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Материалы X Международного Конгресса ISAPL
Армандо Гонсалес Салинас
Марисса Лопес Паредес
РАССМОТРЕНИЕ ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКОЙ КОМПЕТЕНЦИИ ПЕРЕВОДЧИКА В РАМКАХ ПСИХОЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКОГО ПОДХОДА
В наши дни наблюдается повышение спроса на квалифицированных переводчиков. Целью данной статьи является описание различных компетенций, необходимых для успешного трудоустройства переводчиков.
Ключевые слова: компетенция, субкомпетенция, качество перевода.
Armando González Salinas
Marissa López Paredes
REFLEXING ON TRANSLATORS/INTERPRETERS' LINGUISTICCOMPETENCIES FROM A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC STANDPOINT
Translators and Interpreters originated as occupations based on the human need to communicate their ideas and needs to others who spoke a different language. Despite the fact they are practices from old and all times, their degree of professionalization and scientific study is quite recent. Nowadays, there is an increase on the need of quality translation and interpretation professionals. In order for them to be competitive in the growing market, they need to be truly competent in their working languages.
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight on the different competencies and sub-competencies required by translators as well interpreters which will allow them to address their on-the-job problems and enable them to establish different strategies in order to render a higher degree of quality and precision in a translation or throughout an interpretation that responds to the challenges the new century demands.
Keywords: competency, sub-competency, translation, interpreting quality.
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Linguistic Competence in Translators:
Translating from one language to another has been the main source of income for many free lance translators as well as another means of getting extra money. The fact that a person knows two languages well can make a good reason for general people to request a translation service from any of those who do and are not translators. However, according to Nolan [2005], it is only if you are truly bilingual, that is, to be able to use both languages as a medium of expression in an accurate manner without disregarding cultural and linguistic elements such as idiomatic expressions, language nuances, and other quite important and relevant details worth taking into account it is then when one may respond to a request for a translation or interpretation job. Qnly then you will have an advantage over others who are just competent enough to use both working languages. Students from different fields of study need the translation of texts to accomplish the understanding of their assigned readings. This and many other arguments greatly justify and support the fact that Translation has become a subject matter for a set course of studies at different levels in education, both pre-graduate and post-graduate for the last decades, one of which
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is this new century. Several universities both nationally and internationally have tried new approaches to understanding the processes involved in such an important task, and that has been the main interest of training programs for specialized translators. This is due to the fact that Translation Studies is a subject matter in which theorists and practitioners have finally come together to improve research, teaching and practice [Malmkjaer 2004].
Translating a specialized text is much more complex than just changing that text from a source language to a target language because the sense of a given specialized text is more important than the sense the language itself provides. Every field of study has its own characteristics, technical terms and specific words. For example, a legal term in English, such as defendant, may have a different one in Spanish, acusado, which also exists in English (accused), with a slightly difference in meaning. Translation means substituting a text without sacrificing the sense of it, with no distortion or destruction. As a consequence, to be a good translator implies compromising to develop a number of competences that go beyond the linguistic one in order to be officially considered a qualified translator.
According to an article by Zainurrahman [2010], based on Albrecht Neubert [2000[, there are five competences for any Translator to qualify as a competent one, they are: 1. Language or linguistic Competence, 2. Textual Competence, 3. Subject Competence, 4. Culture Competence and 5. Transfer Competence.
1. Language or linguistic Competence. A translator responsibility is to master two languages in all their communicative aspects. And the linguistic competence is just one of the four competences Canale and Swain [1980] and Canale [1983] have proposed for developing a complete Communicative Competence, the others are Sociolinguistic, Discourse and Strategic Competences. Recent approaches have included, for the first two, the role of Pragmatics to the extent of coining the terms: Pragmalinguistic and Sociopragmatic competences. Pragmalinguistics involves syntax, vocabulary, meaning and phonetics, within a contextual situation; and Sociopragmatics, the distinction and awareness of social as well as societal conventions and conversational aspects of the language. Discourse competence implies the general and also the specific layout of a text structure when communicating ideas, thoughts and feelings, cohesiveness in chosen words and coherence in thoughts expressed; and Strategic competence entails those language mechanisms such as re-structure, paraphrasing, and further exemplification for clarifying meaning in order to keep one message related to another for complementing information, in writing and speaking, although in speaking these mechanisms are time limited when conveying special information.
