action research seminar final paper_danielapérez

8/2/2019 Action research seminar final paper_DanielaPrez

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EMPHASIS OF THE DOCUMENTARY STAGE USING GLOSSARIES

FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF ENGLISH- SPANISH TECHNICAL

TRANSLATIONS IN SECOND YEAR TRANSLATION STUDENTS

Daniela Prez OssaUniversidad de Tarapac

MA in The Teaching of English / Action Research seminarProf. Ramn A. Barrientos Ph.D

December 20th, 2010


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Presentation

This paper presents an action-research project requested as part of the Action-research

seminar of the Masters Degree in the Teaching of English, by Professor Ramn Barrientos

Ph.D. of the Universidad de Tarapac in Arica, Chile.

This paper was delivered on December 20 th, 2010 and the grade is equivalent to the 70% of

the total grade of the seminar.


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INDEX

Abstract ............................................................................................................... 2

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3

Objectives of the study ........................................................................................ 4

Literature review ................................................................................................. 5

Research design ................................................................................................... 9

Action-research methodology .................................................................. 10

Data analysis............................................................................................. 15

Results ...................................................................................................... 16

Discussion ................................................................................................ 18

Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 19

References ........................................................................................................ 20

Appendix ........................................................................................................... 23


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Abstract

Despite the rise of translation programs in many universities there are not fixed procedures

or methods to teach translation. The following paper presents an action research project that

began in September, 2010 and which aim was to improve the technical translations

produced by second year translation students of the English- Spanish translator- training

program at the Arturo Prat University in Arica, Chile.

The data for this research was collected from September 6th

to November 29th

, 2010.

Through the analysis of the translations produced by the students, interviews,questionnaires, case studies and a reflexive journal, the aim of the action research was to

reflect, understand and provide a solution to a problem in the translation classroom by

planning and executing an action, and also to provide new insights to the researches in the

translation field.

Key words: Technical translations English proficiency Documentary stage Glossary


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Introduction

Today many universities are imparting translation programs; however there are not fixed

procedures or methods to teach translation.

Considering the fact that research on translation studies is quite new, this research

addresses a topic that has not previously been examined, through several methods to gather

data this action research might help teachers to improve the methods they use to teach

translation and also can provide new insights to the researches in the translation field, as

the action implemented in the research intends to improve the technical translations

produced by second year translation students of a English- Spanish translator trainingprogram by emphasizing the documentation stage with the use of glossaries created by the

students before translating.

This paper was based on the action research process specified by Burns (1999) and Cohen,

Manion and Morrison (cited by Mckay,2006) which are: exploring, identifying, consulting

with interested parties, reviewing research literature, planning, collecting data,

analyzing/reflecting,hyphothesising/speculating,intervening,observing,reporting,writing

and finally presenting it.

Following the objectives of the study, revision of the existing literature on translation,

methodology, results, discussion and conclusion.


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Objectives of the study

This paper is under the action research methodological-theoretical framework seen inAction-research seminar of the Masters Degree in the Teaching of English, by Professor

Ramn Barrientos Ph.D. of the Universidad de Tarapac.

The objectives are:

General objective:

To achieve the objectives required by the Action-research seminar, which is to

execute an action research in the translation II class at the Arturo Prat University

in Arica, Chile, by employing the respective action research methods andtechniques.

Specific objectives:

To improve the following features in the technical translations produced by

students:

Accuracy in the meaning transference.

Fluency.

Understandability.

Coherence.

Selection and use of specialized and technical terms according to the text

function, type of reader, register and style.

The declared specific objectives will help to accomplish the general objective.


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Literary review

Translation is an ancient activity that paradoxically has developed in the last decades

because of rising international trade, increased migration, globalization, the recognition of

linguistic minorities, and the expansion of the mass media and technology. This has made

translators to play an important role as a bilingual or multi-lingual cross-cultural transmitter

of culture and truths by attempting to interpret concepts and speech in a variety of texts.

The translation market is among those that have changed most rapidly and dramatically

following the consolidation of the use of the computer and the advent of the World Wide

Web and globalization (Kiraly, 2000).

