About the Project

The main objective of the project is to investigate how the experience of reading and reception of mediated language (e.g., translated) compares to the reading experience and reception of originally written language (text). While there is fairly unanimous agreement among translation scholars that translated language differs from originally written language (Olohan and Baker 2000; Toury 2004; Chesterman 2004; House 2008; Malmkjær 2008), the question whether these differences affect the reading and reception of mediated texts by the reader has been hardly ever asked in empirical studies (Walker 2019). In effect, the issue of the reception of translated texts remains one of the most under‐researched areas in Translation Studies (Kruger and Kruger 2017). To fill this niche in basic research, we plan a comprehensive experimental study in which we will answer the following research questions: 

1) Does reading mediated language differ from reading originally written language? 

2) How is the process of reading translated language affected by such features of translated texts as more explicit and simplified language in comparison with originally written texts? 

3) How is the process of reading translated language affected by language/translation errors? 

4) Does the improved quality of translated text (after proof‐reading) correlate with the ease of reading and reception of the text? 

5) Does the language background of the reader (native language, knowledge of other languages) affect the reading experience and reception of translated text? 

We plan to answer these questions in an experimental study in which we use a combination of objective measures including the eye‐tracking methodology (Holmqvist et al. 2011) and more subjective measures (comprehension tests and semi‐structured interviews). We envisage three stages of data collection involving originally written texts and their translations in three languages (Polish, English and Italian), with up to 50 participants in each stage. The third stage is planned in cooperation with colleagues from the MC2 lab at the University of Bologna. The novelty of our research design refers to combining the use of naturalistic materials (publicly available translated texts) as stimuli with materials obtained in our previous grant projects (translations produced by the participants) for which we have detailed records of the translation process. This approach allows us to explain the underlying causes of the ease or difficulty with which information is accessed by the reader from mediated texts. Combining the data from the process of the reading and reception of translated texts with the data from the translation process has not been previously done in cognitively oriented translation studies. This innovative approach offers new valuable insights by correlating the way information is accessed by the reader with the way it is structured by the translator. 

Our project will also contribute to the theoretical reflection on the reception of translated products which so far has been limited to the context of audiovisual translation (that is how viewers read subtitles). Since in today’s globalized world translated texts are the source of vital information essential for cooperation in all areas of life, the scientific interest in how information is accessed by the reader from translated texts is crucial and in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Target 16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements). This basic research project will enhance our understanding of how the reading and reception of mediated language differs from reading originally written language. The results will contribute to the current research on reading and comprehension of written language and meaning making processes in the mind of the reader (Kintsch 1998; Jarodzka and Brand‐Gruwel 2017). 

Financing

The project is financed by the National Science Centre 2020/39/B/HS2/00697.

Principal Investigator: prof. UAM dr hab. Bogusława Whyatt