Allocation of cognitive resources in translation

290 Pages·2011·4.6 MB·English

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ISSN 0906-6934 D
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ISBN 87-593-8464-0
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CBS PhD nr 10-2011 Krstian T. Hvelplund_A4 omslag 1 23/05/11 13.19
Allocation of cognitive resources in translation
an eye-tracking and key-logging study

Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund

PhD thesis
Department of International Language Studies and Computational Linguistics
Copenhagen Business School
Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund
Allocation of cognitive resources in translation
an eye-tracking and key-logging study
1st edition 2011
PhD Series 10.2011
© The Author
ISBN: 978-87-593-8464-0
ISSN: 0906-6934
LIMAC PhD School is a cross disciplinary PhD School connected to research
communities within the areas of Languages, Law, Informatics,
Operations Management, Accounting, Communication and Cultural Studies.
All rights reserved.
No parts of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Allocation of cognitive resources in translation
an eye-tracking and key-logging study

Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund

PhD thesis
Department of International Language Studies and Computational Linguistics
Copenhagen Business School
Supervisor: Arnt Lykke Jakobsen
Co-supervisor: Laura Winther Balling

Allocation of cognitive resources in translation: an eye-tracking and key-logging
study

PhD thesis, Department of International Language Studies and Computational Linguistics,
Copenhagen Business School

© Copyright 2011 Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund
E-mail: [email protected]
Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Arnt Lykke Jakobsen for his
critical eyes, his passion for my project and his generosity with his time. I would like also
to express my sincere gratitude to my co-supervisor Laura Winther Balling for her
insightful guidance and for introducing me to the possibilities of inferential statistics.
I am grateful to Barbara Dragsted and Karen Korning Zethsen for many valuable
comments on earlier drafts of this thesis. I also wish to thank colleagues and fellow PhD
students for sincere interest in my project. In particular, I wish to thank Annette Camilla
Sjørup for her many comments and for proofreading, Nina Bellak for proofreading and
Michael Carl for constructively challenging my ideas.
I wish to thank the truly interested and welcoming staff of researchers I met at the
School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies at the Dublin City University, where
I spent three months in the spring 2009.
I am grateful to all the translators, students and professionals alike, who lent me
their eyes and their time.
I wish to thank my parents Jens and Janne and my brother David for always
supporting and believing in me. I am grateful to my daughter Bjørg for helping me put
things into perspective, and, I am deeply indebted to my wife Jonhild for her love,
encouragement and patience with me. Her support meant a world of difference.

Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund
Copenhagen Business School
February 2011

