still others are experts in certain fields and
50
use their language skills to work in that field. Translators also generally have lived
in the countries where their languages are spoken. Translators either work for
themselves as freelance translators or in-house as employees of, for instance, a
translation agency. The former are typically called freelance translators, or
freelancers, and the latter in-house translators (Middleton, 2009).
Nowadays, translators have specialized in different areas and there are medical
translators, legal translators, technical translators who must have intimate
knowledge of their particular area of expertise. Words that have very precise
meaning in one language may not have an exact literal translation in another
language. The way in which translators do their jobs has changed with advances in
technology. Today, nearly all translation work is entered into a computer, allowing
most assignments to be received and submitted electronically. The internet
provides advanced research capabilities and valuable language resources, such as
specialized dictionaries and glossaries. While translators’ work is aided by
computers, it cannot be replaced by them. Computers have the ability to translate
literally, word for word, but they don’t have the ability to logically comprehend the
content of the message, or the intent of the written communication.
Despite the theory of translation was started about fifty years ago when it was
considered as an activity exclusive for literary scholars, its purpose remained the
same. In his book About Translation, Newmark (1991) proposes and re-order the
five wider purposes of translation:
1. The first purpose is to contribute to understanding and peace
between nations, groups and individuals.
51
2. The second purpose of translation is to transmit knowledge in plain,
appropriate and accessible language, in particular in relation to
technology transfer.
3. The third purpose is to explain and mediate between cultures on the
basis of a common humanity, respecting their strengths, implicitly
exposing their weaknesses.
4. The fourth ancient purpose is to translate the world’s great books,
the universal works in which the human spirit is enshrined and lives.
5. The fifth purpose is a general aid or as a skill required in the
acquisition of a foreign language. (Newmark 1991:43-44)
Being in the translation service industry is very challenging. An effective
translator needs more than just knowledge of another language to be considered
for a job. The need for translation is, basically, the need for communication: to
increase it, to reach other audiences, to be understood. For this reason, it is crucial
that, even though the client explain why they need the translation. With this
information, translators and editors prepare the documents so that the message is
communicated in a precise and efficient manner, without “noises” that distract the
receivers of this message (such as words that might sound strange, abbreviations
that they won’t understand or forms of speaking that will not be familiar to them).
52
53
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
54
3.1 RESEARCH TYPE
As none of the variables used in this research were manipulated at all this is
considered to be a non-experimental type of research. The researcher was limited
to observe what occurred naturally in the students with the purpose to find out
some answers. There was no control or influence under the subjects of the study
because variables as their type of intelligence is something they had already
before this investigation took place.
Taking into account Hernandez’s definition of this type of research it can also be
classified as a transversal since they “collect data in a single time, its purpose is to
describe variables and analyze their impact and interrelation at a given time”
(2003:270). Being this a descriptive type of research, the results were presented
using not only numbers, but examples of the sentences translated by the students,
giving details such as what type of MI he or she had and including comments and
explanations. In this research, the author attempts to understand the problem by
examining the components of it within their contextual setting. This qualitative
approach was used throughout the investigation in order to interpret the results and
draw further conclusions.
3.2 STUDY TYPE
Because there are not too many studies referring to MI in translation students at
UNACAR and how much their type of intelligence affects in their performance as
translators, this research is considered to be explorative. The report and the results
sections were prepared using a mix of quantitative and quality approach since it
55
was necessary to measure a series of variables and collect information about
each one of them, in order to describe what was investigated.
3.3 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
As in any kind of research, this was started by establishing the objective and the
research questions in order to keep the research focused. Then, the keywords
were defined.
The next step was to carry out a literature review with the purpose of summarizing
and assessing the state of the existing knowledge on the topic. Background
information was read in print and online references, which helped to understand
the broader context of the research and in general terms what was known about
the topic. This literature review had to be performed in order to find out the
characteristics of accurate translation and the theory of MI. A bibliographical trail
was kept for all of these sources as references.
The following stage in this process was the collection of data which was the main
support for the results of the research. In order to do that, an appointment with the
Translation teacher of the 7th semester group was made so the instruments were
applied. Previously, an MI test and a translation exercise were prepared for the
students.
On November 3rd 2008, the researcher met with the group in its classroom. A brief
explanation about the reason of the test and translation exercise was given to the
students. It was mentioned the exercise results were going to be used in a
research project about MI, but they were never told about the research questions
or the results expected from the test in order to avoid any bias in their answers.
56
They first were given the MI Inventory which had two pages. They were asked to
write their name and age on both of them and to tick in the statements they most
agreed trying to be as honest as possible. They were invited to feel free to ask any
question they might have about the instructions of the test or any word they did not
understand. There was no time limit to answer the test; however, the time available
for that lesson was around two hours
After all of them had finished and returned the test, they were given another set of
two sheets with the translation exercise. The first page had the article in the source
language and the second one was to be used for the translation into the target
language. They were asked to translate into Spanish the text given in English after
the researcher read aloud the whole text. Dictionaries were allowed and once
again, no timing for this exercise. In general, the complete session lasted around
one hour and a half. This was the only time the researcher met with the students
and collected all the information.
Later on, with the MI Inventory and the translation exercise solved there was plenty
of information to be studied by the researcher. The characteristics of such data
were first described in the report of the results using graphics and charts, then this
was analyzed in a separate section where the results were compared with the
literature collected previously. The aspects taken into account to evaluate the
translations were the seven standards by Darwish (2004) described in the literature
review. Also, the researcher sought patterns and relationships by comparing
means and correlations between the variables. Once all of that was done, it was
possible to draw a conclusion and present the results for this investigation.
57
3.4 THE METHODS
The research method is directly connected to the problem statement and goal of
the research. This project was based on an inductive-deductive model which
studies individual cases (the students type of intelligence) in order to get to a
generalization or conclusion.
The inductive method is a kind of reasoning that goes from what it is known about
particular cases to a wider state of knowledge that reflects what is common in the
individual cases (Burney: 2008).
This research began with some questions and then the search for the theory
related to the field. Both methods were combined during this research, the
deduction to elaborate the research questions and the inductivism to analyze the
findings.
However, a statistical method was also used to compile, elaborate and interpret the
numeric data acquired.
