Critical Distinctions between Expert and Novice Translators: Task and Professional Satisfaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v59i1.117021Keywords:
task satisfaction; expertise; translator training; professional satisfaction; self-efficacyAbstract
The nature of translation projects and tasks in the language industry has undergone significant changes due to a widespread adoption of the subcontracting model and recent technological trends. Managing increasing terminological complexity, higher task specialisation, and higher levels of technical expertise have become essential elements of a translator’s professional profile. Nonetheless, the requirement of such a sophisticated professional profile has challenged novice translators in their incipient careers because of limited knowledge and training opportunities. Since many changes have occurred to the profession over a relatively short span of time, this article studies sources of translator satisfaction and dissatisfaction that may affect their perception of work as well as the language industry at large. This study reports results from an ongoing investigation into the ‘expertise effect’ measured through translator satisfaction in relation to two main categories: (a) professional satisfaction and (b) task satisfaction. A student’s t-test is used to compare perceptions of novice and expert translators (N=250), and the results suggest a gap in critical sources of satisfaction between the two populations. The findings could be applied to determine possible means of mitigating career turnover among translators and used by translator trainers to comprehend the needs of novice professionals.
References
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Bandura, Albert 1995: Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Biel, Łucja/Sosoni, Vilelmini 2017: The translation of economics and the economics of translation. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 25 (3), 351–361.
Boucau, F. 2006: The European Translation Markets. Updated Facts and Figures 2006–2010. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference of the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies (EUATC), n.p.
Bowker, Lynne 2005: Professional Recognition in the Canadian Translation Industry: How is it Perceived by Translators and Employers? In Translation Watch Quarterly 1, 19–32.
Burke, Ronald J. 2001: Organizational Values, Work Experiences and Satisfaction among Managerial and Professional Women. In Journal of Management Development 20, 346–353.
Burke, Ronald J./ McKeen Carol A. 1995: Work Experiences, Career Development, and Career Success of Managerial and Professional Women. In Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 10(6), 81–96.
Byrne, Jody 2006: Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation. Dordrecht: Springer.
Chen, Ling-Hsiu 2008: Job satisfaction among information system (IS) personnel. In Computers in Human Behavior 24 (1), 105–118.
Chen, Tser-Yieth/Chang, Pao-Long/Yeh, Ching-Wen 2004: An investigation of career development programs, job satisfaction, professional development and productivity: the case of Taiwan. In Human Resource Development International 7 (4), 441–63.
Chesterman, Andrew/Wagner, Emma 2002: Can Theory Help Translators? A Dialogue between the Ivory Tower and the Wordface, Manchester: St. Jerome.
Dam, Helle V./Zethsen, Karen K. 2010: Translator Status: Helpers and Opponents in the Ongoing Battle of an Emerging Profession. In Target 22 (2), 194–1211.
Dam, Helle V./Zethsen, Karen K. 2016: “I think it is a wonderful job” On the solidity of the translation profession. In The Journal of Specialised Translation 25, 174–187.
Dam, Helle V./Zethsen, Korning K. 2008: Translator Status. In The Translator 14 (1), 71–96.
DePalma, Donal A./Stewart, Robert G./Lommel, Arle/Pielmeier, Hélène 2017: The language Services Market. Chelmsford, Massachusetts: Common Sense Advisory [online].
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Dörnyei, Zoltan 2007: Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dragsted, Barbara 2005: Segmentation in translation: Differences across levels of expertise and difficulty. In Target 17 (1), 49–70.
Dragsted, Barbara 2006: “Computer-aided Translation as a Distributed Cognitive Task. In Pragmatics & Cognition 14 (2), 443–464.
Dunne, Keiran J. 2011: Integrating Project Management into Translation Curricula: The Kent State University Experience. In Schmitt Peter A./Herold, Susann/Weilandt Annette (Eds.), Translationsforschung. Tagungsberichte des LICTRA 2010 IX. Leipziger Studien zur angewandten Linguistik und Translatologie, Vol. 1. New York: Peter Lang, 183–195.
Dunne, Keiran J. 2012: The industrialization of translation: Causes, consequences and challenges. In Translation Spaces 1, 143–68.
