14.1 Translation and Bilingualism
Translation, the paraphrasing of one language in terms of another, takes place quite naturally in the second language classroom. In the initial stages of learning, translation (particularly at the level of the utterance) is the easiest way of confirming understanding of the target language. In language learning, translation takes place when learners navigate between concepts and lexical representation in both first language and second. In fact, no one can learn a new language without using one language as a conduit to interpret the new one.
However, most current mainstream classes teaching Chinese to non-native language learners favour a total-immersion approach in which only Chinese is allowed to be used. The assumption is that learners will be able to infer meaning from context. The native language is regarded as a type of interference that imposes first language categories on the target language and thereby acts as a barrier. In the context of Singapore, where English is the dominant or master language and the language most school children use at home, the use of English as a resource for learners in the classroom still meets with resistance, though in practice it is not completely absent.
The assumptions of the monolingual approach to the teaching of second language is now increasingly being challenged, with greater acknowledgement that the use of learners' first language is not only practical, but also effective in the learning of a second language. In the Singapore context, where English is the dominant language for almost all pupils, a bilingual approach that makes use of the first language as a facilitating pedagogical tool (as discussed in Chapter 6) arguably enhances the learning process and leads to better outcomes. In the bilingual approach, English is strategically deployed not only in the classroom, but also in the design of the curriculum, pedagogy, testing instruments and teaching resources.
14.2 Translation as a Natural Extension of Being Bilingual
Language serves as a tool for communication. Those who are proficient in two or more languages not only gain access to different language communities, they also serve as a bridge between those two communities. For the bilingual, translation occurs naturally as one way of performing that bridging function. Harris (Reference Harris1976:97), in fact, considered ‘the translation done by bilinguals in everyday circumstances without special training for it’. Harris (Reference Harris1976:100) noted that: ‘All bilinguals can translate. In addition to some competence in two languages Li and Lj, they all process a third competence, that of translating from Li to Lj and vice versa. Bilingualism is therefore a triple, not a double, competence; and the third competence is bi-directional.’ This third competence makes bilinguals good candidates for careers as professional translators.
14.3 Singapore's Unique Position for the Teaching of Chinese as an International Language and for the Development of a Translation Industry
In Singapore, English is the dominant language of the work-place and government and for Chinese Singaporeans, Chinese is a compulsory second language in school, from the elementary level. This, together with the multicultural heritage of the island, makes Singapore an ideal sociolinguistic environment for developing bilingual competency. Ohmae (Reference Ohmae2000:129) has commented that Singapore could be ‘an English-speaking hub for the network of Southeast Asian countries’. By the same token, Singapore could be a favourable test-bed for a hybrid approach to the teaching of Chinese as an international language; and its large pool of speakers bilingual in English and Chinese makes a strong basis for the translation service industry.
There are good reasons why Singapore should pursue this path. First, the global demand for translation services is expanding rapidly with potential spin-offs to translation technology sectors. According to The Language Services Market: 2015 (DePalma et al. Reference DePalma, Pielmeier, Henderson and Stewart2015), the 2015 market for outsourced language services (such as translation; remote interpreting; dubbing, voiceover and subtitling; post-editing for machine translation; testing and quality assurance; desktop publishing and project management) and supporting technological solutions (such as translation management systems; terminology management; content management integration and localisation content management integration and localisation) was worth US$38 billion and growing at an annual rate of 6.46 per cent. This revenue is projected to reach almost US$50 billion in 2019. In 2015, Europe had the largest market share at 53.9 per cent, North America was the second largest market at 34.7 per cent, with Asia at only 10.5 per cent.
Second, China's attempt to restructure its economy and ‘venture out’ spells greater demand for language services to connect China to the rest of the world. Its vision of ‘Two Silk Roads’, namely the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘Maritime Silk Road of the Twenty-first Century’, presents immense opportunities for China's development as well as for countries in Central Asia and ASEAN.
The ‘Two Silk Roads’ strategy draws parallels from two comparable historical events in China. The first took place more than two thousand years ago during the Han Dynasty when an imperial envoy, Qian Zhang, was tasked with opening doors for China in Central Asia and regions covering the transcontinental Silk Road. The second occurred in the fifteen century, when Chinese navigator He Zheng embarked on seven voyages from Ming Dynasty China to the ‘southern seas’, a region stretching from South-east Asia all the way to East Africa. Both those attempts to extend goodwill and exert influence beyond national borders mirror China's current goals.
To kick-start her plans, China has spearheaded the setting up of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the China–ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund. In March 2015, China published a document titled ‘Vision and actions on jointly building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-century Maritime Silk Road’, officially spelling out its ‘venture out’ development strategy. One of the key areas for establishing stronger links was termed the ‘people-to-people bond’. Therein lies great potential for a pool of translators.
