LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 22:3 March 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
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         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Personal Positivity and Translation Quality

Yazid Abdulrahman Al Ismail

Abstract

This study examines the performance of Arabic–English translation students by equating it to their level of positivity, which is measured using Fredrickson’s Positivity Ratio Tool. Research indicates that translators’ behavioral patterns are linked to varied degrees of positivity, which might be high or low. In this study, the quality of translation of 48 translation student participants was assessed using a translation assessment system devised by the American Translator Association (ATA). The findings showed that there is no link between positivity ratios and translation quality. However, they revealed that participants with high positivity ratios spend less time than others in handling translation assignments, thereby showing good command in time and stress management. The study results suggest that reversal patterns in the findings may be linked to psychological attributes such as intelligence. Recommendations and further areas of investigation are proposed.

Keywords: positivity ratio, negativity, Arabic–English translation, Saudi Arabia students, translation quality, translator’s behavior; text types

1. Introduction

The cognitive psychology approach often focuses on what is happening in the mind of a particular individual. In recent decades, translation studies have paid much attention to this aspect, using experimental methods of thinking aloud to thoroughly investigate translators’ processes and decisions they make in translating text (Kiraly, 2000). However, translators and translation students differ fundamentally in their performance and personality traits, including positivity versus negativity and optimism versus pessimism. Previous research on translation pedagogy has paid little attention to daily psychological changes and circumstances and their influence on the quality of the product and the translation process. Therefore, this study examines the correlation between students’ positivity before translation tasks and the overall quality of translation.

By utilizing Frederickson’s Positivity Ratio Tool, this study aims to understand whether there is a correlation between positivity ratios and the translation quality of a group of translation students. It also explores the link between positivity levels and the time taken to complete tasks. Thus, it is hypothesized, in this study that students’ personal positivity would positively correlate with the overall quality of their translation product. This study hopes to offer insights for the development of translator training curricula and programs by taking translation students’/trainees’ positivity into account.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Yazid Abdulrahman Al Ismail
Assistant Professor of Translation Studies
Department of English Language & Translation
College of Arabic Language & Social Studies
Qassim University
Buraydah, Qassim, Saudi Arabia
y.a.alismail@qu.edu.sa
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