INTRODUCTION TO

TERMINOLOGY AND
TRANSLATION COMPETENCE
- PART 2
By A. Muchanga, ENGLISH SECTION, UEM
 Recap
In Part 1, we tried to answer the question, Is
Terminology a must for translators and
interpreters?
We saw how different models of translation
competence include terminology research
competence as an essential element.
In this session, we’ll see the place of terminology
research competence in interpreting competence
models
Terminology in interpreting competence
models
Just as there is no single model of
translation competence, several
interpreting competence models have
been proposed.
E.g., the one described by the Healthcare
Interpretation Network (2007, 15-16)
CONT.
In this model, interpreting skills,
language skills and interpersonal
skills are respectively outlined
under each of the 3 macro
competences proposed by this
organization.
CONT.

(1) interpreting competence,

(2) linguistic competence and
(3) research and technical
competence.
CONT.
The first competence “comprises the
ability to interpret a message from one
language to the other in the applicable
mode” and it “includes the ability to
assess and comprehend the original
message and render it in the target
language without omissions, additions or
distortions” (ibid, 15).
CONT.
Interpreting competence “also
includes the
knowledge/awareness of the
interpreter’s own role in the
interpreting encounter” (ibid).
CONT.
Linguistic competence “includes
the ability to comprehend the
source language and apply this
knowledge to render the message
as accurately as possible in the
target language” (ibid).
CONT.
It specifies that:
“The interpreter shall:
Have an in depth knowledge and
understanding of his/her working
languages and the required range of
language registers.
Have knowledge of subject areas and
relevant terminology” (ibid).
CONT.
The Healthcare Interpretation Network
further says:
“Research competence includes the
ability to efficiently acquire the
additional linguistic and specialized
knowledge necessary to interpret in
specialized cases”. (ibid, 16)
CONT.
Similarly:
“Research competence also
requires experience in the use of
research tools and the ability to
develop suitable strategies for the
efficient use of the information
sources available” (ibid).
CONT.
In the model suggested by the ALTA
Language Services, Inc. for the
Judicial Council of California,
Administrative Office of the Courts in
2007, dealing with court
interpreters, interpreting
competence consists of the following
skill areas:
1.LinguisticSkills,
2.Speaking Skills,
3.Listening Comprehension Skills,
4.Reading Comprehension Skills,
5.Interpreting Skills and
6.Behavioural Skills (ALTA 2007, 2).
CONT.
Reading Comprehension Skills
means that, among others, the
interpreter is able “to read and
comprehend overall meaning
and specific details of written
text in all working languages”
(ibid)
CONT.

This includes the ability to “read

and recognize various written
contexts, including formal and
informal text, subject-specific
vocabulary, idiomatic expressions,
and colloquialisms” (ibid).
CONT.
The abilities under Interpreting Skills
include concentration and focus,
processing linguistic information
quickly, making quick linguistic
decisions regarding word choice or
terminology selection, applying short-
term memory skills in retaining small
units of information, conveying meaning
and so forth (ibid).
CONT.
Again, ‘subject-specific vocabulary’
and ‘word choice or terminology
selection’ are touched on, showing
an interpreter’s success in delivering
services is contingent upon
developing terminological research
competence.
CONT.

Furthermore, Albl-Mikasa’s
(2012, 62) model suggests that
an interpreter would need five
macro skills under which micro
skills are evident.
CONT.
Pre-process skills:
a) High-level command of working
languages
b) Low-key computer-assisted terminology
management
c) A generalist’s informed semi-knowledge
d) Streamlined assignment preparation
CONT.
Pre-process skills:
Teamwork and a cooperative attitude
b) Unimposing extrovertedness
c) Professionalism between instinct
and a sense of realism
d) Pressure resistance and frustration
tolerance
CONT.
In-process skills:
Comprehension skills
a) Below-expert scanning,
identifying, and matching
b) Contextualization
c) English as a lingua franca (ELF)
compensation
CONT.

