Volume 11, No.

2
April 2007

Chung-ling Shih

received a Ph. D.

in Literature from

the National
Teaching Translation of Text
Taiwan Normal
Types
University in 1998.

In recent years, with MT Error Analysis and Post-MT Editing

her research focus

has been on by Shih Chung-ling

training in MT/TM, National Kaohsiung First University of Science
and corpus-based and Technology, Taiwan
translation studies.

She has been

teaching the MT Abstract

and TM course for

three years at the

This study investigates whether students
English
develop the concept of text types in
Department of
translation by using machine translation
National First
(MT) errors analysis and post-MT editing.
University of
We conducted an MT-based project on
Science and
twenty undergraduate students in a weekly
Technology in
three-hour MT class that ran for nine hours
Taiwan. Her
over three consecutive weeks. Students
publications
were asked to analyze lexical-specific and
include Theory and
syntactic-level problems in the MT outputs
Application of
of informative, evocative and expressive
MT/MAHT
text types. After that, they were asked to
Pedagogy,
think, judge and infer the distinctive
Computer-Assisted
linguistic features of the three text types in
the process of editing the MT errors and
Translation: MT &

TM and some recording their reflections. At the end of

essays. the project, students were asked to fill out
the questionnaires. The result of the
Ms. Shih can be questionnaire shows that over half of
reached at: students agree that MT errors analysis
clshih@ccms.nkfus facilitates students' active mental
t.edu.tw. involvement and makes them learn
different lexical-pragmatic categories and
syntactic structures across text types. In
addition, they acquire the knowledge of
Front Page the relevance of text types to translation.
Finally, students agree with the
effectiveness of cognitively learning the
concept of text types as they try to find
Select one of the
solutions in correcting MT errors. In
previous 39 issues.
conclusion, this MT-based project, though
limited in the sample size, contributes to
the teaching of theory through practice
since it leads students from empirical
practice to cognitive, conceptual
acquisition of text types in translation.

Index 1997-2007 Keywords: text types, MT error analysis,

post-MT editing, cognitive learning
TJ Interactive:
Translation Journal
Blog Text types in translation are rarely explored as a
special pedagogical subject in translation
From the Editor studies. This MT-based project probes the
The First Decade effectiveness of teaching text types in
by Gabe Bokor
translation. More specifically, we investigate the
Translator Profiles
effectiveness of teaching students the concept of
On Language and text types and their relevance to translation
Bridges quality and translation performance with
by Jessica Cohen
comparative analysis of machine translation (MT)
The Profession
errors across text types in the process of post-
The Bottom Line

by Fire Ant & Worker MT editing.

Bee

In Memoriam I. Introduction
George Hall Kirby, Jr.
1929 - 2006
by Tony Roder

João Bethencourt 1924

- 2006
by Paulo Wengorski

Science & Technology

Linguistic Problems with
Translation of Japanese
Patents to English
by Steve Vlasta Vitek

Translation Nuts &

Bolts
Gender and Language
by Gabe Bokor

Religious Translation
The Loss in the
Translation of the
Qur’an

by Mohammad
Abdelwali

Arts & Entertainment

Translating Humor for
Subtitling

by Katia Spanakaki

Literary Translation
Verónica Albin
Interviews Amir
Gutfreund and Jessica
Cohen

A New Approach to
Translation: The
transposition or
transcription system of
Sub-Saharan African
writers
by Salawu Adewuni, [Our] finding confirmed
Ph.D. The importance of
the effectiveness of
The Philosophy and teaching text type in teaching text types in
Economics of translation with MT translation cannot be
Translation: Myth and
Reality
error analysis and overlooked "for the
by Dr. Manoj Kumar post-MT editing.
purpose of
Mishra
communicative translation teaching" (qtd. in
Translators Education
Colina, 2003, p. 14; Reiss, 1976; Nord, 1997).
The translator's correct notion of text types in
Teaching Translation of
Text-Types with MT translation is highly relevant to communicative
Error Analysis and Post-
MT Editing translation, which is considered the ideal goal of
by Shih Chung-ling
translation. Colina claimed that translator
Six Phases in Teachingtrainees should know "how [text types] bear on
Interpretation as a
Subject at Universitiesthe translation process" because text types have
and Colleges in
Indonesia
distinctive language functions, and translation of
by Izak Morin a certain text type must successfully perform the
language function (Colina 2003, p.15). However,
Translation Theory text types have been studied per se or within the
Formulating Strategies
theoretical framework in linguistics and applied
for the Translator
by Jean-Pierre Mailhactranslation studies (Bühler, 1934; Reiss, 1976;

