A Comparative Study of Translation Quality as Done by Bilinguals and Trilinguals: A Case Study of Persian Bilingual and Kurdish Trilingual Translation Students of English in Iran
Subject Areas : Journal of Language, Culture, and Translation
1 - کارشناس ارشد مطالعات ترجمه، دانشکده زبانهای خارجی ، دانشگاه شیخ بهایی، اصفهان، ایران
2 - دانشیار دانشکده زبانهای خارجی ، دانشگاه شیخ بهایی، اصفهان، ایران
Keywords: Translation quality, cognitive development, Bilinguals, Trilinguals,
Abstract :
Individual case studies by linguists have concluded that early bilingualism is advantageous to children’s cognitive and linguistic development. Also, the existence of more than two languages in the brain suggests that multilinguals enhance cognitive control when compared to bilinguals. Accordingly, this study examined the differential roles of bilingualism and trilingualism (multilingualism) on the quality of translation. Participants were 48 BA students of translation. In order to homogenize them in terms of English language proficiency, Oxford Placement Test was administered. The participants were asked to translate 30 sentences from English into Persian. After collecting the participant’s translations, three raters evaluated the quality of their translations. The results revealed that the performance of the trilinguals on the translation was significantly higher than that for the bilinguals. Moreover, the correlation between trilingualism and the quality of translation was higher than the correlation between bilingualism and the quality of translation.
References
Ahmadi, A. (2011). On the validity of a multiple-choice translation test as
a substitute for an open-ended translation test in the Iranian university
entrance examination. Perspectives: studies in Translatology, 19(4),
307-314.
Andreou, G. (2007). Phonological awareness in bilingual and trilingual
schoolchidren. Journal of Linguistics, 3 (3), 8-15.
Mo’meni, Sh. & Afghari, A. / Journal of Language, Culture, and Translation 3(1) (2015), 53–67
64
Bain, B. (1974). Bilingualism and cognition: Toward a general theory. In
S.T. Carey (Ed.), Bilingualism, biculturalism, and education:
Proceedings from the Conference and College Universitaire Saint.
Edmonton: University of Alberta.
Bain, B., & Yu, A. (1980). Cognitive consequences of raising children
bilingually: ʻOne parent, one languageʼ. Canadian Journal of
Psychology, 34, 304-13.
Baker, M. (2006). Translation and conflict: A narrative account. London
and NewYork: Routledge.
Belz, J. (2002). The myth of the deficient communicator. Language
Teaching Research, 6, 59-82.
Ben-Zeev, S. (1977). Mechanisms by which childhood bilingualism
affects understanding of lanuage and cognitive structures. In P. A.
Hornby (Ed.), Bilingualism: Psychological, social, and educational
impilications. New York: Academic.
Ben-Zeev, S. (1977). The influence of bilingualism on cognitive strategy
and cognitive development. Child development, 48, 1009-18.
Bialystok, E. (2002). Cognitive processes of L2 users. In V. Cook (Ed.),
Portrait of the L2 user (pp. 147-165). New York: Multilingual Matters.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004).
Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon
task. Psychology and Aging, 19, 290-303.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Green, D. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2009).
Bilingual minds. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 10 (3),
89-129.
Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. New York: Holt.
Brohy, C. (2001). Generic and/or specific advantages of bilingualism in a
dynamic plurilingual situation: The case of French as official L3 in the
school of Samedan (Switzerland). International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism, 4 (1), 38-49.
Cook, V. (1995). Multi-competence and the learning of many languages.
In M. Bensoussan, I. Kreindler, & E. Aogáin (Eds.), Multilingualism
and language learning: language, culture and curriculum (pp. 93-98).
Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Duncan, S. E., & De Avila, E. A. (1979). Bilingualism and cognition:
Some recent findings. NABE Journal, 4, 15-50.
European Commision (2009). Study on the contribution of
multilingualism to creativity. Compendium part one multilingualism
and creativity. Brussels, (July, 16th) available at www.europublic.com
Mo’meni, Sh. & Afghari, A. / Journal of Language, Culture, and Translation 3(1) (2015), 53–67
65
Farrant, B. M., Fletcher, J., Maybery, M. T. (2006). Specific language
impairment, theory of mind, and visual perspective taking: Evidence
for Simulation theory and the developmental role of language. Child
Development, 77(6), 1842-1853.
Fawcett, P. (2000). Translation in broadsheets. The Translator, 6 (2), 295-
307.
