THE MINIMAX STRATEGY IN THE USE OF THEORY IN INTERPRETER AND TRANSLATOR TRAINING

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THE MINIMAX STRATEGY IN THE USE OF THEORY IN
INTERPRETER AND TRANSLATOR TRAINING

• daniel.gile_at_yahoo.com
• www.cirinandgile.com
• www.est-translationstudies.org

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THEORY IS NECESSARY FOR TRAINING!
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ALL RIGHT, BUT CAN IT BE USEFUL?
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IN THIS TALK

• - WILL ATTEMPT TO SHOW
• WHEN AND HOW SOME THEORY
• CAN BE USEFUL IN TRANSLATOR/INTERPRETER TRAINING
• - WILL ARGUE THAT A GOOD STRATEGY IN INTRODUCING
  THEORY IN T/I TRAINING
• IS THE
• MINIMAX STRATEGY,
• THAT IS,
• INTRODUCING A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF THEORY AIMING AT
  MAXIMUM EFFECT

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WHAT DO STUDENTS ENCOUNTER WHEN LEARNING T/I?

• THEY ENCOUNTER PROBLEMS
• SOME OF THEM ARE DUE TO KNOWN CAUSES
• - INSUFFICIENT MASTERY OF THE WORKING LANGUAGES
• - INSUFFICIENT THEMATIC KNOWLEDGE
• - LACK OF ATTENTION TO THE TASK
• BUT IS THIS ALL?

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WONDERING STUDENTS

• I AM TOLD THIS IS ALLOWED AND THAT IS NOT.
• WHY?
• Mr. X TELLS ME THIS IS ALLOWED AND Mr. Y TELLS
  ME THE OPPOSITE. WHO IS RIGHT?
• I HAVE PERFECT MASTERY OF MY A LANGUAGE, BUT FOR
  SOME REASON, I LOSE IT DURING INTERPRETING
  EXERCISES. AM I SUFFERING FROM JAS (JUVENILE
  ALZHEIMER SYNDROME)?
• I FEEL I AM NOT MAKING ANY PROGRESS IN SPITE OF
  ALL MY EFFORTS. SHOULD I JUST GIVE UP?

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ANSWERS???

• DONT ASK (FOOLISH) QUESTIONS. JUST DO AS I SAY
• I DONT KNOW WHY Mr. X SAYS WHAT HE SAYS. WHAT I
  SAY IS RIGHT
• JUST KEEP WORKING. WITH PRACTICE, YOU WILL
  LEARN
• HOW SATISFACTORY IS THIS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS?
• WILL SUCH ANSWERS INSPIRE CONFIDENCE IN
  INSTRUCTORS?
• WILL THEY GIVE STUDENTS CONFIDENCE IN THEMSELVES?

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MORE PROBLEMS

• AFTER SCHOOL, GRADUATES WILL ENCOUNTER MARKET
  PRESSURE
• MARKET PRESSURE WILL TEND TO PUSH THEM AWAY FROM
  SOME RULES LEARNED DURING TRAINING
• DOES THIS MEAN THAT RULES LEARNED DURING TRAINING
  ARE NOT GOOD?
• PERHAPS THEY ARE LIKELY TO IMPROVE OVERALL
  QUALITY THOUGH THEY GO AGAINST MARKET
  PRESSURES?
• IF SO, HOW CAN GRADUATES RESIST THE PRESSURE?

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PARTIAL ANSWER DIDACTIC THEORY

• MY DEFINITION OF DIDACTIC THEORY
• A CONCEPTUAL CONSTRUCT
• WHICH EXPLAINS PHENOMENA
• RELEVANT TO LEARNERS
• (AND MAY PREDICT THEM PARTLY)
• AS OPPOSED TO THEORIES IN RESEARCH
• WHICH ARE REQUIRED TO
• EXPLAIN AND PREDICT
• W/O SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO LEARNERS

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EXPECTATIONS FROM TRAININGand from theories
proficiency
time
t1

• t2

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EXPECTATIONS FROM TRAINING

• FASTER LEARNING CURVE
• HIGHER LEARNING CURVE
• WHAT CAN THEORY CONTRIBUTE?
• - EXPLANATIONS
• - STRUCTURING OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
• FOR INTERPRETATION OF PHENOMENA
• THESE MAY
• - CONVINCE STUDENTS
• - GUIDE THEM
• AND THUS ACCELERATE AND ENHANCE SKILLS ACQUISITION

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DIDACTIC THEORY SHOULD BE SIMPLE