Nord, 1997). They are neither discussed as a

Translators' Tools specific pedagogical subject nor are they used to
Translating on Good test the cognitive learning effectiveness of a
Terms
by Jost Zetzsche technology-assisted teaching method. In this
study, we test an MT-based project of text types
Specialized Monolingual
Corpora in Translationto check whether students can recognize
by Maryam Mohammadi
Dehcheshmeh distinctive linguistic features of text types with
MT error analysis, and whether they can
Translators’ Emporium
understand the significance of text types for the
Caught in the Web
performance of machine translation and human
editing/translation.
Web Surfing for Fun and
Profit
by Cathy Flick, Ph.D.
Text types can be taught in different ways. Hőnig
Translators’ On-Line (1986), Kussmaul (1995), and Nord (1997) have
Resources
by Gabe Bokor proposed several models of source text analysis
for the research of text types within translation
Translators’ Best
Websites
by Gabe Bokor
studies. Colina modified Nord's example to
Translators' Events
provide a theoretical model of parallel text
analysis and raised two significant steps for the
Call for Papers and teaching procedure. One step is to "identify
Editorial Policies which features are indicators of text type and
whether the same features are used in the
target culture to make the same text types"
(Colina, 2003, p. 16). The other step is to
"decide, in combination with consideration of the
translation brief and the norms for the [target
text] and culture, which units are relevant to a
translation purpose, which aspects need to be
changed, whether the function/purpose of the
translation can be the same, and what strategies
will be used to accomplish the translation goal"
(Colina, 2003, p. 16). The purpose of this
teaching is to help students to obtain
generalization of language features and
pragmatic functions with respect to a certain
text type and to consider how to retain the same
function in the target language text.

Another model of teaching text-types in

translation, retrieved on the Internet, was
provided by the University of the West of
England (see the website of UWE in UK.). The
teaching and learning procedures start with the
reading of various text types, followed by the
instructor's highlighting the problems areas and
linguistic hallmarks of those text types. After
that, students are asked to collect different text
types with their translations. In addition, an
online discussion forum is provided for students
to analyze and discuss points of interest or
translation difficulties. Finally, students are
asked to submit a brief commentary on the
translations of text types.

In this translation project, a different model of

teaching text types will be conducted in the
elective MT class at Kaohsiung First University of
Science and Technology in Taiwan. Neither
games nor quizzes are used, nor will there be a
formal lecture on the knowledge of text types at
the beginning of this project. The translation
instructor will simply ask students to analyze
lexical-specific and syntactic-level problems in
the MT outputs of informative, evocative and
expressive text types. After that, the instructor
will encourage students to think, judge and infer
the distinctive linguistic features of the three
text types while editing the MT errors and noting
down their reflections. This teaching helps
students to realize that the difficulties of post-MT
editing vary according to the linguistic features
of the three text types, and different diction
categories and syntactic methods in the three
text types have close bearing on the MT errors
and the translator's decisions in the translation
process.

1.1 Research Questions and Purposes

This teaching approach emphasizes students'

active mental involvement in the process of
analyzing and editing the MT errors, not the
instructor's informational input and the students'
passive acquisition. In addition, we teach the
concept of text types rather than practice of
some translation skills. Out of the need of
investigating how students develop the concept
of text types using MT error analysis and post-
MT editing as the means, we seek answers to
the following questions.

1. Can MT error analysis and post-MT editing

help students to differentiate the
distinctive linguistic features of
informative, evocative and expressive text
types at the lexical, pragmatic, and
syntactic levels?
2. Can students identify the different
functions of text types in the process of
editing the different types of MT errors?
3. Can students realize the impact of text
types on the translation process and the
translation quality with MT error analysis
and post-MT editing?
4. Can MT error analysis and post-MT editing
help students acquire an impressive
knowledge of text types and learn its
relevance to translation performance
without undue stress?