The relevance of translation in our society can be seen in the fact that many universities are

now imparting translation programs. However, according to Hurtado (1999) not until

recently there has been any systematic study of translation; the few existing studies are a

descriptive study done by Collados As (1993) which refers to the errors in translation, a

study done by Toury (1995) on norms and strategies, socio cultural studies related with the

role of the translator/interpreter as cultural mediator, studies related with the translation

processes (Newmark, 1988) and the translator competence by Kelly (2002, 2005).

Despite the fact that there are not fixed classroom procedures or methods within the

teaching of translation (Kiraly, 2000), there are three basic stages within the translation

process (Newmark, 1988) that are taught as base of the translator education:

a. the interpretation and analysis of the SL text;

b. the translation procedure (choosing equivalents for words and sentences in the TL), and

c. the reformulation of the text according to the writer's intention, the reader's expectation,

the appropriate norms of the TL, etc.

It is also important to mention the documentary stage which consist in consulting

different written sources in order to acquire terminological and thematic knowledge


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necessary to translate (Delisle,1993), this stage has no fix order and it is usually taught as

part of the translation procedure, however in the practice this is no emphasized.

Currently, the teaching of translation considers the steps proposed by Newmark and follows

a functionalist approach to go hand in hand with the current market tendency.

Functionalism opposes to the traditional definition of translation which aim is to reproduce

in the target language the nearest equivalent to the message in the source language, in the

first place in the semantic aspect and, in the second place, in the stylistic aspect (Nida and

Taber, 1974).

The functional approach was born from Hans J. Vermeers Skopos theory, in which

Skopos is the technical term for the aim or purpose of a translation (Vermeer, 2000),

therefore, the translator working under this approach must interpret the source text

information by selecting those features which most closely correspond to the requirements

of the target situation (Shuttleworth & Cowie, 1997) and not the exact equivalence of the

word (as it will appear in a bilingual dictionary). From this point of view, the translation

process is not necessarily determined by the source text, its effects on its addressees, or the

intention of its author, but by the skopos of the target text as determined by the client or

the teacher`s requirements. The translation then is the production of a functionally

appropriate target text based on an existing source text. According to this, if the aim is to

fulfill a client`s requirements, documentary research must be performed to obtain enough

information about the topic in order to know what words corresponds to a specific field, its

register, style, etc. For example, the word crush has the following direct equivalence in a

bilingual dictionary1 : aplastar, machacar, pisar, arrugar. However, in the mining field its

equivalence would be chancar. That is why with the onset of groundbreaking

technological advances it is natural that many translation scholars stress the need for online

information resources as part of the modern translator education, as this resources are wider

and updated, the necessary to acquire terminological and thematic knowledge.

1. According to a Collins English- Spanish bilingual dictionary.


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In relation to this, Kiraly (1995, 2000) is particularly critical of the traditional translation

classroom, where in his view the students role is that of passive absorption, and where the

teacher is little more than a dispenser of correct answers, or better, a repository of

translation equivalents and strategies that are to be made available to the entire class when

one student displays a gap in his or her knowledge by suggesting a faulty translation

(2000). This means that the instruction is teacher-centred, and the teacher itself is seen as a

source of knowledge and students roles are passive; they are supposed to learn by being

exposed to the expert knowledge the teacher possesses.

Despite the previous, it has been said that translation is not teachable, or that it dependsclosely of the language proficiency of the source and target language (according to this

logic all bilinguals will be translators), however according to Kelly (2002) translation is

teachable craft defined as macro competence constituted by a set of abilities, skills,

knowledge and attitudes. These can be broken down into the following sub competencies

intimately related to each other: communicative and textual, cultural, thematic, psycho-

physiological, interpersonal professional instrumental and strategic. Being this two last

related with the use of documentary sources and with resolution of problems, self

evaluation and revision.

Besides teaching the previous sub competences, when evaluating translations with the

skopos approach we have to consider if they are successful by fulfilling the objectives of a

translation briefs. However, this does not mean that the skopos does not have dimensions

or criterions for its evaluation and verification, this means that in order to evaluate

translations, especially in a classroom context, it is necessary the use of a rubric that

considers accuracy in transference, coherence, language and style among other features.

