zanier alessio & portillo vilma

MEMORIAS DEL V FORO DE ESTUDIOS EN LENGUAS INTERNACIONAL (FEL 2009)

ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3

©Universidad de Quintana Roo – Departamento de Lengua y Educación http://fel.uqroo.mx - [email protected]

611

SIGHT TRANSLATION AS A COGNITIVE TOOL IN LANGUAGE

LEARNING

M.C. Alessio Zanier Visintin M.C. Vilma Portillo Campos

Universidad de Quintana Roo

Abstract This paper will examine the possible usefulness of sight translation as a tool for developing different cognitive and linguistic skills in different moment of the language learning process. The first step will consist of suggesting a precise definition of sight translation, taking into account the opinions of scholars such as Seleskovitch, Pratt, Lambert, and Dejean Le Féal. Special attention will be given to the three-pronged analysis effected by Pratt, taking into account the process, the structure of the different languages involved, in this case Spanish and English, and the significance of the visual perception of a segment of speech in association with the activation of its auditory form. Daniel Gile’s effort model of translation will be taken into account, and Viezzi’s research on information retention through sight translation will be debated. The central idea of this paper is that this kind of exercise is an effective tool when learning a foreign language. Finally, some practical suggestions about its possible use as a pedagogic strategy are offered, both in translation studies and in the more general framework of language teaching. In this last section, sight translation as a didactic strategy as well as an assessment strategy will be examined, as well as its relation with the so-called think-aloud protocols.

Introduction

This paper will examine the possible use of sight translation as a learning

tool in the process of language acquisition. First of all we should ask ourselves

what sight translation is in order to have a clear idea of what we’re talking about,

before formulating other questions on the subject.

A variety of definitions can be found in the works of different scholars who

have dealt with this specific activity: for instance Lambert (1988) suggests that:

”Sight translation involves the transposition of a text written in one language into a text delivered orally in another language. Since both aural and visual information processes are required, sight translation could be defined as a specific type of written translation as well as a variant of oral interpretation”.

http://fel.uqroo.mx/

mailto:[email protected]


ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


612

This is an interesting definition, as the author underlines the double

character of this activity, namely the fact that the student has to process a visual

linguistic information and immediately transform this specific input into an oral

linguistic information, activating uncommon brain processes.

Seleskovitch (1986) affirms that:

“On occasion the interpreter is obliged to convey a written text: in such cases the process involved is more akin to translation than to interpretation”.

This scholar highlights the link existing between sight translation and written

translation, as the initial process of decoding the original text is similar to the first

reading a translator carries out whenever asked to translate a text. Therefore, this

mode can be considered as an oral translation of a written text, thus it is a hybrid of

translation and interpretation.

A definition taken again by Pratt (1991) who places it in between translation

and interpretation, since the form of the original message is similar to written

translation, but the processing of information resembles simultaneous

interpretation at sight.

After revising these maybe incomplete definitions, and on the basis of my

personal experience as interpreter, translator and language teacher, we can

suggest an all-encompassing, possibly satisfying definition of this activity: “Sight

translation is the oral reformulation in the target language of a text written in the

source language”.

This mode of translation is widely used in the training of interpreters, as a

preparatory exercise for consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, and in the

training of translators: however, we consider that it can also be used in general

foreign language teaching.

If we assume that translation practice should be an integral part of linguistic

education – a trend on the rise among linguists and linguistic scholars worldwide, a

trend which is highly critical of the old lack of faith in translation as a linguistic skill -

enhancing tool – it is clear that sight translation is useful in the teaching of oral and




ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


613

written translations, as well as in foreign language teaching, mainly due to the

mental processes involved.

Of special interest is the three-pronged analysis of these mental processes

in sight translation effected by Pratt (1991), who split the process into three

phases. In her opinion, the process of sight translation consists of:

1) Visual perception and understanding of the original message;

2) Mental translation

3) Oral production in the target language

An important point to be kept in mind at this stage refers to the relationship

between visual perception and oral reformulation of the original text: Dejean Le

Féal (1981) compares sight translation with simultaneous interpreting with text,

stressing that it is impossible to process a visual and an oral input at the same

time.

This is why, in sight translation practice, one of the fundamental points to be

kept in mind by the students is the succession of the different stages of this activity,

namely the student has to read first the original text silently – with their minds –

and successively the student can start with the oral re-expression in the target

language.

This apparently simple process has to be carried out by dividing mentally the

original text in logical chunks, or segments, and by concentrating on the mental

translation of the same chunks, one by one.

This process requires a considerable brain concentration, as it implies the

connection between a visual input, registered at primary brain cortex level, and its

corresponding sound form, when the Wernicke area of the brain comes into play.

The Wernicke area is one of the two areas of the brain linked to speech, the other

is the Broca area. So, two areas of the brain enter the process, almost

simultaneously, in an unusual way, thereby producing brain stress, which everyone

feels after a while when performing sight translation.

This process is similar to the “Effort Model” described by Daniel Gile, one of

the most outstanding scholars in the field of interpreting and translating, referring to




ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


614

simultaneous translation. Of course sight translation is somehow simpler than

simultaneous translation, since the process is simplified.

One significant element of sight translation deals with information retention:

citing, for example, a study carried out by Maurizio Viezzi in the early nineties in

Italy, this scholar was able to demonstrate that sight translation is useful both as a

preparatory exercise for simultaneous interpreting and also as a means to retain

linguistic information.