Finding answers to these questions will achieve a

twofold goal. One is to justify the effectiveness
of teaching the concept of text types through the
cognitive method of MT error analysis, not as a
means of improving the performance of
translating text types. The other objective is to
allow students to shift their attention, during the
process of translation, from local problems such
as lexical and syntactic equivalence between SL
and TL, to global problems at the textual level.
We are more concerned with how the translation
quality is determined by certain textual issues
such as the specific functions of text types,
rather than pure code-switching and linguistic
issues.

1.2. Research Structure

Since text types are the main subject of this

research, we will provide their definitions in the
next section. After that, we will introduce MT
errors and illustrate how post-MT editing can
help students to identify different linguistic
features of the informative, evocative and
expressive text types in Section Three. In
Section Four, we will discuss the methods,
subjects, and teaching procedures of this
project. Section Five will report the findings of
the statistical figures of MT errors through
students' comparative analysis and the result of
the questionnaire. In Section Six, we will discuss
the pedagogical implications based on the result
of the questionnaire and students' reflections.
Finally, we will provide a summary of this study
with some suggestions.

The term "text type" refers to a specific "mode

of discourse" or "mode of presentation" that
aims to fulfill a certain rhetorical and
communicative purpose (Trosborg, 1997).
Neubert recognizes text types as "socially
effective, efficient, and appropriate molds into
which the linguistic material available in the
system of a language is recast" (Neubert, 1985,
p. 125). Hatim and Mason look at text types as
"a conceptual framework which enables us to
classify texts in terms of communicative
intentions serving an overall rhetorical purpose"
(1990, p. 140). These statements clearly define
text types as the functional benchmark against
which we may classify or categorize various
texts into a certain type for achieving particular
functions.

Classification of text types is controversial

because a text type tends to be multifunctional
and overlaps with certain textual elements of
other text types. Nevertheless, for the
convenience of translation studies, a number of
ways of distinguishing text types have been
suggested. Crystal and Davy (1969) classified
texts according to field of discourse or subject
matter, "giving rise to types such as journalistic
texts, religious text, scientific texts and so on"
(qtd. in Hatim, 1998, p. 263). Beaugrande and
Dressler (1981) raised a "different classification
of texts into types such as literary, poetic and
didactic" based on domain (ibid.). Hatim and
Mason (1990) classified text types according to
their rhetorical purposes: argumentative,
expositive and instruction-based. Argumentation
is subdivided into counter-argumentation "in
which a thesis is cited, then opposed" and
through-argumentation, "in which a thesis is
cited, then extensively defended" (Hatim, 2001,
p. 179). Exposition is subdivided into descriptive,
narrative and conceptual types. In addition,
Bühler's theory of functional typology proposed a
three-way distinction depending on the foci of
"the producer (emotive), the subject-mater
(referential) or the receiver (conative)" (qtd. in
Bell, 1991, p. 204). This functional typology
labels three text types as expressive,
informative and vocative (ibid.). Similar to this
functional typology is Reiss's three-way division
of texts into "informative texts which convey
information, expressive text which communicate
thoughts in a creative way, and operative text
which persuade" (qtd. in Hatim, 2001, p. 77).

In this project, we adopt Reiss's and Bühler's

text typology that distinguishes one text type
from the other two in terms of intention,
function, and rhetorical purpose. We hope that
students learn that each text type has
predominant linguistic features that perform a
particular function in the translated text. The
linguistic characteristics for our check and
classification can be borrowed from Hatim's and
Munday's description (2004). In the informative
text type, the dominant form of language is
functional and the text is "structured on the
semantic-syntactic level" (Hatim and Munday,
2004, p. 183). In contrast, the expressive text
type is "doubly structured; first on the syntactic-
semantic level and second on the level of artistic
organization (qtd. in Hatim and Munday, 2004,
p. 183). The language used in this text type is
artistic and creative. Finally, the operative text
type is "doubly or even triply structured on the
syntactic-semantic level (in some circumstances,
but not necessarily) on the level of artistic
organization and on the level of persuasion"
(Hatim and Munday, 2004, p. 184). Its language
tends to be psychological or persuasive. These
descriptions serve as linguistic norms to bring
about some constraints that govern the
translator's lexical choice and syntactic
processing. These constraints also affect the
success or failure of MT performance and the
ease or difficulty of post-MT editing.

