ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses some recent developments in research on the process of translation: thinking aloud studies, retrospective process studies, various psycholinguistic and behavioural experiments, as well as neuro-linguistic and neuro-psychologic studies of the translation process. It critically explains the potential benefits for increasing our knowledge of what goes on in a translator's head, as well as for translation studies in general and for developing an integrated model of translation quality assessment. Michel Paradi's theory is highly relevant for translation in that he presents an explanation for the representation model of two languages as keys to essential translation processes of decoding, comprehending, transferring, re-assembling and re-verbalizing; it is thus also relevant for translation quality assessment. This chapter describes different approaches to translation as a cognitive process. Another interesting recent suggestion with regard to the relevance of a cognitive view of translation is put forward by Sandra Halverson.