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Chapter 6. Recognition and characterization of translator attributes using sequences of fixations and keystrokes

  • Pascual Martínez-Gómez , Dan Han , Michael Carl and Akiko Aizawa
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Eye Tracking and Multidisciplinary Studies on Translation
This chapter is in the book Eye Tracking and Multidisciplinary Studies on Translation

Abstract

As the demand for high quality translation continues to increase, there is a growing interest in developing effective computer-assisted tools that support translators in their routines. However, the development of such tools requires a deeper understanding of the translation process that allows us to identify the motoric, perceptual and cognitive bottlenecks of the task. With the ubiquitous presence of computers and logging software, researchers could record the keystrokes of translators, which allowed us to analyze the motor activities of text production. However, the translation process is much more complex and keystroke logging can only capture a marginal fraction of the perceptual and cognitive activities of translators, which are often the source of most translation effort. In recent years, eye-tracking devices became more affordable and they were integrated in our logging interfaces, thus giving us access to both eye-movement and keystroke events during a translation session. Here we present a framework where we use keystrokes and eye movements as low-level measurements of translation behavior. These measurements are then interpreted as sequences of higher-level activities that we use to create interpretable models of translation. The parameters of these models are estimated with the objective to maximize the recognition accuracy of several translator personal attributes given measurements of their translation behavior. These classifier models can then be queried with the purpose to retrieve the most characterizing features of translators that distinguish a certain target personal attribute. In this chapter we formalize this framework, show its effectiveness in a real task and point the reader towards possible extensions of this work.

Abstract

As the demand for high quality translation continues to increase, there is a growing interest in developing effective computer-assisted tools that support translators in their routines. However, the development of such tools requires a deeper understanding of the translation process that allows us to identify the motoric, perceptual and cognitive bottlenecks of the task. With the ubiquitous presence of computers and logging software, researchers could record the keystrokes of translators, which allowed us to analyze the motor activities of text production. However, the translation process is much more complex and keystroke logging can only capture a marginal fraction of the perceptual and cognitive activities of translators, which are often the source of most translation effort. In recent years, eye-tracking devices became more affordable and they were integrated in our logging interfaces, thus giving us access to both eye-movement and keystroke events during a translation session. Here we present a framework where we use keystrokes and eye movements as low-level measurements of translation behavior. These measurements are then interpreted as sequences of higher-level activities that we use to create interpretable models of translation. The parameters of these models are estimated with the objective to maximize the recognition accuracy of several translator personal attributes given measurements of their translation behavior. These classifier models can then be queried with the purpose to retrieve the most characterizing features of translators that distinguish a certain target personal attribute. In this chapter we formalize this framework, show its effectiveness in a real task and point the reader towards possible extensions of this work.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 2. A mapping exercise 11
  5. Part I. Method
  6. Chapter 3. Overcoming methodological challenges of eye tracking in the translation workplace 33
  7. Chapter 4. Eye tracking as a measure of cognitive effort for post-editing of machine translation 55
  8. Chapter 5. Analysing variable relationships and time-course data in eye-tracking studies of translation processes and products 71
  9. Part II. Process
  10. Chapter 6. Recognition and characterization of translator attributes using sequences of fixations and keystrokes 97
  11. Chapter 7. Problem solving in the translation of linguistic metaphors from Chinese into Portuguese 121
  12. Chapter 8. Working styles of student translators in self-revision, other-revision and post-editing 145
  13. Chapter 9. Visual attention distribution in intralingual respeaking 185
  14. Part III. Product
  15. Chapter 10. Subtitling of British stand-up comedy into Italian 205
  16. Chapter 11. Towards a quantitative measurement of equivalent effect and a tentative conceptualisation of cognitive equivalence 225
  17. Chapter 12. The impact of AVT mode on audience reception 259
  18. List of abbreviations 287
  19. Contributors 289
  20. Subject index 293
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.143.06mar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 2. A mapping exercise 11
  5. Part I. Method
  6. Chapter 3. Overcoming methodological challenges of eye tracking in the translation workplace 33
  7. Chapter 4. Eye tracking as a measure of cognitive effort for post-editing of machine translation 55
  8. Chapter 5. Analysing variable relationships and time-course data in eye-tracking studies of translation processes and products 71
  9. Part II. Process
  10. Chapter 6. Recognition and characterization of translator attributes using sequences of fixations and keystrokes 97
  11. Chapter 7. Problem solving in the translation of linguistic metaphors from Chinese into Portuguese 121
  12. Chapter 8. Working styles of student translators in self-revision, other-revision and post-editing 145
  13. Chapter 9. Visual attention distribution in intralingual respeaking 185
  14. Part III. Product
  15. Chapter 10. Subtitling of British stand-up comedy into Italian 205
  16. Chapter 11. Towards a quantitative measurement of equivalent effect and a tentative conceptualisation of cognitive equivalence 225
  17. Chapter 12. The impact of AVT mode on audience reception 259
  18. List of abbreviations 287
  19. Contributors 289
  20. Subject index 293
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