III. MT Errors and Post-MT Editing

MT errors refer to the inappropriate translations

at the lexical, pragmatic and syntactic levels in
the MT output. Since the current English-to-
Chinese MT system cannot produce a
satisfactory MT output, human editing is
required to improve the quality, and this is
known as post-MT editing. Post-MT editing, as
defined by Juan C. Sager, is "the adaptation and
revision of output of a machine translation
system either to eliminate errors which impede
comprehension or to make the output read like a
natural-language text" (1994, p. 327). Melby
defined this term as "the process of revising a
translation after the draft translation has been
completed" (1987, p.146). In short, post-MT
editing is mainly undertaken to improve the
quality of the MT output for publication
purposes.

MT errors can be classified into lexical, syntactic

and pragmatic errors due to the lexicon-specific,
syntax-specific and pragmatics-specific
limitations of the MT system in operation. For
the convenience of calculating MT errors in this
project, the instructor asked students to group
the lexical and pragmatic errors together into a
single category. Table 1 shows some examples of
three types of MT errors and certain hidden
reasons. In the column of examples, the source
language sentence, its MT output and post-MT
editing are provided.

MT errors can be classified into lexical, syntactic

and pragmatic errors due to the lexicon-specific,
syntax-specific and pragmatics-specific
limitations of the MT system in operation. For
the convenience of calculating MT errors in this
project, the instructor asked students to group
the lexical and pragmatic errors together under
one category. Table 1 shows some examples of
three types of MT errors and certain hidden
reasons. In the column of examples, the source
language sentence, its MT output and post-MT
editing are provided.

Table 1:

Examples of Three Types of MT Errors with

Hidden Reasons.

Error types Examples Reasons

Lexical errors 1)This MP3 player is a delicate Failure of the MT
electronic device to accurately dea
multiple-meanin
MT: 細緻優雅 的電子裝置 (delicate and metaphorica
and graceful electronic expressions
device)

Editing: 精密的電子裝置
 (delicate electronic device).

2) Before long the invitations

began pouring out... and the
Bywater post-office was
snowed under....

MT: 不久邀請開始倒 ...(Very soon

invitations start pouring...)和
Bywater 郵局的被下雪水於在 ....
(Bywater post-office is by snow
water....)

Editing:不久之後，邀請函就開始
如雪片般寄出 ... (Before long the
invitations were sent out like
snow falling....) 臨水區的郵局則差
點被信件淹沒 ....(Bywater post-
office is nearly covered by the
mail....)
Pragmatic 1)Do not attempt to Failure of the MT
errors disassemble or modify any part to accurately tra
of the device. certain conventio
phrases to confo
MT: 不要嘗試 解開或者修正裝置的 the target langua
任何部份 (Do not try to norm.
disassemble or modify any part
of the device) 

Editing: 請勿拆解或組裝任何裝置
內的零件 (Please not
disassemble or assemble any
components of the device).

2) 25% off brides land

 package is available....

MT: 25% 折扣 新娘土地包裹 ...是

可得的 (25% discounts brides
land package...is available) 

Editing: 我們皆提供 75 折優惠 的

蜜月>套裝旅 行 (We grant a 25%
discount on the honeymoon
package tour).
Syntactic 1)Users are advised to back
errors up all data on other storage
devices.

MT: 使用者被勸告在其他的儲藏裝
置上備存所有的資料 (users be
advised to back up all data in
other storage devices)
Editing: 我們建議使用其他儲
存裝置存取備份資料 (We propose
the use of other storage devices
to back up all data).

2)BenQ Corporation assumes no

responsibility for the loss of
data due to damage to the
device, repair of the device
and/or battery replacement.

MT: 由於對裝置的傷害 ， BenQ

公司沒有為資料的損失承擔責任，裝
置及 [或 ] 電池替換的修理 (Due
to device damage, BenQ
Corporation does not assume
any responsibility for data loss,
device and/or battery
 replacement) 

Editing: 如因裝置損壞，修理以
及更換電池而導致的資料遺失，本
公司概不負責. (BenQ Corporation
assumes no responsibility for
data loss arising from any
device damage or repairing and
replacing the battery).