Durban, Chris 2010: The Prosperous Translator. Raleigh, North Carolina: Lulu.
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen /Massey, Gary 2014a: Cognitive ergonomic issues in professional translation. In Schwieter, John/Ferreira, Aline (eds.), The Development of Translation Competence: Theories and Methodologies from Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Science. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2–57.
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen/Massey, Gary 2014b: Translators and machines: Working together. In Man vs. Machine? Vol.1. Proceedings of XXth World Congress of the International Federation of Translators. Berlin: BDÜ Fachverlag, 199–207.
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https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR06_09/SR06_09_EN.PDF (accessed 20 May 2019)
Garcia, Ignacio 2009: Beyond Translation Memory: Computers and the Professional Translator. In The Journal of Specialised Translation 12, 199–214.
Gouadec, Daniel 2007: Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Greene, Lloyd/ Burke, George 2007: Beyond self-actualization. In Journal of Health and Human Services Administration 30 (2), 116–128.
Hale, Sandra/Napier, Jemina 2013: Research methods in interpreting: A practical resource. London: Bloomsbury.
Hall, Matthew/Smith, David/Langfield-Smith, Kim 2005: Accountants’ Commitment to Their Profession: Multiple Dimensions of Professional Commitment and Opportunities for Future Research. In Behavioral Research in Accounting, 17 (1), 87–96.
Herzberg, Frederick 2003: One more time: How do you motivate employees? In Harvard Business Review 81 (1), 87–96.
Holz-Mänttäri, Justa 1984: Translatorisches Handeln: Theorie Und Methode. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.
Ibarra, Herminia 1999: Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. In Administrative Science Quarterly 44 (4), 764–791.
Jääskeläinen, Riitta 2010: Are all professionals experts? In Shreve, Gregory M./Angelone, Erik (Eds.), Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 213–227.
Kaplan, Stephen 1983: A Model of Person-Environment Compatibility. In Environment and Behavior 15 (3), 311–332.
Katan, David 2009: Translation Theory and Professional Practice: A Global Survey of the Great Divide. In Hermes 42, 111–153.
Kelly, Nataly/ Stewart, Robert G. 2010: The Top 35 Language Service Providers. Lowell, MA: Common Sense Advisory.
Kingscott, Geoffrey 2002: Technical Translation and Related Disciplines. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 10, 247–255.
Koriat, Asher 1993: How do we Know that we Know? The Accessibility Model of the Feeling of Knowing. In Psychological Review 100 (4), 609–39.
Kruger, Justin/Dunning, David 1999: Unskilled, Unaware of it? How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments. In Journal of Personality and Sociology 77 (6), 1121–1134.
Kyndt, Eva/Dochy, Filip/Michielsen, Maya/Moeyaert, Bastiaan 2009: Employee Retention: Organisational and Personal Perspectives. In Vocations and Learning 2 (3), 195–215.
Mason, Claire M./Griffin, Mark A. 2002: Group Task Satisfaction: Applying the Construct of Job Satisfaction to Groups. In Small Group Research 33, 271–312.
Mayer, John D./Salovey, Peter 1993: The Intelligence of Emotional Intelligence. In Intelligence 17 (4), 433–442.
McKay, Corinne 2006: How to Succeed As a Freelance Translator. New York: Two Rat Press.
Mellinger, Christopher D./Hanson, Thomas A. 2017: Quantitative Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies. London & New York: Routledge.
Mortensen, Jenny K./Nyland, Nora K./Fullmer, Susan/Eggett, Dennis L. 2002: Professional Involvement is Associated with Increased Job Satisfaction among Dietitians. In Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102 (10), 1452–54.
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo 2009: Expertise and Environment in Translation. In Mutatis Mutandis 2 (1), 24-37.
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo 2014: Situating Translation Expertise: A Review with a Sketch of a Construct. In Schwieter, John/Ferreira, Aline (eds.), The Development of Translation Competence: Theories and Methodologies from Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Science. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2–57.
Pan, Li 2014: Investigating institutional practice in news translation: An empirical study of a Chinese agency translating discourse on China. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 22 (4), 547–565.
