Browsing by Author "Chmiel, Agnieszka"
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Item AD reception research: Some methodological considerations(EUT, 2012) Chmiel, Agnieszka; Mazur, IwonaAD reception research, or collection of feedback from the blind and partially sighted as the target audience of audio described films, seems to be one of the best sources of information to be applied when creating both AD standards and audio descriptions proper. This paper presents experiences gained by the authors when conducting two reception studies. The first one involved a questionnaire distributed to 18 viewers with vision dysfunctions immediately after two screenings of audio described films. The other one is a larger-scale work-in-progress, whose results will be applied in the development of Polish AD standards reflecting the preferences of the blind and visually impaired viewers in Poland, where the participants are being interviewed and presented with AD samples. The authors discuss various methodological issues, including problems with obtaining a sufficient number of participants, reflecting feedback from visually- impaired AD consultants in the surveys and discovering user preferences. It is suggested that responses concerning objectivity or subjectivity of descriptions should be elicited indirectly (implicitly) rather than directly (explicitly) and that research results are more meaningful if interviews involve comprehension questions and AD samples.Item Audio Description Made to Measure: Reflections on Interpretation in AD Based on the Pear Tree Project Data(Rodopi, 2012) Mazur, Iwona; Chmiel, AgnieszkaThe issue of interpretation in audio description continues to divide both AD practitioners and researchers. In this contribution we look at interpretation from the point of view of narratological behaviour of sighted viewers. To this end, we analyse data from twelve languages collected in the Pear Tree Project – a research project in which sighted viewers were asked to watch a short film and subsequently recount what they saw. Linking our findings to AD, we find in our analysis that sighted viewers interpret visual events but they avoid extremely subjective interpretations or interpretations in which they pass moral judgments. Thus, we propose that instead of applying the binary opposition of objective versus subjective, we should rather be using an objectivity– subjectivity scale, which can help determine which interpretive descriptions are less subjective and can consequently be used in AD without running the risk of being patronising or spoon-feeding the sense to the visually impaired.Item Audiodeskrypcja(Wydział Anglistyki UAM, 2014) Chmiel, Agnieszka; Mazur, IwonaItem Boothmates forever? - On teamwork in a simultaneous interpreting booth(2008) Chmiel, AgnieszkaSimultaneous interpreting (SI) is a cognitively demanding task. This is why there are typically two interpreters working in a booth and taking turns every 30 minutes or so. Interpreters work in pairs not only to be able to overcome fatigue, but also to cooperate and help each other. This article is an attempt to shed some light on the process of booth teamwork. Cooperation in the booth is examined in the professional context, which leads to conclusions regarding the incorporation of this skill in conference interpreter training. A survey was conducted among 200 free-lance interpreters associated in AIIC and working on various markets to find out more about their expectations and needs as regards assistance from their booth partners. The respondents were asked about their mode of operation, activities in the booth when off-mike and their perception of the need to teach cooperation to interpretation trainees. It turns out that there are some factors that may impede teamwork in the simultaneous interpreting booth. Interpreters who are off-mike can engage in last-minute preparation using materials supplied by the organizers shortly before the commencement of a conference. Additionally, fatigue may prevent them from actively listening to the input and assisting their boothmate. The results of the survey may help answer the question if teamwork and turn-taking should be part of simultaneous interpreting courses.Item Directionality and context effects in word translation tasks performed by conference interpreters(2016) Chmiel, AgnieszkaProfessional interpreters employed by international institutions usually work into their L1 from their L2, while freelance interpreters tend to work both into and from their L1. A study was devised to see if the long-term interpreting unidirectional prac- tice (in the L2–L1 direction only), in contrast to bidirectional practice (in the L2–L1 and L1–L2 direction), influences the speed of lexical retrieval manifested through shorter translation latencies. Forty-eight professional conference interpreters pro- duced oral translations of nouns presented in isolation, in high context constraint sen- tences and in low context constraint sentences. Contrary to predictions, unidirectional interpreters did not manifest directionality asymmetry and their L2–L1 translation la- tencies were not shorter than L1–L2 translation latencies. Surprisingly, the L2–L1 di- rection advantage was found in the group of bidirectional interpreters. The data sug- gest that the dominant directionality in interpreting practice has little impact on the strength of interlingual lexical links in the interpreter’s mental lexicon or that other factors (such as language use, exposure and immersion) might offset any such im- pact. The study also revealed an expected context effect, which shows that interpret- ers use semantic constraint to anticipate sentence-final words.Item Dydaktyka tłumaczenia