Table 1 shows that the number of MT errors

varies with text types. It has been observed that
the MT system produces the highest-quality
automatic translation from texts that feature
simple sentence structures and single-meaning
words or domain-specific terms. This rule leads
us to hypothesize that the text type that
produces the fewest MT errors is the informative
text type because this text type tends to use
domain-specific terms with referential meanings
to transmit facts or information. In contrast,
evocative/operative and expressive text types
produce more MT errors, compared to the
informative text-type because they tend to use
the figurative speech and metaphorical
expressions with multiple meanings and emotive
connotations. They usually employ more
complicated structures.

IV. Methodology

Since we conduct an MT-based project with

students to test the effectiveness of the
cognitive learning of text types in translation,
this section needs to introduce the method we
have adopted, the students participating in this
project and the teaching procedures.

4.1. The method

This project integrates quantitative

measurement and qualitative analysis. Students'
statistical results of MT errors and post-MT
editing were used as a quantitative means to see
whether students could identify MT errors and
use appropriate strategies to correct the errors.
At the end of this project, a questionnaire was
administered and the responses were
statistically assessed to determine the students'
understanding of the concept of text types with
a comparative analysis of MT errors across text
types. In addition, the students' reflections as
recorded in the weekly assignment were
exclusively used for a qualitative analysis.

To obtain the statistical figures, students were

asked to edit MT errors and then count the
frequency of the occurrence of particular MT
errors at the lexical, syntactical and, if
necessary, pragmatic levels. Students eventually
calculated the average number of MT errors for
each text type and then used the statistics to
rank the syntactic complexity and the degree of
lexical ambiguity or pragmatic clarity. This
ranking allowed students to infer and observe
the distinctive syntactic, lexical or pragmatic
features of the three text types because these
features were crucial in affecting and governing
MT performance across text types.

The questionnaire consisted of twenty multiple-

choice questions in the four areas of
"Effectiveness of MT error analysis," "Relevance
of text types to translation," "Learning distinctive
linguistic features of text types," and "Affective
and cognitive contribution." The multiple-choice
questions were easy for students to answer and
students were asked to answer honestly because
the result of the questionnaire would be used
only for the instructor's research. In addition,
students were asked to write down their
reflections at the end of their post-MT editing.
Students had to examine the hallmarks of the
three given text types and then identify their
similarities and differences. Doing so could help
students to understand the concept of text
types.

4.2. The subjects

Twenty students participated. All were students

from the Department of English at NKFUST. Their
median age was 22. Three were males and
seventeen were females. They had not been
trained in MT technology before taking this
course; only two of them had learned about text
types in other English classes, but not in the
translation class. These students' English level
was intermediate and they had studied
translation for nearly one year. All had Chinese
as their mother language.
4.3. The teaching procedures

This MT-based project was completed in a

weekly three-hour machine translation class that
ran for nine hours over three consecutive weeks.
The project tasks moved from data analysis to
concept building. During the first week, students
were asked to use the MT system (TransWhiz,
developed and released by Otek Technological
Company in Taipei, Taiwan) to translate an
excerpt from instructions for buying an Olympus
lithium-polymer battery (the informative text
type) and an excerpt from one advertisement for
the Gap Incorporation (the evocative/operative
text type). Students had to edit and count the
MT errors, and then they compared MT
performance across two text types in the areas
of lexical choice and syntactic structures.

During the remaining two weeks, students were

asked to use the same MT system to translate
an excerpt from a recipe for instant noodles and
a user's manual on the installation of a
refrigerator (representative of the informative
text type), an excerpt from a short speech and
one advertisement of the tour package for
newlyweds (representative of the
evocative/operative text type) and an excerpt
from Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, and from Lord
of the Rings (representative of the expressive
text type). After that, students had to edit and
count the MT errors, and then to identify the
distinctive linguistic features of the three text
types through analysis of the limitations of the
MT system. In addition, students were asked to
write an assessment of the MT performance and
then to discriminate the dominant linguistic
features of the three text types that constitute
certain constraints which govern and control MT
processing and MT performance. The process of
writing reflections helps students to be aware of
the similarities and differences among the three
text types.

