Measuring translation difficulty

Abstract

The Principles of Readability gives a brief introduction to the literacy studies in the U.S. and the research on readability and the readability formulas. Readers' CommentsPlease send all comments and suggestions regarding this document to:William RESEARCH SummaryOver 80 years of research and testing have contributed to the worldwide use in many languages of the readability formulas.They help us improve the text on the level of words and sentences, the first causes of reading difficulty.The principles of readability are in every style manual. Readability formulas are in every word processor. What is missing is the research and theory on which they stand. The Principles of ReadabilityWilliam H. DuBay IntroductionIn 1998, traffic accidents caused 46 percent of all accidental deaths of infants and children aged 1 to 14 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2000). One study (Johnston et al. 1994) showed that the single strongest risk factor for injury in a traffic accident is the improper use of child-safety seats. Another study (Kahane 1986) showed that, when correctly used, child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent and hospitalization by 67 percent.To be effective, however, the seats must be installed correctly. Other studies, showed that 79 to 94 percent of car seats are used improperly (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1996, Decina and Knoebel 1997, Lane et al. 2000.Public-health specialists Dr. Mark Wegner and Deborah Girasek (2003) suspected that poor comprehension of the installation instructions might contribute to this problem. They looked into the readability of the instructions and published their findings in the medical journal Pediatrics. The story was covered widely in the media.The authors referred to the National Adult Literacy Study (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1993), which states the average adult in the U.S. reads at the 7 th grade level. They also cited experts in health literacy who recommend that materials for the public be written at the fifth or sixth-grade reading level (Doak et al., 1996;Weiss and Coyne, 1997).Their study found that the average reading level of the 107 instructions they examined was the 10 th grade, too difficult for 80 percent adult readers in the U.S. When texts exceed the reading ability of readers, they usually stop reading. The authors did not address the design, completeness, or the organization of the instructions. They did not say that the instructions were badly written. Armed with the SMOG readability formula, they found the instructions were written at the wrong grade level. You can be sure the manufacturers of the car safety seats are scrambling to re-write their instructions. Many experts, through much research, have compiled golden rules of documentation writing. These rules apply regardless of medium:• Use short, simple, familiar words• Avoid jargon.• Use culture-and-gender-neutral language.• Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.• Use simple sentences, active voice, and present tens...

Assessing complexity and difficulty levels of machine-translated texts

“…Consequently, after reading a TPR study, readers usually wonder how the researchers chose the text(s) to carry out their experiments and how they assessed the level of difficulty or complexity for translation.1 9 1 F 2 O'Brien (2013, p. 117) also notes this lack of adequate operationalization of text selection procedures and claims the use of readability indexes to measure text translatability is "still highly questionable". Other authors have similar criticisms, including Mishra, Bhattacharyya and Carl (2013), Campbell and Hale (2002), Sun and Shreve (2014). However, authors such as Jensen (2009) and Sun and Shreve (2014), for instance, have shown that the use of such indexes in conjunction with other measures can be useful for assessing translation difficulty or complexity and thus for selecting texts for TPR.…”

“…Other authors have similar criticisms, including Mishra, Bhattacharyya and Carl (2013), Campbell and Hale (2002), Sun and Shreve (2014). However, authors such as Jensen (2009) and Sun and Shreve (2014), for instance, have shown that the use of such indexes in conjunction with other measures can be useful for assessing translation difficulty or complexity and thus for selecting texts for TPR.…”

“…TDI, according to the authors, was then correlated with length, polysemy level, and structural complexity. After (2013), Campbell and Hale (2002), Sun and Shreve (2014) and Alves, Pagano and da Silva (2010) describe methodologies related to text difficulty or complexity for translation. Krings (2001, p. 186) can be added to this list because one of his concerns was to choose a text type that would have a simple structure, "which would be expected to yield fairly usable machine translation results".…”

“…Mishra, Bhattacharyya and Carl (2013, p. 346), for instance, question not only the application of readability indexes to translation, but also other approaches that focus on reading because "translation is not merely a reading activity". In their method, Sun and Shreve (2014) also investigated the reliability of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index) to measure translation difficulty, the possibility of using translation quality scores (i.e., accuracy) and the time a task takes to measure or represent translation difficulty, and the possibility of using Flesch Reading Ease formula (or readability formulas in general)…”

Should Math Tools and Quantitative Methods be Part of University-based Translator and Interpreter’s Training? Russian Graduates’ Voices in the Focus

“…Statistical methods are applied to study difficulties in translation process (Sun & Shreve, 2014), and at editing and post-editing stages, as well (Carl et al, 2011, Kruger, 2012.…”