基于眼动数据的英汉视译文本干扰研究

Textual Interference in Sight Translation Based on Eye-Tracking Evidence

本研究对学生译员的视阅口译过程进行了眼动追踪,通过控制文本句法复杂性观察高阶译员和初阶译员的眼动差异,并结合传统的译语分析探究造成文本干扰的原因。数据分析显示,句法差异带来的文本干扰普遍存在,导致注视次数、注视时间和回视增加,在一定程度上导致译语不流畅甚至误译;高阶译员和初阶译员在眼动和译语上均表现出差异性。因此,加强针对性的视译顺句驱动技能训练、提高语言表达能力是视译表达质量提升的关键。

Sight translation with the visual input and audio output poses special cognitive difficulties due to the lingering textual interference.Traditional performance analyses fail to pinpoint the reasons behind the hesitation and disfluency resulted from the mechanism of reading and translating at the same time following the principle of syntactic linearity.Existing studies have not gone deep enough in the field of visual interference.This study adopts a combination of process-oriented and product-oriented research methods to explore how textual interference affects sight translation performance,trying to answer the following questions:how the syntactic differences between English and Chinese generate textual interference?Can traditional translation product analysis find adequate explanation in eye movements?How advanced sight translators and less advanced sight translators differ in eye movements and translation performance?The process-oriented research entails tracking the eye-movements of sight translators during the process of reading and translating 10 sentences.The productoriented research refers to the traditional performance analysis of sight translation in terms of sense consistency,logic coherence and fluency.In the experiment,syntactic complexity in stimuli texts is manipulated to determine the effect on subjects’cognitive effort.19 student interpreters,divided into advanced group and less advanced group according to their sight translation performance,are asked to translate 5 groups of English sentences with/without post-modifiers or post-verbal temporal adverbial phrases.Eye movements,such as fixation count,fixation durations and regression count are recorded and gaze plots are charted.Besides,sight translation recordings are analyzed to enable a holistic analysis of the underlying relationship between eye movements and sight translation performance of student sight translators.Data analysis demonstrates that:(1)Sentences with syntactic elements of post-modifier or post-verbal temporal adverbial phrases have generated an increase of the number and duration of fixation,and to a certain extent led to more pauses,repairs or errors of sight translators.(2)The mean value of total fixation count of advanced group is significantly smaller than that of less advanced group and the mean value of total fixation duration of advanced group is significantly shorter than that of less advanced group.(3)The two groups have shown disparate features both in eye movement and sight translation performance.Therefore,textual interference is common in E-C sight translation,but advanced student interpreters demonstrate more skillful sight translation techniques and less cognitive strain.A closer look at the translation of advanced group shows that advanced sight translators skillfully employ syntactic linearity to chop up the sentences,store some syntactic elements until they have a meaningful segment and make good use of juxtaposition of elements to link the individually processed segments to make smooth delivery of messages.Higher language proficiency and internalized sight translation techniques help reduce textual interference exemplified by undesired pauses,false starts and repairs.This study provides evidence to the research of multi-tasking interpreting per se and its training by demonstrating compatibility of eye-tracking data and traditional case studies of sight translation.More insights will be generated in the future study involving preferably professional interpreters along with student interpreters and in the E-C sight translation scenario.