Implicit monitoring dynamics during word translation: A behavioral and neurophysiological study on translation students

GARCÍA, ADOLFO M.; WAINSELBOIM, ALEJANDRO; OSTER, KATHARINA; IBÁÑEZ, AGUSTÍN; ADOLFI, FEDERICO; HANSEN-SCHIRRA, SILVIA; PETRONI, AGUSTÍN

Hong Kong

Conferencia; 6th Conference of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies; 2018

International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies

Activation of target words during translation is sensitive to stimulus-related variables. In particular, cognates (words which share both form and meaning between languages) are typically translated faster than non-cognates ? a manifestation of the cognate facilitation effect (CFE). However, no study has yet assessed the role of implicit monitoring processes in relevant tasks, let alone examined their relation with translation expertise. To bridge this gap, we recruited 40 translation students from different semesters and administered a word translation test while recording response latencies and electrophysiological modulations. Buidling on previous evidence, we hypothesized that the CFE in translators would be associated with increased amplitudes of the N2, a robust electrophysiological marker of implicit montioring effort. Moreover, we explored whether these effects correlated with translation expertise. We found a significantly higher amplitude of the N2 for cognates than for non-cognates. However, no correlation emerged between the N2 modulation and the CFE, and neither variables correlated with translation expertise. These results suggest that translation students engage impliciting monitoring processes in proportion to the level of cross-linguistic competition between source and target words, and that this effect holds irrespective of their expertise level. Our results thus shed light on the interplay between linguistic and extralinguistic processes in the development of professional translation skills.