Effort in Machine Translation Post-Editing: The Role of Expertise

Authors : Minel Sayar Öztürk, Alper Kumcu

Pages : 293-309

Doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1782613

View : 1016 | Download : 4821

Publication Date : 2025-12-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Machine translation post-editing is becoming an increasingly important part of the translation process, boosting efficiency. As the primary aim of technology is to reduce human effort, the concept of effort has been widely investigated in this context. This study examines the relationship between expertise and effort in MTPE, addressing the following two questions: (1) To what extent can expertise serve as a valid indicator of cognitive, temporal, and technical/linguistic effort in MTPE? (2) What is the relationship between expertise, objective and self-reported effort, and post-editing accuracy? A mixed-methods experiment was conducted with 21 participants divided into three groups: experienced translators, inexperienced translators, and field experts. They were asked to post-edit three legal documents that had been machine-translated from English to Turkish. Their post-editing processes were recorded using keylogging software (Translog-II), which measured total task duration, mean pause duration, total pause duration, pause percentage, pauses per word, text production and elimination, and user and production events per minute. Post-editing accuracy, self-reports and retrospective think-aloud records were also collected. The findings revealed that experienced translators exerted higher cognitive and temporal effort than inexperienced translators, as well as higher technical and linguistic effort than inexperienced translators and field experts combined.
Keywords : machine translation post-editing (MTPE), cognitive effort, temporal effort, technical effort, expertise

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