| vii

Table of Contents

List of tables xi

List of figures xiii

List of abbreviations xv

Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Research questions .................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Theoretical basis ....................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Methodology and data............................................................................................... 4
1.4 Delimitation ............................................................................................................... 5
1.5 Structure of the thesis ............................................................................................... 6
Chapter 2 Translation and cognitive resources ................................................................ 9
2.1 Translation and the cognitive processes ................................................................. 10
2.2 Empirical studies and allocation of cognitive resources .......................................... 15
2.2.1 Cognitive resources and the processes of translation .................................. 18
2.2.2 Cognitive resources and translational expertise ........................................... 22
2.2.3 Cognitive resources and source text difficulty in translation ......................... 26
2.2.4 Cognitive resources and time pressure in translation ................................... 30
2.2.5 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 33
Chapter 3 Memory and processes in translation ............................................................ 37
3.1 The memory system ................................................................................................ 39
3.1.1 Sensory memory ........................................................................................... 39
3.1.2 Working memory ........................................................................................... 40
3.1.3 Long-term memory ........................................................................................ 44
3.1.4 Central executive system .............................................................................. 44
3.1.4.1 Attentional focus .................................................................................. 45
3.1.4.2 Attentional division .............................................................................. 46
3.1.4.3 Attentional switching ........................................................................... 47
3.2 Processes in translation .......................................................................................... 48
3.2.1 ST processing ............................................................................................... 50
3.2.1.1 ST reading ........................................................................................... 53
3.2.1.2 ST comprehension .............................................................................. 53
3.2.2 TT processing ............................................................................................... 54
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3.2.2.1 TT reading ........................................................................................... 56
3.2.2.2 TT reformulation .................................................................................. 56
3.2.2.3 TT typing ............................................................................................. 57
3.2.3 Automatic processing in translation .............................................................. 58
3.2.4 Coordinating ST processing and TT processing ........................................... 60
3.2.4.1 Translation as a sequential process .................................................... 61
3.2.4.2 Translation as a parallel process ........................................................ 62
3.3 Tapping the translation process .............................................................................. 65
3.3.1 Eye tracking .................................................................................................. 65
3.3.1.1 Fixations .............................................................................................. 66
3.3.1.2 Saccades ............................................................................................ 67
3.3.1.3 Eye-mind and immediacy assumptions ............................................... 68
3.3.1.4 Pupillary movement ............................................................................. 70
3.3.2 Key logging ................................................................................................... 72
3.3.3 Attention units ............................................................................................... 73
3.4 Assumptions and hypotheses ................................................................................. 76
3.4.1 General assumptions .................................................................................... 76
3.4.2 Hypotheses ................................................................................................... 79
Chapter 4 Research design ............................................................................................... 83
4.1 Participants ............................................................................................................. 85
4.2 Task ........................................................................................................................ 86
4.2.1 Translation brief ............................................................................................ 87
4.3 Source texts ............................................................................................................ 87
4.3.1 Source text complexity .................................................................................. 88
4.4 Time constraint........................................................................................................ 94
4.4.1 Time constraint value identification ............................................................... 96
4.5 Presentation sequence of the source texts ............................................................. 97
Chapter 5 Data collection, preparation, coding and analysis ...................................... 101
5.1 Data collection....................................................................................................... 102
5.1.1 Eye tracking system .................................................................................... 102
5.1.2 Quality of eye-tracking data ........................................................................ 103
5.1.3 Eye tracking software and key logging software ......................................... 108
5.1.3.1 Experiment preparation ..................................................................... 108
5.1.3.2 Recording .......................................................................................... 109
5.1.3.3 ClearView analysis ............................................................................ 110
5.2 Data preparation and coding ................................................................................. 112
5.2.1 ClearView’s data log files ............................................................................ 112
5.2.2 Data annotation ........................................................................................... 114
5.2.3 Attention units (AUs) ................................................................................... 115
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5.2.3.1 Micro- and macroAUs ....................................................................... 115
5.2.3.2 Pupil size calculation ......................................................................... 117
5.3 Statistical analysis ................................................................................................. 118
5.3.1 Fixed and random effects ............................................................................ 118
5.3.2 Data filtering and normalisation ................................................................... 119
5.3.3 Post-hoc analysis ........................................................................................ 120
Chapter 6 Results and discussion ................................................................................. 123
6.1 Distribution of cognitive resources ........................................................................ 125
6.1.1 Statistical methods and effects ................................................................... 125
6.1.2 TA duration and AttentionType ................................................................... 127
6.1.3 TA duration and Group ................................................................................ 133
6.1.4 TA duration and TextComplexity ................................................................. 134
6.1.5 TA duration and TimeConstraint ................................................................. 135
6.1.6 Conclusion on distribution of cognitive resources ....................................... 136
6.2 Management of cognitive resources ..................................................................... 138
6.2.1 Number of attention units ............................................................................ 138
6.2.2 Statistical methods and effects ................................................................... 139
6.2.3 AU duration and AttentionType ................................................................... 142
6.2.4 AU duration and Group ............................................................................... 152
6.2.5 AU duration and TextComplexity ................................................................ 161
6.2.6 AU duration and TimeConstraint ................................................................. 162
6.2.7 PAU duration ............................................................................................... 172
6.2.8 Conclusion on management of cognitive resources ................................... 176
6.3 Cognitive load ....................................................................................................... 178
6.3.1 Statistical methods and effects ................................................................... 178
6.3.2 Pupil size and AttentionType ....................................................................... 181
6.3.3 Pupil size and Group ................................................................................... 191
6.3.4 Pupil size and TextComplexity .................................................................... 199
6.3.5 Pupil size and TimeConstraint .................................................................... 208
6.3.6 Conclusion on cognitive load ...................................................................... 216
Chapter 7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 219
7.1 Distribution of cognitive resources revisited .......................................................... 221
7.2 Management of cognitive resources revisited ....................................................... 222
7.3 Cognitive load revisited ......................................................................................... 224
7.4 Strengths and limitations of the study ................................................................... 225
7.5 Future avenues of research .................................................................................. 227
Dansk resumé .................................................................................................................. 229
English abstract ............................................................................................................... 235