DIFFICULTIES IN IDENTIFYING AND TRANSLATING LINGUISTIC METAPHORS: A SURVEY AND EXPERIMENT AMONG TRANSLATION STUDENTS
Vol.5, Issue 2, 2019, pp.308-322 Full text
DOI https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.19.2.7
Web of Science: 000512305100009
Author:
Charlène Meyers https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2548-3227
Affiliation: Specialized Translation and Terminology Unit, FTI-EII, Université de Mons, Belgium
Abstract
A survey of twelve translation students in 2017 revealed that they tend to find translating figurative and metaphorical language difficult. In addition, an experiment also conducted in 2017 showed similar results. During the first phase of this experiment, two trained researchers coded metaphorical items in a text from the New Scientist following the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (MIPVU). Based on Cohen's kappa, the researchers reached an initial coding agreement of 0.692 (strong agreement) and a final agreement score of 0.958 (almost perfect agreement) after discussion. The second phase of the experiment involved the coding of the metaphorical items previously identified by the researchers in the same text by 47 students who received a two-hour introduction to conceptual metaphor theory and a simplified method to code metaphorical items. However, the results of the students' coding showed that they had failed to identify metaphors in 49.96% of cases. Nevertheless, a chi-squared test revealed that the students' coding was not due to chance alone and therefore not arbitrary.
Keywords: metaphor-related words, metaphor identification procedure, translation studies
Article history:
Submitted: 27 November 2019;
Reviewed: 2 December 2019;
Revised: 5 December 2019;
Accepted: 20 December 2019;
Published: 30 December 2019
Citation (APA):
Meyers, C. (2019). Difficulties In Identifying and Translating Linguistic Metaphors: A Survey and Experiment among Translation Students. English Studies at NBU, 5(2), 308-322. https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.19.2.7
Copyright © 2019 Charlène Meyers
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