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2003). An introduction to
language. (7th ed.). New York : Rosenberg.
Genesee, F. (1998). A case study of multilingual education in Canada. In
J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (Eds.), Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism
and multilingual education (pp. 243-258). Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters.
Hajmohammady, A. (2005). Translation evaluation in a news agancy.
Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 13(3), 215-224.
Hatim, B. and Munday, J. (2004). Translation: An advanced resource
book. London and New York: Routledge.
Haugen, E. (1953). Bilingualism in the Americas: A bibliography and
research guide. Alabama: University of Alabama Press.
Hoffmann, C. (2001). Toward a description of trilingual competence.
Journal of Bilingualism, 5(1), 1-17.
House, J. (1977). A Model for translation quality assessment. (1st ed.).
Tubingen: Gunter Narr.
House, J. (1997). Translation quality assessment: A Model revisited.
Tubingen: Gunter Narr.
House, J. (2001). Translation quality assessment: Linguistic description
versus social evaluation. University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
House, J. (2006). Text and context in translation. Journal of Pragmatics,
38, 338-358.
House, J. (2009). Translation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hufeisen, B. (1998). L3-Stand Der Forschung – Was Bleibt zu tun? In B.
Hufeisen & B. Lindemann. (Eds.), Tertiarsprachen: Theorien,
modelle, methoden (169-185). Tubingen: Stauffenburg.
Jessner, U. (1999). Metalinguistic awareness in multilingual speakers:
Cognitive aspects of third language learning. Language Awareness, 8,
201- 209.
Jessner, U. A. (2006). Linguistic awareness in multilinguals: English as a
third language. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Koppe, R., & Meisel, J. M. (1995). Code switching in bilingual first
laguage acquisition. In F. Milroy & P. Muysken (Eds.), One speaker-
Mo’meni, Sh. & Afghari, A. / Journal of Language, Culture, and Translation 3(1) (2015), 53–67
66
two languages: Cross-disiplinary perspectives on code-switching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leopold, W. F. (1939,1947,1949). Speech development of a bilingual
child: A linguistʼs record (4 vols.) Evanston: Northwestern University
Press.
Leuven-Zwart, K. (1989). Translation and original: Similarities and
dissmilarities, I. Target, 1 (2), 151-181.
Leuven-Zwart, K. (1990). Translation and original: Similarities and
dissimilarities, II. Target, 2 (1), 69-95.
Liedtke, W. W., & Nelson. L. D. (1968). Concept formation and
bilingualism. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 14, 225-32.
Maier, C. (1998). Reviewing and criticism. In M. Baker (Ed.), Routledge
encyclopedia of translation studies. London: Routledge.
Nida, E. (1964). Toward a science of translation. Leiden; Brill.
Nida, E. (1996). Translation: Possible and impossible. Translation
Perspectives, 9, 7-23.
Pourgharib, B., & Dehbandi, Z. (2013). The impact of translatorʼs
personality on translation quality of narrative texts. International
Journal of Basic Sciences and Applied Research, 2 (4), 417-422.
Robinson, D. (1997). Translation and empire. Postcolonial theories
explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Ronjat, J. (1913). Le dheloppement du Iangage observe cher un enfant
bilingue. Paris: Champion.
Samuelsson-Brown, G. (2004). A practical guide for translators. (4th ed).
Clevendon. Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters LTD.
Schafner, C. (Ed.), (1998). Translation and quality. Clevendon:
Multilingual Matters.
Svalberg, A. (2007). Language awareness and language learning.
Language Teaching, 40(4), 287-308.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2008). Living languages: Multilingualism across
the lifespan. Praeger: London.
Torrance, E. P., Wu, J. J., Gowan, J. C., & Alliotti, N. (1970). Creating
functioning of monolingual and bilingual children in Singapore.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 72-5.
Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive translation studies and beyond.
Amesterdam: John Benjamins.
Tytler, A. F. (1992). Essay on the principles of translation. London: Cadell
and Davies, Edinburgh: Creech.
Ülsever, R. (1999). Linguistic aspects of translation evaluation. Turkey:
T.C. Anablu Üniversitesi.
Mo’meni, Sh. & Afghari, A. / Journal of Language, Culture, and Translation 3(1) (2015), 53–67
67
Williams, J., & A. Chesterman (2002). The map: A beginnerʼs guide to
doing research in translation studies. Manchester: St. Jerome.