V. Findings

The findings in this MT-based project will be

discussed in two areas: 1) statistical MT errors
and the result of questionnaire responses for a
quantitative analysis, and 2) a summary of
students' reflections for a qualitative analysis.

5.1. Students' MT error statistics

In the students' first week assignments, the

average number of lexical/pragmatic MT errors
in the informative text type was 4 and the
average number of syntactic MT errors was 1. In
contrast, lexical/pragmatic MT errors in the
evocative/operative text type averaged 5 and
syntactic MT errors averaged 3. In students'
second- and third-week assignments, the
average number of the lexical/pragmatic MT
errors in the informative text type was 7, and
that in the evocative/operative text type was 10,
and that in the expressive text type was 11.
However, their average numbers of syntactic
errors was 1 in the informative text type, 3.5 in
the evocative/operative text type. and 1.5 in the
expressive text type. The average numbers of
MT errors in the students' three-week
assignments along with some examples of post-
MT editing are tabulated below.

Table 2:

Statistics of MT Errors Across Three Text

Types

Text Types Informative Evocative/Operative

Errors
Lexical/pragmatic 6 errors 8.3 errors
MT errors
Examples Examples (words
(words with with metaphorical
referential meanings and
meanings): persuasive
intention)
1) the soft
case 1) never stop moving.

MT: 軟性外殼 MT: 停止移動

moving)
(soft external)
Editing: 不斷精益求精
Editing: 攜帶盒 (continuously seek
(portable case) improvements and
advances)
2)sauce packet
2)splendid
MT: 醬小包
MT: 光亮的 (bright)
(sauce small
 packet) Editing:精彩萬分
(wonderful)
Editing: 調味包
3)perfect honeymoon
(sauce packet) solution

3)board MT: 完美的蜜月解決方案

(perfect honeymoon
MT: 董事會
solution)

(the board of
Editing:度蜜月的最佳選
directors)
擇 (the best choice for
honeymoon tours)
Editing: 板子

(the wooden
board)

Syntactic MT 1 error 3.3 errors

errors
Examples: Examples:

Place a board Mr. Prime Minister and

under the all of your... this
machine in evening:
such a case
MT: 總理先生和所有你的
MT: 把板子放在 卓著客人今天晚上
如此的一個情形 Prime Minister and all
的機器之下 your distinguished
 (Place board guests this evening...)
under such a Editing: 今晚與會的
situation 理先生及各位貴賓
machine) (tonight's attendants,
Mr. Prime Minister and
Editing: 此種 every honor guest)
情況下，可放置
一塊板子在冰箱
下面 (In such a
case, place a
board under
the
refrigerator).

5. 2. Results of the "Yes-No" questionnaire

questions

We calculated the total number of responses in

each category and the total percentages. Tables
3-6 show the results of student responses to
these "yes-no" questions.
Table 3:

Statistics on Student Responses to the

Questions Concerning the Effectiveness of
MT Error Analysis (Resp= Respondents)

Agree No Attitude
Resp Percent Resp
1. Avoidance of 16 80% 4
using wrong
strategies
2. Distinguishing 17 85% 3
linguistic
features of three
text-types
3. Impact of 16 80% 4
textual linguistic
features on
translation
4. Identifying 18 90% 2
distinctive
functions of three
text-types
5.The knowledge 18 90% 2
of text-type
functions and
translation

Table 3 indicated that student responses to Q4

and Q5 were more positive than the responses
to Q1, Q2 and Q3.

Table 4:

Student Responses to the Questions

Concerning Relevance of Text Types to
Translation (Resp= Respondents)

Agree No Attitude
Resp Percent Resp
6. Alertness to 12 60% 8
global textual
problems in
translation
7. Relevance of 12 60% 8
translation
quality to the
right text-type
8. Relevance of 10 50% 10
translation to the
functions of text-
types
9. Awareness of 16 80% 4
different
purposes of text-
types
10. Awareness of 12 60% 8
the impact of
text-types on the
translation
process

Table 4 showed that student responses to Q9

presented the highest percentage while student
response to Q8 showed the lowest percentage.

