Chapter 1: Interfaces of translation, interpreting, and bilingualism from cognitive perspectives

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3DOI: 10.4324/9781003109020-2
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Interfaces of translation,
interpreting, and bilingualism
from cognitive perspectives
Aline Ferreira and John W. Schwieter
Introduction
Bilingualism—a term often used interchangeably with multilingualism—is an interdisciplinary
and multifaceted field. Researchers in bilingualism are interested in studying the acquisition,
production, processing, and comprehension of two or more languages (Bhatia, 2018). In brief,
bilingualism is concerned with the coexistence of more than one language system within an
individual (Hakuta, 2009). For humans, the ability to learn and use multiple languages is not
new, as evidenced by the many references to bilingualism in early writings such as Panini’s
grammar of Sanskrit and religious texts. Similarly, the ability to translate and interpret between
languages is not new. When considering that translation and interpreting are processes con-
ducted by bilinguals, it is surprising that the fields of bilingualism and translation and interpret-
ing studies (TIS) have developed their own research trajectories, often with very little dialogue
between the two disciplines.
The Routledge handbook of translation, interpreting, and bilingualism is the first to bring together
the related fields of TIS and bilingualism under the same cover. Given the extreme breadth of
these interdisciplinary fields, which would be very dicult to cover within the same hand-
book, we specifically focus on cognitive aspects. Research on bilingualism and TIS from cog-
nitive approaches have carved their own subdiscipline as can be seen when referencing them:
‘Cognitive Bilingualism’ (Schwieter & Ferreira, 2018), also referred to as ‘bilingual process-
ing’ (Schwieter, 2015), and cognitive translation and interpreting studies (CTIS) (Schwieter &
Ferreira, 2017; Xiao & Muñoz Martin, 2020). The overlapping nature between bilingualism
and TIS, along with the fact that both disciplines are widely studied through a cognitive lens,
demonstrates their ability to complement and learn from one another.
Overview of the handbook
Following this introductory chapter, Part II of the handbook is dedicated to theories and meth-
ods. In Chapter 2, Dong presents an in-depth description of the unique bilingual profile of
translators and interpreters. The chapter takes the general bilingual population (i.e., “typical”
bilinguals who are not translators or interpreters) as a reference point to compare and contrast

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the uniqueness of translators and interpreters. The author specifically considers the cognitive
demands that translation and interpreting involve in her characterization of this highly skilled
bilingual population. Chapter 3, by Festman and Poarch, oers an overview of prominent theo-
ries and models in cognitive bilingualism. Key topics are discussed, such as the cognitive control
required for bilingual language processing and the consequences of bilingualism for cognition.
Marín García (Chapter 4) reviews theories and models in CTIS and bilingualism by taking
readers on a historical journey from the 1960s, and process-oriented research, to the state of
the field today. Sophisticated models of the cognitive underpinning of translation are based on
extremely sensitive data-gathering methods which oer significant insight on issues such as
mediators’ typing, stress, emotions, brain plasticity, and peer-to-peer interaction. Marín García
advocates that CTIS holds significant implications for the language industry, technological
advancements, and other enterprises. In Chapter 5, Janikowski and Chmiel elaborate on some
of the primary research methods used in CTIS and bilingualism. The chapter first discusses
physiological measures such as MRI, EEG, eye-tracking, and galvanic skin response, and psy-
cholinguistic tasks such as priming, lexical decision, picture naming, and the Stroop, Simon,
and Flanker tasks. Janikowski and Chmiel also report on traditional methods (e.g., keystroke
logging, corpora, interviews, etc.) as these measures have implications for cognitive-oriented
research.
Neurocognitive aspects of CTIS are the topics of interest in Part III. In Chapter 6, García
and Kogan oer insights into how interlingual reformulation can elucidate our understanding
of the bilingual brain. Interlingual reformulation is any neurocognitive activity where language
input is generated into a dierent language, irrespective of modality (García, 2019). The authors
first discuss the neural organization of bilinguals’ linguistic systems. They then address the asym-
metries between the two systems as hypothesized in pioneering models of the bilingual memory
and the consequences of the co-activation of two languages in one mind. The chapter ends
with sections on the role of interlingual reformulation in second-language (L2) word learning
and brain plasticity. Chapter 7, by Korpal and Rojo López, reviews studies using physiological
measures to examine language processes in translation and interpreting. The authors address the
concept of embodied cognition and what the interaction between cognition and physiology
reveals about translation and interpreting processes. The chapter elaborates in more detail on
many of the physiological methods discussed by Janikowski and Chmiel (Chapter 5). These
sections report on pioneering and ongoing work using these measures, along with a discus-
sion on future research directions in work employing physiological methodologies. Finally, in
Chapter 8, Calvo presents evidence for brain plasticity among young bilingual adults and its
critical role in translation and interpreting. The author critically examines current research on
experience-dependent neural plasticity among translators and interpreters and proposes avenues
for future research.
In Part IV, the handbook then turns to discuss topics related to the cognitive architec-
ture of translation and interpreting processes. Chapter 9, by Moser-Mercer, opens the section
with a discussion on working memory and simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. The
chapter begins by presenting working memory models and their implications for interpreting.
Following this, Moser-Mercer reviews issues related to working memory, including updating
and cognitive control, along with the notion of an interpreter advantage for working mem-
ory capacity. In Chapter 10, Zhao, Chen, and Dong discuss how interference is controlled in
interpreting. They specifically explore how interference control in interpreting diers from
that in general bilingual processing. The chapter begins by reviewing theories of bilingual lan-
guage control and discussing how these theories can be used to explain interference control in
interpreting. Zhao etal. then review the Attentional Control Model in interpreting (Dong &

