Idiomaticity as a tool to explore automaticity and control in bilinguals and translators
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2022/13/0044/000586Keywords:
idioms, figurative language, bilingualism, translationAbstract
We explored the impact of translation expertise and untrained bilingualism on the automaticity involved in retrieving translations of idiomatic units across languages. We predicted differential access to idiomatic representations as a consequence of differing bilingual experiences. Untrained bilinguals and professional translators were compared regarding the availability of cognitive resources during idiom processing for subsequent translation, using a dual-task paradigm. Our hypothesis was that translators would demonstrate greater availability of cognitive resources, reflecting more automatic processing behaviour. Contrary to our predictions, the results showed that translators, compared to bilinguals, exerted higher levels of cognitive control over the task, possibly to ensure the high-quality standards associated with professional translation practice. These findings are discussed in relation to theoretical models of bilingual idiomatic processing and professional translation.
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Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