3.5 THE TECHNIQUES
One of the main techniques used trough this investigation was the
elaboration of bibliographical cards when doing the literature review. In these
cards a record was kept of all of the websites and books consulted during this
stage in order to have a control of all the information and resources gathered and
that was going to be presented in this work.
The test, a technique derived from the survey and the interview were of great
importance to obtain the information regarding the student’s abilities. The purpose
58
of the test was to collect personal characteristics of the individuals in the group
using questions and statements later observed and analyzed.
MS Excel was used to present the results of the translation and the information
obtained from the MI Inventory. Computer software was readily available to provide
both basic and advanced multivariate analysis of all data collected.
3.6 THE INSTRUMENTS
Two instruments were used to obtain the information necessary for this research.
The first one was a Multiple Intelligence Inventory based on Gardner’s MI Theory
and developed by Gregory Gay M.A, founder and manager of the Learning
Disabilities Resource Community (LDRC) a website created to provide knowledge
and communication tools for individuals and groups involved in the education of
those with learning disabilities and to support research and development in
associated fields. The LDRC is comprised of a multidisciplinary team with varied
backgrounds in research, education, and technology development. A number of
staff members possess specialized backgrounds in learning disabilities and
cognitive science - some have learning disabilities themselves. Some of their
partners include The University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
(ATRC) and The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (LDAC).
This test has been used since 1998 by individuals and groups involved in the
education of those with learning disabilities. Each student was given one printed
version of the test and their answers were then entered in the website, from where
it was originally taken, to come up with the result. This inventory consists of two
sheets with 80 statements grouped in eight categories. Each category refers to one
59
specific type of intelligence. In the first page the students had to write their names
and ages and read the instructions. Even though in the original version online it is
required for the taker to provide their gender and answer if he or she is either left or
right handed, these two questions were omitted for the instrument applied in this
investigation as it was considered not to be relevant for the purpose of the
research questions defined in the first chapter. The instructions to answer this
inventory are only check the statements. At the bottom of the second page, there
is a little chart with blank spaces not to be filled in by the students. This chart is for
the researcher to score the results when evaluating the tests later on. This test
helped to find out what were the students’ strengths and to identify the type of
intelligence they had according to the MI theory of Gardner.
The second instrument was a checklist designed to evaluate the translation
exercise made by the students. This checklist was created by the researcher
based on the seven standards proposed by Darwish (2004), whose proposal was
described early in the literature review. This instrument analyzed sentence by
sentence giving one point per each standard being fulfilled. The checklist has a
total of nineteen items grouped in seven categories or standards. These categories
are: accuracy, precision, correctness, completeness, consistency, clarity and
fitness for purpose. The nineteen items in the checklist are the following:
conformity to the source text, true to the original, no extra information, exact
meaning, preservation of intention, meaning, spelling, grammar, errors of fact,
integrity of information, unjustifiable omissions, terminology, transliteration,
coherence, cohesion, clear as the original, ambiguities, distortion and information
60
needs. The result was given at the end by adding the points reached by the
student.
This checklist helped to grade the students’ translations, give them a number in a
scale of 0-10 so the abilities of the translator could be observed and ranked
according to their results. The translations final scores were afterwards compared
among each of the students bearing in mind the type of MI they had. For this
purpose, graphs were used to visualize the data in a better way. With these results
and the ones obtained from the MI Inventory, it was possible to determine whose
translation fulfills the requirements of effective translations. Refer to Appendix
section for a copy of the instruments used in this research.
3.7 THE SUBJECTS
The students of 7th semester were selected to carry out this investigation due to
their level in English language as a group, not considering the individual grades of
each one of them. The group consisted of eleven students, eight girls and three
boys from 21 to 26 years old.
All of them had English lessons taken in the previous semesters, a total of ten
hours a week for each semester and according to the course syllabus some of the
subjects taught are translation (theory and practice), Spanish reading and writing
workshop, Linguistics and Semantics. They are all considered able to have
communicative skills in both languages.
61
3.8 THE OBJECTS
The objects analyzed in this research were the translations made by the students.
The source text given to the students for them to translate it into Spanish was a
149-word article titled Montreal, The Law Of Art. This text had a total of six
sentences; three of them complex and one a compound sentence divided into four
paragraphs. This article was an original text in English taken from ESCALA
magazine published by AEROMEXICO, a Mexican airline and which is distributed
for free among the passengers onboard the flights. This magazine was selected for
this research for being a world-renowned publication and read by people from all
different countries, since, the airline flies not only to America, but also to Europe
and Asia.
The main characteristics of the translations produced by the students and to
be evaluated by the researcher were basically the seven standards described by
Darwish(2004). Each one of them has subcategories like spelling, grammar,
terminology, coherence, cohesion, ambiguities, distortion, etc., that are also taken
into account when evaluating a translation.
62
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
63
4.1 REPORT OF THE RESULTS
The following section describes the findings of the instruments used for the
data collection. The report of the MI inventory and the checklist of the translation
exercise were placed separately. The main strategy used to illustrate the values
obtained was the use of tables and graphs which made the presentation of the
data clearer. As for the MI Inventory, two tables were used to report the answers
given by the subjects. The first one contains the numbers of items or statements
ticked by them, and the second one shows only the results and the type of
intelligence it was attributed to them. Regarding the analysis of the translation
exercise, the results of the checklist used for this purpose were put, classified,
counted and tabulated using MS Excel and finally presented here through several
tables that represent the grades given to the translation and the type of
intelligence of each subject. Also some examples of the translations of the
sentences are included.
4.1.1 THE MI INVENTORY
The results of the inventory were calculated by adding the number of
statements ticked in each group or category. The category with the greater number
of ticked statements was considered to be the one more developed by the subject
and the type of intelligence he/she had. For example, if the subject ticked 7
statements in the group belonging to the Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence, 6 in the
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence and only 3 in the Visual-Spatial Intelligence; then
the Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence was regarded to be the type of intelligence this
subject had.The table 4.1 shows the results of the inventory using 9 vertical
64
columns, the first one refers to the number of subject for their identification, and the
others to the eight different types of intelligence. Horizontally, the table has 12
rows. The first row is for the title and the rest for the values obtained by the
subjects in the different fields or categories. Each subject was randomly given a
number from1 to 11. The number in the box represents the number of statements
the subject ticked off from the eight different categories.