In relation to the evaluation of translation, according to Nord an error is defined as

a failure to carry out the instructions implied in the translation brief and as an

inadequate solution to a translation problem(1991), then the following errors in

translations can be mentioned: pragmatic translation errors, which are the result of lack of


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receiver orientation, cultural translation errors, which are due to an inadequate decision

with regard to reproduction or adaptation of culture-specific conventions, text-specific

translation errors, which are related to a text-specific translation problem and linguistic

translation errors, caused by an inadequate language structures.

According to Nord (1997) errors are in most cases "due to deficiencies in the translator's

source- or target-language competence, however, such errors may also be made by

translators who are linguistically competent, but have low ethical standards, for example,

translator that do not know anything about the topic they are translating.

Nord argues that for students with poor language abilities translating becomes "an

instrument for foreign-language learning, with the focus on linguistic correctness rather

than communicative or functional appropriateness", therefore, it is important that a person

should have attained adequate language proficiency before embarking on a translator's

career and Mikoyan (2000) believes that translation skills proper should not be neglected

[] but should come after serious language competence training, and some scholars take

the view that training into a foreign language should be undertaken only after a high level

of proficiency in the foreign language has been achieved. However, as we know, this is not

always possible, as usually the translator competences are taught at the same time with a

foreign language, therefore it is important to help students to achieve successful translations

without relaying completely on the foreign language proficiency.

The previous provides sufficient rationale for the current investigation.


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Research Design

Background information

The class in which this research was performed corresponds to the Translation II course

of the English- Spanish translator - training program at the Arturo Prat University in Arica.

This program lasts 2 years and a half. Its curriculum is mainly based on English and

translation classes; however it also has information information technology and

organizational management classes. The syllabus of the specific course I teach is based on

technical translations i.e. translation of texts which relate to technological subject areas(medicine, mining, engineering, ecology, etc). The class itself is constituted by 7 students

(4 women and 3 men) of diverse socio cultural backgrounds (some students are from other

cities, some of them have previous studies, etc), their ages vary from 20 to 28, being 22 the

average. All of them work during the day. The class meets 3 times a week, on Monday

and Wednesday (from 7 pm to 9 pm) and on Thursday (from 7 pm to 10 pm).

According to my conversations with the program coordinator and the students during the

first and second semester, the teacher of translation my students had on the first year never

had translations studies nor experience as translator, this was noticed by the students which

according to them never give them feedback of their translations (they only received the

grade, but no comments) and all doubts regarding specific vocabulary had to be asked

directly to him; sometimes he just limited to write some vocabulary words he chose on the

board. Eventually the teacher was dismissed by time incompatibility and the students`

repetitive complains.

In relation to the previous point, it can be said that the former teacher did not have the

necessary competences to teach and to provide useful resources and mediums for the

students.

None of my students had previous knowledge of English (according to them they did not

learn in school), therefore they have learned English at the university; currently students`


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English proficiency can be classified as intermediate2

in listening comprehension and

reading comprehension, according to the parameters of TOEIC (Test of English for

International Communication), an English language test designed specifically to measure

the everyday English skills of people working in an international environment. The two

English courses they have in the program prepare them to take that exam.

According to TOEIC, the intermediate level (between 405-600 points) implies that one can:

understand basic technical manuals for beginners, use a dictionary to understand more

highly technical documents, read agenda for a meeting, write with short memos, letters of

complaint, description of processes and fill out simple application forms.

Action-research methodology

As it was pointed out this research was under action research, which according to Nunan

(1992) and Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) is a type of research that has three defining

characteristics: it is carried out by practitioners, it is collaborative and it is aimed to change

things; specifically in this case these changes aim to improve classroom practice

(Berthoff, cited by Cochran-Smith, 1993).

In order to have a more precise methodology, the processes of action research followed in

this research were the one proposed by Burns (1999) and Cohen, Manion and Morrison

(cited by Mckay, 2006) which are: exploring, identifying, consulting with interested

parties, reviewing research literature, planning, collecting data, analyzing/reflecting,

hypothesizing /speculating, intervening, observing, reporting, writing and presenting the

research.

