The Role of Culture in Translation Process through Think-Aloud Protocols

Cultural differences have been a major focus in translation. This study investigates two
aspects first, the translation process of culture-bound words and second, the strategies
taken by two translators. These translators are English Department students and they
have different cultural backgrounds, Moslem Javanese and Buddhist Chinese. Each of
them has to translate the same four texts: one text whose cultural background both of
them are familiar with, another text whose cultural background both of them are not
familiar with and two other texts. Out of the two texts, only one text has a familiar
cultural background to one of the translators. The method used to investigate what was
happening in the translators’ mind is think-aloud protocols. Two points can be concluded
from this study. One, translators’ cultures do play a role in their consideration of
choosing the words they use. Two, translators generally use the strategy of cultural
substitution if the culture is nearly the same, but they use the strategy of using a neutral
word or paraphrasing by related words when the culture is different.