Subject
No.
Verbal-
Linguistic
Logical-
Mathematic
al
Visual-
Spatial
Bodily-
Kinaesthe
tic
Musical-
Rhythmic
Interperson
al
Intraperson
al
Naturalisti
c
1 8 6 4 1 5 4 7 6
2 2 2 8 3 4 4 3 2
3 2 8 4 6 5 6 4 3
4 1 1 4 2 2 1 2 1
5 4 3 2 1 2 6 1 3
6 4 4 4 2 5 2 6 1
7 2 3 2 4 5 2 4 2
8 2 3 4 7 4 8 6 5
9 2 2 5 4 5 6 5 9
10 3 6 2 5 1 7 4 5
11 4 2 3 2 3 6 3 1
Taking into account the higher category ranked by the subjects in the
previous table, it was possible to establish the predominant type of intelligence in
the subject. The results are shown in table 4.2
Table 4.1 Number of statements ticked by the subjects from each category
65
Table 4.2 Sujbect’s type of MI.
Likewise, the results of the MI Inventory provided numbers to identify the
most popular type of intelligence among the group. The numbers are presented in
Table 4.3 According to the numbers in this table, the type of MI that most of the
subjects have is the Interpersonal, which was found in 4 subjects. The next most
common intelligence in the group was the Visual-Spatial, with 2 subjects, and then
the Verbal -Linguistic, the Logical-Mathematical, the Musical-Rhythmic,the
Intrapersonal and the Naturalistic with 1 subject each. The only one type of
intelligence that was not found in any of the eleven subjects was the Bodily-
Kinesthetic.
Subject No. Type of MI
1 Verbal-Linguistic
2 Visual-Spatial 3 Logical-Mathematical 4 Visual-Spatial 5 Interpersonal
6 Intrapersonal 7 Musical-Rhythmic 8 Interpersonal 9 Naturalistic
10 Interpersonal
11 Interpersonal
66
TYPE OF MI NUMBER OF SUBJECTS
Interpersonal Intelligence 4 Visual Spatial Intelligence 2
Verbal Linguistic Intelligence 1
Logical Mathematical Intelligence 1
Musical Rhythmic Intelligence 1
Intrapersonal Intelligence 1 Naturalist Intelligence 1
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence 0
TOTAL: 11
4.1.2 THE CHECKLIST
The following are the checklist´s results of the article translated into
Spanish. The translations were evaluated according to 19 important characteristics
based on the seven standars for accurate translations and which were represented
in the checklist in the columns at the left. The table 4.4 shows which of such items
the subjects scored. Horizontally, the first row of the table refers to the numbers
assigned to the subjects that were the same given in the MI Inventory.
Table 4.3 Most Popular Intelligence among subjects.
67
STANDARS OF TRANSLATION
Subject No.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
ACCURACY
1 Conformity to the ST 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 True to the Original 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 No extra Info. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
PRECISION 4 Exact Meaning 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 Preservation of Intention 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
CORECTNESS
6 Meaning 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 Spelling 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 8 Grammar 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 9 Errors of Fact 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
COMPLETENESS 10 Integrity to the Info. 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 11 Unjustifiable Omissions 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
CONSISTENCY
12 Terminology 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 Transliteration 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14 Coherence 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 15 Cohesion 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1
CLARITY
16 Clear as the original 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 17 Ambiguities 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 18 Distortion 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FITNESS FOR PURPOSE 19 Information Needs 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 Total of Items Scored: 18 16 17 7 15 13 9 6 9 15 11
The first step to evaluate the translations was reading thoroughly all of them
and identifying the equivalentes of the 6 sentences in the source text. Once this
was completed, a checklist was filled out for each translation following the next
procedure: if the subject’s translation fulfilled one characteristic, for example
grammar, a point was gained for that item, if not, the point was declared null. The
number 1 represents the subject achieving it and the number 0 when the subject
failed. The last row in the table shows the total of items scored by the subjects.
As can be observed in Table 4.4, none of the eleven subjects got all of the
19 items. The closest one was Subject Number 1 with 18 points followed by
Table 4.4 Checklist Results of Translation Exercise
68
Subject Number 3 with 17. The subject who obtained the lowest grade was
Subject Number 8 only achieving 6 of the 19 items. The rest of them got grades
between 7 and 16.
Regarding to standards fullfilled by the translators, they were possible to
identify by means of the number of items achieved from each category. For
example, in Accuracy, the first standard which had three items, the subject had to
score the three of them so his/her translation could be considered accurate. When
only one or two of these items were scored, the standard was considered not
achieved.This criterion was used because a translation can not be considered
accurate if it lacks one of its three parameters, that is, when it is not true to the
original or it does not have conform to the source text for instance.
Figure 4.1 expresses the general results of the translations standards. The
blue bar represents the number of subjects who succedeed in achievieng such
standard, and the the red bar refers to the subjects who did not.
69
When looking at these results, it can be noticed that Accuracy the first
standard, was only achieved by 5 of the 11 subjects and 6 did not achieve it. The
parameter which most of the subjects did not meet with was being True to the
original, the mistakes made when translating sentence number 4 being the main
reason. The sentence reads “The inhabitants of this city, more than a half of whom
speak English and French, have also taken pains to preserve their roots.” [sic]
(así)Examples of how the subjects translated this sentence are the following:
“Esta ciudad, la mas de la mitad hablan Inglés y Francés, aunque también
preservan sus orígenes” [sic] - Subject Number 4
In this translation, it is evident that “la más de la mitad” does not have any
meaning in the target language due to the lack of concordance among the article
and the rest of the words and “Aunque” is not definitely a translation for have also
in the ST.
Figure 4.1 Standars Achieved in the Translations
70
“Más de la mitad de las personas que no habitan en esta ciudad que hablan
Inglés y Francés se han adobtado ciertas culturas para preservar sus raíces” [sic]
- Subject Number 8
This sentence totally transmits a different idea far from the original in the ST
by changing the meaning of the word inhabitants in the first place and translating
have also taken pains as se han adobtado ciertas culturas, apart from the
significant spelling mistake.
However, the last item in this standard No extra information, was achieved
by all of the subjects who respected the original information in the text.
