Idiomaticity as a tool to explore automaticity and control in bilinguals and translators

Togato, Giulia; Bajo, Teresa; Macizo, Pedro · 2022 · Crossref

DOI: 10.36505/exling-2022/13/0044/000586

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Summary

This study investigates how professional translation expertise influences the automaticity and cognitive control involved in processing idiomatic expressions compared to untrained bilingualism. While previous research has established that proficient speakers often access idiomatic meanings directly rather than computing literal word-by-word meanings, it remained unclear whether professional translators exhibit greater automaticity in retrieving cross-linguistic idiom equivalents. The authors hypothesized that translators would demonstrate more automatic processing, freeing up cognitive resources, due to their extensive training in mapping L1 and L2 idiomatic entries. To test this, the researchers employed a dual-task paradigm involving untrained bilinguals and professional translators. Participants processed idioms categorized by cross-linguistic congruency (congruent vs. incongruent) and matched control expressions. While processing these stimuli, participants performed a secondary tone detection task. Reaction times (RTs) to the tone served as an index of cognitive resource availability; slower RTs indicated higher cognitive load and less automatic processing. The study also analyzed translation accuracy and the specific strategies used, such as literal word-by-word translation versus idiomatic chunking. The results contradicted the initial hypothesis. For congruent idioms, both groups exhibited the expected idiomatic superiority effect, with faster tone detection compared to control sentences, indicating that facilitation for congruent idioms does not depend on professional practice. However, for incongruent idioms, translators showed significantly slower tone detection RTs than bilinguals, suggesting they exerted higher levels of cognitive control. Despite this increased cognitive load, translators outperformed bilinguals in translation accuracy for both congruent and incongruent items. Error analysis revealed that bilinguals frequently relied on literal, word-by-word translations for incongruent idioms, whereas translators accessed equivalent idiomatic entries directly. The slower RTs in translators are attributed to the concurrent co-activation of both literal and figurative meanings, requiring additional cognitive resources to resolve interference and ensure high-quality output. These findings support hybrid models of idiomatic processing, which posit that idioms are accessed through both unitary lexical concepts and individual lemmas. The study demonstrates that professional translators do not necessarily process idioms more automatically than untrained bilinguals; instead, they engage greater cognitive control to manage the competition between literal and figurative meanings, particularly for incongruent expressions. This controlled processing allows translators to maintain high accuracy standards, distinguishing their cognitive strategies from those of untrained bilinguals who may rely more on literal interpretations when cross-linguistic congruency is low.

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• automaticity skill acquisition