2. Data provided by the coordinator of the program and the English teacher. This data was corroborated

on http://www.ets.org/toeic


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The techniques to gather data in this research were qualitative in nature, however this does

not exclude quantitative techniques to express results. This approach was adopted in order

to allow an in-depth exploration of the class:

Observation and field notes of the class during 75 hours, from September 6th to

November 29th, 2010.

Analysis of 3 translations tasks (21 translations) of the same length and difficulty

(formal descriptive texts with technical language and clear grammar structures) with

a rubric (see Appendix) before and after the implementation of the action (42

translations in total)

Reflexive journal (See Appendix).

2 anonymous semi- structured questionnaires (See Appendix for the translated

questionnaires).

Semi structured interviews (See Appendix).

Case study of 3 students (See Appendix)

Following a description of the process carried out in this research:

This action research began by exploring the class in which I teach translation. I began to

take notes of the observable behaviors and conversations with my students and other

teachers; I also began to write a reflexive journal. With the previous I noticed the main

issue that worried me: considering that my students are finishing their program, their

translations did not reach a level of acceptability; of course, this also worried them as it

was reflected in their grades (average 4.5).

The three first translations we did on the semester were evaluated with a rubric based on the

basic principles of the functionalist approach proposed by Vermeer and supported by Nord


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(1994) which was developed years ago by Eduardo Vliz Ojeda, professor of translations

of the Universidad de Tarapac, and which I use since I began teaching translation.

Through the preliminary observation and data gathering of the class during the first weeks

of September I identified the following:

Despite the fact that in the first semester I taught the steps within the translation

process, considering the documentary stage, my students just limited to read and

translate directly.

After the analysis of 21 translations, I notice that students did not produce

acceptable translations due to pragmatic errors, problems in the election (or total

absence) of accurate equivalences , i.e. students tended to select equivalences that

were not appropriate for the register, field or style of the text.

Student did not have the tools to look for more information of the topic they were

translating, as the library is too small and limited and there is no access to internet

in the classroom.

Bilingual dictionaries are not helpful enough for the translation of technical

translations.

Student level of English can be classified as intermediate according to TOEIC.

Considering time, students must produce acceptable translation without relaying

completely in their English proficiency.

Therefore the question of this action research was formed considering the level of English

of my students, the translations they produced, the lack of time on the program (considering

the last semester in 2011, 9 months) and the opinion of the interested parties:What can be done to improve second year students ` translation in such little time?

At the third week of preliminary observation I proceed to develop a plan of action for

gathering data, in which I decided to use qualitative data gathering techniques in order to

have a more rich understanding. On Monday 27th September, 2010 I applied an anonymous

semi- structured questionnaire in Spanish, it was anonymous in order to not influence the

learners response and semi- structured in order to avoid the bias of introducing or


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imposing my own opinion, along with this I interviewed 3 random students the second

week of October, in order to get more information and triangulate the answers from the

questionnaires. This two gathering data techniques were created considering three

variables: students` needs regarding infrastructure, tools, students needs regarding

methodology and student`s perceptions about their performance, development, skills and

proficiency.

I also performed 3 case studies considering the students with the highest, average and

lowest grade in order to study the particularity and complexity of a single case (Stake

cited by Drney, 2007).

Subsequently, I reached a point of saturation i.e. a point in which further data does notseem to add new information (Nunan, 1992), therefore having already reviewed the

existing literature, I began to analyze the data from the case study, interviews, reflexive

journal, questionnaires and translations done so far (See Data analysis and Results), which

led me to hypothesize considering that we could not rely on the English proficiency, time

and that according students` perception they error only relied on word selection due

ignorance of the translated topic and not other factors:

The confection of glossaries and reading of parallels texts3

in Spanish will improve the

accuracy in the meaning transference, text fluency, understandability, coherence, selection

and use of specialized and technical terms according to the text function, type of reader,

register and style in the translations produced by the second year translation students of

the translation II class.