Precision, the second standard, was achieved only by Subject Number 1
and Subject Number 10. Both of them managed to fulfill the two items in this
category which were Exact Meaning and Preservation of Intention. For example,
they translated Sentence Number 4, the same used in the previous example as
“Los habitantes de esta ciudad, de los cuales mas de la mitad habla Inglés
y Francés, han tenido tambien dificultades para mantener sus raices” [sic]
–Subject Number 1
And Sentence Number 3 which reads, “Aside from hosting some of the
most important music festivals in the world and being the birthplace of the creators
of Cirque du Soleil, Montreal is a city where the latest trends in design, painting,
cinema, literature, and urbanism are clearly in evidence” as
“Aparte de ser anfitrion de algunos de los festivales de musica mas
importantes en el mundo y ser el lugar de nacimiento de los creadores del Cirque
Du Solei, Montereal es una ciudad donde la ultima moda en diseño, pintura, cine,
literatura y urbanismo son muy evidentes” [sic] – Subject Number 10
71
Other subjects translated this last sentence as “Además de organizar
algunos de los festivales de música más importantes en el mundo y siendo el lugar
de nacimiento de los creadores del Cirque Du Solei, Montreal es una ciudad donde
la más antigua tendencia en diseño, pintura, literatura y urbanismo están
claramente en evidencia” [sic] – Subject Number 7.
One of the reasons why this last subject did not achieve the Precision
standard is because la más antigua tendencia has exactly the opposite meaning
of latest.
On Correctness standard, the results were similiar. Only1 Subject achieved
it and the other 10 did not mainly because of an error of fact done in Sentence
Number 2. This sentence reads:
“Corporations are legally obligated to spend one percent of their total
revenue on works of art, for the enjoyment of the general public” .
Which almost all of the subjects translated it as:
“Las corporaciones estan legalmente obligadas a emplear un porcentaje de
ingreso total en trabajos de arte, para el entretenimiento del publico en general.”
[sic].
Most of them confused “one” and translated “un” not “uno”. It looks as
though only Subject Number 3 noticed that one percent of their total revenue
referred to actually a real number when rendering “Las empresas tienen la
obligacion legal de destinar el 1% de sus ingresos en trabajos artisticos…”
It was also observed that Completeness was only achieved by 4 subjects
who kept the integrity of their translations to the actual information from the ST. On
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the other hand, 7 subjects did not succeed in Completeness mostly because the
unjustifiable omissions they did of some parts of the text.
Regarding Consistency, the results were mostly positive. 7 subjects got it
and only 4 did not achieve this standard,most of them because of Cohesion and
Coherence mistakes. One example of this is Subject Number 8 who translated
Sentence Number 5 (They have remodeled Vieux-Montréal, or Old Montreal, and
over recent years, hefty investments have been made in the downtown area, which
is today synonymous with high-end design) as “Han reconstruido Vieux-Montreal u
Old Montreal y en años recientes las inversiones cuantiosas se hicieron en el
centro de la ciudad lo cual es sinonimo de alto diseño el dia de hoy” which is not
precise and may cause confusion to the reader in the target language.
As for Clarity standard, 3 subjects achieved it, and 8 did not. The items
taken into account to evaluate this standard were Ambiguities and Distortion which
were present in some of the subjects translations and were the reason why they
did not succeed. One example of this is the Sentence Number 6 that reads:
“Behind their 18th and 19th century facades, these buildings conceal interiors that
successfully combine the old with the new, creating the so-called Art Montréal
style”
Subject Number 4 translated as:
“A partir del siglo 18 y 19, estos edificios son combinacion de los antiguos y ahora
nuevos edificios, creados por el estilo de arte de Montreal”.
This sentence is a clear example of meaning distortion as “son combinación” does
not mean “conceal interiors”
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The last standard, Information Needs, was fullfilled by all of the 11 subjects.
Thoso who did not achiev any other six standards, their translations still met the
needs of the intended readers who could understand the bottom line of the text,
which was the efforts being made by Montreal’s goverment to encourage art in
their city. In adittion, Table 4.5 shows the number of standards fullfilled by each
subject. In this table it can be noticed that despite any of the eleven subjects
fullfilled all the of the 7 standards proposed by Darwish, the highest score
belonged to Subject Number 1 who achieved 6 of them.
No. Of Standards Fulfilled
Type of M.I Subject No.
6 Verbal Linguistic Subject No. 1
5 Visual Spatial Subject No. 2
5 Logical Mathematical Subject No. 3
4 Interpersonal Subject No. 5
4 Interpersonal Subject No. 10
3 Intrapersonal Subject No. 6
2 Interpersonal Subject No. 11
1 Musical Rhytmic Subject No. 7
1 Visual Spatial Subject No. 4
0 Interpersonal Subject No. 8
0 Naturalistic Subject No. 9
Table 4.5 Number of Standards Fullfilled
According to the information provided by the checklist, the standard that
Subject Number 1 did not fullfill was Correctness, and this was because an error of
fact made on Sentence Number 2 that reads, “Corporations are legally obligated to
spend one percent of their total revenue on works of art, for the enjoyment of the
general public”. This subject failed to translate “one percent” as “uno porciento”
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and rendered it as “un porcentaje” instead. In the original text, this refers to number
1, not to a certain percentage.
Subjects Number 2 and 3 obtained five standards fulfilled each and
Subjects Number 5 and 10 fulfilled 4 standards both. The next subjects in the scale
were Subject Number 6 who fulfilled 3 of the 7 standards and Subject Number 11
who only got 2 of them. The lowest marks were scored by subjects Number 8 and
9 who failed to achieved any of the 7 standards. They both got 0 standards.
4.1.3 THE TRANSLATION GRADES
The results obtained by the checklist were later used to give the translation
a final grade in a scale from 1 to 10. The number of items scored by each subject
was multiplied by 100 and then divided into 19. The resulting numer is the mean of
the translation excercice and it is shown in yellow in the following table.
