AWEJ Volume.4 Number.3, 2013 Pp.31-44
Translators’ ‘End-Revision’ Processing Patterns and Maxims:
A Think-Aloud Protocol Study
Claire Yi-Yi Shih
Leicester University
United Kingdom
Abstract
This project investigates translators’ end-revision process by means of think-aloud protocols. It aims to investigate translators’ revision processing patterns and maxims, particularly after their first drafts have been produced (i.e. end-revision). Data suggests that translators manage their time and efforts rather similarly by concentrating mostly on producing their first drafts. Yet, two patterns emerge after the first drafts. One group of translators is found to have a second peak in terms of their processing time and efforts, particularly after a break. The other group of translators is found to simply glance through their drafts without much processing efforts. On the one hand, translators are found to read and process their TT in its own right and handle revision problems as they go along in the drafting phase. On the other hand, they also actively search for potential problems in their TT with potential translation/revision maxims in mind in the end-revision phase. The most prominent type of revision being made is found to be at the lexical level, confirming results from previous studies on revision. In addition, translators are also found to process their drafts in longer chunks without backtracking in later phases of revision.
Keywords: Translation revision, think-aloud protocols, processing patterns, revision maxims, end-revision, cognitive translation process.