The use of resources for legal terminological decision-making: patterns and profile variations among institutional translators

Abstract

Effective information mining for legal terminological research in translation is largely determined by the ability to contextualize concepts in their legal framework and to resort to relevant legal sources. Specialized knowledge of these sources thus emerges as a competence marker that is expected to converge with that of comparative law practitioners. Against this background, a survey was conducted in order to examine institutional translators' use of resources for translation in general and their perceptions of sources for legal translation in particular. The data provided by 234 respondents from 12 international organizations offer a comprehensive portrait of translation professionals and informationmining practices in these settings. Profile features in terms of legal translation frequency, main translation specializations and academic backgrounds were correlated to relevance and reliability scores assigned to the sources used for legal terminological research. The results confirm several hypotheses based on generally accepted indicators of specialization in this field, including the prioritization of monolingual lexicographical resources over bilingual ones and the higher reliability of primary legal sources over institutional terminological databases and previous translations. Common patterns and variations between institutions and profiles, as well as their implications for institutional terminology management and translation quality, are briefly discussed.

Investigating the relationship between online information seeking and translation performance among translation students: The mediating role of translation self-efficacy

“…In comparison, students with a low level of self-efficacy may experience more uncertainty and stress during the process (e.g., Bolaños-Medina, 2014;Araghian et al, 2018). As a result, such anxiety can, in turn, bring about additional strain to adjust their strategies and make more improvements in their translation products (Rojo and Caro, 2016;Prieto Ramos, 2020;Sycz-Opoń, 2021).…”

“…In translation studies, online information seeking has been found to be significantly correlated with translation process (e.g., Hvelplund, 2019;Sycz-Opoń, 2019;Prieto Ramos, 2020). Previous studies have shown that online resources such as search engines, electronic dictionaries, and specific portals, as compared with seeking information from print resources, enable translators to acquire better information in a more efficient way when they experience uncertainty in the problem-solving process (e.g., Hvelplund, 2017;Kuznik and Olalla-soler, 2018;Whyatt et al, 2021).…”

“…Previous research has shown that online information seeking may affect translation performance (e.g., Hvelplund, 2019;Sycz-Opoń, 2019;Prieto Ramos, 2020). However, most of these studies have mainly concentrated on exploring the direct relationship between the two variables.…”

Revisiting translator competence in the age of artificial intelligence: the case of legal and institutional translation

“…The first preliminary step consisted of verifying the relevance of LTC in institutional translation settings by examining the volumes and genres of translated texts in several EU and intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) (Prieto Ramos and Guzmán 2021 ), and by crossing this data with those obtained in a survey of institutional translators (from 12 organisations) (Prieto Ramos 2020 ) and in 33 structured interviews with 45 service heads and quality advisers. The correlative analysis of this data corroborated that legal (and administrative) translation in a broad sense (including law- and policy-making, implementation monitoring, adjudication and administrative functions) is the most prominent commonly-shared translation specialisation at international organisations from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective.…”

The Effect of Critical Thinking on Translation Technology Competence Among College Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy and Cultural Intelligence

“…66 When faced with ambiguities or difficulties during translation, translators can find feasible and quick solutions with the help of electronic dictionaries, online knowledge-sharing platforms, and search engines. 67,68 The introduction of the internet has also dramatically expanded the information sources accessible to translators, transformed the way of searching for information in translation activities, and improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the information-seeking process. 69,70…”