• SO AS TO REQUIRE
• - LITTLE TIME INVESTMENT FROM STUDENTS
• - LITTLE EFFORT FOR COMPREHENSION AND APPLICATION
  
• IT IS AN ANCILLARY TOOL
• IN A CONTEXT WITH
• - LIMITED TIME
• - LITTLE MOTIVATION
• AS OPPOSED TO
• A TOOL AND OBJECTIVE (IN TRANSIT) IN RESEARCH

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MINIMAX

• HOW MUCH THEORY IS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE
  EXPLANATORY AND GUIDING OBJECTIVES?
• HOW PROFITABLE IS FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE
  THEORIES IN TERMS OF DIDACTIC EFFICIENCY?
• - EXPLANATION OF RELEVANT PHENOMENA
• - CONFIDENCE BUILDING
• - CLARIFICATION FOR DECISION-MAKING
• SEEK BEST BALANCE BETWEEN INVESTMENT AND RETURN
  IN MINIMAX STRATEGY
• (RELEVANCE)

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HURDLE WHEN LEARNING TRANSLATION FIDELITY AND
SHIFTS (1)

• I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TAUGHT LANGUAGE EQUIVALENCE.
• HOW CAN I BE FAITHFUL TO SOURCE TEXT IF I CHOOSE
  WORDS AND STRUCTURES OTHER THAN THE AUTHORS?
• THEORETICAL IDEAS
• - TRANSLATION DONE AT REQUEST OF CLIENT
• TO SERVE THE INTERESTS OF SB (ASSUME AUTHOR)
• - AUTHOR WANTS TO INFORM, EXPLAIN, CONVINCE
• - IF YOU WANT TO SERVE HIS/HER INTERESTS INFORM,
  EXPLAIN, CONVINCE

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HURDLE WHEN LEARNING TRANSLATION FIDELITY AND
SHIFTS (2)

• THEORETICAL PROPOSITION
• WHEN TRYING TO INFORM, CONVINCE, EXPLAIN, AUTHORS
• - DO NOT NECESSARILY CHOOSE WORDS AND STRUCTURES
• - DO NOT NECESSARILY LIKE DETAILS OF THE TEXT
  THEY HAVE PRODUCED
• THEREFORE, MAKING SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CHOICES
• DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN BEING UNFAITHFUL IF THE
  TARGET TEXT INFORMS, EXPLAINS, CONVINCES

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HURDLE FIDELITY AND SHIFTS (3)

• PROOF THROUGH CLASSROOM EXPERIMENT
• - SIMPLE IDEAS ARE EXPRESSED DIFFERENTLY BY
  DIFFERENT PEOPLE UNDER SAME CONDITIONS
• PEOPLE TEND TO EXPRESS THE SAME IDEA DIFFERENTLY
  UNDER SAME CONDITIONS
• PEOPLE DO NOT NECESSARILY LIKE OR REMEMBER
  EXACTLY WHAT THEY WROTE
• SOME DIFFERENCES HAVE TO DO WITH THE INTENDED
  RECEIVER
• SOME HAVE TO DO WITH LANGUAGE/CULTURE-RELATED
  CONSTRAINTS
• Described in Gile. 1995, 2005. See references at
  end of presentation.

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HURDLE FIDELITY AND SHIFTS (4)

• THREE COMPONENTS IN THEORETICAL MODULE
• - A THESIS WHICH SAYS PEOPLE DO NOT CONTROL FULLY
  THEIR UTTERANCES
• - A MODEL OF THE INFORMATIONAL COMPOSITION OF
  INFORMATIVE TEXTS
• INF MSG (FILIIPI)
• - A REASONED PRIORITIZATION OF INFORMATION
  RESTITUTION IN THE TARGET TEXT
• HOW DOES IT HELP?
• BY EXPLAINING THE CLAIM THAT SOME SHIFTS FROM THE
  ST ARE LEGITIMATE
• IS IT NOT BETTER THAN JUST CLAIMING IT IS ALL
  RIGHT TO DEVIATE FROM THE ST WITHOUT EXPLANATIONS?