Pym, Anthony/Grin, François/Sfreddo, Claudio/Chan, Andy L. J. 2012: The status of the translation profession in the European Union. Luxembourg: European Commission.
Rodríguez-Castro, Mónica 2015: Conceptual Construct and Empirical Validation of a Multifaceted Instrument for Translator Satisfaction. In The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 7 (2), 30–50.
Rodríguez-Castro, Mónica 2016: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sources of Translator Satisfaction: An Empirical Study. In Entreculturas 7-8, 195–229. [online]. http://www.entreculturas.uma.es/n7yn8pdf/articulo10.pdf (accessed 20 May 2019).
Shreve, Gregory M./Angelone, Erik/Lacruz, Isabel 2018: Are expertise and translation competence the same? Psychological reality and the theoretical status of competence. In Lacruz, Isabel/Jääskeläinen, Rita (Eds.), Innovation and Expansion in Translation Process Research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 37–54.
Shreve, Gregory M./Angelone, Erik 2010: Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2002: Knowing Translation: Cognitive and Experiential Aspects of Translation Expertise from the Perspective of Expertise Studies. In Riccardi, Alessandra (Ed.), Translation Studies. Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline. Cambridge: University Press, 150–171.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2006: The Deliberate Practice: Translation and Expertise. In Journal of Translation Studies 9 (1), 27–42.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2009: Recipient-Orientation and Metacognition in the Translation Process. In Dimitriu, Rodica/Shlesinger, Miriam (eds.), Translators and their Readers. In Homage to Eugene A. Nida. Brussels: Les Editions du Hasard, 255–270.
Sirén, Seija/Hakkrarainen, Kai 2002: Expertise in Translation. In Across Languages and Cultures 3 (1), 71–82.
Stamps, Paula L. 1997: Nurses and Work Satisfaction: An Index for Measurement. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Tett, Robert P./Meyer, John P. 1993: Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, Turnover Intention, and Turnover: Path Analyses based on Meta-analytic Findings. In Personnel Psychology 46 (2), 259–293.
Tymoczko, Maria/Ireland, Colin A. 2003: Language and Tradition in Ireland: Continuities and Displacements. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Woll, Stanley 2001: Memory, reasoning, and judgment in the real world. London/New York: Psychology Press.
https://www.atanet.org/careers/mentoring.php (accessed 15 December 2017)
Bandura, Albert 1995: Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biel, Łucja 2011: Professional Realism in the Legal Translation Classroom: Translation Competence and Translator competence. In Meta 56 (1), 162–178.
Biel, Łucja/Sosoni, Vilelmini 2017: The translation of economics and the economics of translation. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 25 (3), 351–361.
Boucau, F. 2006: The European Translation Markets. Updated Facts and Figures 2006–2010. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference of the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies (EUATC), n.p.
Bowker, Lynne 2005: Professional Recognition in the Canadian Translation Industry: How is it Perceived by Translators and Employers? In Translation Watch Quarterly 1, 19–32.
Burke, Ronald J. 2001: Organizational Values, Work Experiences and Satisfaction among Managerial and Professional Women. In Journal of Management Development 20, 346–353.
Burke, Ronald J./ McKeen Carol A. 1995: Work Experiences, Career Development, and Career Success of Managerial and Professional Women. In Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 10(6), 81–96.
Byrne, Jody 2006: Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation. Dordrecht: Springer.
Chen, Ling-Hsiu 2008: Job satisfaction among information system (IS) personnel. In Computers in Human Behavior 24 (1), 105–118.
Chen, Tser-Yieth/Chang, Pao-Long/Yeh, Ching-Wen 2004: An investigation of career development programs, job satisfaction, professional development and productivity: the case of Taiwan. In Human Resource Development International 7 (4), 441–63.
Chesterman, Andrew/Wagner, Emma 2002: Can Theory Help Translators? A Dialogue between the Ivory Tower and the Wordface, Manchester: St. Jerome.
Dam, Helle V./Zethsen, Karen K. 2010: Translator Status: Helpers and Opponents in the Ongoing Battle of an Emerging Profession. In Target 22 (2), 194–1211.
