Translators in the Loop: Observing and Analyzing the Translator Experience with Multimodal ...

243 Pages·2016·3.73 MB·English

by  Julian Zapata

Translators in the Loop: Observing and Analyzing
the Translator Experience with Multimodal
Interfaces for Interactive Translation Dictation
Environment Design

Julián Zapata Rojas

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Translation Studies

Under the supervision of
Dr. Jean Quirion

School of Translation and Interpretation
Faculty of Arts
University of Ottawa

© Julián Zapata Rojas, Ottawa, Canada, 2016
Abstract
This thesis explores interactive translation dictation (ITD), a translation technique
that involves interaction with multimodal interfaces equipped with voice recognition
(VR) technology throughout the entire translation process. Its main objective is to
provide a solid theoretical background and an analysis of empirical qualitative and
quantitative data that demonstrate ITD’s advantages and challenges, with a view to
integrating this technique into the translation profession.
Many empirical studies in human-computer interaction have strived to demonstrate
the efficiency of voice input versus keyboard input. Although it was implicit in the
earliest works that voice input was expected to completely replace—rather than
complement—text-input devices, it was soon proposed that VR often performed
better in combination with other input modes. This study introduces multimodal
interaction to translation, taking advantage of the unparallelled robustness of
commercially available voice-and-touch-enabled multimodal interfaces such as
touch-screen computers and tablets. To that end, an experiment was carried out with
14 professional English-to-French translators, who performed a translation task
either with the physical prototype of an ITD environment, or with a traditional
keyboard-and-mouse environment. The hypothesis was that the prototypical
environment would consistently provide translators with a better translator
experience (TX) than the traditional environment, considering the translation
process as a whole. The notion of TX as introduced in this work is defined as a
translator’s perceptions of and responses to the use or anticipated use of a product,
system or service.
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Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using different methods, such
as video and screen recording, input logging and semi-structured interviews. The
combined analysis of objective and subjective usability measures suggests a better TX
with the experimental environment versus the keyboard-and-mouse workstation,
but significant challenges still need to be overcome for ITD to be fully integrated into
the profession. Thus, this doctoral study provides a basis for better-grounded
research in translator-computer interaction and translator-information interaction
and, more specifically, for the design and development of an ITD environment, which
is expected to support professional translators’ cognitive functions, performance and
well-being. Lastly, this research aims to demonstrate that translation studies
research, and translation technology in particular, needs to be more considerate of
the translator, the TX, and the changing realities of the interaction between humans,
computers and information in the twenty-first century.

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Résumé
La présente thèse porte sur la traduction dictée interactive (TDI), technique de
traduction en interaction avec des interfaces multimodales équipées de technologie
de reconnaissance vocale (RV) tout au long du processus traductif. L’objectif principal
est de présenter une base théorique approfondie et une analyse de données
empiriques qualitatives et quantitatives rendant compte des avantages et des défis de
la TDI en vue d’intégrer cette dernière à la profession de traducteur.
Bon nombre d’études empiriques en interaction personne-machine ont tenté de
démontrer l’efficacité de l’interaction vocale vis-à-vis de l’interaction au moyen du
clavier. Bien qu’il fût implicite dans les premiers travaux que la voix devait remplacer,
plutôt que compléter, les dispositifs de saisie textuelle, on n’a pas tardé à observer
que la RV était souvent plus performante en combinaison avec d’autres modes
d’interaction. Notre étude intègre l’interaction multimodale à la traduction, tenant
compte de la robustesse sans précédent des interfaces multimodales commerciales
telles que les ordinateurs à écran tactile et les tablettes. À cette fin, une expérience a
été effectuée auprès de 14 traducteurs professionnels qui traduisent de l’anglais au
français. Les participants ont effectué une traduction en interaction soit avec la
maquette d’un environnement de TDI, soit avec un poste de travail conventionnel à
clavier et à souris. L’hypothèse formulée est que l’environnement-prototype de TDI
est le gage d’une meilleure expérience traducteur (TX) que le poste de travail
conventionnel, tout au long du processus traductif. La notion de TX, introduite dans
cette recherche, est définie comme l’ensemble des perceptions et des réponses d’un
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traducteur qui résultent de l’utilisation réelle ou anticipée d’un produit, un système
ou un service.
Des données quantitatives comme qualitatives ont été récoltées au moyen de
méthodes telles que l’enregistrement vidéo, des activités à l’écran et des données
d’entrée, ainsi que les entrevues semi-dirigées. L’analyse combinée des mesures de
convivialité tant objectives que subjectives suggère une meilleure TX avec
l’environnement expérimental vis-à-vis du poste de travail à clavier et à souris. Cela
dit, d’importants défis restent à surmonter pour que la TDI soit enfin intégrée de
façon optimale à la profession. Ainsi, la présente étude doctorale fournit la base pour
des recherches plus approfondies dans les domaines de l’interaction traducteur-
machine et de l’interaction traducteur-information et, plus précisément, pour la
conception et le développement d’un environnement de TDI; un tel système devrait
améliorer les fonctions cognitives, la performance et le bienêtre des traducteurs
professionnels. Enfin, la présente recherche servira d’exemple pour d’autres études
en traductologie, et en traductique en particulier, lesquelles devront prendre en
compte à la fois les traducteurs, la TX et les réalités changeantes des interactions des
humains avec les machines et l’information au XXIe siècle.

