Across Languages and Cultures
Volume/Issue:
Volume 23: Issue 1
The interaction effect between source text complexity and machine translation quality on the task difficulty of NMT post-editing from English to Chinese: A multi-method study
Authors:
Yanfang Jia Hunan Normal University, China

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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5111-3185
and
Binghan Zheng Durham University, UK

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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5302-4709
Pages:
36–55
Online Publication Date:
09 May 2022
Publication Date:
09 May 2022
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/084.2022.00120
Keywords:
source text complexity; machine translation quality; post-editing; task difficulty; multi-method approach
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Abstract

This study explores the interaction effect between source text (ST) complexity and machine translation (MT) quality on the task difficulty of neural machine translation (NMT) post-editing from English to Chinese. When investigating human effort exerted in post-editing, existing studies have seldom taken both ST complexity and MT quality levels into account, and have mainly focused on MT systems used before the emergence of NMT. Drawing on process and product data of post-editing from 60 trainee translators, this study adopted a multi-method approach to measure post-editing task difficulty, including eye-tracking, keystroke logging, quality evaluation, subjective rating, and retrospective written protocols. The results show that: 1) ST complexity and MT quality present a significant interaction effect on task difficulty of NMT post-editing; 2) ST complexity level has a positive impact on post-editing low-quality NMT (i.e., post-editing task becomes less difficult when ST complexity decreases); while for post-editing high-quality NMT, it has a positive impact only on the subjective ratings received from participants; and 3) NMT quality has a negative impact on its post-editing task difficulty (i.e., the post-editing task becomes less difficult when MT quality goes higher), and this impact becomes stronger when ST complexity increases. This paper concludes that both ST complexity and MT quality should be considered when testing post-editing difficulty, designing tasks for post-editor training, and setting fair post-editing pricing schemes.

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Across Languages and Cultures
Print ISSN:
1585-1923
Online ISSN:
1588-2519

Editor-in-Chief: Krisztina KÁROLY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)

Consulting Editor: Dániel MÁNY  (Semmelweis University, Hungary)

Managing Editor: Réka ESZENYI (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)

Founding Editor-in-Chief: Kinga KLAUDY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)

EDITORIAL BOARD

  • Andrew CHESTERMAN (University of Helsinki, Finland)
  • Kirsten MALMKJÆR (University of Leicester, UK)
  • Christiane NORD (University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa)
  • Anthony PYM (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, University of Melbourne, Australia)
  • Mary SNELL-HORNBY (University of Vienna, Austria)
  • Sonja TIRKKONEN-CONDIT (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)

ADVISORY BOARD

  • Mona BAKER (Shanghai International Studies University, China, University of Oslo, Norway)
  • Łucja BIEL (University of Warsaw, Poland)
  • Gloria CORPAS PASTOR (University of Malaga, Spain; University of Wolverhampton, UK)
  • Rodica DIMITRIU (Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Iasi, Romania)
  • Birgitta Englund DIMITROVA (Stockholm University, Sweden)
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  • Haidee KOTZE (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
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  • Brian MOSSOP (York University, Toronto, Canada)
  • Orero PILAR (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain)
  • Gábor PRÓSZÉKY (Hungarian Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungary)
  • Alessandra RICCARDI (University of Trieste, Italy)
  • Edina ROBIN (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
  • Myriam SALAMA-CARR (University of Manchester, UK)
  • Mohammad Saleh SANATIFAR (independent researcher, Iran)
  • Sanjun SUN (Beijing Foreign Studies University, China)
  • Anikó SOHÁR (Pázmány Péter Catholic University,  Hungary)
  • Sonia VANDEPITTE (University of Gent, Belgium)
  • Albert VERMES (Eszterházy Károly University, Hungary)
  • Yifan ZHU (Shanghai Jiao Tong Univeristy, China)

Prof. Dr. Krisztina KÁROLY 
School of English and American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University
H-1088 Budapest, Rákóczi út 5., Hungary 
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Across Languages and Cultures
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