Table 5:

Student Responses to the Questions

Concerning Learning Distinctive Linguistic
Features of Text Types (Resp=
Respondents)

Agree No Attitude
Resp Percent Resp
11. Referential 15 75% 5
items and simple
sentence
structures in the
informative text
type
12. A 13 65% 7
combination of
descriptive,
functional and
psychological
languages in the
evocative/operat
ive text type
13. Metaphorical 12 60% 8
expressions and
complicated
sentence
structures in the
expressive text
type
14. The use of 15 75% 5
artistic language
and creative style
in the expressive
text type
15. An overview 15 75% 5
of dominant
linguistic
features of the
three text types

Table 5 showed that student responses to Q11,

Q14 and Q15 were more positive than the
responses to Q12 and Q13.
Table 6:

Student Responses to the Questions

Concerning Affective and Cognitive
Contributor (Resp= Respondents)

Agree No Attitude
Resp Percent Resp
16. Non-stressful 14 70% 6
learning of
translating three
text-types
17. Impressive 13 65% 7
learning of
different
strategies of
translating three
text-types
18. Cognitive 17 85% 3
ability
development
through
reflections
writing
19. Cognitive 16 80% 4
learning of
distinctive
features of three
text-types
20. Positive 18 90% 1
development of
the concept of
text types in
translation

Table 6 reveals that student responses to Q20

have the highest percentage, but one student
responded "disagree" to the same question. The
entire statistics of this survey showed that the
percentage of "agree" responses was 73.75%; of
the "no attitude" responses was 26% and of the
"disagree" responses was 0.25%. These figures
prove that a majority of students agrees with the
learning of text types in translation using the
methods of MT error analysis and post-MT
editing.

5.3. Students' reflections

We summarize students' reflections as follows.

Students generally found that the average
number of lexical, pragmatic and syntactic errors
in the MT output of the informative text type was
lower than in the evocative/operative and
expressive text types. They observed that the
excerpts from the drama and fiction or passages
extracted from the advertisement and speech
contained many metaphorical expressions that
required translators to use esthetic or artistic
language to modify the literal translations
produced by the MT system. In the meantime,
they found that most of the lexical items in the
expressive text type were used to describe facts
and embody referential meanings, so that these
items could be more satisfactorily processed by
the MT system. In addition, the rule-based
computing parser of the MT system was
incapable of analyzing the complicated sentence
structures in advertisements and literary works.
In contrast, the user's manual or product
instructions tended to use simple, imperative
sentence structures, so that the MT system
could process these sentences more accurately.
Finally, students realized that comparative
analysis of MT errors in the three text types
helped them to realize that each text type had
its special functions and dominant linguistic
features, and these linguistic factors affected the
MT performance and led to different numbers of
MT errors.

VI. Discussions

This section discussed the insights yielded by the

result of the questionnaire and by the reflections
in students' assignments. These insights may be
discussed in the areas of the effectiveness of MT
error analysis, identification of dominant
linguistic features of the three text types,
awareness of relevance of text type to
translation and affective, cognitive learning.

6.1. Using MT error analysis to identify text

types

The result of the questionnaire shows that 85%

of the students, have favorable responses to the
second part of the questionnaire (Questions 1 to
5). This indicates that a majority of students
agrees with the use of MT error analysis and
post-MT editing to learn text types in translation.
MT errors analysis facilitates students' active
mental involvement because students need to
make cross-references between SL and TL, and
then assess what linguistic features in a text
type prevent satisfactory processing by the MT
system. Students' approval of the effectiveness
of MT error analysis changes our assumption
that MT errors mislead students and interfere
with their development of translation
competence. Actually, MT errors can benefit
students if used in the right way.

6.2. Learning dominant linguistic features

of the three text types

With regard to the learning of different lexical-

pragmatic categories and syntactic structures
across text types, more than half of the students
agreed that error analysis in the process of post-
MT editing helped them to learn the different
and similar linguistic features between the
informative, evocative/operative and expressive
text types. In addition, the data collected from
their reflections revealed that students were
aware of different types of languages that
different text types used to achieve different
purposes. For example, students found that the
informative text type tended to use verb actions,
e.g., "put," "turn" and "leave" and the nouns
with straightforward meanings, e.g., "kitchen
sink," "soft case," "boards," and "leveling
screws." As a contrast to this phenomenon, the
expressive text type preferably used
metaphorical expressions, e.g., "pouring out"
(implying "huge volumes of mails sent out like
snow"), "a constant stream of postmen"
(referring to "many postmen"), and "a sea of
trouble" (indicating "much trouble"). The
evocative/operative text type which exists in
between these two types was dotted with the
lexical items that had straightforward and
connotative meanings, e.g., "brides' land
package" (meaning "the package trip designed
for newlyweds").