Transfer skills
a) Simultaneity
b) Capacity relief measures
CONT.
• Production skills
a) Synchronicity and (delay) modulation
b) Reduction
c) Balancing act between high fidelity and
audience design
d) ELF accommodation
e) Performance, presentation, prosody
CONT.
)Post-process skills:
Terminology wrap-up
b) Quality control
CONT.
Para-process skills:
Business know-how, customer
relations, and professional
standards
b) Lifelong learning predilection
c) Meta-reflection
CONT.

This all suggests that diligent

task preparation for a
specialized subject requires the
ability to look for, systematize,
use and evaluate terminology
to ensure quality services.
CONT.
It isworth noting that, despite
the difficulties inherent in the
task of translating, it appears
that a translator may find him
or herself in a less demanding
situationality than that of an
interpreter.
CONT.
Danks and Griffin (1997, 164)
corroborate this perception when they
identify the immediate temporal
constraints as a fundamental
difference between readers and
listeners as well as between
translators and interpreters.
CONT.
Thus, according to these scholars,
“Just as readers typically have as
much time as they need to
understand a text, so do
translators have plenty of time to
comprehend and translate the
text”.
CONT.

They go further when they state that,

indeed, “translators may well have
more time than readers because
readers are under the pressure of
implicit social norms about how long
it takes to read a text”, which may
not apply to translators (ibid).
CONT.
Danks and Griffin (ibid) are quick to
admit that such norms may indeed
exist, but they assert that “at least
implicitly, within the community of
translators, the pressure to produce a
good, accurate translation is often
more important than how long it
takes (ibid).
CONT.
At the same time, these scholars
acknowledge that “translators are faced
with the demands of the commission
and its associated deadlines, but the
time constraints of deadlines are usually
measured in days and not minutes and
seconds as they are in listening and
interpreting” (ibid).
CONT.
 In contrast, the time pressure on interpreters
is heightened by the fact that, as these
authors go on saying, “The listeners for the
interpreted text are waiting for the speech in
the target language and the speaker may (in
the consecutive case) or may not (in the
simultaneous case) be waiting for the
interpreter to finish the interpretation”(ibid,
164-165).
CONT.

Likewise, Gile (1998, 41) suggests

that, different from translation,
“interpreting requires attention
sharing and involves severe time
constraints”.
CONT.
What can be gleaned from such
discussion of the differences
between translating and interpreting
is that an interpreter would need a
thorough preparation for his/her
assignment.
CONT.

The extent to which an interpreter

will succeed in delivering quality
services partly depends on the
degree to which he/she is
effective in researching and
managing terminology.
CONT.
Finally, although Magaia (2014) does not
attempt to offer a translation or
interpretation competence model, his
definition of translation error suggests that
terminological research competence is an
important implicit component. His
translation error analysis method
distinguishes between SLOEs and TLOEs,
where the former include:
CONT.
Nonsense – the message
delivered not making any sense
at all;
Wrong meaning – the source
message being distorted;
CONT.
Wrong lexical choice – use of false friends
or other ineffective lexical items
according to the context, purpose of the
text and target audience; and
Omission – when a content-rich element
(word or phrase) in the source text is
unduly removed from the target text
(Magaia 2014, 84-85).
CONT.
TLOES include:
Target-language norm deviations;
Spelling errors;
Punctuation errors; or
Ambiguous/unclear/unnatural
expressions. (ibid, 85)
CONT.
He theorizes that “Wrong meaning
and nonsense errors usually occur at
structural level, while wrong lexical
choice errors always occur at
word/terminological level and
omission occurs both at structural and
word level” (Magaia 2016, 59-60).
CONT.
The fact that word or terminological
errors are given attention in this error
analysis model shows that a translator or
an interpreter is expected to have
effective terminological research skills
that will allow him/her to select
adequate equivalents for the context of
their translations.
CONT.
It is striking that almost invariably,
scholars do not address terminology
research competence without linking
it to documentation, which includes
modern technology, whether for
consultation or actual terminology
database development.
CONT.
Thus, it can be said that effective
project management includes
effective terminology development
(Szondy 2016, 35, 42). This leads
to the question, How should
terminology research be
conducted?
CONT.

Next
session.
Thank you!