The next phase was to implement a pedagogical procedure to emphasize the documentary

stage, with the use of glossaries and Spanish parallel texts. In order to do that, I needed a

much bigger source of information than a bilingual dictionary; therefore, I had to request

the computer laboratory formally to the university. My aim was to have the three weekly

sessions there, however due the high demand of the classroom I was only granted 2 hours a

week, on Mondays.

As part of the intervention I explained my students the relevance of the documentary stage

in order to acquire terminological and thematic knowledge. I proceed to ask my students to

read the source text, underline the words of technical character they did not known and then

create a glossary. This glossary had to be ready within the 2 hours we used the computer


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laboratory, and also they had to look for parallel texts in Spanish in order to have a depth

understanding of the subject. The glossary and the texts had to the base for the translations

and they should be used in the other sessions.

Along with this I continued with my reflexive journal, now in order to record the outcomes

of the intervention. As I rapidly noticed that my students were not bringing parallel texts

(as according to them it was a time-consuming task) and that their glossaries were not

complete (just the word and its equivalence ), I proceeded to design a glossary chart that

considered the unknown word, its equivalence, the Spanish definition and source (See

Appendix), which they had to fill in according to their void on certain topic. This was anobligatory process that had to be performed before translating which would provide them

the necessary documentation to translate a technical text.

After the individual confection of the glossary charts, the findings were compared and

shared in form of unstructured oral discussions by the students.

On Thursday 25th November, I applied a second questionnaire, after the 3 translations tasks

using the glossary. I also analyzed and evaluated those 3 translations tasks with the same

rubric previously used and the evolution of the case studies.

Following the results of this action-research.


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Data analysis

In order to make an analysis I compiled the data obtained from the reflexive journal,

interviews, case studies and the first questionnaire into four categories:

Types of errors intranslations

Students needsregarding

infrastructure andtools

Students needsregarding

methodology

Students`perceptions

(on performance,development,skills andproficiency)

The translations were analyzed with a rubric (See Appendix).

Then I proceeded to find patterns in the answers, analyzed translations and observable

behaviors.


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Results

The preliminary results provided by the data analysis were the following:

1. All students agreed on 100% that translation should be taught considering the use of

computers and updated online data bases, encyclopedias and dictionaries (bilingual and

monolingual).

2. 6 out of 7 students agreed on that their errors on translations were due their ignorance

on the topic which led to errors in word selection.

After the implementation of the confection of glossary through a chart, the results were the

following:

1. The emphasis of a documentary stage with the confection of glossaries according to

the students` needs improved the accuracy in the meaning transference, text fluency,

understandability, coherence, use of specialized and technical terms and the languageemployed of translations according to the text function, type of reader, register and style.

This was reflected on the increase of course average grade from 4.5 to 5.6, that means an

increase of 24%.


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2. The improvement on the understanding of the translated topic and word management

was also reflected on classroom participation with discussions about certain ideas

regarding the translations. This could be attributable to the fact that each student

satisfied their needs regarding specialized and technical vocabulary which lead to the

comparison, and therefore discussion of the different and unique glossaries.


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Discussion

The previous sections of this paper showed the processes and results of an action research

performed in a translation class at the Arturo Prat University in Arica, Chile, which aim

was to improve the technical translations produced by the students.

According to the obtained results from the gathered data it is possible to affirm that the

confection of glossaries according to the students needs (and not a glossary imposed by the

teacher) was successful in the improvement of the translation, this means, the translations

were understandable, fluent, coherent, presented all the points of the source text and

showed word selection appropriate with the text function, type of reader, register and field.Also this was reflected in the increase of the course average grade and the students

participation in class.

However, this success can be attributable to the interest and ethic of the translator student

as sometimes one or two just limited to copy and paste information without reading, this

maintained the ignorance in certain topic and maintained the errors in the translations.

It is possible to say that the class began to have a constructivist approach, as the confection

of glossaries took into account the learners` knowledge without imposing which words they

had to look for, therefore students themselves had to shape their own knowledge.

