Márta Lesznyák: A longitudinal investigation of translation trainees’ translation and post-editing competence development I
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3 Results and Discussion
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3.6 Discussion of changes between the beginning and the end of the training period
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3.6.2 Changes in performance indicators (time on task and error numbers – research questions 3.4 and 3.5)
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3.6.2.1 Differences in time on task measures between the first and the second data collection wave

3.6.2.1 Differences in time on task measures between the first and the second data collection wave

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Translation and post-editing times at the beginning and at the end of the training period were compared with paired samples t-tests. Test results showed a considerable time gain for human translators. Students in the second data collection wave were almost 8 minutes faster than in the first data collection. Nonetheless, significance was only trending, which may be due to the small sample size. In contrast, post-editors’ time gain was substantially smaller (3.63 min) and not significant. The direct comparison of time gains between HT and PE students failed to show significant differences, too.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

These findings suggest that both translators and post-editors became faster by the end of the training period, but the improvement was more pronounced for translators. This is not surprising, as the training program itself was (and still is to a large extent) tailored to translators’ needs, and no courses were offered in post-editing. Clearly, translators acquired skills during training that had made their work temporarily more efficient, and post-editors must have profited from the same training, too. At the same time, it can be assumed that the lack of explicit training in post-editing skills imposed limitations on their capacity to accelerate.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

An alternative or complementary explanation of this finding is that the nature of the post-editing task itself imposes constraints on how much the speed of post-editing can be increased. As students’ responses to the follow-up questionnaire indicated, the greatest advantage of post-editing is that it saves typing time, and secondly, that there is a draft translation to rely on. These factors are already present at the beginning of training, too. Thus, it can be inferred that the time gain had actually occurred before training, or more exactly, out of its context. Comparing text segments and making decisions about them, however, are cognitive processes that must always be performed, and it may take more time for them to become faster, as the majority of these processes are likely to be conscious. In contrast, it is possible that a large proportion of time gains in HT is due to an increase in automatic processing.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Another interesting finding concerning the temporal dimension of translation and post-editing was the reduction in standard deviations in both conditions. This can be interpreted as a homogenization of the group. In other words, students became more similar to each other in terms of delivery time. Homogenization is a phenomenon also reported by Quinci (2024) in her study with translation students.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

When comparing B English and C English students, no significant differences were found: both groups showed increased processing speed. Therefore, it may be inferred that the category of the working language (i.e., B or C) is not a factor related to temporal gains.
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