In addition, China is advocating an ‘Internet Plus’ model to encourage the adoption of mobile Internet, cloud commuting, big data etc. as the fuel for China's e-commerce and industry. Singaporeans can thus form ‘win-win’ collaborations with Chinese counterparts, where the former's English competency complements the latter's Chinese competency. As China is increasingly plugged into the world economy, the English-to-Chinese translation business currently overshadows the Chinese-to-English. However, as Chinese companies like Huawei, Alibaba, Lenovo, Xiaomi, ZTE, TCL, Haier and Cosco start to expand their international operations and establish local sales and distribution networks in host countries, the Chinese-to-English translation business will become increasingly important. To leverage its language strength, Singapore should thus focus on Chinese-to-English translation services.
Singapore's strong economic and business linkages to major Western and Asian economies is also a strength not easily emulated by other countries. With some 6,000 multi-national corporations (MNCs), Singapore offers a unique and cosmopolitan business environment where many – if not most – of the business deals are international. This is largely attributed to Singapore's sound legal system and strong intellectual property rights, which enhances the reputation for integrity.
14.4 A Hybrid Model for Translation
In the English and Chinese language pairing, translation can, of course, occur in two directions, from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English. While there are people who have grown up from an early age with two (or more) languages and acquired nearly balanced bilingualism, for those who learned a language that is not their first (whether in school or otherwise), the first language is dominant – or native.
Normally, one is more secure translating into one's native language. So for English-to-Chinese translation, the translator needs native proficiency in Chinese and strong receptive skills in English; that is, a C-L1/E-L2 profile. The reverse is true for Chinese-to-English translation, which favours native English and strong receptive skills in Chinese, E-L1/C-L2. Bi-directional translation between the two languages, on the other hand, would be much more demanding. Different types of translation require different proficiencies in English or Chinese – two different types of translator.
The ideal situation occurs when both types of translators, i.e. C-L1/E-L2 and E-L1/C-L2, team up. This is the hybrid model for translation, a translation model similar to the hybrid teacher model proposed for the teaching of Chinese as an international language in Chapter 12. Playing to their different strengths, the hybrid team can handle translations in both directions, taking on different roles in the process. Translation becomes a multi-player, multi-level process, represented in Table 14.1.
Table 14.1 A hybrid model for translation
| Type of translation | First draft | Review | Final version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese to English | Machine translation and/or E-L1/C-L2 translator | C-L1/E-L2 assessor | E-L1/C-L2 expert |
| English to Chinese | Machine translation and/or C-L1/E-L2 translator | E-L1/C-L2 assessor | C-L1/E-L2 expert |
In the initial stage, machine translation (MT) can be used to produce a first draft without any human intervention at all. MT, the use of automated translation software to translate from one language to another, helps to speed up the delivery process and reduce the overall translation costs. The translator's role is to post-edit raw machine translation output to correct for accuracy (particularly usage), style and tone. For Chinese-to-English translation, an E-L1/C-L2 translator plays the critical role at this stage of the process, ensuring the first draft adheres closely to the original Chinese text. The revised text is then passed to a C-L1/E-L2 trained assessor who reviews the translation – with an eye on the Chinese original – for places that might have been misconstrued. Finally, an E-L1/C-L2 translation expert polishes the English and approves the document for onward submission to the client.
For English-to-Chinese translation, a C-L1/E-L2 translator edits the raw machine translation, an E-L1/C-L2 counterpart reviews it, and finally, a C-L1/E-L2 translation expert is called upon to vet and approve the final version.
This hybrid translator model has several obvious merits.
1. The translation and review is done collaboratively and in steps, each involving trained people with different language strengths, which ensures a higher quality of translation.
2. Specialisation of labour allows translators with different proficiencies to play different roles in the process, leading to greater efficiency and faster turnover.
3. Employing machine translation at the first stage keeps costs down and allows expertise to be introduced where it is most needed, that is, at the stages of checking and polishing.
The hybrid model for translation involves a team of translation professionals with different language strengths working together in both Chinese-to-English and English-to-Chinese translation services. In the Internet era, such a collaborative team can comprise members from different regions and countries. This provides immense opportunities for Singapore to work with mainland China and Taiwan, as well as other countries, in developing its translation service industry. Singapore can build up a pool of English-speaking talent proficient in Chinese to specialise in Chinese-to-English translation while translators in mainland China and Taiwan proficient in English can helm the English-to-Chinese translation services. Working closely together as a collaborative team, each can play a critical role in the translation process and market their services to both Chinese-speaking and English-speaking regions.
