The Study of Transfer Factors in Thinking Models of Mental Translation

【Abstract】： The roles of transfer factors in both English and Chinese language translation have been flexibly， comprehensively and thoroughly explained or demonstrated in this discourse， mainly related to three aspects of biology， psychology and linguistics. This study is aiming to encourage construction of thinking models and to improve translation practice and evaluation， through comprehensive interpretation of mental transfer factors or by studying on the phenomenon of mental translations.

【 Key Words】： psycho-translatology； mental translation； thinking modes； language transfer

1. Introduction

The study contains discussion and interpretation in relevant to three aspects： 1）physical factors such as gender， time， age， weather and healthy condition； 2）mental factors such as characteristics， motivation and major； 3）language factors such as grammar， vocabulary and pronunciation.

2. Physical factors

2.1 Habits

The morning is really a golden time for students to learn. It can be found that some students who learn on the morning behave more actively， while others behave more positively in the afternoon. Though the time is important to improve learning efficiency， it is always easy to be ignored， too. Undoubtedly， the Chinese text will be noticed at the first sight when a native Chinese speaker is reading. As for examples stated above， this kind of habitual interference may account as a key factor in such a reading type.

2.2 Gender

The male and the female behave differently with brain structure， traditional ways of thinking， methods of expression， using the language and outlook of the culture. The gender may affect method， goal， efficiency and thinking. However， the ratio of male and female learners from the English major in universities may generally be about 1：30 and create an obvious comparison. As an example of scientific translation， the male may think more of the content， while the female may consider more about the grammar.

2.3 Age

The senior students may be more broader-minded， since they have already learnt much about the basic knowledge. The junior students seem to be good at enriching themselves through the internet or by a library， while the freshmen tend to depend more on teachers or classes. Both English major students and non-English major students behave changeably in learning ideas and activities. However， as practice is so critical in language learning， a better learning efficiency could only be achieved among senior students.

3.Mental factors

3.1 Characteristics

Though physical factor is quite important， the mental factor cannot be ignored， either. In fact， it is much more critical in some certain circumstances. It cannot be denied that different characteristics will bring effect to thinking modes. For example， there will be some differences between students who are good at thinking in a positive way and who are thinking in a negative way； some students focus more on the detail， while the other focus more on the whole.

3.2 Motivation

Taking initiate to study or studying passively will cause different learning performance. English major students may mostly be eager to become an English teacher or an English translator when studying in colleges. Thinking as a reader or as a writer may result to different ways of word selection， passage comprehension and sentence organization. Thus it can be concluded that different motives will affect learning practice.

3.3 Major

Either English major students or non-English major students have different understanding of the same conception. For example， the thinking mode of English learning may be as a circle， but actually there are two different types of the circle in two minds. It can be seen that there is a slightly difference between the comprehension of the same conception. English major students focus more on the surface， while non-English major students may pay more attention to the dimension.

4.Linguistic factors

4.1 Grammar

There are a variety of distinctions between English grammar and Chinese grammar， but researches of language comparison are really rare. In fact， though many students think the Grammar is important， and they practice it only when exams are coming around.

4.2 Pronunciation

The pronunciation of tends to be difficult for some students， because they learn oral English only from a Chinese teacher or because of the short of oral English classes. In other words， when the dominating factor of mental thinking has changed， then the existed cognition will be broken by a relatively new way， the superiority of word selection will be changed by the personal preference and interest， and the translation process will be affected by individual factors or emotional feelings， thus fundamentally resulted to ultimate changes of language output.

4.3 Vocabulary

The students may usually have difficulties in selecting words. The reason may derive not only from semiotic cognition， but also common knowledge. There should be some specific vocabulary for students to keep in their mind. Provided that the result of translation and writing have changed， there would also be something changes of the core meaning， though the fundamental structure of paragraphs and the selection of words seem to be similar as that of the original.

5.Conclusion

In a word， it can be inferred that the native language and the physical interface has interacted with psychological factors and language factors. Moreover， any differences from age， gender， motivation， goal and objective may be not in consistent with the real trends. In a word， if one of the transfer factors of mental translation is dominating just like butterfly effect， it may completely play a critical role in thinking models on mental translation.

Reference：

[1] 胡鄭輝. 英語學習策略 [M]. 廈門大學出版社. 2006.

[2] 田延明，王淑杰. 心理認知理論與外語教學研究 [M]. 北京大學出版社. 2010.

作者簡介：李夢媛（1989-），女，甘肅慶陽人，西華大學翻譯碩士。