Dam, Helle V./Zethsen, Karen K. 2016: “I think it is a wonderful job” On the solidity of the translation profession. In The Journal of Specialised Translation 25, 174–187.
Dam, Helle V./Zethsen, Korning K. 2008: Translator Status. In The Translator 14 (1), 71–96.
DePalma, Donal A./Stewart, Robert G./Lommel, Arle/Pielmeier, Hélène 2017: The language Services Market. Chelmsford, Massachusetts: Common Sense Advisory [online].
https://insights.csa-research.com/reportaction/39815/Marketing (accessed 17 January 2019)
Dörnyei, Zoltan 2007: Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dragsted, Barbara 2005: Segmentation in translation: Differences across levels of expertise and difficulty. In Target 17 (1), 49–70.
Dragsted, Barbara 2006: “Computer-aided Translation as a Distributed Cognitive Task. In Pragmatics & Cognition 14 (2), 443–464.
Dunne, Keiran J. 2011: Integrating Project Management into Translation Curricula: The Kent State University Experience. In Schmitt Peter A./Herold, Susann/Weilandt Annette (Eds.), Translationsforschung. Tagungsberichte des LICTRA 2010 IX. Leipziger Studien zur angewandten Linguistik und Translatologie, Vol. 1. New York: Peter Lang, 183–195.
Dunne, Keiran J. 2012: The industrialization of translation: Causes, consequences and challenges. In Translation Spaces 1, 143–68.
Durban, Chris 2010: The Prosperous Translator. Raleigh, North Carolina: Lulu.
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen /Massey, Gary 2014a: Cognitive ergonomic issues in professional translation. In Schwieter, John/Ferreira, Aline (eds.), The Development of Translation Competence: Theories and Methodologies from Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Science. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2–57.
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen/Massey, Gary 2014b: Translators and machines: Working together. In Man vs. Machine? Vol.1. Proceedings of XXth World Congress of the International Federation of Translators. Berlin: BDÜ Fachverlag, 199–207.
European Union 2006: Court of Editors: concerning translation expenditure incurred by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council together with the Institutions’ replies (Report No. 9/2006), Journal of the European Union. [online].
https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR06_09/SR06_09_EN.PDF (accessed 20 May 2019)
Garcia, Ignacio 2009: Beyond Translation Memory: Computers and the Professional Translator. In The Journal of Specialised Translation 12, 199–214.
Gouadec, Daniel 2007: Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Greene, Lloyd/ Burke, George 2007: Beyond self-actualization. In Journal of Health and Human Services Administration 30 (2), 116–128.
Hale, Sandra/Napier, Jemina 2013: Research methods in interpreting: A practical resource. London: Bloomsbury.
Hall, Matthew/Smith, David/Langfield-Smith, Kim 2005: Accountants’ Commitment to Their Profession: Multiple Dimensions of Professional Commitment and Opportunities for Future Research. In Behavioral Research in Accounting, 17 (1), 87–96.
Herzberg, Frederick 2003: One more time: How do you motivate employees? In Harvard Business Review 81 (1), 87–96.
Holz-Mänttäri, Justa 1984: Translatorisches Handeln: Theorie Und Methode. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.
Ibarra, Herminia 1999: Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. In Administrative Science Quarterly 44 (4), 764–791.
Jääskeläinen, Riitta 2010: Are all professionals experts? In Shreve, Gregory M./Angelone, Erik (Eds.), Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 213–227.
Kaplan, Stephen 1983: A Model of Person-Environment Compatibility. In Environment and Behavior 15 (3), 311–332.
Katan, David 2009: Translation Theory and Professional Practice: A Global Survey of the Great Divide. In Hermes 42, 111–153.
Kelly, Nataly/ Stewart, Robert G. 2010: The Top 35 Language Service Providers. Lowell, MA: Common Sense Advisory.
Kingscott, Geoffrey 2002: Technical Translation and Related Disciplines. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 10, 247–255.
Koriat, Asher 1993: How do we Know that we Know? The Accessibility Model of the Feeling of Knowing. In Psychological Review 100 (4), 609–39.