He exposed different students to a variety of exercises, namely: listening to

a text in the foreign language; reading a text in the foreign language; sight

translation, and simultaneous interpreting.

One result of this study was that the linguistic information retention level was

high in sight translation, confirming it as a useful tool in language learning.

This finding is strengthened by Moser-Mercer (1994) who claims that “Sight

translation is a very useful pedagogical tool that helps students divorce themselves

from the original text, increase their speed of analysis and manipulate a text

syntactically as well as morphologically”

Pratt (1991) supports this thesis through a detailed analysis of the skills

which intervene in the process:

1) Practicing mental reflexes to quickly understand an idea;

2) Immediate memory development to translate the same ideas;

3) Understanding a text in its whole, and not as a series of words;

4) Sentence visualization

5) Vocabulary enrichment

6) Synonym command

7) Ability to discard “false friends”

8) Fluency of thought

9) Ability to maintain a constant level of concentration

10) Finding a balance among the skills of reading, thinking, translating and

talking




ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


615

Personally I’d stress that there’s one more element to be taken into account,

that is: The development of the fundamental skill of building a clear, concise and

correct series of sentences in the foreign language, a basic ability, and one which

different student have difficulties with.

An interesting variety of this exercise is one which has been used

extensively in different universities, such as Heidelberg in Germany, Ecole

Superieur pour Interprets et Traducteurs in Paris, and consists of the projection on

a screen of a text moving at a controlled speed (controlled reader system), while

students read and translate the text at a loud voice and record their performances.

What’s important for this research is that different Universities apply this

exercise as a tool for improving the students’ knowledge of a foreign language, a

procedure not very different from the TAP (think aloud protocols), which consists of

“asking students to translate a text and, at the same time, to verbalize what they are thinking while they are performing the task; their performance is recorded on tape or video, and the recording is then transcribed, with the written transcript referred to as “think aloud protocols”, or TAP. (Taylor, 2000).

On the basis of what has just been pointed out, sight translation can serve

two purposes: training translators and interpreters, and can also be used as a

cognitive technique in language learning in general.

More specifically, it is useful in preparing students for simultaneous

interpreting, where students learn to read, analyze, translate and orally reformulate

a message without pause; in preparation for consecutive interpreting, with note

taking in between the reading and the text reformulation; and as a preparatory

exercise for written translation, to help students acquire speed, vocabulary and

quickness in their translating decisions: let’s keep in mind that a professional

translator must not only be accurate, but must also be able to be quick when

translating.

In language teaching, sight translation is undoubtedly useful in that it can be

used as a pedagogic strategy in two ways:

First, students translating a text at sight from the foreign into their native

language, develop their understanding of the grammar structures, syntax, idioms




ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


616

and specific structures of the written language, enlarge their vocabulary, as well as

their general culture, in that sight translation forces students to cope with unknown

texts at a quick pace, so that they examine a considerable quantity of material in

the foreign language.

Second, students translating from their native language into the foreign one

are able to understand the level of their command of the structures of the foreign

language, to foster their linguistic creativity, and test their ability to autonomously

create personalized structures of the language they are studying.

Last but not least, let’s keep in mind that in different instances, in job

interviews, candidates are asked to perform a sight translation at a loud voice as a

way to test their linguistic competence. This is applied in many situations,

especially in the European Union.




ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


617

References

1. Lambert (1988) “A Human Information Processing and Cognitive Approach to the teaching

of Simultaneous Interpreters” en Lindberg-Hammond D. (ed.)

2. Seleskovitch (1986) “Interpreting versus Translating” ATA, 27th, Cleveland OH.

3. Pratt (1991) “L’importance de la Traduction a Vue Pour l’Enseignment de l’Interpretation et

de la Traduction” Proceedings, XII Congrés Internacional de la FIT, Belgrado.

4. De Jean Le Féal (1981) “L’enseignement de l’intérpretation et de la traduction. De la

Theorie á la pedagogie” Cahiers de Traductologie 4, Ottawa, Éditions de L’Université

d’Ottawa.

5. Viezzi (1989) “Sight translation, Simultaneous Interpretation and Information Retention” en

Gran, Taylor (ed.) “Aspects of Applied Research on Conference Interpretation”-

Campanotto Ed. Udine, Italia.

6. Moser-Mercer (1994) “Training and Research: the Foundation for Conference

Interpretation” The ATA Chronicle 26,6,14

7. Taylor (2000) “Language to Language” O.U.P. Oxford, England

8. www.aiic.net (International Association of Conference Interpreters) Accessed on line

15/7/2009

9. www.acebo.com/egsite.htm (Introduction to the Sight Translation Chapter) Accessed on line

20/8/2009

10. www.intralinea.it/vol.11/ballardini.htm (La traduzione a vista nella formazione degli intepreti)

Accessed on line 16/7/2009



http://www.aiic.net/

http://www.acebo.com/egsite.htm

http://www.intralinea.it/vol.11/ballardini.htm


ISBN 978-607-9015-05-3


618

Biodata

Alessio Zanier Visintin. Born in Trieste, Italy, Degree in Modern Languages,

Master in Translation and Interpreting. Researcher at UQROO since 1999. Wrote

three books, translated three books, and wrote 26 articles on language learning,

translation, literature, international relations.

Contact: [email protected]

Vilma Portillo Campos. ELT profesor at Uqroo and professional translator.

Researcher in the fields of translation and language learning process. Published

several articles and memoirs in national and international magazines.

Contact: [email protected]





zanier alessio & portillo vilma

Documents