Some thoughts about the conceptual/procedural distinction in translation : a key-logging and eye-tracking study of processing effort.

Abstract

This article builds on the conceptual / procedural distinction postulated by Relevance Theory to investigate processing effort in translation task execution. Drawing on relevance- theoretic assumptions, it assumes that instances related to procedural encodings will require more effortful processing not only in relation to the time spent on the task but also in terms of product indicators such as seconds per word and number of micro translation units per word. Drawing on key-logging and eye-tracking data, the article shows that there are statistically significant differences when conceptual and procedural encodings are analysed in selected areas of interest, with instances related to procedural encoding requiring more processing effort to be translated. The results are relevant for translation process research as they signal to where processing effort is predominantly located. Additionally, the discussion also contributes to validating experimentally some claims postulated by Relevance Theory.