2. Textual Competence refers to knowing about and distinguishing regularities and conventions of texts, genres, and text types. A narrative text and an expository text have different structures and a translator should be able to feel/sense the distinction. There are texts that can and sometimes should be translated with a free style, such as a linguistic or communication text in a standard book; but there are other texts that cannot be taken for granted and should be translated word by word to follow and respect the intended message, such as a mathematical text. Purpose or function of the text varies from one to the other as well as the audience to which is being translated. Qne aspect is intimately related to the other, text type, functions, and audience are essential parts to be taken into consideration when working in a translation.
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3. Subject Competence deals with field domain (disciplines) and thematic expertise of a translator. Every field domain calls for specific knowledge of the words used in and for a text. The subject competence enables the translator to recognize and distinguish the habits of textualization and the patterns of language and structure of each and every field domain. S/he has to be aware of the 'reading' conventions of both the text writer and text user/receiver of each domain. For example the words input and output in the computer domain means different in a domain such as psychology. Qr the idea of the word link in the anthropology domain means different from the computer domain, although the idea may be similar the words to be chosen in Spanish should change to respect the meaning intended in the original version.
4. Culture Competence. Language is the means to express Culture. Any information expressed in a text is full of social conventions and cultural identity [Zainurrahman 2010]. A translator deals with words and phrases, and discourse that are attached to the source culture, and many times s/he does not have to look for substitutions but for equivalences because either the source or the target culture may not have the same concept and therefore become untranslatable. Equivalences of proverbs, for example, are quite difficult to find and translators have to rely on their expertise to find the sense of the unit of meaning to be translated, and only cultural knowledge from both cultures involved can help find semantic similarities. An example of a proverb such as: All talk and no action can easily be found translated as: Mucho ruido y pocas nueces, which does not include any of the words in English but the focus is on intended meaning and sense of the original text in either culture. Another example can be seen from the concept of age, in English we grow old, in Spanish we complete/have years (of age).
5. Transfer Competence. This refers to the dexterity of a translator to transfer a message from one source to another. According to Pym [1992] there are three steps to be considered between this competence and translation: 1. the process of transferring 'non-existing' to 'existing' meaning of particular text or parts of a text, based on the translator's general knowledge, 2. The process of translating the message which implies the transformation from the source to the target text, and 3. the result of the first two processes, which is the translated text, the text produced. This competence is assumed as the highest competence demanded for all translators in the world because it demands enough linguistic as well as non-linguistic knowledge, especially that which is relevant to the text being translated. All translators should be enabled to transfer not only words, or grammatical and semantic aspects of language, but the mental images that those concepts implied in the original text in order to make sense of the resulting translated text [Zainurrahman 2010].
With the knowledge and practice in the development of these five competences, the translators' work, processes, and resulting products can be considered of high quality and worth the time invested. A translator has the great advantage of having time to think, do research and come with options to the given text, and the interpreter has no time to do it but to relay on the knowledge and practice to have interpreted such a text or a similar one in a particular way.
The Research Group known as PACTE = Process of Acquisition of Competent Translation and Evaluation, led by Amparo Hurtado Albir, has been focusing in the study of Translation Competencies since 1977. After thorough research they were able
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to identify a translation competence model and a definition for this concept: Translation competence is the underlying knowledge required to translate which involves other sub-competencies. This means that not all individuals who speak two languages are able to translate since translating requires expert knowledge of the subject matter(s). A translator needs to have a certain knowledge and grasp of procedures and operations involved in the translation process, as well as to be able to establish certain strategies in order to address the problems that may arise.