Kruger, Justin/Dunning, David 1999: Unskilled, Unaware of it? How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments. In Journal of Personality and Sociology 77 (6), 1121–1134.
Kyndt, Eva/Dochy, Filip/Michielsen, Maya/Moeyaert, Bastiaan 2009: Employee Retention: Organisational and Personal Perspectives. In Vocations and Learning 2 (3), 195–215.
Mason, Claire M./Griffin, Mark A. 2002: Group Task Satisfaction: Applying the Construct of Job Satisfaction to Groups. In Small Group Research 33, 271–312.
Mayer, John D./Salovey, Peter 1993: The Intelligence of Emotional Intelligence. In Intelligence 17 (4), 433–442.
McKay, Corinne 2006: How to Succeed As a Freelance Translator. New York: Two Rat Press.
Mellinger, Christopher D./Hanson, Thomas A. 2017: Quantitative Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies. London & New York: Routledge.
Mortensen, Jenny K./Nyland, Nora K./Fullmer, Susan/Eggett, Dennis L. 2002: Professional Involvement is Associated with Increased Job Satisfaction among Dietitians. In Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102 (10), 1452–54.
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo 2009: Expertise and Environment in Translation. In Mutatis Mutandis 2 (1), 24-37.
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo 2014: Situating Translation Expertise: A Review with a Sketch of a Construct. In Schwieter, John/Ferreira, Aline (eds.), The Development of Translation Competence: Theories and Methodologies from Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Science. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2–57.
Pan, Li 2014: Investigating institutional practice in news translation: An empirical study of a Chinese agency translating discourse on China. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 22 (4), 547–565.
Pym, Anthony/Grin, François/Sfreddo, Claudio/Chan, Andy L. J. 2012: The status of the translation profession in the European Union. Luxembourg: European Commission.
Rodríguez-Castro, Mónica 2015: Conceptual Construct and Empirical Validation of a Multifaceted Instrument for Translator Satisfaction. In The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 7 (2), 30–50.
Rodríguez-Castro, Mónica 2016: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sources of Translator Satisfaction: An Empirical Study. In Entreculturas 7-8, 195–229. [online]. http://www.entreculturas.uma.es/n7yn8pdf/articulo10.pdf (accessed 20 May 2019).
Shreve, Gregory M./Angelone, Erik/Lacruz, Isabel 2018: Are expertise and translation competence the same? Psychological reality and the theoretical status of competence. In Lacruz, Isabel/Jääskeläinen, Rita (Eds.), Innovation and Expansion in Translation Process Research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 37–54.
Shreve, Gregory M./Angelone, Erik 2010: Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2002: Knowing Translation: Cognitive and Experiential Aspects of Translation Expertise from the Perspective of Expertise Studies. In Riccardi, Alessandra (Ed.), Translation Studies. Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline. Cambridge: University Press, 150–171.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2006: The Deliberate Practice: Translation and Expertise. In Journal of Translation Studies 9 (1), 27–42.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2009: Recipient-Orientation and Metacognition in the Translation Process. In Dimitriu, Rodica/Shlesinger, Miriam (eds.), Translators and their Readers. In Homage to Eugene A. Nida. Brussels: Les Editions du Hasard, 255–270.
Sirén, Seija/Hakkrarainen, Kai 2002: Expertise in Translation. In Across Languages and Cultures 3 (1), 71–82.
Stamps, Paula L. 1997: Nurses and Work Satisfaction: An Index for Measurement. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Tett, Robert P./Meyer, John P. 1993: Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, Turnover Intention, and Turnover: Path Analyses based on Meta-analytic Findings. In Personnel Psychology 46 (2), 259–293.
Tymoczko, Maria/Ireland, Colin A. 2003: Language and Tradition in Ireland: Continuities and Displacements. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
Woll, Stanley 2001: Memory, reasoning, and judgment in the real world. London/New York: Psychology Press.
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Published
2019-11-03
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Rodríguez-Castro, M. (2019). Critical Distinctions between Expert and Novice Translators: Task and Professional Satisfaction. HERMES - Journal of Language and Communication in Business, 59(1), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v59i1.117021
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