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Acknowledgments
Foremost, I want to express a deep feeling of gratitude to Jean Quirion, who for many
years has been more than an exceptional research supervisor. His involvement in my
life has gone beyond the academic level; he has been a point of reference also at the
professional and personal levels. He has managed to become one of a handful of true
friends, which is way more than what one can expect from an advisor in this winding
road of pursuing a doctorate. His professionalism and intellectual rigour are only
overshadowed by his quality as a human being. His guidance and support on many
aspects of my life have shaped this project and will follow me wherever it is I will go
with my PhD in hand. Merci, de tout mon cœur, Jean.
To the thesis committee: Professor Heather O’Brien, from the University of British
Columbia, and professors Elizabeth Marshman, Lynne Bowker and Marc Charron
from the University of Ottawa, for their thorough examination of this work and their
invaluable advice for future work. This thesis is only the beginning of the journey!
To Professors Robert Biddle and Avi Parush from Carleton University, for their
involvement and guidance when consolidating my ideas and putting together a
research project proposal. A special thanks also to Professor Pierre-Jérôme Bergeron
from the University of Ottawa for willingly accepting to offer me invaluable advice on
statistical considerations when designing my experiments.
My gratitude is also extended to all anonymous participants, and the anonymous
organization they work for, for their vital involvement in the experiments. Their
voluntary participation was invaluable for the project, which focuses on the human
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factors of technology tools. There is no better way to begin thinking about how to
improve existing tools and designing new ones than when having human translators
in the loop.
I also want to gratefully acknowledge the Language Technologies Research Centre,
located in Gatineau, Canada, for being an essential part of this project by providing
me with an office space and high-speed wireless Internet access at their facilities, free
of charge, to perform the experiments.
Special thanks must go, too, to all my colleagues and acquaintances who also shaped
this project by taking part in formal and informal experiments, by listening to my
ideas and giving me feedback, by reading and proofreading portions of my writing,
and by keeping me motivated.
I am also deeply grateful to that handful of closer friends who, for many years, have
stood by me and walked next to me throughout the sinuous doctoral path, for being a
motivation to strive to be better, for teaching me to never quit, for being there to
support me in every way possible; simply for believing in me.
Last but not least, to my parents, my brother and my sister, who have been sources of
inspiration and encouragement, ¡gracias! Thank you for the very many sacrifices you
have made for me. Thank you for your unconditional support, for your patience and
praise. For being an essential part of who I am today. For believing in me.
The realization of this project could not have been possible without the generous
financial support from the Fonds québécois de la recherche – société et culture (FQRSC)
under grant 31791, and from the University of Ottawa.
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Table of Contents

Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii
Résumé .............................................................................................................................. iv
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... vi
List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... xi
List of Figures ................................................................................................................. xiii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xv
Chapter 1 ― Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
1.1. Translator-Computer Interaction and Translator-Information Interaction: Two
Emerging Subfields in Translation Studies ...................................................................8
1.2. Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 14
1.3. Research Question and Hypothesis............................................................................. 15
1.3.1. A Note on Investigating Usability and Translator Experience .................................. 16
1.3.2. A Note on Physical Prototyping ................................................................................... 18
1.4. Methodology Overview ................................................................................................ 18
1.4.1. A Note on the Choice of Interaction Modes ................................................................ 21
1.5. Ethics Approval............................................................................................................. 22
1.6. Understanding the Project’s Limitations .................................................................... 22
1.6.1. Time and Financial Limitations ................................................................................... 22
1.6.2. Participant Recruitment and Sampling ...................................................................... 23
1.7. Contribution to the Advancement of Knowledge ...................................................... 24
1.8. Outline of the Thesis..................................................................................................... 27
Chapter 2 ― Translation in the Era of Information and Communication
Technologies: From Word-Processing to Interactive Translation Dictation .... 29
2.1. Translator-Computer Interaction ............................................................................... 29
2.1.1. The Importance of Language Technologies and Information and Communication
Technologies in Translation Studies ........................................................................... 30
2.1.2. The Debate on the Pertinence of Technology ............................................................ 32
2.1.3. The Debate on Machine Translation, and the Emergence of Computer-Aided
Translation Tools.......................................................................................................... 33
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2.1.4. The Debate on Computer-Aided Translation Tools, and the Investigation of Other
Natural-Language Processing Applications and Emerging Interactive Technologies
........................................................................................................................................ 35
2.1.5. Changing Attitudes towards Technology: Applications and Devices for Improved
Human Cognition and Well-Being ............................................................................... 43
2.2. Translator-Information Interaction in the Digital Age .............................................. 44
2.2.1. The Internet as a Primary Source for Information Retrieval .................................... 47
2.2.2. Concluding Remarks on Translator-Information Interaction................................... 51
Chapter 3 ― A Close-Up Look at Current Translation Techniques: From Typed
Translation to Translation Dictation with Voice Recognition ............................. 53
3.1. Background ................................................................................................................... 53
3.1. A Taxonomy of Translation Techniques ..................................................................... 59
3.1.1. Advantages and Challenges of Current Translation Techniques .............................. 65
Chapter 4 ― Beyond Unilingual Stand-Alone Voice Recognition Systems:
Bilingual Voice Recognition and Multimodal Interaction for Translation ........ 69
4.1. Bilingual Voice Recognition for Translation .............................................................. 69
4.1.1. What is Bilingual Voice Recognition? ......................................................................... 70
4.1.2. Past Work on Bilingual Voice Recognition ................................................................. 71
4.1.3. Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 75
4.2. Multimodal Interaction for Translation ...................................................................... 77
4.2.1. Past Work on Multimodal Interaction ........................................................................ 78
4.2.2. Advantages of Multimodal Interaction ....................................................................... 79
4.3. Interactive Translation Dictation: How Is It Different? ............................................. 86
Chapter 5 ― Translating with Multimodal Interfaces: An Experiment .............. 89
5.1. The Challenges of Measuring Usability and Choice of Measures for the Study ....... 89
5.2. Selecting a Data-Collection Approach ......................................................................... 93
5.2.1. An Overview of Data-Collection Approaches in Translation Process Research and
Choice of Approach for this Study ............................................................................... 94
5.3. Methodology ................................................................................................................. 98
5.3.1. Pre-control Task ........................................................................................................... 98
5.3.2. Main Experiment ........................................................................................................ 100
5.3.3. Data Extraction, Storage and Management .............................................................. 108
5.3.4. Challenges of The Study’s Methodology and Experimental Design ....................... 110
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Chapter 6 ― Translator Experience Data Analysis and Discussion .................. 114
6.1. Participants’ Profile .................................................................................................... 114
6.2. Quantitative Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 117
6.2.1. Pre-control Task ......................................................................................................... 118
6.2.2. Main Experiment ........................................................................................................ 127
6.2.3. Concluding Remarks on Quantitative Data Analysis ............................................... 152
6.3. Qualitative Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 153
6.3.1. Current Work Environment....................................................................................... 155
6.3.2. Experimental Environment ....................................................................................... 165
6.3.3. Concluding Remarks on Qualitative Data Analysis .................................................. 180
Chapter 7 ― Conclusions and Future Work ........................................................... 181
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 191
APPENDIX A ― University of Ottawa Research Ethics Board Approval Notices
for Main Experiment ................................................................................................... 208
APPENDIX B ― Experimental Material .................................................................... 211
Text Used for Pre-control Task ................................................................................ 212
Text Used for Experimental Task ............................................................................ 213
Interview Guide – Control Group ............................................................................. 214
Interview Guide – Test Group ................................................................................... 215
APPENDIX C ― A Pilot Experiment on Source-Text Preparation in Translation
Dictation: Methodology and Results ....................................................................... 216
APPENDIX D ― University of Ottawa Research Ethics Board Approval Notices
for Pilot Experiment on Source-Text Preparation for Translation Dictation . 226

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