Didactics of Translation: Text in Context

Post-tests: Register

The post tests required the students to conduct register analysis and produce the textual profile of a number of STs which then had to be translated. The purpose of these post-tests was to measure the effect of the use of register analysis by students on their translations.
Before embarking on this task, students first went through a practice stage during which they had to analyze the register of four texts before translating them.
Execution of the post- tests:
The execution of the post-tests took two forms:

1. 
   The students were asked to conduct register analysis of the source texts and then to translate those texts in the light of this analysis.
   
2. 
   The students were asked first to translate each text without register analysis; secondly, to conduct register analysis of each text; third, to retranslate the source text based on the register analysis.
   

1. 
   Register analysis and translation:
   

TEXT 1: The question of literariness: criticism and its object
It has already been pointed out that the ultimate concern of the formalists was with the concept of literariness. They approached particular literary texts not as ends in themselves, to be understood on their own terms and for their own sake, but as vehicles for the exemplification and development of this concept. To appreciate more deeply what was involved in such a concern, it will be helpful to review the problems which confronted Saussure and the means by which he resolved them. (Bennett, T. 1979)

TEXT 2: Education

When we are five, whether we are boys or girls, we have to go to school, and we have to stay there, whether we like it or not, for years and years. Life at home goes on, of course, and so does the process of conditioning begun at birth. What effect does education have on our ideas of proper masculine feminine behaviour? And how do our ideas about how we should behave affect the education we get? (Demoor, W. 1973)
Results of post-tests A:

Concerning text 1,

. 6 students did the post-tests.
. All of them produced a good register analysis of the text.
. Only 3 of them produced an adequate translation.
. The translations of the other 3 were faulty on many accounts.
Surprisingly, the student who produced the best register analysis was the one who made the worst translation. This comes as a surprise since it was initially assumed that register analysis would help students overcome some major translation problems and thereby lead to an acceptable translation.
Concerning text 2,
. 8 students did the post-test
. 7 of them produced a good register analysis of the ST.
. 4 of them got average marks for their translations.
. 2 of them got below average marks.
. Only 1 student produced a quite good translation.

Interpretation of the results:

One can conclude from the above results that the students’ awareness of the social context of the ST alone does not guarantee the production of a good translation. Register analysis can help students avoid certain translation problems connected with the degree of formality, the complexity or simplicity of the mode and the use of the appropriate terminology; however, there still remain other translation problems in their work which are related to other aspects of meaning both in the ST and the TT: (word and phrase meaning, idiomatic meaning, pragmatic meaning and semiotic meaning) and to difficulties in composing in the TL. In addition to all this, one has to take into account the general paucity of their top-down knowledge.

2. 
   Translation 1 + Register Analysis + Translation 2: The texts used for this post-test are given below:
   

TEXT 1: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is my first book and, in writing it, I have learned – somewhat to my surprise – just how much of a collective undertaking a book really is. Whilst I must accept final responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation that remain, I owe a real debt of thanks to those who commented on the book during the various stages of its production and, in so doing, helped me to remove at least some of its weaknesses. (Bennett, T. 1979)
TEXT 2: GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE
It is easy to see that we are living in a time of rapid and radical social change. It is much less easy to grasp the fact that such change will inevitably affect the nature of those disciplines that both reflect our society and help to shape it.
Yet this is nowhere more apparent than in the central field of what may, in general terms, be called literary studies. Here, among large numbers of students at all levels of education, the erosion of the assumptions and presuppositions that support the literary disciplines in their conventional form has proved fundamental. Modes and categories inherited from the past no longer seem to fit the reality experienced by a new generation. (Bennett, T. 1979)

TEXT 3: Interferon Interferon- Immediate Effects

Interferon is a protein, a natural substance produced by many cells in the body in response to some stimulus, such as a virus. Interferon has been called the body’s Paul Revere. When it is released by cells that are under siege from a virus, interferon spreads to other cells to prepare them for attack by stimulating the production of what are called anti-viral proteins.
Interferon – Remote Effects
In the last few years interferon has been produced artificially by use of the techniques of genetic engineering. It is too early to know whether interferon will be effective in preventing virus infections, such as herpes, but there is “guarded optimism” for the use of interferon in the treatment of hepatitis B. (Neufeld, J. K. 1987)
Text 1:
7 students did the post-test following the three stages of execution in
B.
The students’ marks for translation 1 and translation 2 were strikingly
quite similar, except for one student (7), whose translation 2 was far better than translation 1.
The register analysis marks were average or just above average, except for student 7.

Students	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Translation 1	10*	14	10	11	11	11	12
Register analysis	10	12	11	12	10	11	14
Translation 2	10	14	10	11	11	10	14

* these marks are out of 20
Text 2:
6 students did the post-test.
The students’ marks for translations 1 and 2 were once again quite similar.
The register analysis marks were quite good.

Students	1	2	3	4	5	6
Translation 1	11	11	12	11	12	12
Register analysis	11	11	12	13	12	12
Translation 2	12	11	12	11	12	12

Text 3:

6. 
   students did the post-test
   

The students’ marks for translations 1 and 2 were on the whole similar, except for students 1 and 2.
The register analysis marks were good (students 1 and 2) and very good (students 3, 5 and 6)

Students	1	2	3	4	5	6
Translation 1	10	10	11	13	14	12
Register analysis	12	12	14	12	14	14
Translation 2	12	12	11	13	14	12

Interpretation of the results:
The purpose of the execution of post-test B was to compare T1 (done without register analysis) and T2 (done with a preliminary register analysis) in order to find out if register analysis does indeed lead to a better translation.
Concerning Text 1, “acknowledgements”, and text 2, “the preface”, there were almost no differences in marks between translation texts 1 and translation texts 2. Only in text 3 did two students show some noticeable improvement.
One may therefore be tempted to draw the following conclusion: register analysis, alone, does not lead to a translation text of a high quality. Being well aware of the situational linguistic features of the ST, as the students’ register analysis marks seemed to indicate, is not enough. There are indeed other causes for their translation problems, as it was seen in the execution post-test A above, which also have to be considered.
Interviews:
All the students interviewed (including those who did not take the post-test) were unanimous as to the positive role played by register analysis in helping them understand the social context of the source text and develop a certain self-awareness which is necessary for building up self-confidence when it comes to taking certain translation decisions. However, only a few of them expressed the opinion that register analysis had no great influence on their translation decisions.

3.