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FREQUENT PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATION BY STUDENTS

• - CLUMSY TT
• - NONSENSICAL TT
• ANALYSIS SHOWS THIS IS DUE TO
• - INSUFFICIENT ANALYSIS OF ST
• - LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE BETWEEN SL AND TL
• - LACK OF AWARENESS THAT TT SHOULD BE ABLE TO
  FUNCTION AS AN AUTHONOMOUS TEXT
• WHAT CAN ONE DO ABOUT IT?
• ONE ANSWER IS A MODEL (THEORY)

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• A DIDACTIC TRANSLATION MODEL

Meaning Hypothesis
Plausible ?
TL Wording
Knowledge acquisition
Knowledge Base
Acceptable ? Faithful ?
Acceptable ? Faithful ?
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SOME POINTS HIGHLIGHTED BY THE MODEL

• Two phases in translation comprehension,
  translation
• - To foster analysis before reformulation and
  prevent meaning errors
• - To prevent linguistic interference
• Decisions The Translators responsibility
• - On comprehension, to foster analysis and
  prevent meaning errors
• - On reformulation, to help optimize

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Student weaknesses pinpointed in the model

• Weaknesses
• In knowledge linguistic/extralinguistic
  knowledge. In comprehension phase and
  reformulation phase
• In translation methodology failure to implement
  tests, to take decisions
• In attitude/motivation failure to implement
  tests, to acquire required knowledge, to go
  through the reformulation loop (TL wording and
  acceptability/fidelity tests) until a good result
  is achieved.

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Using the sequential model for explanations and
guidance

• Pinpoint the areas where the students weaknesses
  lie and tell him/her more specifically where to
  focus his/her efforts
• Point out that a professional attitude means
  willingness to do proper ad hoc knowledge
  acquisition
• Point out that a professional attitude means
  willingness to go through the reformulation loop
  until all problems are solved satisfactorily.
• Point out that word Processing allows multiple
  iterations of the reformulation loop whereas
  dictation does not.
• Discuss directionality using the concept of the
  reformulation loop
• Discuss specialization in terms of less lengthy
  ad hoc information acquisition

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Is the sequential model a good model for research?

• Does it account well for actual translation?
• No
• - In real life, translation is far less linear
• - And parallel processing may occur
• - Model is not specific enough to account for all
  phenomena
• - Architecture not optimized for further
  development
• BUT IT IS USEFUL NEVERTHELESS (?)
• MINIMAX

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IN CONFERENCE INTERPRETING

• - APPARENT LOSS OF CONTROL IN LANGUAGE SKILLS
• DURING INTERPRETING EXERCISES
• - LISTENING PROBLEMS WHEN TAKING NOTES
• IN CONSECUTIVE
• - DIFFICUTLY OF SIMULTANEOUS
• STUDENTS DESTABILIZED
• WORRIED
• THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS HELP
• UNDERSTAND THAT PHENOMENA ARE NORMAL AND
• WILL GRADUALLY BECOME LESS PROBLEMATIC
• EFFORT MODELS (Gile 1995)

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WHEN THINKING ABOUT GENERAL ISSUES

• APTITUDES FOR TRANSLATION VS. INTERPRETING
• DIRECTIONALITY
• TRANSLATION/INTERPRETING QUALITY
• QUALITY PERCEPTION
• SOME THEORY CAN BE USEFUL
• IN PROVIDING CONCEPTS AND STRUCTURES FOR
  REFERENCE
• TO DISCUSS THESE ISSUES

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GOING DEEPER INTO THEORIES? (1)

• TEXT LINGUISTICS?
• COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS?
• PRAGMATICS?
• COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY?
• SCHEME THEORY?
• MENTAL MODELS THEORY?
• PHILOSOPHY?
• LITERARY THEORY?
• SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES?

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GOING DEEPER INTO THEORIES? (2)

• SUCH THEORIES ARE INTERESTING
• OFFER FOOD FOR THOUGHT
• CAN BE QUITE STIMULATING
• But
• REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT FROM STUDENTS
• IF STUDENTS ARE INTERESTED FINE
• IF ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE THEORY OK
• OTHERWISE, SEEK OPTIMUM BALANCE BETWEEN
  INVESTMENT AND EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION
• MINIMAX

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DOES THIS APPROACH WORK?

• FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS AND FELLOW INSTRUCTORS
  OVER THE YEARS
• IN PARTICULAR FROM STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS WHO
  WERE RELUCTANT TO USE THEORY
• SUGGESTS IT DOES
• But
• THE PROOF WILL BE IN YOUR OWN PUDDING
• TRY OUT MODULES DESCRIBED IN REFERENCES IN NEXT
  SLIDE
• EACH WILL ONLY TAKE ABOUT ONE HOUR TO 90 MINUTES
  OF YOUR AND THE STUDENTS TIME
• GOOD LUCK!

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REFERENCES

• Gile, Daniel. 1995. Basic Concepts and Models for
  Interpreter and Translator Training.
  Amsterdam/Philadelphia John Benjamins.
• Gile, Daniel. 2005. La traduction. La comprendre,
  lapprendre. Paris PUF.