Cover not available
Article published In:
FORUM
Vol. 17:2 (2019) ► pp.225–248

Developing and validating involvement in translation scale and its relationship with translation ability

| Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran

The concept of involvement has not been touched by professionals in Translation Studies. The present study aimed to develop and validate a scale of involvement in translation and to examine its relationship with students’ translation ability. In so doing, altogether, a pool of 20 translation teachers and 120 translation students participated in the study. Initially, the researcher tried to elicit the most commonalities from translation teachers regarding students’ involvement in translation. Then, the reliability and validity of the designed scale were determined by means of Cronbach’ Alpha, Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. The validated scale was named Involvement in Translation Scale, including four underlying constructs. Finally, the results confirmed that there was a large, positive correlation between students’ scores on involvement in translation and their translation ability [r = .72, n = 40, p < .05]. Translation students are suggested to focus on those aspects of their translation that foster their immersion in translation practice.

Keywords: involvement, motivation, translation ability, translation practice
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1Interdisciplinary approaches to Translation Studies
    • 2.2Research methods of mental processes in translation
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1The qualitative phase
    • 3.2The quantitative phase
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Factors gathered from interviews
    • 4.2Validation process
      • 4.2.1Phase I
      • 4.2.2Phase II
    • 4.3The relationship between ITS and translation ability
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • References
Published online: 3 December 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.18015.mod
References
Baker, M.
1992 In other words: A course book on translation. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Basile, E.
2005 Responding to the enigmatic address of the other: A psychoanalytical approach to the translator’s labor. New Voices in Translation Studies 11, 12–30.Google Scholar
Biel, L., & Engberg, J.
2013 Research models and methods in legal translation. Linguistica Antverpiensia, 121, 1–11.Google Scholar
Cayirdag, N.
2011 Attribution and creativity. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (2nd ed., pp. 96–100). Cambridge: Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chafe, W.
1982 Integration and involvement in speaking, writing and oral literature. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Spoken and written language: Exploring orality and literacy: Advances in discourse processes (pp. 35–53). Norwood/ New Jersey: Ablex.Google Scholar
Chesterman, A.
2000 Memetics and translation studies. Synapse 51, 1–17.Google Scholar
Cohen, J.
1992 Quantitative methods in psychology. Psychological Bulletins, 112 (1), 155–159. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Delisle, J., & Woodsworth, J.
1995 Translators through history. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, UNESCO Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z.
2007 Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ericsson, K. A. & Simon, H. A.
1984 Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Farhadi, H., Jafarpur, A. & Birjandi, P.
1994 Testing language skills: From theory to practice. Tehran: SAMT.Google Scholar
Ghonsooly, B., Khajavy, G. H., & Asadpour, S. F.
2012 Willingness to communicate in English among Iranian non–English major university students. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 311, 197–211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gile, D.
2001 Getting started in interpreting research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2008 Hypotheses and research questions in empirical TS research. Retrieved November 17, 2017 from: [URL]
Göpferich, S.
2010 Data documentation and data accessibility in translation process research. The Translator 16 (1), 93–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jääskeläinen, R.
2002 Think-aloud protocol studies into translation. An annotated bibliography. Target 14 (1), 107–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 Think-aloud protocols. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge Encylopedia of translation studies (pp. 290–293). Abingdon and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kim, M.
2009 Meaning-oriented translation assessment. In C. V. Angelelli & H. E. Jacobson (Eds.), Testing and assessment in translation and interpreting studies (pp. 123–157). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kline, R. B.
2011 Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kussmaul, P. & Tirkkonen-Condit, S.
1995 Think-aloud protocol analysis in translation studies. TTR 8 (1), 177–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Laviosa, S.
2008 Translation. In R. B. Kaplan (Ed.), The oxford handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 474–489). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
LeCompete, M. & Preissle, J.
1993 Ethnography and qualitative design in education research. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P., Clement, R., Dornyei, Z. & Noels, K.
1998 Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 821, 545–562. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mason, I.
2008 Text parameters in translation: Transitivity and institutional cultures. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 470–482). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mees, I., Fabio, A. & Susanne, G.
2010 Methodology, technology and innovation in translation process research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.Google Scholar
Mirzaee, M.
1997 Intermediate reading comprehension. Rahnama Publication: Tehran.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., & Friedman, N.
1998 Individual differences in second language proficiency: Working memory as language aptitude. In A. F. Healy & L. E. Bourne (Eds.), Foreign language learning: Psycholinguistic studies on training and retention (pp. 339–364). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Munday, J.
2016 Introducing translation studies: Theories and applications (4nd ed.). New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Muñoz, M. R.
2012 Cognitive and psycholinguistic approaches. In M. C. Millán & F. Bartrina (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies (pp. 241–256). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
O’Brien, S.
2011 Cognitive explorations of translation. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
PACTE
2003 Building a translation competence model. In F. Alves (Ed.), Triangulating translation: Perspectives in process-oriented research (pp. 43–66). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005 Investigating translation competence: Conceptual and methodological issues. Meta 50 (2), 609–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 Results of the validation of the PACTE translation competence model: Acceptability and decision making. Across Languages and Cultures 10 (2), 207–230. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pallant, J.
2005 SPSS Survival Manual: A step by step guide to data analysis. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Quinney, A.
2004 Translation as transference: A psychoanalytic solution to a translation problem. The Translator 10 (1), 109–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S.
(1995) Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sanchez, M. T.
2017 The pragmatics of translator training in the 21th century. International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies, 5 (2), 81–85.Google Scholar
Tannen, D.
1993 Relative focus on involvement in oral and written discourse. In D. Olson, N. Torrance, & Hildyard, S. (Eds.), Literacy, language and learning: The nature and consequences of reading and writing (pp. 124–147). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Toury, G.
1992 A rationale for descriptive translation studies. Dispositio, 71, 23–39.Google Scholar
Tseng, W. T., & Schmitt, N.
2008 Toward a model of motivated vocabulary learning: A structural equation modeling approach. Language Learning, 581, 357–400. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tymoczko, M.
2007 Why European translators should want to de-westernize translation studies. Paper presented at the 5th European Society for Translation Studies Congress, Slovenia.
Venuti, L.
1995 The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yashima, T.
2002 Willingness to communicate in a second language: The Japanese EFL context. The Modern Language Journal, 861, 54–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar