Übersetzungswissenschaften

  • Martine ADDA-DECKER (Paris)
    Corpus pour la transcription automatique de l'oral
    (Corpus for automatic transcription of spoken texts)
    2007, Vol. XII-1, pp. 71-84

    This contribution aims at giving an overview of automatic speech recognition research, highlighting the needs for corpora development. As recognition systems largely rely on statistical approaches, large amounts of both spoken and written corpora are required. In order to fill the gap between written and spoken language, speech transcripts need to be produced manually using appropriate tools. Methods and resources accumulated over the years now allow, not only to tackle genuine oral genres, but also to envision large-scale corpus studies to increase our knowledge of spoken language, as well as to improve automatic processing.


  • Kate BEECHING (Bristol, Grande-Bretagne)
    The translation equivalence of bon, enfin, well and I mean
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 91-105

    The aim of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness of two methods of attempting to capture the semantic change which has led to the multifunctional nature of four pragmaticalising polysemous connectors in French and English - bon, enfin, well and I mean - : a) translation equivalence which may help to disambiguate evolving polysemies and b) Haspelmath's (2003) semantic map approach to cross-linguistic typology and the implicational hierarchies which mark the development of these polysemies. The article concludes that degrees of pragmaticalisation can be revealed in translation equivalence, but this is, of necessity, only partial, and that cross-linguistic semantic mapping can perhaps better capture the diachronic developmental stages and the degree of translation equivalence between the terms.


  • Maryvonne BOISSEAU (Paris 3)
    Linguistique et traduction : réflexions théoriques et applications
    (Linguistics and translation: theoretical reflection and applications)
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 5-9
  • Maryvonne BOISSEAU (Paris 3)
    Les discours de la traductologie en France (1970-2010) : analyse et critique
    (Translation science in France (1970-2010) : a critical analysis)
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 11-24

    Starting from J. Guillemin-Flescher’s paper published in the 2003 RFLA issue devoted to translation, this contribution re-examines her classification of theoretical models contrasting it to current practice. The theoretical discourse on translation is considered in relation to the greater porosity between independent disciplinary subjects (literature, linguistics and “civilization”) as well as to the development of translation studies in France. A new categorization taking into account the complex history of their interaction as well as their relation to the very concepts of theory and practice and to more recent developments is thus suggested.


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  • Christian BOITET (Grenoble 1)
    Corpus pour la TA : types, tailles et problèmes associés, selon leur usage et le type de système
    (Corpus for the Machine Translation: types, sizes and connected problems, in relation to use and system type)
    2007, Vol. XII-1, pp. 25-38

    It is important to realise that human translation is difficult and diverse, and that automation is needed not only by end users, but also by translators and Interpreters. Also, automation itself comes in many forms. After briefly describing computer tools for translators, we will concentrate on the linguistic and computer approaches to the automation of translation proper. This survey will yield an array of criteria for categorizing existing CAT systems, with brief examples of the state of the art. Finally, we present perspectives of future research, development, and dissemination.


  • Christian BOITET (Grenoble 1)
    Automated Translation
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 99-121

    It is important to realise that human translation is difficult and diverse, and that automation is needed not only by end users, but also by translators and Interpreters. Also, automation itself comes in many forms. After briefly describing computer tools for translators, we will concentrate on the linguistic and computer approaches to the automation of translation proper. This survey will yield an array of criteria for categorizing existing CAT systems, with brief examples of the state of the art. Finally, we present perspectives of future research, development, and dissemination.


  • Françoise CANON-ROGER (Reims)
    Traduction et réélaboration interprétative
    (Translation and interpretative reworking)
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 25-38

    Translators translate texts, not languages. The linguistic approaches that fail to take into account their semiotic characteristics are inadequate. It is more appropriate to maintain traductology and translation within the tradition of hermeneutics that deals with texts as cultural objects. Translation is an interpretative reworking of texts whose aim is transmission. Text semantics provides a single theoretical framework for a top-down approach to interpretation and translation. A typology of genres would benefit the practice of translation since local determinations result from generic constraints. Semantic figures and backgrounds evolve and change thus determining textual passages whose boundaries are set in the course of interpretation. It is at this local level, and irrespective of the linear order of speech or writing, that the process of translation is carried out.