Students also found that the three text types

had distinctive sentence structures. For example,
the user's manual (the informative text type)
tended to use imperative sentences, passive
voices, and fewer complicated sentences while
Shakespeare's drama (the expressive text type)
used complicated sentences with a personal
creative style. However, the evocative/operative
text type combined simple and complicated
sentences. Students' reflections in general
revealed that students could identify the
differences among the three text types at the
lexical and syntactic levels after they had
received training in post-MT editing coupled with
MT error analysis over the three consecutive
weeks.

6.3. Awareness of the relevance of text

types to translation

Compared to their responses to questions in the

other three parts, only 62% of students agreed
that they had acquired the knowledge of the
relevance of text types to translation. This
indicates that it is more difficult for students to
infer or judge how text types are relevant to the
translation process. Due to this difficulty, the
instructor's explicit instructions are required. The
instructor in this project did suggest that
awareness of text types was beneficial to
translation because only a translator who
understands the function of a text-type can use
the proper linguistic elements. This suggestion
was not adequate for students to realize the
close and crucial relationship between text types
and translation. Thus, the instructor needs to
deliberately discuss, based on students' post-MT
editing, how different linguistic factors of text
types determine the presentation of different
functions of text types and how the different
functions of text types determine the overall
translation performance. This discussion will help
students to understand text-in-translation
interaction, relating textual functions or
rhetorical purposes (e.g., for aesthetic
appreciation or for information acquisition) to
the decisions on lexical choice and organizational
structures in the translation.

6.4. Affective, cognitive learning

As noted in the questionnaire, an overwhelming

majority of students (73.75%) agreed with the
effectiveness of cognitively learning the concept
of text types in this project. Actually, MT error
analysis gave students the opportunity to
explore the hidden reasons for the MT system's
failure to process the different linguistic features
of the three text types. The knowledge of the
limitations of MT systems made them aware of
the concept of text types in translation when
they tried to find solutions in correcting different
MT errors. Such an empirical experience in a
learning-by-doing environment helped students
to develop the concept of text types in a non-
stressful way. In addition, noting reflections
actively involved students in assessment and
analysis, and this contributed to their cognitive
learning of text types in translation.

However, we noticed that one student disagreed

with Q20, showing that he did not find it helpful
and useful to learn by actual participation. We
have to investigate whether this response is
attributable to his personal learning style or to
other factors. This respondent's age was 25,
making him the oldest in the class. This revealed
that the older student had more difficulty
adapting to a new way of teaching and learning.
As a result, a mixture of the teacher's lecture
and students' practice could be a better way to
work out some problems arising from the
implementation of this innovative MT-based
teaching approach.

VII. Conclusion

The entire MT-based project started with

students' actual practice of MT error analysis and
post-MT editing to arrive at a conceptual
acquisition of text types in translation. Students
learned not only the relevance of text types to
the translator's decision but also had a clear
concept of three text types in translation. More
importantly, students stated that they had non-
stressfully mastered the different contextual
components of the three text types, including
organizational patterns, syntactic modes and
lexical categories using the method of post-MT
editing and MT error analysis. This finding
confirmed the effectiveness of teaching text type
in translation with MT error analysis and post-MT
editing.

We admitted that the sample size in this project

is very small (20 undergraduate students), a
total of eight texts for post-MT editing (three
informative text types, three evocative/operative
text types and two expressive text types) and a
period of three weeks. Because of these
limitations, the conclusion of this project cannot
be fully representative. Further research is thus
required, using more texts to test more students
over a longer period of time to seek more
genuine and convincing results. However, since
99% of students, as noted in the student profile
of the questionnaire, admitted that they had
never learned the concept of text types in
translation in other translation or language
classes, this study of the pedagogical subject of
text types in translation is worth a further try at
universities. This study is contributive to the
teaching of theory through practice since it leads
students from empirical practice to cognitive,
conceptual acquisition of text types in
translation.

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