It is important to mention that constructivism is opposite to the traditionalist teaching

methods in that the first requires a dynamic interaction in which the student is an active

interpreter that has to reflect on meanings and not passive recipient information, therefore

constructivism led to the transformation of the classroom, allowing students empowerment

to act responsibly, autonomously and competently. The classroom itself can facilitate the

process through which these future translators join the profession.

The total agreement of students in the need for a computer laboratory available emphasizes

the proposal done by Kiraly (2000) of a translator as a multilingual and multicultural

communication expert, and this also calls for the attention of the university itself as it

should considers a rigorous selection of the teachers with proper competences and the

infrastructural needs for the maintenance and development of the program.


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Conclusion

The presented action research had as an aim to improve the technical translations of second

year students of the translation training-program at the Universidad Arturo Prat in Arica,

Chile, by working collaboratively with them in order to understand the learning

environment.

The aim of this action research was to reflect, understand and provide a solution to a

problem in a classroom by planning and executing an action, and also to provide new

insights into the translation field.

The hypothesis of this action-research cannot be partially confirmed as the use of parallel

text was dismissed, however the initial research question (what can be done to improve

second year students` translations in such little time?) was answered and achieved good

results, as on the basis of the data collected the findings showed that translations can be

improved with the emphasis of the documentary stage through glossaries made by each

student according to their needs and voids about a topic.

The use of a computer laboratory prove to be a great tool for the confection of this

glossaries, and showed that the university do not provide the necessary conditions for the

development of the program, as it should consider a rigorous selection of the teachers with

proper competences and a proper infrastructure.

Finally, this investigation might help translation teachers to reflect on their performance

and especially on the methodologies and techniques they employ in translation classes

translation and universities or program coordinators to provide the necessary for the

development of a translation program.

Further investigation is required to have a complete picture of the phenomenon.


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APPENDIX

1. Rubric

Student`s name:

Translation Project`s name:

Dimension Criterion Unsatis-factory

Satis-factory

Good Verygood

1,0-3,9 4,0-5,0 5,1-6,0 6,1-7,0

Accuracy in themeaningtransference:

(30%)

The translation shows withaccuracy the message of the

source text.

The translation presents all thepoints or sections of the source

text and, in case of omission

this are justified.

Content:

(15%)

The target text present a logicsecuence of ideas and cohesive

elements that grant it

coherence. There are no contradiction,

senseless ideas or conceptual,

factual, mathematical or

chronological errors.

Lenguage andstyle:

(25%)

The text can be read withfluency.

There are clear connectionsbetween sentences and the

different sections of the text.

The language employed isappropriate to the reader`s

profile and the function of thetranslated text.

Accurate use of specializedand technical terms

The employed phraseology inthe target text is equivalent to

the one employed in texts ofthe same genre of the source

language. Besides, the rhetoric

preferences of the target


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language are respected.

Use of theoriesand technical

knowlegde oftranslation:

(20%)

Appropriate use of translationprocedures.

The translation is coherentwith the given instructions ythe needs of the context.

Use of translation strategies tosolve problems.

Mechanic andpresentation:

(10%)

The translation project adheresto the official norms

established by the program,

faculty and university.

The translation project respectsthe norms of spelling,punctuation, accentuation and

other mechanical aspects of awritten document.

There are no problems inrelation with the format of the

text (indentation, margins,

typography, etc).

There are no problems inrelation with the organization

of the information (pagenumeration, figures, graphics,

pictures, titles and subtitles,

index, footnotes, etc)


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2. Questionnaires:

Following translations of the applied semi- structured questionnaires:

Questionnaire I (Applied on Monday 27th

September, 2010)

1. How would you qualify your translations? (e.g. bad, good, so-so, improving, good,

very good) Why?

2. What are the steps that you employ to translate?

3. What difficulties do you encounter in the translation tasks? (e.g. , syntax, unknown

words, lack of information, etc)

4. What do you think helps you translate? (e.g., English proficiency, writing skills, a

good dictionary, etc)

5. What do you think it is necessary to translate in classes and improve your

translations? (e.g., more bilingual dictionaries, computers, internet connection,

encyclopedias, more teacher assistance, etc)


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Questionnaire II (Applied on Thursday 25th

November, 2010)

1. Currently, how would you qualify your translations? (e.g. , bad, good, so-so, good,

very good)

2. If they have improved this time, do you think the use of Spanish parallel texts or

glossaries has helped you to accomplish that?