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  • Pierre CAUSSAT (Paris 10)
    Simples aperçus sur quelques problèmes de la traduction philosophique
    (Some points of discussion in the field of translation and philosophy)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 43-54

    The purpose of this paper is to root out the philosophical, and not strictly linguistical, issues of translating philosophy. Translating has been constantly present in the history of philosophy, but according to two modes of operation corresponding to two historical periods. First, the ancient scheme in which translating does not involve the kernel of philosophical speculation (idea of a pure gnosis irrespective of its expression in language); second, the modern scheme in which translation borders philosophy and alters philosophy's own self-consciousness ("philological state"). Thence follows the requirement of thinking anew an interaction between philosophy and translation where translating takes an active part in the act of philosophy itself, which, as interrogative thinking, elaborates a style of its own; so that there is a continuous link between "internal" translation (connection of thought with expression) and "external" translation (crossing from one language to another ).


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  • Agnès CELLE (Paris-Diderot)
    Question, mise en question : la traduction de l'interrogation dans le discours théorique
    (Interrogative sentences in French and their counterparts in English academic discourse)
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 39-52

    The aim of this article is to contrast interrogative sentences in French with their English counterparts in academic discourse, using a sample of translated examples. Questions are highly frequent in French, but not in English. In French, questions involve the addressee as a fictitious anchor-point without taking his / her point of view into account. In English, interrogative sentences appear either in embedded position or as supplements. Enunciative location may only be achieved by the main clause. In this way, modal – as opposed to intersubjective – distancing is created in English.


  • Andrew D. COHEN (Minneapolis, États-Unis)
    The Use of Translation Strategies in Coping with Language Learning Difficulties
    2001, Vol. VI-1, pp. 99-105

    Drawing on learner verbal report, this paper describes ways in which verbal report data reflecting the use of mental and written translation strategies have provided insights into language learning and language use. The paper characterizes the use of mental translation strategies, considers the choice between mental and written translation, and then deals with translation strategies in the different modalities.


  • Antonia CRISTINOI-BURSUC (Orléans)
    Les erreurs dans la traduction automatique du genre dans les couples français-anglais et anglais-français : typologie, causes linguistiques et solutions
    (Gender errors in automatic translation between English and French: typology, linguistic causes and solutions)
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 93-107

    By means of the notions of behavioural classes, marking and morphosyntactic markers this paper shows that all the translation (or Machine Translation) problems that arise when translating gender from French into English or vice-versa can be predicted a priori at a lexical level, for all the linguistic items concerned. It also proves that systematic solutions to these problems can be found and implemented. The approach defended here for French and English can be applied to other languages or language pairs, and to other linguistic categories, and could thus contribute to the improvement of Machine Translation systems.


  • Karl Johan DANELL (Parlement européen)
    Impossible mais nécessaire. Les dilemmes de la traduction en Union Européenne
    (Impossible but necessary. Dilemmas in translation activities in the EU)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 55-64

    This essay treats the problems of translation in the European Parliament, and tries to combine two aspects: the daily work of the translators, and the possible links to more theoretical linguistic reflections. After presenting some basic facts, the essay goes on to a brief discussion of the following themes: - What should a competent translator know? - The official languages of the Union, now and after the enlargement; - IT developments, computer-aided translation, databases, etc.; - Language knowledge and language learning.


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  • Mathieu DEVINAT (Sherbrooke, Canada)
    Le bijuridisme et le bilinguisme canadiens : des idéaux sous tension
    (Bijuridism and bilingualism in Canada: ideals under tension)
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 33-50

    Since its creation in 1867, Canada is founded on a political compromise between two founding nations that gave an equal status to distinct legal traditions both expressed in two official languages. In order to fulfill these ideals, however, Canadian jurists must assimilate two legal cultures and languages, an expertise far from reach for everyday citizens, and probably even from a majority of jurists themselves! This paper aims to present in a critical manner the legal discourse surrounding the implementation of bilingualism and bijuridism in Canadian law. In our opinion, the Canadian example highlights the methodological and terminological challenges related to the recognition of two languages and legal traditions within the same legal order.


  • Marie-Laure ELALOUF (Cergy-Pontoise)
    Le traitement des connecteurs dans les Instructions officielles et les manuels (français L1 / anglais L2)
    (Connectors in French ministerial directives and textbooks (French L1/English L2))
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 121-140

    In French L1 syllabuses, the term connecteur is defined according to semantic criteria and covering invariable words, and even syntagms commuting with adverbial phrases. They are given in lists and thus cannot be really used to interpret L1 texts.L2 learners are not made aware of the functioning of these heterogeneous L2 units, which makes their task even more arduous. The L1 filter compounded by limited awareness of the functioning of L1 thus leads to one-to-one relations that hinder L2 skills especially when items learnt by rote are artificially inserted instead of being used to connect ideas. A unified and contrastive grammatical terminology would allow an efficient metalinguistic awareness.


  • Nicolas FROELIGER (Paris 7)
    Binaire et liminaire : la forme en traduction technique
    (Binarity and exhaustiveness in technical translation)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 33-42

    Translators are baroque characters inherently out of place. The way they look at technique and their very role in the translation process are layered with countless misunderstanding and prejudices. The craft of technical translation exhibits four aesthetical characteristics which, in a perfect world, would also be those of any technical text: exhaustiveness, monosemy, precision, and collective accessibility. More often than not, the output is much more standardized than the input was. The translated text is user-oriented and has to be seen as a machine. Its production summons up a technical imagination, also highly standardized, based on mathematics and geometry, whose rules are akin to those of modern architecture.


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  • Anna GIACALONE RAMAT (Pavie, Italie)
    L’'emploi des connecteurs : però correspond-il toujours à mais ?
    (The use of connectors: is però always equivalent to mais?)
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 57-74

    Italian grammars written for French speakers do not pay much attention to però and touch very briefly upon its difference with respect to ma. The present study is based upon a detailed analysis of French translation equivalents of però in Veronesi's novel Caos calmo (2005) and draws upon Italian oral data from the LIP corpus (1993). Results of this study show how the grammars considered fail to offer clear indications concerning the freedom of position inside the sentence and the stronger value of però. Furthermore, the introduction of the diachronic dimension shows the gradual development of contrast relations out of temporal and causal lexical sources along paths already established for the processes of grammaticalization and highlights the present-day distribution in both languages.


  • Lucie GOURNAY (Paris-Est Créteil)
    Connecteurs et altérités dans une perspective contrastive français-anglais
    (Connectors and the expression of contrast: a French-English comparative study)
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 75-89

    This paper focuses on the contribution supplied by a cross-linguistic approach of the diversity of discourse connectives. It includes two case-studies, which aim at implementations in the lexicological and teaching fields: first, the non equivalence of mais / but when sentence-initial mais does not mark an argumentative opposition; second, false cognates actually / actuellement which hardly ever correspond. These two complementary case-studies illustrate two cases of non direct translation.


  • Philippe GRÉCIANO (Grenoble)
    Critique de la traduction dans les procès Khmers Rouges
    (Translation and its problems in the trials of the Red Khmers)
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 119-126
  • Philippe GRÉCIANO (Grenoble)
    Kampf gegen den Terrorismus. Rechtssprache im (Kon)Text
    (The war on terrorism and its demands on the legal system)
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 63-76

    Since September 11 2001 the world has been faced with challenges to the defence of nations and the security of their citizens, leading to hitherto unused laws, policies and strategies to counter the terrorist threat. This is a major challenge: to reconcile security needs with the demands of law, and respecting citizens' liberty, their language, their culture and their legitimate aspirations. In this paper, antiterrorist discourse will first be studied, its terms and definitions examined, as well as the types of texts used and the way they are formulated in language. Then the cross-disciplinary approach is used to produce practical methods to ascertain the state of terrorist threat in its international dimension, to achieve a fine grained but global understanding of the phenomenon for the future.


  • Mathieu GUIDÈRE (Toulouse 2)
    La médiation humanitaire multilingue. Un discours pour la paix
    (Multilingual humanitarian mediation in conflict management)
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 51-62

    In the framework of humanitarian mediation, multilingual communication has a strong cultural component. This article begins by situating the Other in a global fashion, and then goes on to view ways in which a balance of perception can be established between those involved by working out a precise, rigorous diagnosis to shed light on the conceptions, feelings and intentions of all concerned, illustrated by several examples. Amongst the tools used, mention should be made of distancing, decentring, intercultural competence and Natural Semantic Metalanguage.


  • Alain GUILLAUME (Université Quisqueya, Haïti)
    L'expression créole du droit : une voie pour la réduction de la fracture juridique en Haïti
    (How law is expressed in creole or how to diminish the juridical differences in Haiti)
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 77-91

    Haitian society is characterized by a number of dichotomies which are manifested in law in the form of an unequal bilingualism and a particular form of bijuralism. The legal integration of the Nation implies that the law be expressed in creole and that customary standards should be taken into account in written law. These measures would enrich substantive law in Haiti, though complex to implement.


  • Jacqueline GUILLEMIN-FLESCHER (Paris 7)
    La traduction humaine : contraintes et corpus
    (Human translation: constraints and corpora)
    1996, Vol. I-2, pp. 43-56

    This study is based on a corpus of texts and translations in French and English and aims to show there are recurrent patterns in the choice of translators. Three examples have been examined: existential sentences, passive structures and attributive constructions. The criteria that condition the features observed in the corpus are underlined and an analysis of the constraints is proposed. In conclusion, the specific points that have been dealt with are related to a more fundamental difference between the two languages.


  • Jacqueline GUILLEMIN-FLESCHER (Paris 7)
    Théoriser la traduction
    (Towards a theory of translation)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 7-18

    Theory of translation is approached in this paper with special emphasis on the 20th century. The previous position is briefly touched upon to trace back to its origin the prevalent bone of contention: namely, orientation towards the source language or the target language. The large-scale development in both the practice and theory of translation in recent years has opened up new perspectives. These are defined and examined with respect to the relation between practice and theory and between theory of language and theory of translation. Finally the differences that are brought to light are shown to affect the concept of theory itself.


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  • Adelaida HERMOSO MELLADO (Séville, Espagne)
    Etude des adverbes Décidément / Decididamente... et quelques autres
    (The adverbs Décidément / Decididamente and some others)
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 9-23

    The main goal of this study is to show through the comparative study of the adjuncts décidément and decididamente (and some others) in French and Spanish respectively that a) morphological similarity between two languages is far from being a reliable criterion for translation, as exemplified in: Décidément, quel désastre ! / ¡Desde luego! *¡Decididamente!, ¡Qué desastre! ('It's definitely a disaster!'); b) using elementatry linguistic properties leads to better results. In addition to French décidément, which is the core of the debate, some others cases will also be considered like définitivement, naturellement, incontestablement, indubitablement vs desde luego, decididamente, naturalmente and sin duda. To avoid making arbitrary choices, a good translation of connectives and discursive markers must establish and apply very strict operating rules, as regards syntax and semantics of course, but also contextual and cotextual characteristics.


  • Lance HEWSON (Genève, Suisse)
    Brave New Globalized World? Translation Studies and English as a Lingua Franca
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 109-120

    While “global” English is today a reality that translators have to face in their everyday work, little research has yet been done into the implications of English as a lingua franca (ELF) for translation studies. After briefly looking at academic writings on ELF per se, I propose to introduce a distinction between different levels of competence of ELF-users and to examine the role that they may play firstly as initiators, then as translators (whether translating out of or into English), and finally as readers of texts. I then turn my attention to the way in which “ordinary” translators have necessarily to develop strategies in order to deal with ELF texts. In the final part of the paper, I look at the ways in which ELF should encourage translation theorists both to question the way in which they conceive of the translation operation, and to reconsider some of the key concepts that are commonly used, in particular the relationship pertaining between a source text and its translation.


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  • Richard INGHAM (Birmingham, Grande-Bretagne)
    Anglo-Norman and the ‘plural history’ of French: the connectives pourtant and à cause que
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 107-119

    Localised and dated administrative documents and other such textual resources in three Anglo-Norman electronic corpora provide a new perspective on variation in pre-modern French. They may offer insights into important aspects of spatial and register variation across time. These new resources allow for a better-informed picture of semantic-pragmatic changes in the history of French than is available in traditional approaches favouring the development of francien and standard French. It is shown here that the the connectives pourtant et à cause que appear in Anglo-Norman with their present-day meanings well before the dates proposed in historical reference dictionaries. Frequent data occurrences available from Anglo-Norman texts of the XIVth century will facilitate the investigation of the beginnings of semantic changes in post-medieval French lexis.


  • Olga INKOVA (Genève, Suisse)
    Les connecteurs anaphoriques du russe : entre subordination et corrélation
    (Russian anaphoric connectors: between subordination and coordination)
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 25-40

    The aim of this contribution is to give a survey of the Russian subordination markers derived from a correlative scheme. They are characterized by different degrees of grammaticalization - which makes their classification difficult and sometimes contradictory. The author proposes solutions for a uniform classification of these markers and examines the problem of the translation of these markers into French.


