Abstract
The paper discusses recent advances in human translation process research and presents a methodology for gathering and analysing translators’ activity data. We compare three translations of an English text into Danish. A coherent representation of the User Activity Data and a query formalism is suggested for retrieving source-target language alignment units and for tracing and interpreting the process data for these units. We look at a number of correction patterns and a fixation pause in more detail. With a better and more formalised way of understanding the underlying human processes, new technologies and novel ways of using existing technology could emerge that tighten the integration of speech recognition and automated translation aids into the translation workflow.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahlsén, E., & Strömqvist, S. (1999). ScriptLog. A tool for logging the writing process and its possible diagnostic use. In F. Loncke, J. Clibbens, H. Arvidson, & L. Lloyd (Eds.), Augmentative and alternative communication. New directions in research and practice (pp. 144–149). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Barrachina, S., Bender, O., Casacuberta, F., Elsa, J., Cubel, C., Khadivi, S., Lagarda, A., Ney, H., Tomás, J., Vidal, E., & Vilar, J.-M. (2009). Statistical approaches to computer-assisted translation. Computational Linguistics (pp. 3–28).
Beatty, J. (1982). Task-evoked pupillary responses, processing load, and the structure of processing resource. Psychological Bulletin, 91(2), 276–292.
Carl, M. (2009). Triangulating product and process data: quantifying alignment units with keystroke data. In I.M. Mees, F. Alves, & S. Göpferich (Eds.), Copenhagen Studies in Language: Vol. 38. Methodology, Technology and Innovation in Translation Process Research (pp. 225–249). Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Carl, M., Jakobsen, A. L., & Jensen, K. T. (2008a). Modelling human translator behaviour with user-activity data. In 12th EAMT conference, Hamburg, Germany.
Carl, M., Jakobsen, A. L., & Jensen, K. T. (2008b). Studying human translator behavior with user-activity data. In Natural language processing and cognitive science (NLPCS 2008), Barcelona, Spain.
Doherty, S., & O’Brien, S. (2009). Can MT output be evaluated through eye tracking? In MT summit.
Dragsted, B., & Hansen, I. (2009). Exploring translation and interpreting hybrids: the case of sight translation. Meta, 54(3), in press.
Gerloff, P. (1986). Second language learners reports on the interpretive process: talk-aloud protocols of translation. In House J. & S. Blum-Kulka (Eds.), Interlingual and intercultural communication. Discourse and cognition in translation and second language acquisition studies (pp. 243–262). Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
Heitz, R. P., Schrock, J. C., Payne, T. W., & Engle, R. W. (2008). Effects of incentive on working memory capacity: Behavioral and pupillometric data. Psychophysiology, 45, 119–129.
Jakobsen, A. L. (1999). Logging target text production with Translog. In G. Hansen (Ed.), Copenhagen studies in language: Vol. 24. Probing the process in translation: methods and results (pp. 9–20). Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Jakobsen, A. L. (2005). Investigating expert translators processing knowledge. In Dam, H. V., Engberg, J., & Gerzymisch-Arbogast, H. (Eds.), Knowledge systems and translation. Text, translation, and computational processing (Vol. 7, pp. 173–189). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Jakobsen, A. L. (2006). Research methods in translation—Translog. In Sullivan, K. P. H. & Lindgren, E. (Eds.), Computer keystroke logging and writing: methods and applications (Vol. 18, pp. 95–105). Oxford: Elsevier.
Jakobsen, A. L. (2009). Conference presentation delivered at the Eye-to-IT Conference in Copenhagen, 29 April, 2009.
Just, M., & Carpenter, P. (1980). A theory of reading from eye movements to comprehension. Psychological Review, 87, 329–354.
Koehn, P., & Haddow, B. (2009). Interactive assistance to human translators using statistical machine translation methods. In MT summit.
Kollberg, P. (1998). S-notation—a computer-based method for studying and representing text composition. Licenciate thesis, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Krings, H. (1986). Was in den Köpfen von Übersetzern vorgeht. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
Kromann, M. T. (2003). The Danish dependency treebank and the DTAG treebank tool. In 2nd workshop on treebanks and linguistic theories. Växjo, Sweden.
Liversedge, S., & Findlay, J. (2000). Saccadic eye movements and cognition. TICS, 1(4), 6–14.
Lörscher, W. (1991). Translation performance, translation process and translation strategies. A psycholinguistic investigation. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
Perrin, D. (2003). Progression analysis (PA): investigating writing strategies at the workplace. Pragmatics, 35, 907–921.
Radach, R., Kennedy, A., & Rayner, K. (2004). Eye movements and information processing during reading. Psychology Press.
Rayner, K., & Pollatsek, A. (1989). The psychology of reading. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carl, M., Jakobsen, A.L. Towards statistical modelling of translators’ activity data. Int J Speech Technol 12, 125–138 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10772-009-9044-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10772-009-9044-6