STANDARDS OF TRANSLATION Subject No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
ACCURACY 1 Conformity to the ST 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 True to the Original 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 No extra Info. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
PRECISION 4 Exact Meaning 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 Preservation of Intention 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
CORECTNESS 6 Meaning 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 Spelling 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 8 Grammar 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 9 Errors of Fact 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
COMPLETENESS 10 Integrity to the Info. 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 11 Unjustifiable Omissions 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
CONSISTENCY 12 Terminology 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 Transliteration 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
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14 Coherence 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 15 Cohesion 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1
CLARITY 16 Clear as the original 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 17 Ambiguities 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 18 Distortion 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FITNESS FOR PURPOSE
19 Information Needs 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
Total of Items Scored: 18 16 17 7 15 13 9 6 9 15 11 GRADE or MEAN OF TRANSLATION : 9.4 8.4 8.9 3.6 7.8 6.8 4.7 3.1 4.7 7.8 5.7
Table 4.6 Grade of Translation Excercise
The results set using this formula are shown in Table 4.7 in a descendent
order starting form the highest to the lowest grade. The subject´s type of MI is
included next to the grade column for further reference.In this table, it can be
observed that the highest grade was 9.4 obtained by Subject Number 1 who had
the Verbal-Linguistc type of Intelligence. The lowest grade belong to Subject
Number 8 with the Interpersonal intelligence, who scored 3.1 in the translation
exercise. The rest of the subjects obtained grades from 3.6 to 8.9.
Translation Grade or MEAN
Type of MI Subject No.
9.4 Verbal-Linguistic 1
8.9 Logical-Mathematical 3
8.4 Visual-Spatial 2
7.8 Interpersonal 5
7.8 Interpersonal 10
6.8 Intrapersonal 6
5.7 Interpersonal 11
4.7 Musical 7
4.7 Naturalistic 9
3.6 Visual-Spatial 4
3.1 Interpersonal 8
Table 4. 7 Translation’s Final Grades
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4.2 ANALYSIS AND PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION
Based on the information obtained through the instruments and presented
in Table 4.5 and 4.7, it was noticed that the subject with the highest scores in both,
the checklist and the translation excercise was Subject Number 1. This subject has
the Verbal Linguistic type of intelligence as the MI Inventory applied previously
showed. Taking into account Gardner’s theory, the subjects with the verbal-
linguistic intelligence finds it easy to read, pick up new vocabulary, understand
more complex language, and express themselves in speaking and writing either in
their mother tongue or any other language they speak. Such skills could have been
observed in Subject Number 1 whose translation was considered to be, out from
the eleven analyzed, the closest to the original in the ST.
One example of this subject´s ability with language was noticed when
comparing with other subjects´ his version of Sentence 6. This sentence which
originally read, “Behind their 18th and 19th century facades, these buildings conceal
interiors that successfully combine the old with the new, creating the so-called Art
Montréal style” was rendered by Subject Number 4 (Visual Spatial Intelligence) as:
“A partir del siglo 18 y 19, estos edificios son combinación de los antiguos y ahora
nuevos edificios, creados por el estilo de arte de Montreal”. In this version, it can
be remarked that the term “A partir” does not correspond to Behind in the ST. Also,
the phrase these buildings conceal interiors that successfully combine the old with
the new, referring to how the old external look of the buildings contrasted with the
new design interiors, was misunderstood and rendered as “estos edificios son
combinación de los antiguos y ahora nuevos edificios””. These two mistakes were
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produced by mistranslating the words “behind” and “conceals”. It is clear that not
knowing the meaning of these words provoked a distortion from the original
intention and affected the whole translation. One of the reasons that could explain
this is that although they were allowed to use any kind of help source most of them
did not have dictionary. This could have been avoided by making sure all the
subjects undertaking the test had one. They could had been provided with
dictionaries in the classroom or that the test were conducted in a room with Internet
access so the subjects had no problems when facing an unknown word.
Subject Number 1 (Verbal Linguistic intelligence) on the contrary, translated it
as,“Detrás de sus fachadas del siglo XVIII y XIX, estos edificios ocultan interiores
que combinan exitosamente lo viejo con lo nuevo, creando el conocido estilo de
arte Montreal”. In this version, “behind” was translated as “detrás” and “conceals”
as “ocultan”, both being the exact meaning in the source language. The ability of
Subject Number 1 to understand and manipulate syntax and structure, a common
characteristic of people with the Verbal Linguistic Intelligence, resulted in a
translation that is as clear as the original text and free of ambiguities and distortion.
By rendering a translation that is accurate and precise, the subject with the verbal
linguistic intelligence managed to produce a close approximation to the core
meaning of the source text preserving both the communicative and the informative
intention, a characteristic that according to Darwish (2004) is required to obtain the
desired effect or the so called effective translation.
The next subject with the best translation grade (8.9) and greatest number
of standards achieved (5) was Subject Number 3, who has the Logical
Mathematical intelligence. As it was presented in Chapter number II, this type of
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intelligence refers to individuals with the ability to reason, calculate and think in a
logical, systematic manner. Skills highly demonstrated by Subject Number 3 when
translating Sentence Number 2, which reads, “Corporations are legally obligated
to spend one percent of their total revenue on works of art, for the enjoyment of the
general public”, which he translated as “Las empresas tienen la obligación legal
de destinar el 1% de sus ingresos en trabajos artísticos, para de ese modo,
regocijar al publico general”; whereas the rest of the subjects translated it as “Las
corporaciones estan obligadas legalmente a gastar un porcentaje de sus ingresos
totales en obras de arte, para el disfrute del publico en general”. Subject Number
3 succeeded to be the only of the eleven subjects to get the actual meaning of “one
percent”. This little but significant detail being acknowledged by Subject Number 3
concords with Gardner´s description for individuals with the Logical Mathematical
Intelligence, which he defines as the “ability to reason inductively and deductively
and to recognize and use abstract patterns and relationships” (Gardner,1983: 45).
Logical Mathematical individuals have skills to perform complex mathematical or
logical operations, and it is usually found in people who are good at numbers and
appreciate step-by-step, logical explanations.
Regarding Subjects Number 2 and 3, a similarity was found among their
translations even though they did not have the same type of intelligence. The first
one had the Visual Spatial and the latter had the Verbal Linguistic. They both
managed to achieve the second greatest number of standards in their translations;
they fulfilled 5 out of the 7. This demonstrates that even though two subjects have
different types of MI, they can produce a similar result when given the same type of
text and under the same conditions. In other words, having certain type of
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intelligence does not make too much of a difference when translating a text, as two
people with two different types of MI can achieve the same number of standards
that count for an effective translation.
