The Role(s) of Native Speakers in L2 Translation
The Role(s) of Native Speakers in L2 Translation

Summary/Abstract: Translating into a non-mother tongue (L2 translation) has received increasing attention from translation scholars over the past two decades in response to the growing proportion of this direction in translation markets in most parts of the world. One of the aspects of L2 translation that remains a relatively uncharted territory is the role of native speakers. Although they are normally involved in relatively few translations from a language of limited diffusion into a major language directly as translators, native speakers need not be entirely absent from L2 translation as it has been suggested that they can assume diverse roles in the process and that cooperation with native speakers brings obvious benefits to L2 translators. The present study aims at providing a more complex picture of the native speaker’s role(s) in L2 translation, drawing on the results of a recent project on the qualitative and sociological aspects of L2 translation. By focusing on the questionnaires that the 40 subjects, professionals and advanced translator trainees, submitted before participating in a translation experiment, the study intends to shed more light on the views, preferences and habits of Czech translators regarding their cooperation with native speakers, discussing the possibilities as well as limitations of native-speaker participation in L2 translation.

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