  • Margaret KING (ISSCO, Genève, Suisse)
    Traduction et technologie : état de la question
    (Translation and technology: state of the art)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 75-89

    This article gives an overview of information technology as applied to the work of translation. It takes an historical approach, assessing the impact of changes over the last ten years. The theoretical basis of empirical systems is described briefly and informally, and the evolution of applications typical of translation work such as translation memory systems, machine translation systems, terminology management and extraction tools is discussed. Considerable emphasis is put on the development of information technology and on recent developments in the management and exploitation of information sources. The author concludes that the rapid evolution of the last ten years is only the beginning of a major shift which will have radical consequences for translators as for many other professions.


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  • Hendrik J. KOCKAERT (Lessius)
    Un outil de gestion terminologique pour la traduction juridique en Belgique : état de la question et perspectives
    (A tool for managing terminology in juridical translation activities in Belgium; How it works and what it can do)
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 93-104

    The Department of Applied Language Studies of Lessius and the Research unit of quantitative and variational linguistics of the K.U. Leuven have been invited by the translation department of the Ministry of Justice to develop a Terminology Management System (TMS) of legal phraseology and terminology allowing translators to work with correct, coherent and expert-revised phraseologies and terminologies in the three national languages. This paper firstly investigates how terminology management has been carried out in the translation departments of the federal public services of justice in Belgium. Based on this survey, this paper proposes a TMS tool which is based on a new concept of phraseological terminology. To reach this goal, an extraction method of phraseological terminology based on some usage-based models of language will serve as a basis of a customised experimental analysis method which will allow us to design a road map capable of developing terminology, specifically engineered for the legal translation LSP.


  • Hannelore LEE-JAHNKE (ISSCO, Genève, Suisse)
    The right translator in the right place : un défi pour la formation
    (The right translator in the right place: a challenge for trainers)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 91-98

    CIUTI, an association of universities training interpreters and translators, aims at taking into account the changing needs of the market as far as language communication is concerned for which the fundamental theoretical and academic knowledge is a must. In order to know about market needs, the actors of the market must be in touch with the academics. Thus, the objective of this first Forum was to ask the following questions: What are the market needs today? What will be the profile of translators and interpreters in the future ? What training should the trainers have ?


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  • Kirsten MALMKJÆR (Middlesex, Grande-Bretagne)
    What is Translation Competence?
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 121-134

    This article seeks to throw light on the notion of translation competence by way of a comparison with, on the one hand, the notion of linguistic competence and, on the other, competence as a notion operating in social life. I argue for a notion closer to the concept of Linguistic Competence than is customarily presented in the translation studies literature, suggesting that such a notion would go some way towards explaining data derived from studies of young interpreters and would be compatible with findings in the neurolinguistic study of bilingualism.


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  • Raluca NITA (Nantes)
    De la traduction intralinguale à la traduction interlinguale : le cas des verbes introducteurs en roumain et en français
    (From intralingual to interlingual translation: introductory verbs in French and Rumanian)
    2009, Vol. XIV-1, pp. 53-66

    Verbs of saying are traditionally analysed as semantically dependent on the extralinguistic environment in which direct speech occurs. It is however argued here that there is a two-way relation of mutual dependency between the reporting phrase and the reported utterance, the introductory verb being seen as a contextual “translation” marker dependent on the reported clause. The degree of mutual semantic dependency between reporting verb and reported clause varies according to text type and to language-specific strategies, leading to the question of what is meant, in contrastive terms, by “faithful” translation of such verbs.


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  • Philippe NOBLE (Ambassade de France, La Haye, Pays-Bas)
    Le texte d'Etty Hillesum, de l'original à la traduction française : un cheminement singulier
    (Translating Etty Hillesum: a singular endeavour)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 19-31

    The journal and the letters of Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman who died in Auschwitz in 1943, are known in France through a translation of a partial edition, a kind of anthology published in the early 80s.This text therefore comes to us through a "double filter": one of the edition that follows only partly the original, and one of the translation that wants to do justice to the moral and religious bearing of the text, sometimes to the detriment of the spontaneity and the hesitations of an intimate journal. In the perspective of a new French translation, to appear in 2005, that is to take into account the whole of Hillesum's writings, the translator examines with the help of some examples the tension that exists between two aims of the translation: the presentation of a literary text and that of a personal historical document.