3. Currently, what difficulties do you encounter in the translation tasks?

4. What other factors have helped you to improve your translations?


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3. Interview

Following the translation of the most important question of the semi structured interview:

1.What do you think about your performance in the translation class?

2.What are the common errors or difficulties that you face when translating?

3.How do you feel when you face those errors?

4.How do you think they can be solved?

5.What do you think is necessary to change in order to improve your grades?

6.Do you think your level of English if a relevant factor in translation?

4. Case studies


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Constanza

Constanza is 22 years old; she is the most quiet of my students. She works as secretary in a

private office, however she wants to work as a fly attendant or anything related to airplanes.

She hardly ever misses classes and she is very responsible. According to her TOEIC results

so far she has an intermediate level of English.

She is the best student in the class, even thought her average grade in translation was 5.6.

At the beginning of the semester, her main problem when translating were the selection of

accurate words according to the contexts and sometimes incoherence in some sentences,

according to her this incoherence was attributable to the fact she did not know anythingabout the subject she was translating.

Constanza was receptive to the use of parallel texts and confection of glossaries before

translating, and made lots of negative comments regarding the previous teachers; however,

I noticed that she limited to the confection of glossaries, as it was a way of advancing and

delivering the translations faster. Despite this, her translations on the following 3

translations (with the application of the glossary chart) were very good, especially in the

selection of terms and coherence, finally getting a 6.7 as average grade at the end of the

semester.

Daniel

Daniel is a very quiet student. He is 33 years old and he works as manager of a tourism

agency.

He usually missed my classes and the times he attended had to fight for not falling sleep.

According to his TOEIC results so far he has not reach an intermediate level yet.

At the beginning of the semester his translations were really poor, presenting high degrees

of incoherence, inadequate language structures and inaccuracy, I even suspected that that

could have been product of automatic online translator; however his production in class

gave the same results. His average grade was the lowest of the class (3.4). We had some

discussions regarding his grades, as he thought I was very intolerant with word selection,

spelling and punctuation mistakes and in his word I did not negotiate the grades.


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As Daniel missed my classes he was always behind schedule and missed the instructions

therefore he always delivered his translation days or a week after even if they only had to

send them by e- mail.

After the implementation of glossaries, especially the glossary chart, his translations

improved, especially in the selection of words according to the context and register, getting

a 4.2 as average grade after 3 translations. However, a few times he delivered poorly

confectioned glossaries (apparently done in 5 minutes) and until the last date of observation

he delivered his translation out of time.

DiegoDiego has 23 years old. He works at the counter of an airline company. He is very friendly

and he is always asking me questions regarding the translator`s career and translations

theories.

According to his TOEIC results so far he has an intermediate level of English.

Considering the three first translation projects his average grade was 4.4; his main errors

were selection of inaccurate words according to the contexts and inadequate language

structures.

The implementation of the computer laboratory on Mondays affected Diego as he was

distracted with social networks (e.g. ,facebook) and instant online messaging programs and

sometimes he did not perform the tasks asked, however several times he used successfully

online dictionaries or language forums to solve translation problems, along with this, the

confection of glossaries helped him to improve the accuracy of his translations, getting a

5.6 as average grade of the three translations made with the glossary chart. His translation

still presented some minor word order errors, which I attribute to his lack of concentration

in the classroom.


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5. Reflexive journal

Following an extract of most relevant parts of the reflective journal written between

September 6th to November 29th, 2010.

September 6th

, 2010

It worries me to think that my students only work with basic bilingual dictionaries that

obviously do not provide them the base for translating

Is it possible to translate without having an advanced proficiency in English?

I think the campus does not have the appropriate infrastructure for this program; the

library is ridiculously small and there is only one classroom with computers that is used by

the whole campus []translation students must have computers available every day.

