Translation Activity And Bilingualism
All over the world, translation has become a universal activity
. Bilingualism as a concept is based on the field of psycholinguistics with different scholars having divergent views about its role in the theory of translation. What is translation activity? What is bilingualism? Is there any peculiar relationship between these two concepts? What are the specific functions of bilingualism in the general theory of translation? These are the questions to which this paper provides answers. The paper also considers the relationship between innateness of translating skills and bilingualism. Terms such as natural translation, social bilingualism, professional bilingualism and native translation are examined. Is there any need for translator training? What is the role of metalinguistic knowledge in the translation activity of a bilingual?
There are a number of languages spoken throughout the world. Every person knows at least one language, which he learns in his childhood and which is routinely uses for speaking and writing. However, many people choose or are forced to learn one or more additional
languages. There are numerous benefits of being bilingual, such as an improvement in linguistic and metalinguistic abilities, as well as betterment of cognitive flexibility such as divergent thinking, concept formation, verbal abilities and general reasoning.
Many people have the capacity to learn a second language. It may be another language in the same country or a totally different language of another country. Nowadays, several institutes and schools offering foreign language courses are popping up throughout the world. Many colleges and universities have included some foreign language courses in their regular academic syllabus, too. When learning another language, you need to understand its basic grammar and learn its vocabulary. Being bilingual offers greater sensitivity to language, more flexibility in thinking and a better ear for listening. It also improves a persons understanding for the native language. It opens the door to other cultures. Moreover, the knowledge of other languages increases the career opportunities, offering several job options.
The term bilingualism derives from 'bi' and 'lingua' which means two languages. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines bilingual as having, speaking, or writing in two languages. Complete mastery of two languages is designated as bilingualism. Normally, people acquire a single language initially, that is, their first language or mother tongue. Subsequent languages are learned to different degrees of competence under various conditions. Speakers of these learnt languages grow up as bilinguals, but ordinarily the learning, to any extent, of a second or other language is an activity superimposed on the prior mastery of ones first language and it is a different process intellectually. Bilingualism is a deliberate activity when undertaken after adolescence, when one has already or nearly or fully acquired the basic structure and vocabulary of ones first language. It is only in getting in contact with a second language that one realizes how complex language is and how much effort must be devoted to acquiring one.
One can generally distinguish two types of bilingualism according to whether the two languages were acquired from the simultaneous experience of the use of both languages in the same setting and circumstances or whether they were acquired from exposure to each language in different settings.
In bilingualism, there are always the issues of balanced bilingualism, the idea of language dominance, because one cannot talk of perfect bilingualism, so it is difficult to evaluate equivalence as far as translation is concerned. One only has to measure the dominance of one language over the other.
At the level of cognitive competency, those bilinguals who are highly proficient in two or more languages are reported to have a higher cognitive proficiency, and are found to be better language learners at a later age, than monolinguals. The early discovery that concepts of the world can be labeled in more than one fashion gives those bilinguals an advantage.
Translation is a practical application of the theory of meaning. This meaning can be analyzed at different levels and for different units, that is, from word to phrase to sentence to text.
Relationship between bilingualism and translation
Bilingualism, according to Kholer (1973), helps us to examine some general questions in the use of language and to learn more about how the human mind handles different kinds of reformation. Since translation is a practical application of the theory of meaning, the translators understanding of meaning in a text can be analyzed at different levels and for different units.
Bilingual people interpret words in a way that is different from the dictionary translations of the same words, and this has a psychological explanation. To the bilingual, words are commonly used in context, in situations that are defined both by their physical characteristics and by their habits, attitudes, dispositions, and intentions towards the words. These cognitive and emotional conditions affect the way words are interpreted when heard or seen (Kholer, 1973:283) and the meanings given to them.
Words denoting ethnical or political ideas or emotions usually have different meanings in different languages and cultures. Although these words exist in other cultures and languages, the meanings attributed to them differ from culture to culture and this explains the difficulty in translating culturally distant languages and why
translations of bilinguals sometimes differ from dictionary translations because they adjust the meanings to the other culture as they switch between languages. The above is possible because being bilingual also implies being bicultural.
Learning to do one thing in one language does not guarantee that one will be able to do so in the other language. Unlike natural sciences or pure arts, languages have different characteristics that affect translation activity making it more difficult. For instance, if one has to do a word-for-word or phrase for-phrase translation, it will yield a result very similar to what machine translation would provide; this is because a word-for-word translation would create an equivalent product, but even closely related languages have some differences in idiomatic expressions or syntax.
A bilingual who does not practice his native language or near-native language may have difficulty in thinking in his own language and may find it easier to express ideas in his second language.
Translators are considered (Lambert, 1978) special people because of the seriousness applied in capturing every detail of the speakers message and conveying it in another language without omitting anything. According to Lambert, translators' bilingualism has the effect of providing them with special forms of intelligence, sensitivity, and skills at finding out what is meant and what is implied.
Translation can generally be considered an innate skill, which can be developed through guidance just like any other skill. This is called natural translation, which Harris and Sherwood (1978:155) defined as 'the translating done in everyday circumstances by people who have no special training for it.' This idea is supported by the fact that almost all bilingual children can translate or interpret for adults in various situations such as medical, legal or administrative cases. Harris and Sherwood believe that although the ability is something natural, yet, there are stages that a natural translator goes through and according to him, translating is coextensive with bilingualism, that is, they have a relation that is similar to the one between speaking a language and the ability to communicate.
From the above, it can be concluded that translation is generally identified with bilingualism. In fact, Shannon (1987:115) writes that translating is coextensive to bilingualism, that is, they have a relationship that is similar to that between speaking a language and the ability to communicate. In what could be termed as a response to this assertion, Toury (1995) believes that even though translating is related to bilingualism, one's translating skills actually depend on the ability to establish a relationship between the similarities and the differences between languages Not all translators can translate in the same way because it is the personal characteristic of each translator or his /her knowledge of the two languages that determines the success or failure of the translation work done.
However, it is acknowledged that competence may have some relationship with age since there could be an increase in linguistic proficiency as ones age increases. It is also necessary to say that the difference in peoples translation of the same work is due to the fact that the capacity to transfer from one language to another is different from one individual to another. Everything depends on each person's interlingual capacity.
It is an undeniable fact that bilingualism is necessary, but not sufficient for translation proficiency and efficiency. Other requirements include natural ability, training and cultural background. The need for each translation scholar to introduce his own style, terminology, and way to convey meanings actually plays significant roles in translation activities.
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