However, despite the fact that they shared this same result, i.e the number
of standards achieved, their translation’s final grades were different. Subject
Number 2 (Visual-Spatial) obtained 8.4 and Subject Number 3 (Verbal-Linguistic)
8.9. The reason for this difference was the several mistakes made by Subject
Number 2 (Visual-Spatial) whose translation had a lot of grammar and spelling
errors that affected directly in the Correctness standard. Such mistakes were
probably caused because the translation was performed via hand writing.
Automatic spell assistants in computer software help the subjects to correct their
translations before turning them in, so these kinds of mistakes are not seen often
.Another reason why this may had happened is that the time given to finish the
translations was not enough for some of the subjects. A person who has the
Verbal Linguistic type of intelligence may be able to get the main idea of a certain
text, in another language because that is one of his or her strongest areas, where a
subject with the Visual Spatial type of intelligence may need to read a text, in
another language, two or more times to be capable of understanding it clearly.
Regarding the most popular type of intelligence in the group, the
Interpersonal, the results were very different. 4 subjets were found to have this
type of intelligence in the group, but only two of them obtained similar results in
their translations: Subjects Number 5 and Subject Number 10. They coincided by
fulfilling 4 out of the 7 standards proposed by Darwish and scoring 15 items in the
checklist and 7.8 in their translations. Among the aspects that coincided between
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these two subject´s translations were conformity to the ST and preservation of
intention. None of them added any extra information and both complied with the
information needs of the text. The other two subjects with the Interpersonal
intelligence were Subject Number 8 and Subject Number 11. Their final grades
were not only different from the other two members with the Interpersonal
Intelligence, but also among them. While Subject Number 11 obtained items in the
checklist and obtained 5.7 in his final translation, Subject Number 8 was the one
who obtained the lowest marks in both: 6 items in the checklist and 3.1 in the
translation exercise. This factor is worth noticing as the difference is huge. An
example of this can be illustrated through the translation made by Subject No. 8.
He translated the sentence “The inhabitants of this city, more than a half of whom
speak English and French, have also taken pains to preserve their roots” as “Mas
de la mitad de las personas que no habitan en esta ciudad que hablan Ingles y
Frances se han adobtado ciertas culturas para preservar sus raices”. As we can
observe, the word in bold “adobtado” does not exist in Spanish and even if we
interpret it is as “adoptado”, this other word does not have the same meaning as
the original “taken pains” either. According to Darwish, the second standard,
Precision, refers to “the quality of being exact an definite” and as we were able to
read in the previous example, this sentence is not exact nor definite.
Figure 4.2 shows the great difference among all the subjects with the
Interpersonal type of intelligence. Subject Number 5 obtained highest results and
Subject Number 8, who did not fulfill any of the standards required, obtained the
lowest.
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Taking into account the values presented above, it is evident that the results
of the subjects with the Interpersonal type of intelligence do not follow a similar
pattern. Whereas two of them obtained exactly the same grades, the other two
differs from the rest of the group. What can be deduced from this is that sharing the
same type of intelligence does not guarantee obtaining the same result when it
comes to translating. A translation student with the Interpersonal type of
intelligence can either achieve 4 of the 7 standards proposed by Darwish or 0, or 1,
or 3, or 5. Having this type of intelligence has shown no evidence that a student
can get a certain number of accurate standards fulfilled. Now, why did this
happen? There are some factors that could answer this question. The first one is
the English proficiency. Even though they are all subjects that belong to the same
semester, their level of English may vary. Two subjects may have shared the same
type of intelligence, but if their knowledge of a second language is more advanced
in one of them, the difference in their translation is going to be evident. Maybe this
Figure 4.2 Subjects with Interpersonal Intelligence
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was the case among the highest and the lowest grades. Another reason may have
been the lack of interest in the subject. A student may not feel motivated to do his
best at a translation exercise if he knows this is not going to have any relevance in
his grades, as a consequence, he does not do his best. Some others just want to
leave the classroom as quick as the can, so they do not put a lot of effort in
presenting a good job. In the case of the subjects that had the same type of
intelligence and got the same results in the translation, they probably shared
comments while doing it and maybe help each other with terms they didn’t know
and compare their works before handing them in.
Based on the results described in the previous paragraphs, the findings
encountered by this research can be summarized as follows:
• The translation with the highest grade scored and with the greatest
number of standards achieved belongs to Subject Number 1 who has the
Verbal Linguistic Intelligence. According to Gardner’s description, this
intelligence is found in people with the ability to use words and language. They
are good at speaking, writing and understanding the syntax and meaning of
words.
• The most common intelligence in the group was the Interpersonal which
was found in 4 subjects. However, their final translation differ a lot from each
other, which lead us to deduce that
• People with the same type of intelligence, any type, do not produce the
same translation results. This means that having a particular type of
intelligence does not guarantee the translator is going to fulfill the same number
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of standards when doing a translation. The results on the translations largely
depend on other skills of the subject doing the translation such as mastery of
the source and target language, time given to perform the translation, tools
such as dictionaries or any other type of reference to consult and the willing
and effort in doing a quality translation. These skills have to do with the ability to
understand languages, both source and goal languages, and the capacity to
correctly transfer meaning from one to another; or as Gardner mentioned in his
theory referring to the Verbal-Linguistic type of intelligence, “the capacity to use
language to accomplish certain goals” (Cited by Smith: 2002). The goals which
Gardner talks about could be interpreted as communication goals.
• On the contrary, the results of a translation can be the same even when
they were done by subjects with different types of intelligences. As we
observed in the two highest scores, subjects with different types of intelligences
achieved the same number of standards, characteristics that, according to
Darwish, if these standards are obtained they can ensure the translation is
effective since it produces the desired effect. The effect intended by the original
writer.
• The fact that the subject with the Logical Mathematical intelligence was the only
one who successfully translated “one percent” as “uno porciento”, and not “un
porcentaje” as the others in the group did, shows evidence that a translator has
more chances to produce an effective translation when the topic of the
text is related to the area of his/her intelligence. The type of intelligence of a
translator may be other than Verbal Linguistic but this will not prevent him from
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rendering an appropriate translations. A translator with the Logical Mathematical
intelligence can be better at translating a technical document than a translator
with the Verbal Linguistic one. A Visual Spatial person can be better at
translation maps and diagrams than a translator who type of intelligence is the
Verbal Linguistic.