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  • Elwys STEFANI (DE) (Bâle, Suisse)
    Les activités de traduction dans des réunions de travail plurilingues Können sie vielleicht kurz übersetzen ?
    (Translation activities in multilingual working sessions)
    2000, Vol. V-1, pp. 25-42

    Plurilingual face-to-face collaboration becomes increasingly important in the academic world, due to the rapid development of international networks. One means for managing plurilingual encounters is informal oral translation, carried out by participants when the need arises. A conversation analysis of translation sequences in scientific meetings shows that researchers translate not only to establish intercomprehension, but also in order to emphasize elements of discourse and to state argumentative positions. Rather than being a mere transposition from one language into another, translation thus shapes the contents being developed. Moreover, it allows a description of some form of exploitation of linguistics resources in a particular social activity.


  • Maria SVENSSON (Uppsala, Suède)
    Marqueurs corrélatifs en français et en suédois : l’'exemple de non seulement... mais et inte bara... utan
    (Correlational markers in French and Swedish: the example of non seulement... mais and inte bara... utan)
    2011, Vol. XVI-2, pp. 41-56

    We will present a study of the French correlative marker non seulement... mais in comparison to inte bara... utan in Swedish. On the basis of a bilingual corpus of original texts in the two languages and translations in the two directions, we will show how these markers contribute to the organization of discourse in specialized literature in the humanities. Our analysis will focus on the formal, contextual, semantic and argumentative similarities and differences between non seulement... mais and inte bara... utan. The contrastive perspective will allow a description of differences and similarities between the languages, as well as point out the difficulties of translation. Furthermore, it will contribute to the description of the function of these correlative markers in each language.


  • Simon TAYLOR (Paris-Diderot)
    The European Union and National Legal Languages: an Awkward Partnership?
    2011, Vol. XVI-1, pp. 105-118

    The harmonisation of the laws of Member States in various areas of private law constitutes an important element of the European Union integration process. The principal legislative mechanism used to achieve this harmonisation is the directive. Effective harmonisation of national laws can only be achieved if the Community legislation is applied in the same way in the different national legal systems. Many of the challenges in ensuring a harmonised application of community legislation are connected to issues of legal language. Amongst other examples, this paper will use the European directive on product liability (la responsabilité du fait des produits défectueux) as an illustration of the various language issues raised and the solutions available to ensure an effective level of harmonisation. This will be done through a study of the English and French versions of the directive, and by considering the experience of the implementation of the provisions of the directive in French and English law.


  • Olga THEOPHANOUS (Montréal, Canada)
    Déviations lexicales de forme et de sens chez les apprenants de français langue étrangère
    (Lexical deviations of form and meaning in learners of French as a SL)
    2001, Vol. VI-1, pp. 107-120

    Following an empirical study, this article deals with a specific type of errors in vocabulary acquisition of French as a second language: intralingual lexical confusion. 480 English and Greek speaking learners (beginners, intermediates and advanced) of French were given a L2-L1 translation task of French words. A large number of errors revealed confusions due to formal and/or semantic similarity between the target words and other French words known by the learners. The formal and/or semantic comparison between error and target word allowed a narrower description of intralingual lexical confusion highlighting some precise sub-categories of what the author calls "lexical confusibles".


  • Serge VERLINDE (Louvain, Belgique)
    La conception de didacticiels intégrés d'aide à la lecture, à la traduction et à la rédaction
    (The conception of Integrated Tutorial Software as an Aid for Reading, Translation and Writing)
    2010, Vol. XV-2, pp. 53-65

    The Base lexicale du français (BLF) website functions as a portal to numerous lexicographic resources for French. The structure of the interface is based on the potential needs of the users. However, the various options available may also confuse the user. Therefore, we have developed a new functionality which allows users to submit texts they either want to read or translate. After the texts have been analysed, they are presented to the user with an additional layer of relevant lexicographic information. This information appears in the form of a pop-up window for every word. In addition to these reading and translation assistants, the BLF also offers a writing assistant which differs considerably from traditional grammar checkers.


  • Anne-Marie WIDLUND-FANTINI (Parlement européen)
    L'interprétation de conférence
    (Conference interpreting)
    2003, Vol. VIII-2, pp. 65-73

    The aim of the present article is to describe the profession of conference interpreting from its beginnings, its organization within an International Association 50 years ago, as well as its membership conditions. The article goes on to describe how the profession has developed over the years, from the beginnings of consecutive interpretation at the League of Nations to the introduction of simultaneous interpretation at the Nürnberg Trials at the end of the nineteen-forties. A second part concerns the teaching of conference interpreting, and the present conditions of practice of the profession. It concludes with a description of multilingualism in the European Institutions and the present and future role of the conference interpreter on the eve of the enlargement of the European Union to 10 new member countries.