Researching Cognitive Processes of Translation

​Defeng Li is currently a professor of translation studies and director of the Centre for Studies of Translation, Interpreting and Cognition (2014- ), University of Macau, Macau SAR. He was a reader in translation studies and chair of the Centre for Translation Studies at the Centre for Translation Studies SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom (09/2007–12/2013).His recent research has focused on cognitive approaches to translation and interpreting studies, corpus-assisted translation studies, translation curriculum and material development, translation studies research methods, and second language teaching. Prof. Li is president of the World Interpreter and Translator Association (WITTA), an international translation studies association.

• Part I: Neurocognitive Basis for Translation.- 1. Suggestions for a New Interdisciplinary Linguo-cognitive Theory in Translation Studies.- 2. Translating/Interpreting as Bilingual Processing: The Theoretical Framework.- 3. Translation in the Brain: Preliminary Thoughts About a Brain-imaging Study to Investigate Psychological Processes Involved in Translation.- 4. Explore the Brain Activity During Translation and Interpreting Using Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy.- 5. On Interpreting.- Part II: Behavioural Perspectives.- 6. Segmentation in Translation: A Look at Expert Behaviour.- 7. Translation Competence as a Cognitive Catalyst for Multiliteracy – Research Findings and Their Implications for L2 Writing and Translation Instruction.- 8. Revisiting Processing Time for Metaphorical Expressions: An Eye-tracking Study on Eye-voice Span during Sight Translation.- Part III: Human-Machine Interface: Translation and Post-editing.- 9. Measuring Difficulty in Translation and Post-editing: AReview.- 10. Outline for a Relevance Theoretical Model of Machine Translation Post-editing.

“The book is a commendable addition to the current repertoire of TPR. The biggest strength lies in its focus on the fundamental importance of solid theoretical foundations for TPR while shedding new light on improving methodological rigor in empirical research endeavors. … the book serves as a timely renewed call for further efforts to address this need.” (Rongbo Fu, The Journal of Specialised Translation, Issue 33, January, 2020)