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CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
86
CONCLUSIONS
The findings from the instruments used, as well as the examples of the
sentences translated by the subjects, allow to conclude that the fulfillment of the
standards described by Darwish to achieve an effective translation does not
depend on the type of the intelligence the translator has. According to the
tables shown in the previous chapter, subjects who shared the same type of
intelligences produced quite different results among them. However, a successful
fulfillment of these standards concurs with having certain skills that the translator or
subject of translation should possess prior to any attempt of translation.
Hence, it can be said that the Verbal-Linguistic type is the ideal kind of
intelligence for the translator to have or develop the most since most of these
abilities are specifically approached by Gardner’s Verbal Linguistic type of
intelligence. This was evident in the only subject in the group with this type of MI.
Not only did he obtain the best grade, but he was able to demonstrate that he
clearly understood the main idea in the source text and was capable of transferring
it exactly to the goal language. This subject proved to be someone who can
communicate well in his own language, and by consequence, he will be the most
likely to produce an effective translation.
Furthermore, the problems encountered by the subjects at the moment of
translating and the mistakes made by them allowed to get an idea of the
preparation and tools a translator should count on before starting the translation
process.
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These problems can be listed as:
1) Time. It is the main factor why some translation students fail to do a good job,
especially in the classroom. Not having enough time makes them skip some
important steps as reading the source text thoroughly, more than one time if
necessary, before starting translation; this situation affects directly the
comprehension of the core idea of the original text. Another good reading
should be done after the translation is completed. In this reading, grammar,
spelling mistakes or even the style may be changed.
2) Knowledge of the Source Language. A translator should have a high level of
proficiency in the language he is translating from. Some of the mistakes made
by the subjects in this research were due to the lack of knowledge of the
English language. Even though vocabulary problems can be fixed with the help
of dictionaries, there might be structures that a translation student may not be
able to understand well, if he does not have a deep knowledge of the source
language. An incorrect understanding of the original idea can have a huge
impact on the goal text, sometimes having completely opposite meaning.
3) Mastery of the Goal Language. There were a lot of grammar and spelling
mistakes found in the translations made by the subjects even though they were
translating into Spanish, their mother tongue. Such mistakes have a negative
impact in their final translations and it makes them look of a very poor quality.
Translators are supposed to be language professionals; therefore they should
know the culture, grammar and semantics of their own mother language very
well. This will help them to tell others exactly what the author of the original text
wanted to say without confusion. Correct grammar makes communication clear
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to others and clear to the translator. A good vocabulary will help also the
translator to say exactly what it was meant.
4) The Topic of the Text. This refers to the academic and cultural background of
the translator. It would be easier for a translator to render a text which he knows
already or is familiar with. This is the advantage of a specialized translator over
a regular one. However, even though the translator is not familiar with the type
of the text, but it is of a topic of his interest, the translator has more probabilities
of doing a better job. For example, a translator who has the Naturalistic type of
intelligence may be the best to translate a text about environmental issues like
climate change, land use, etc. because it is likely that he will be interested in
the topic, rather than somebody that has cero knowledge or interest in that
topic.
Knowing the findings described above has many benefits not only for the
subjects of this study, but also for other translation students and teachers at
UNACAR. A student that knows his or her strengths will apply them when doing
their translations and therefore these will be of better quality. This means that
students will improve their grades and increase their confidence. Having better
grades will also influence positively when students are seeking a job after
graduating. A translator graduated from UNACAR with good notes will be a reliable
professional. On the other hand, knowing their weaker areas will help them to
correct and improve with the support and guidance of their teachers, who can help
by designing activities and programs in the classroom to suit the students’ needs.
By using multiple intelligences, teachers can also bring students of different
strengths and preferences together, giving them all the chances to share their
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capability, and to tackle their weaker intelligences by learning with fellow students
who are stronger in these areas. Learning in this way can do a lot for students' self-
esteem, as they will see themselves valued by their classmates. This also
contributes to bring about better educational experiences, which is a strong
precedent to successful learning in life.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH • Larger Group: It is advisable to have a greater number of subjects in the group.
The group in this research was made of eleven students and not all of the M.I
were found among them. The Bodily-Kinesthetic type of intelligence was not
studied in this research as none of the subjects had it. Having more than one
subject per type of intellingence also would give the research more
information to analyse and compare and, of course, would provide a richer
amount of data, which can be generalized afterwards.
• Increase time for translations : Subjects had one hour to complete the M.I test
and the translation. This was performed during their translation class thanks to
the help of the teacher of this subject. Some of the problems found in the
translations were thougth to be caused by the lack of time. Some subjects
seemed not to have read the source text before translating it, and neither
afterwards in order to look for grammar errors or style. It would be good, for
further research involving translation to schedule more time so the subjects can
work on post translation details.
• Motivation: It would be a good idea to motivate the subjects with some kind of
reward in order for them to do their best effort. It could be disscussed with the
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teacher if achieving the best translation can make them earn extra points for
their translation class. This will solve the issue of lack of interest in some of the
subjects when doing the translation exercise and the researcher would have
translations with better quality to compare.
• Aids: It is important that all subjects have the necessary tools for the
completion of the translation. It was observed that not all of the subjects had
dictionaries at the moment of translating. This represents a disadvantage which
has a direct impact on the results. If future research involves translating, the
researcher should consider all the aids that could be helpful for the success of
their translation. The researcher should make sure all the subjects have
dictionaries, glossaries -if the topic of the translation is of a specialized subject-
and maybe access to Internet.
• English Proficiency Test: It would be very interesting if the researcher has a
group of study with all subjects of the same level of English. Despite the fact
that all of the subjects in this research belonged to the same semester, it was
noticeable that there existed differences regarding vocabulary and grammar
knowledge among them. This should be taken into account for any other
resarch, even the ones not including translation excercises because this would
give the researcher a more solid and reliable group to base his investigation on.
• Source Text according to M.I. As point number 4 suggests in the conclusions
sections above, it would be a good idea to adapt the source text to the type of
intelligence of the subject doing the translation i.e., giving the translator a text
that is of the area of his/her interest to see how the result changes. This would
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give new information regarding the behavior of the translator towards the
source text and also more parameters for the researcher to compare regarding
the relation Multiple Intelligences–translation results. It could also be the topic
for a new research, which would provide more knowledge about how students
thrive according to the areas where they have greater skills or that interest them
most.
