Yoonji Choi is an Associate Professor in the Korean Program at the Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, US. She also works as a translator, interpreter, and a localization consultant for broadcasting companies, federal and local governments, and leading IT companies.
How users read translated web pages: Occupational and purpose-based differences
Supervisor: Anthony Pym
Research summary
My research starts from awareness that users rarely read the linguistic text in web applications - only when readers have to perform a certain task and a usability error happens do they read. Even so, readers focus on only parts or specific text that will help them resolve the issues. The interest of the research is basically on non-reading, as opposed to the previous research on the way translations are read. The dissertation mainly explains how reading patterns in a translated webpage change depending on the purpose of reading, i) studying subject matters, ii) retrieving information, iii) sharing information, and iv) without a specific purpose. Specific portions on a web page were allotted to fit these four purposes. The web page was translated into Korean with major errors based on the existing LISA translation evaluation model. The model categorizes translation errors in mistranslation, accuracy, terminology, style, consistency, language, and country. The research examined how these categories are read and processed in areas for each reading purpose, and determines how they affect reading patterns. The research found that people read websites differently if they are reading for different purposes, therefore, changes in website translation can facilitate certain purposes and inhibit others.
Viva: February 1, 2016
Examining Committee:
Maria del Mar Gutiérrez Plana-Colon (URV)
Olga Torres Hostench (UAB)
Antonio José Doménech del Río (Universidad de Málaga)