ustnego(Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Wydawniczych, 2015) Chmiel, Agnieszka; Przemysław, JanikowskiItem Eye tracking sight translation performed by trainee interpreters(Benjamins, 2013) Chmiel, Agnieszka; Mazur, IwonaThis paper presents results of an eye-tracking study involving sight translation. It was assumed that interpreting trainees at a more advanced stage of training would display more efficient reading patterns than their less experienced colleagues. Eighteen participants with either one year or two years of interpreting training were asked to sight translate a text from A language (Polish) into B language (English). The text included such independent variables as target sentence type (simple SVO sentences and complex non-SVO sentences) and low frequency lexical items. The dependent variables included measures assumed to indicate lexical access and syntactic processing, such as fixation count, fixation length and observation length. The study found no group effect in total task time and processing of lexical items, which indicates that one year of training might not be sufficient to show differences in the sight translation skill development. The study also revealed that sentence readability could be a better predictor of processing load than syntax and, as expected, that more readable sentences generated less cognitive load than less readable ones.Item Interpreting Studies and psycholinguistics: A possible synergy effect(Benjamins, 2010) Chmiel, AgnieszkaCognitive information processing has long been an area of interest for Interpreting Studies scholars. This paper discusses the interdisciplinary relation between Interpreting Studies (IS) and psycholinguistics as a source of a possible synergy effect and explains why Interpreting Studies matters not only to interpreters and interpreting researchers, but also to psycholinguists. First, the most significant contributions of psycholinguistics to interpreting research are identified, including in particular theoretical memory models and experimental methodology in mental lexicon studies. This is followed by an overview of the potential contribution of IS to psycholinguistics and bilingual studies. Conference interpreting is a unique case of bilingual/multilingual use of languages with more frequent code switching and greater inhibitory demands as compared to the non-interpreting use of language. Therefore, ‘bidirectional’ (A into B and B into A) and ‘unidirectional’ (C into A) interpreters and trainee interpreters are interesting experimental populations for mental lexicon studies and other cognitive studies. Finally, a progress report on COGSIMO, a research project aiming at leveraging the synergy of psycholinguistics and IS, will be presented. The project seeks to examine psycholinguistic processes and the skills of conference interpreting to establish efficient aptitude testing procedures for interpreter trainees based on cognitive predictors of success.Item Meaning and words in the conference interpreter’s mind – effects of interpreter training and experience in a semantic priming study(Benjamins, 2018-03-02) Chmiel, AgnieszkaThe aim of the study was to examine how interpreter training and experience influence word recognition and cross-linguistic connections in the bilingual mental lexicon. Sixty-eight professional interpreters, interpreter trainees (tested at the beginning and end of their training) and bilingual controls were asked to complete a semantic priming study. Priming is a psycholinguistic research method used to examine connections between words and languages in the mind. Data analysis conducted by means of linear mixed models revealed that advanced trainees recognised words faster than beginners, but were not outperformed by professionals. A priming effect was found only in the L1-L2 direction, suggesting similar asymmetries between languages irrespective of the interpreting experience. It is the first study to adopt a priming paradigm and a longitudinal design to examine the interpreters’ mental lexicon. The study shows that word recognition is faster due to interpreter training, but is not modulated further by interpreting experience.Item Odzwierciedlenie percepcji osób widzących w opisie dla osób niewidomych. Badania oku- lograficzne nad audiodeskrypcją(2011) Mazur, Iwona; Chmiel, AgnieszkaAudiodeskryptorzy często zastanawiają się, co uwzględnić w opisie, jak uporządkować opisywane elementy i co ominąć ze względu na ograniczenia czasowe. Warto zatem przeanalizować, jak osoby widzące postrzegają sceny filmowe i w jakim stopniu audiodeskrypcja może wpływać na taką percepcję. Artykuł opisuje pierwszy etap badania okulograficznego. Uczestnicy oglądali fragmenty filmu "Maria Antonina" w reż. Sofii Coppoli, a następnie odpowiadali na pytania. W analizie danych uwzględniono liczbę fiksacji i całkowity czas obserwacji poszczególnych pól. Wyniki mogą być przyczynkiem do rozwoju audiodeskrypcji, ponieważ pokazują, jak percepcję osób widzących należy odzwierciedlić w opisie, aby ułatwić zrozumienie scen filmowych osobom z dysfunkcją wzroku.Item Pamięć w tłumaczeniu konsekutywnym(Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Wydawniczych, 2015) Chmiel, AgnieszkaThis chapter is devoted to memory as one of the most important assets of a consecutive interpreter. First, it presents the most influencial models of memory, which divide memory generally into sensory, working and long-term memory. Then, applications of various memory types in consecutive interpreting are described: short-term auditory memory in decoding phonetic stimuli, phonological loop in processing complex sentences and long words, visuo-spatial sketchpad in visualisations, semantic long-term memory in