Below is a summary of the sub-competencies that were identified by PACTE:
Subcompetence Type of knowledge involved
Bilingual Procedural knowledge to communicate in two languages
Extra-linguistic Declarative
Knowledge about translation Declarative knowledge about translation processes
Instrumental Procedures on how to use documentation resources applied to translation
Strategic Procedures to guarantee the translation process and problem solving.
Psycho-physiological Cognitive and attitudinal aspects and psycho motor mechanisms, as well as cognitive components.
The best way to effectively develop Translation competences is at an academic institution. There are a good number of academic institutions with different perspectives but the same main objective: to provide courses leading to professional qualifications. These programs are primarily and ultimately based on translation theory and/or developing translations skills for practice, production and expertise [Christina Schaffner and Beverly Adab 2000].
Linguistic Competence in Interpreters:
Considering that translation and interpretation are known as ancient human activities, they were for many centuries considered as being the same discipline; it was not until the 18th century that the term interpreter began to be employed and recognized; whereas in Spanish the words truchimán, trujamán were used before, for example. Both of these terms originate from the Assyrian term ragamón which means "to talk" [Hurtado 2001]. However nowadays, it is well known that even though they both have underlying differences, only one of them is assigned the different demands on/from the cognitive system due to the different tasks that are expected to be performed. The main similarity is that they are both language tasks using at least one of the following processes: reading, writing, listening, or speaking [Danks et al. 1997]. In the case of interpreting, the same competence and sub-competencies proposed by PACTE can be used, making the pertinent adaptations to the different scenarios.
Interpreting requires skills and elements which differ from translation. However, it is an undeniable fact that in order to render a quality interpretation there are certain psycholinguistic and cognitive elements that come to order.
Faber [2004] establishes that in order to be able to understand the interpreting process, as well as to look into the most recent innovations in the area several disciplines are involved: linguistics, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and pragmatics. Neurolinguistics and psycholinguistics allow us to study the interpreting process from different perspectives such as brain lateralization, memory structure, information processing, just to mention a few.
According to Blasco [2007] the psycholinguistic elements involved in language processing and comprehension are the following:
The nature of sounds and audition: Every sound regardless of its nature is a series of vibrations usually produced in the air. An oscillating object creates alterations in pressure varying in size and frequency, hence producing volume. In the case of tone, the determining factor is the frequency of the oscillation. Sound waves the mechanical energy that becomes nervous impulses which travel through the auditory nerve from the ear to the cortex.
The sounds of speech: Human voice is produced by air expelled from the lungs causing the vocal cords in the larynx to vibrate. When the air in the lungs is moving, it can be modified by the vocal tract. By moving the phonological organs: mouth, tongue, lips, palate, for example, the tract changes and modifies the resonating harmonics. According to Pavon and Rosado [2003], speakers of a language unconsciously represent the pronunciation rules of sounds, thus making them able to articulate them adequately.
Words: When we listen to a familiar language we identify words rather than sounds. A difficulty that an interpreter might encounter is to be able to understand in formal and informal contexts the separation of words since many speakers do not separate words in sentences. According to Faber (ibid) there is a variation of language according to users, the first one being the idiolectal use of the language which is related to the individual dialect that the user wishes to apply (standard, geographical, social, or temporary).
Intonation and tone of voice: The tone of voice can transmit a series of important information. It can change the meaning of a comment from one being boring to one being rude. It relies on the rhythm and intonation and the voice qualities of the speaker (high pitch, monotone, rough, and so on). According to Halliday [1967] emphasis attracts attention to new information, and contrasts the information contained in the question.
Based on all this we can say that interpreters need to be able to identify and understand the different elements that are involved in language and speech, not only when it comes to words but also as Faber (ibid) mentions, to be able to distinguish between two aspects of meaning: sense and reference.