September 8th, 2010

After talking with the program coordinator and see students results on TOEIC, I cannot

blame students English proficiency of affecting totally their translationsIt is much

important how they express themselves in Spanish, they should be good in their mother

tongue in order to be good English-Spanish translator as the finality of the target text is to

be understood by the reader

October1st, 2010

I notice that students are not sure of the words they select

I wish the three two notebooks (brought by the students) I see in class were helpful,

however there is not internet signal .


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October 8th, 2010

despite the fact the first semester I taught the translation process and their steps, I see

that my students do not do that, they limit to read and translate, without considering the

type of text or complexity of that they are translating

October 9th

, 2010

Discussions in class is almost inexistent and strangely I have noticed that despite the fast

that my students talk a lot outside the classroom, when they are translating they do not

normally address each other, if I were them I would be discussing terms with my

classmates [] Curious about that, I thought about their previous teacher so I asked themhow they thought he was as a teacher, how did he teach and what they learnt (I asked the

first semester, however I repeated the question again in order to triangulate the

information). Student told me that the teacher not always gave them technical translations

and that he was the source of all knowledge, all doubts regarding vocabulary should be

asked to him. Considering that I began to compare my teaching style with his; definitively I

do not attempt to be the source of knowledge in my classroom, I wish to give my students

the tools for a better translation, other way is absurd, they will not count with me always!

October 14th

2010

After having implemented the confection of glossaries as an obligatory process I have

seen that student more dedicated in class. Surprisingly I have noticed that students are

beginning to talk a little bit more, there is no total silence as before, however I have not

noticed the use of parallel texts.

October 21st, 2010

The glossary chart is really useful for students, they seem more confident, apparently the

format itself is not so threatening for them and with the use of online resources they

advance really quick in filling it.


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November 10th, 2010

I hear students talk and discuss about the translations frequently and I notice them more

secure about the word selection.

November 25th, 2010

...the three students that come regularly to class and confection larger glossaries have

shown a great improvement their translations; I am surprised despite the spelling

mistakes


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6. Glossary chart

Word Equivalence Spanish definition SourceRetina Retina Membrana interior del ojo en la

cual se forman las imgenes.Est constituida por una seriede capas de clulas de forma yfuncin muy variadas, entre lasque destacamos lasfotorreceptoras (conos ybastones) y las componentesdel nervio ptico.

http://www.tuvisual.com/diccionario/101-retina.php

Photoreceptors Fotoreceptores Los fotorreceptores son las

clulas visuales que estnsituadas en la retina, formandoparte de la primera neurona.

http://www.retina.sld.cu/retinosis.html

Rod Bastn Clula cuya funcin principales: la visin de noche(Escotpica), la visinperifrica (Indirecta) y la visinen medio ambiente coniluminacin deficiente.


Cone Cono Clula cuya funcin principales: la visin diurna (Mespica),la visin central (Directa), lavisin de colores (Cromtica),

la visin de profundidad eidentificacin de los cambiosde relieves en la superficie.


Batten`s disease Enfermedad deBatten

forma ms comn de un grupode raros trastornos conocidoscomo lipofuscinosis ceroidesneuronales (NCL). Laenfermedad de Batten es untrastorno gentico heredadoque causa una acumulacin delipopigmentos en el tejidocorporal. Enfermedad deBatten se refiere a la forma

juvenil de NCL

http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetContent.aspx?token=c905f6c8-fb81-4c5f-9ac5-57abe8fde16b&chunkiid=104056


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Rod-Cone Dystrophy Distrofia decono-bastn

Pertenece a las distrofiashereditarias de retina, tienediferentes formas de

transmisin y una prevalenciade 1 en 40000, diez vecesmenos que la retinitispigmentosa. Sus principalesmanifestaciones clnicas sonfotofobia, disminucin deagudeza visual central,hemeralopia, discromatopsia y,en estadios avanzados,prdida de visin perifrica ynicatalopia

http://www.imbiomed.com.mx/1/1/articulos.php?method=showDetail&id_articulo=49732&id_seccion=851&id_eje

mplar=5034&id_revista=31

action research seminar final paper_danielapérez

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