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Li,2020) with a particular emphasis on the model’s predictions related to how interpreters may
control interference arising from activated languages.
Chapter 11, by Liao and Kruger, presents the topic of cognitive processing of subtitles.
The chapter opens with a brief overview of early research on how subtitles are processed.
Against this backdrop, the authors discuss how a more complete picture of subtitle processing is
emerging which uses innovative methods such as eye-tracking to investigate various aspects of
subtitled products. They then review new research trajectories in related disciplines and topics
(e.g., reading, multimedia learning, and multitasking). Finally, the authors identify uncharted
territory for future work on subtitle processing and other audiovisual translation products. In
Chapter 12, Ferreira and Miglo discuss the role of identity in CTIS. The authors first review
how the two constructs of identity and bilingualism have been researched and interpreted. The
chapter then transitions to assess research in CTIS on language production and comprehension,
discourse processing, memory, attention, and expertise. Finally, they present a critical discussion
on the benefits of examining identity and bilingualism in order to better understand how trans-
lation and interpreting tasks are performed.
False belief and perspective taking are the topics of focus in Chapter 13 by Diaz. The chapter
brings to light the importance of considering sociolinguistic characteristics and psycholinguis-
tic processes in research in CTIS and bilingual development. Diaz also reviews brain-imaging
studies that examine the relationship between Theory of Mind and translation and interpreting
processes. These topics include the activation of Theory-of-Mind-related brain areas during
translation tasks and the activation of brain areas implicated in perspective taking when trans-
lating remarks whose meanings depend on context. Part IV concludes with Chapter 14, in
which Rojo López and Caldwell-Harris discuss emotion processing in bilingual language use
and translation processes. The chapter begins with a look at how individuals may feel a stronger
emotional connection with their first language compared to a foreign language. Following this,
the authors examine how emotions are processed in two languages and how decision-making
is aected by the language used. The chapter concludes with a dialogue on implications for
professional practice and future research.
The cognitive dynamics involved in TIS is the theme of Part V, which starts with Lörscher’s
discussion on research development in translation processes since the mid-1980s. In the chapter,
Lörscher presents a review of three research projects related to translation processes and how
translation problems are solved. He explains the concept of natural translation and elaborates
on models explaining the development of translation competence. The author also advocates
for combining introspective protocols with other measures to better investigate translation pro-
cesses. Chapter 16, by Rossi, Iniesta, and Nakamura, focuses on issues related to age, bilingual-
ism, and cognition in translators and interpreters. They firstly review the dynamics of language
processing, and how aging and neurophysiological changes in the brain are related. The authors
then discuss how languages may remain relatively intact as over the lifespan and how bilin-
gualism might have a positive eect on cognitive aging. Finally, the chapter reviews the eects
and dynamics of translation and interpreting while exploring critical aspects such as L2 age of
acquisition and relative experience with translation and interpreting.
In Chapter 17, by Seeber and Amos, the authors discuss three key terms in CTIS, namely,
capacity, load, and eort. The authors refer to capacity as the maximum amount of cognitive
resources that can be used by a mental system, load as the quantification of the processing
demands required by tasks, and eort as the actual allocation of cognitive resources that are
applied to tasks. They present a review on how monolingual tasks have been used to investi-
gate an individual’s capacity to understand and produce language. The authors then consider
how multilingual tasks have been used to assess language comprehension and production, code