In addition to this, there are certain skills that need to be present in order to provide a quality interpretation. Kalina [2000] offers her own definition of interpreting competence as being "the ability to perform cognitive tasks of mediation within a bi-multilingual communication situation at an extremely high level of expectations and quality, often in teams of several interpreters" [Kalina 2000: 47]. This very accurately summarizes what the job of an interpreter is: a high stress occupation involving all senses where linguistic accuracy is very important since there is no time to think about the right answer. Below is a summary of what she also mentions as being important skills that an interpreter needs to have or learn to develop:
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Skill Additional information
Linguistic To speak many languages, to be able to speak and listen at the same time.
Cultural To have adequate knowledge of the cultures of the countries or regions of the working languages.
Mental To have excellent mnemonic capacity and the ability to work under stress.
As a conclusion, if one can be reached, interpreters and translators not only have to have a previous cultural and linguistic baggage, they also have to acquire/develop a number of certain skills and abilities along with the development and constant practice through their professional careers to become better every time on what they do for a living. This in turn is the response to the fact that competence is not only important while you are performing either task, a translation or interpretation since it is quite frequently a matter of always preparing oneself before and during the task to be accomplished and even more after the job has been done.
References
Blasco, M. La comprensión oral en el desarrollo de la pericia de la interpretación de conferencias. - Granada: Comares. - 2007.
Canale, M. & Swain, M. Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing // Applied Linguistics 1. - 1980.
Canale, M. From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy / J.C. Richards & R. Schmidt (Eds.) // Language and Communication. -London: Longman. - 1983. - P. 2-27.
Dollerup, C. & Loddegaard, A. Teaching Translation and Interpreting. Training, Talent and Experience. - John Benjamins Publishing Company. - Amsterdam/Philadelphia.
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Faber, P & Jiménez, C. Traducción, lenguaje y cognición. - Granada: Comares.
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Fernández, M. y Muñoz, M. Aproximaciones cognitivas al estudio de la traducción y la interpretación. - Granada: Comares. - 2008.
Halliday, M.S. Intonation and Grammar in British English. - La Haya. Mouton.
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Hurtado Albir, A. Traducción y Traductología. Introducción a la Traductología. -Edit. Cátedra. - 2001.
Malmkjaer, K. Translation in Undergraduate Degree Programmes. - John Benjamins Publishing Company. - Amsterdam/Philadelphia. - 2004.
Neubert, A. Competence in Language, in Languages, and in Translation / Schäffner, Christina and Beverly Adab (Eds.) // Developing Translation Competence. -Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamin North America (3 ff.). - 2000. http://www.benjamins. com/%catalog/books/btl .38/
Nolan, J. Interpretation. Techniques and Exercises. Professional Interpreting in the Real World. - Multilingual Matters, Ltd. - Cleveland. - 2005.
Pavón V. y Rosado, A. Guía de fonética y fonología para estudiantes de filología inglesa: en el umbral del siglo XXI. - Granada: Comares. - 2003.
Pöchhacker, F., Shlesinger, M. The Interpreting Studies Reader. - Routledge Language Readers. - 2002.
Pym, A. Translation and Text Transfer: an essay on the principles of intercultural communication. - Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. - 1992.
Schäffner, Ch. ( Beverly A. Developing Translation Competence (Eds.) Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamin North America. - 2000.
Zainurrahman. Five Translation Competencies // Translation Competencies. -2010. http://zainurrahmans.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/five-translation-competencies/
Qther sources:
Ressurreccio, et al. The Acquisition of Translation Competence through Textual Genre. // Translation Journal. - 2008. Available at: http://translationjournal.net/ journaU46competence.htm
Neubert, A. Competence in translation: A complex skill, how to study and how to teach it / M. Snell-Hornby, F. Pöchhacker and K. Kaindl (Eds.) // Translation Studies: An Interdiscipline (411 ff.). - 1994.
Neubert, A. Translation Across Languages or Across Cultures? / Jankowsky, K. R. (Ed.) // Scientific and Humanistic Dimensions of Language (231 ff.). - 1991.
Malina, S. Interpreting Competencies as a Basis and a Goal for Teaching. - 2000. Available at: http://jaits.sakura.ne.jp/Articles/%92%CA%96%F3%83R%83%93%83s% 83%5E%83%93%83X.pdf
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