14.5 Resource Development: An Online Training Programme for Translation
The language service industry is highly fragmented and, globally, almost 60 per cent of language service companies are small enterprises with only two to five employees (DePalma et al. Reference DePalma, Pielmeier, Henderson and Stewart2015). In addition, the nature of translation work allows highly individualised freelance or volunteer working arrangements to take place. While this maintains fluidity and elasticity in the supply of labour, the qualifications of translators vary and quality control is difficult to achieve.
In Singapore, there is no accreditation system in place to ascertain and vouch for the quality of translators. Indeed, errors involving usage, linguistic sensibility or localisation are all common. Lianhe Zaobao (January 2001), for example, noted grammatical mistakes in the Chinese version of Contact Singapore. The same paper (22 March 2002) reported that the Chinese version of the Singapore Tourism Board's Traveller's Guide to Singapore failed to employ local Mandarin usage.
For Singapore's translation service industry to take off, it needs to develop indigenous translation talent. Thus far, locally available structured training courses in translation are few and far between: translation was offered as a GCE ‘A’ level subject to pre-university students in Singapore from 2015; and the Nanyang Technological University launched a Master of Arts in Translation and Interpretation in January 2016. These formal on-site training routes aim to create a supply chain of translation professionals to support the translation industry. However, they reside within academic institutions and are not easily accessible either to aspiring translators seeking entry to the profession, or to working translators seeking to upgrade their skills.
Going forward, a new type of flexible and extensive training programme that integrates human and machine translation is needed. Rather than a traditional classroom-based programme, we propose an online training platform with the following features.
1. ICT-driven online learning: learning takes place anywhere and anytime, leveraging the mobile Internet.
2. Individualised and self-paced: learners progress at their own pace and according to their own needs.
3. Micro courses: learning is structured into a progressive series of micro-units for better customisation of the learning journey.
4. Multimedia format: learning can take place via short videos (e.g. ten-minute video clips) or audio clips.
5. Repeated practice and testing: online quizzes guide progress and provide immediate feedback.
6. Tandem translation: instant feedback provided through in-tandem translation on online forums where learners can interact with trainers.
7. Powerful big data: qualitative and quantitative translation data analytics provide feedback to both learner and trainer and allow fine-tuning of the training programme.
8. Assisted-translation tools used wherever possible.
Translation technology plays a crucial role in the proposed online learning programme. For a start, it is important to tap into the expertise of established international language service companies to help develop a translation service industry in Singapore. Established companies will be able to provide the necessary infrastructure and spearhead the development of a local Singaporean industry. To catalyse this development, a local company could form joint ventures with established international translation companies that could provide training in post-editing machine translation, translation services and translation technology solutions. Such information technology components would include a framework for the training programme, machine translation resources and corpus resources (terminology management, localisation tools, internationalisation checkers etc.). Academic institutions would host the training programme and award the final certification after trainees complete the training. A professional team would also be needed to develop a training curriculum and perform the actual training in the programme.
In addition to basic training in translation techniques, the online training programme could be further developed to provide professional translators with opportunities for continuing education and advancement, providing those already in the industry with avenues for refreshing skills and keeping up with new developments. The programme would be structured to cater to different levels of certification which would, in turn, provide an accreditation system for translators. By making qualifications more transparent, such a programme would go far in ensuring consistent and fair charges for services.
The training platform could be further supported by a ‘service wing’, connecting translation clients to service providers with appropriate qualifications. Freelance translators who have completed the training and are certified would also be able to advertise their skills and link up with potential clients. For buyers, the reputation of the training programme, the certification of each translator, and online feedback provided by other clients would provide assurance of service quality. Likewise, translators would be able to provide feedback about clients to benefit other job seekers. Expert translators would be ‘promoted’ and ultimately recruited to act as trainers and curriculum developers for the programme. In time, graduates would form a select group – an association – of qualified translators who would be brand ambassadors for the programme.
Looking even farther ahead, the online training programme for Chinese–English translation could be extended to additional pairings with Chinese: Chinese–Japanese, Chinese–Korean, Chinese–Thai or Chinese–Vietnamese. Using the same technology and programme structure, different training curricula would be developed by the respective language expert teams in each country and customised to suit each language pair. Such teams could then be brought together to form a global team of translators to scale up training and service provision across borders.
14.6 Concluding Remarks
In an emerging ‘Internet Plus’ environment where transactions increasingly take place online and information moves across borders seamlessly and instantaneously, there is huge potential for language learning and language services to take place online. Creating a viable and credible translation industry in Singapore is attainable when information communication technology is harnessed. This would allow Singapore to leapfrog its region and limitations to form partnerships with companies across the globe and capitalise on its language strengths.
Whether it is to support the learning and teaching of Chinese as an international language or to develop a vibrant translation industry, Singapore's unique connectedness to the bilingual worlds of English and Chinese puts it in a strategic position to serve as a node between the two.