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mixing and code switching, written translation, post-editing, sight translation, consecutive
interpretation, and simultaneous interpretation. Throughout their discussions, the concepts of
capacity, load, and eort are interwoven, demonstrating their significant potential to reveal
nuances of language processing, particularly with respect to the speed, modality, and direc-
tionality. Togato and Macizo Soria’s contribution (Chapter 18) is on cognitive flexibility. The
authors begin by explaining its original conceptualization as a switching ability and examine
work investigating whether it is domain-specific or domain-free ability. They also discuss cogni-
tive flexibility as dependent on the person’s capacity to switch between two conceptualizations,
which occurs due to a person’s capacity to learn and improves with experience. The authors
also explain how attentional processes are related to cognitive flexibility and their relationship
between cognitive flexibility and working memory in interpreters.
The handbook concludes with Part VI, which presents chapters on aspects of translator and
interpreter tasks and characteristics. In Chapter 19, Ferreira presents an overview of research
on directionality in CTIS over the past two decades. The chapter starts with a brief overview
of key definitions. This is followed by a discussion on how working into a weaker language
(L2) has been seen as less prestigious than working into a stronger language (L1), although
very little empirical support has substantiated this claim. The chapter then explores written
languages skills and directionality along with a look at how some studies in which less- and
more- experienced professionals have oered a better description of the development of trans-
lation competence. The chapter concludes by advocating for collaboration across disciplines.
Chapter 20, by Mellinger, is about community translation and interpreting and its value to
society. The author provides accounts of individual variations among professionals who work
as community translators and interpreters and reviews inconsistencies in the field. The chap-
ter transitions to a discussion on ethics and decision-making processes, explaining the unique
aspects related to community translators and interpreters’ work (e.g., emotional management
during task completion). He concludes by explaining how theoretical models are being revis-
ited to account for aspects related to the context in which the task takes place (e.g., societal,
interactional, and linguistic).
Sato and García, in Chapter 21, synthesize work on translanguaging and bilingualism. The
chapter discusses the relation between translanguaging and translation and can have implications
for language development. The authors elaborate on language education and the consequences
of monolingualized classrooms being the norm. The chapter also presents a discussion on how
education and reform movements view bilingualism. Sato and García discuss translation and
translanguaging for language teaching and how translanguaging can complement classroom
pedagogies. They also look at how textbooks have negatively aected language learning and
teaching, and on how translanguaging can help to overcome cultural barriers and to better
understand socio-political ideologies related to language use. The authors conclude the chapter
by presenting an overview on translation in multilingual societies, focusing on aspects such as
decolonization translations and creativity.
Chapter 22, by Boyd and Haidar, oers an overview of approaches to bilingualism that focus
on the bilingual “self ” in translation and interpreting tasks. The authors review the relationship
between bilingualism, translation, and interpreting along with some of the misconceptions asso-
ciated with them. After exploring research on the bilingual self (i.e., how individuals perceive
their own bilingualism or bilingual identity), the authors present a multi-level methodological
approach in which they address how identity is enhanced by shared domains of interest and
community. Gasca Jiménez, in Chapter 23, presents an overview of CTIS, bilingualism, and
heritage languages. She notes that language brokering research is disconnected from translation

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and interpreting and heritage language education and underscores how various contexts of lan-
guage brokering require distinct knowledge and experience. After looking at the psychological
and cognitive impacts of language brokering, the chapter advocates against current practices in
which language brokering goes unnoticed, despite the fact that it is a widespread phenomenon.
Chapter 24, by Pavlović and Whyatt, reviews pedagogies commonly used in translation. The
authors highlight the importance of understanding the process of becoming a professional trans-
lator from a developmental perspective in which there is a conscious eort to learn how lan-
guage works. The chapter moves to a review on how pedagogical practices in translation have
changed over the past century, especially in Europe. The authors point out possible dierences
between translator training and education, along with translation competence models. The chap-
ter then presents a review of learner-center pedagogy, process-oriented pedagogy, metacogni-
tive processes, and feedback and assessment. Wang and Zhang, in Chapter 25, oer a review
on training bilinguals to become interpreters. They explain how interpreting can be seen as a
bilingual’s innate skill, a competence, and a profession. Following this, the chapter presents an
overview of the intersection between bilingualism and language proficiency in interpreting.
The chapter concludes with a call for more interpreting training studies that directly address the
limitations and challenges that have been faced so far.
The Routledge Handbook of Translation, Interpreting and Bilingualism is the result of a collabora-
tive eort to bolster our knowledge of and across these fields. We hope that readers will benefit
from the engaging contributions that bring to the foreground challenges and new opportuni-
ties in CTIS and bilingualism. While it should be apparent that research in translation studies,
interpreting studies, and bilingualism shares commonalities, this handbook oers direct insight
from scholars from dierent subfields and regions across the world on these common grounds,
while shedding light on future considerations that work towards leveraging the complementary
nature of these disciplines.
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