Exploring Strategy Use in Chinese-English Translation: Insights from Think-Aloud Data

Abstract

This study investigates the cognitive processes and translation strategies of Chinese student translators by integrating Think-Aloud Protocols (TAP) and Translog data. It aims to uncover how translators with different proficiency levels employ strategies, allocate cognitive effort, and monitor their translation behavior in Chinese-English translation tasks. A comprehensive translation strategy model was proposed to label the data and to interpret the findings. Results indicate that high-performing translators exhibited more balanced cognitive effort, stronger problem diagnosis, and multi-level monitoring, while low-performing translators showed surface-level processing and reactive revisions. The study concludes that translation expertise is characterized by deeper source-text analysis, strategic decision-making, and proactive monitoring. Pedagogically, the findings suggest the need to cultivate students’ metacognitive awareness through think-aloud practice, guided resource use, and structured revision training to enhance translation competence.