ABSTRACT

Professional translation and consequently translation training involve a wide range of technological aids and translation tools. Agreat deal of effort has been devoted to developing and implementing features that can contribute to higher consistency, productivity and quality but less attention has been paid to the needs of learners and users. Research with professionals at the workplace suggests that there is potential to optimise the ergonomics of certain features of computer-aided translation tools. An exploratory study of the usability of two such tools with very different interfaces was carried out with students enrolled in a Master of Arts (MA) programme in translation. Quantitative measures from process monitoring software and qualitative indicators from post-task interviews highlight how students interacted with the two tools as they translated comparable source texts. The process measures and the comments suggest that the CAT tool with the leaner interface might be easier for students to use. In-depth analyses of three pairs of comparable segments support this finding, as do the evaluations of the target text segments by a separate cohort of MA students. We consider the implications of our findings in light of recent calls for improved cognitive, physical, and organisational ergonomics at the translation workplace.

摘要

专业翻译以及因此而来的翻译培训涉及各种技术辅助工具和翻译工具。致力于开发和实现可有助于提高一致性，生产率和质量的功能，但对学习者和用户的需求却较少关注。在工作场所对专业人员进行的研究表明，有可能优化计算机辅助翻译工具某些功能的人体工程学。对注册了文学硕士学位（MA）的学生进行了探索性研究，研究了两种界面非常不同的工具的可用性。过程监控软件中的量化指标和任务后访谈中的定性指标突显了学生在翻译可比较的源文本时如何与这两种工具进行交互。过程度量和注释表明，具有更精简界面的CAT工具可能更易于学生使用。对三对可比较句段的深入分析支持了这一发现，另外一个独立的MA学生对目标文本句段的评估也是如此。我们根据最近在翻译工作场所改进认知，身体和组织人体工程学的呼吁，考虑了我们的发现的含义。对三对可比较句段的深入分析支持了这一发现，另外一个独立的MA学生对目标文本句段的评估也是如此。我们根据最近在翻译工作场所改进认知，身体和组织人体工程学的呼吁，考虑了我们的发现的含义。对三对可比较句段的深入分析支持了这一发现，另外一个独立的MA学生对目标文本句段的评估也是如此。我们根据最近在翻译工作场所改进认知，身体和组织人体工程学的呼吁，考虑了我们的发现的含义。