tapping into background knowledge and episodic memory when working with previously interpreted speakers. Studies of memory involving interpreters and trainees are briefly reviewed to show that memory training is useful as part of interpreter training. This is followed by a range of exercises involving visualisations to show students if and to what extent imagery can be helpful to them in processing and remembering information when interpreting consecutively. Other exercises focus on long-term memory: students are trained to acquire terminology in short periods of time preceding interpreting in class and are shown how to practice memory individually at home.Item Produkcja w tłumaczeniu konsekutywnym(Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Wydawniczych, 2015) Korpal, Paweł; Chmiel, Agnieszka; Janikowski, PrzemysławThe author of this chapter discusses some aspects of the production stage in consecutive interpreting, such as text condensation, coherence and cohesion, linguistic register, the improvisation skill, public speaking as well as the notion of psychological stress in conference interpreting. The aim of the chapter is also to provide the reader with a handful of didactic suggestions and examples of exercises that should lead to enhanced quality of interpretation as a product. It is suggested in the present chapter that providing an accurate rendition of a speech in the target language is not enough to ensure a perfect interpretation. As an indispensable participant of a communication act, the consecutive interpreter should learn how to speak clearly, coherently and convincingly.Item Przetwarzanie w tłumaczeniu symultanicznym(Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Wydawniczych, 2015) Chmiel, AgnieszkaThis chapter focuses on processing in simultaneous interpreting, understood as a set of operations performed on the source text and tapping into interpreting strategies in order to streamline the production of the target text. First, arguments are presented to support the author’s approach to training, i.e. developing isolated sub-skills of simultaneous interpreting in order to achieve higher quality. By focusing on selected challenges at various stages of training, even at the expense of authenticity of interpreted texts and ecological validity, students develop coping mechanisms that they can later apply when coming across the same challenge in a more probable interpreting context. Also, the importance of discussing various solutions with students is highlighted as leading to greater awareness of techniques available to interpreters when coping with processing-related problems. Finally, a range of exercises is offered to train such elements of processing as anticipation, interpreting of non-contextual information (such as proper names and numbers), interpreting of idioms, coping with terminology, quotations, read out speeches, fast speakers and non-standard accents.Item Towards common European audio description guidelines: Results of the Pear Tree Project(2012) Mazur, Iwona; Chmiel, AgnieszkaThe article reports on the Pear Tree Project (PTP), conducted as part of the Media for All project whose original aim was to develop audio description (AD) guidelines in Europe in order to ensure consistent high quality AD. However, before streamlining AD standards, a number of issues had to be addressed, the most essential one being whether relevant cross-linguistic and cross-cultural differences in Europe are insignificant enough to enable the development of such common European AD guidelines. In order to answer these questions a methodology proposed by Chafe (1980) concerning the way representatives of various cultures and languages perceive and describe moving images was adopted by a group of AD researchers in the PTP. Participants from various countries were asked to watch a short film and recount what they saw. The data were then subjected to comparative lexical, discourse and narrative analysis in order to uncover both similarities and differences in the processing of visual information by representatives of the languages and cultures concerned. The results and their analysis will be presented in the paper on the basis of which the authors will attempt to provide an answer to the question of whether creating common European audio description guidelines is feasible.Item Translating postmodern networks of cultural associations in the Polish dubbed version of Shrek(Rodopi, 2010) Chmiel, AgnieszkaItem Tłumacz - praktyczne aspekty zawodu(Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2016) Whyatt, Bogusława; Nadstoga, Zbigniew; Chmiel, Agnieszka; Korpal, Paweł; Kościuczuk, Tomasz; Mazur, Iwona; Perdek, Magdalena; Stachowiak, Katarzyna; Turski, Marcin; Tymczyńska, Maria; Witczak, OlgaKsiążka „Tłumacz – praktyczne aspekty zawodu" jest zbiorem dziesięciu rozdziałów napisanych przez wykładowców specjalizacji tłumaczeniowych na Wydziale Anglistyki UAM z myślą o studentach i początkujących tłumaczach. Każdy rozdział omawia wybrane praktyczne aspekty związane z funkcjonowaniem na rynku tłumaczeń, zasadami wykonywania tłumaczeń specjalistycznych, zarządzaniem terminologią, zakresem kompetencji tłumacza ustnego i nieustannym samorozwojem, narzędziami wspomagającymi tłumaczenie i szczególnym przypadkiem pracy tłumacza jako audiodeskryptora. Główne przesłanie książki to przekonanie czytelnika, że tłumaczenie jest złożonym procesem i zawodem, który wymaga szeregu umiejętności i odpowiedniej postawy etycznej. Jakość usług na rynku tłumaczeń w Polsce może ulec poprawie tylko poprzez kształcenie dobrze przygotowanych do tej szczególnej pracy tłumaczy, którzy są świadomi, że jakość ich pracy wpływa na relacje pomiędzy jednostkami, firmami i narodami.