• Use of a statistical software: A program like SPSS helps the researcher to
save time when organizing and analyzing data. Those programs also can be
modified to run different statistical models, examine different variables, or
access different data files.
Finally, it is important to mention that all the data obtained from this research
is not conclusive. The more studies on this matter, the better knowledge to help
teachers and subjects in the classrooms.
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APPENDIXES
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APPENDIX A UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DEL CARMEN
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EDUCATIVAS LICENCIATURA EN LENGUA INGLESA
This test will help to find out what is the type of Multiple Intelligence that each one of the students have.
Name: Age:
INSTRUCTIONS: Tick the options that you most agree with.
Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence Logical/Mathematical Intelligence ___ I enjoy telling stories and jokes ___ I have a good memory for trivia ___ I enjoy word games (e.g. Scrabble & puzzles) ___ I read books just for fun ___ I am a good speller (most of the time) ___ In an argument I tend to use put-downs or
sarcasm ___ I like talking and writing about my ideas ___ If I have to memorize something I create a
rhyme or saying to help me remember ___ If something breaks and won't work, I read
the instruction book first ___ For a group presentation I prefer to do the
writing and library research
___ I really enjoy my math class ___ I like logical math puzzles or brain teasers ___ I find solving math problems to be fun ___ If I have to memorize something I tend to
place events in a logical order ___ I like to find out how things work ___ I enjoy computer and any math games ___ I love playing chess, checkers or Monopoly ___ In an argument, I try to find a fair and logical
solution ___ If something breaks and won't work, I look at
the pieces and try to figure out how it works ___ For a group presentation I prefer to create the
charts and graphs
Visual/Spatial Intelligence Bodily/Kinaesthetic Intelligence
___ I prefer a map to written directions ___ I daydream a lot ___ I enjoy hobbies such as photography ___ I like to draw and create ___ If I have to memorize something I draw a
diagram to help me remember ___ I like to doodle on paper whenever I can ___ In a magazine, I prefer looking at the pictures
rather than reading the text ___ In an argument I try to keep my distance,
keep silent or visualize some solution ___ If something breaks and won't work I tend to
study the diagram of how it works ___ For a group presentation I prefer to draw all
the pictures
___ My favourite class is gym since I like sports ___ I enjoy activities such as woodworking,
sewing and building models ___ When looking at things, I like touching them ___ I have trouble sitting still for any length of
time ___ I use a lot of body movements when talking ___ If I have to memorize something I write it out
a number of times until I know it ___ I tend to tap my fingers or play with my
pencil during class ___ In a argument I tend to strike out and hit or
run away ___ If something breaks and won't work I tend to
play with the pieces to try to fit them together ___ For a group presentation I prefer to move the
props around, hold things up or build a model
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Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence Interpersonal Intelligence ___ I enjoy listening to CD's and the radio ___ I tend to hum to myself when working ___ I like to sing ___ I play a musical instrument quite well ___ I like to have music playing when doing
homework or studying ___ If I have to memorize something I try to
create a rhyme about the event ___ I an argument I tend to shout or punch or
move in some sort of rhythm ___ I can remember the melodies of many songs ___ If something breaks and won't work I tend to
tap my fingers to a beat while I figure it out ___ For a group presentation I prefer to put new
words to a popular tune or use music
___ I get along well with others ___ I like to belong to clubs and organizations ___ I have several very close friends ___ I like helping teach other students ___ I like working with others in groups ___ Friends ask my advice because I seem to be a
natural leader ___ If I have to memorize something I ask
someone to quiz me to see if I know it ___ In an argument I tend ask a friend or some
person in authority for help ___ If something breaks and won't work I try to
find someone who can help me ___ For a group presentation I like to help
organize the group's efforts
Intrapersonal Intelligence Naturalist Intelligence ___ I like to work alone without anyone
bothering me ___ I like to keep a diary ___ I like myself (most of the time) ___ I don't like crowds ___ I know what I am good at and what I am
weak at ___ I find that I am strong-willed, independent
and don't follow the crowd ___ If I have to memorize something I tend to
close my eyes and feel the situation ___ In an argument I will usually walk away until
I calm down ___ If something breaks and won't work, I
wonder if it's worth fixing up ___ For a group presentation I like to contribute
something that is uniquely mine, often based on how I feel
___ I am keenly aware of my surroundings and of what goes on around me
___ I love to go walking in the woods and looking at the trees and flowers
___ I enjoy gardening ___ I like to collect things (e.g., rocks, sports
cards, stamps, etc) ___ As an adult, I think I would like to get away
from the city and enjoy nature ___ If I have to memorize something, I tend to
organize it into categories ___ I enjoy learning the names of living things in
our environment, such as flowers and trees ___ In an argument I tend to compare my
opponent to someone or something I have read or heard about and react accordingly
___ If something breaks down, I look around me to try and see what I can find to fix the problem
___ For a group presentation I prefer to organize and classify the information into categories so it makes sense
TOTAL SCORE _______ Verbal/Linguistic _______ Logical/Mathematical _______ Visual/Spatial _______ Bodily/Kinaesthetic
_______ Musical/Rhythmic _______ Interpersonal _______ Intrapersonal _______ Naturalist
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APPENDIX B
UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DEL CARMEN FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EDUCATIVAS LICENCIATURA EN LENGUA INGLESA
Please translate into Spanish the following paragraph.
MONTREAL The Law of Art.
In Montreal, the promotion of art is mandatory. Corporations are legally obligated to spend
one percent of their total revenue on works of art, for the enjoyment of the general public. Aside from hosting some of the most important music festivals in the world and being the birthplace of the creators of Cirque du Soleil, Montreal is a city where the latest trends in design, painting, cinema, literature, and urbanism are clearly in evidence.
The inhabitants of this city, more than a half of whom speak English and French, have also taken pains to preserve their roots. They have remodeled Vieux-Montréal, or Old Montreal, and over recent years, hefty investments have been made in the downtown area, which is today synonymous with high-end design.
Behind their 18th and 19th century facades, these buildings conceal interiors that successfully combine the old with the new, creating the so-called Art Montréal style. Translation:
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