Audiovisual Translation Training in Turkey from the Perspective of Interlingual Subtitling Quality: Findings and Suggestions

Year 2025, Issue: TÜÇEVAS Özel Sayısı, 109 - 132, 28.05.2025

Aysu Uslu Korkmaz , A. Şirin Okyayuz

https://doi.org/10.37599/ceviri.1614516

Abstract

Translation training, which has become autonomous especially since the 1980s, has succeeded in adapting to the technology-oriented novelties within a short period of time, under the influence of technological accelerationism. As one of the fields fuelled by these changes, audiovisual translation has also been gradually introduced into the curricula. Efforts have been made to ensure that professional translators acquire competence in the field of audiovisual translation when the boundaries of translation training have expanded, whereas new trends have emerged today along with the needs arising over time. The active role of non-professional translators in the participatory culture as a result of democratization of technology has brought about the need for translation training to equip professional translators to adapt to the requirements of the age. This study, accordingly, focuses on the competences of professional translators in subtitle translation and aims to shed light on audiovisual translation training in Turkey. The data in the language pair English-Turkish collected from a crowdsourced translation project has been analysed in the framework of the FAR Model, as proposed by Jan Pedersen (2017) to assess the quality of interlingual subtitles. Evaluating interlingual subtitles in three different aspects, namely ‘functional equivalence,’ ‘acceptability,’ and ‘Readability,’ this model has also served to identify errors along with their justifications. The mixed-methods research has examined the interlingual subtitle translations produced by the professional translators with reference to both the quality scores of the subtitles created by the non-professional translators involved in the same translation project as well as the in-group scores. The difference between the average approval rates of the professionals and non-professional translators has become prominent among the findings obtained, and it has also been observed that some non-professional translators are able to produce subtitles of higher quality than other translators. From the perspective of interlingual subtitling quality, this study draws attention to the deficiencies and potential improvements in audiovisual translation training in Turkey while seeking an answer to the effect of education on translation competence.

Keywords

audiovisual translation , translation training , subtitle quality , professional translators , interlingual subtitling

Dillerarası Altyazı Kalitesi Perspektifinden Türkiye’de Görsel-İşitsel Çeviri Eğitimi: Bulgular ve Öneriler

Abstract

Özellikle 1980’lerden itibaren özerkleşmeye başlayan çeviri eğitimi kısa bir zaman diliminde, teknolojik ivmelenmenin de etkisiyle, teknoloji odaklı yeniliklere uyum sağlamayı başarmış ve bu yeniliklerden beslenen alanlardan biri olarak görsel-işitsel çeviri, öğretim programlarına kademeli şekilde kazandırılmaya başlanmıştır. Çeviri eğitiminin sınırlarının genişlediği bu dönemde profesyonel çevirmenlerin görsel-işitsel çeviri alanında yetkinliğe sahip olmaları adına atılan adımlar, zaman içinde doğan ihtiyaçlarla birlikte bugün yerini yeni yönelimlere bırakmıştır. Demokratikleşen teknolojinin bir sonucu olarak profesyonel olmayan çevirmenlerin de katılımcı kültürdeki aktif varlığı, çeviri eğitiminin profesyonel çevirmenleri çağın ihtiyaçlarına uyum sağlayabilecekleri şekilde hazırlamasını da gerekli kılmıştır. Bu doğrultuda çalışma, Türkiye’deki görsel-işitsel çeviri eğitimine ışık tutmak amacıyla, profesyonel çevirmenlerin altyazı çevirisindeki yetkinliklerine odaklanmıştır. Kitle kaynaklı bir çeviri projesinden toplanan İngilizce-Türkçe dil çiftindeki veriler, Jan Pedersen (2017) tarafından dillerarası altyazıların kalitesini ölçmek üzere önerilen FAR Model çerçevesinde analiz edilmiştir. Dillerarası altyazıların ‘işlevsel eşdeğerlik’, ‘kabul edilebilirlik’ ve ‘okunabilirlik’ olmak üzere üç ayrı yönden incelemeye tabi tutulduğu bu model, çeviri kalitesine etki eden hataların gerekçeleriyle birlikte belirlenmesine de yardımcı olmuştur. Karma yöntemli analiz sonucunda, profesyonel çevirmenler tarafından üretilen dillerarası altyazılar, hem aynı çeviri projesinde faaliyet gösteren profesyonel olmayan çevirmenlerin ürettiği altyazılara ait kalite skorları hem de grup içi skorlar dikkate alınarak irdelenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular içerisinden profesyonel ve profesyonel olmayan çevirmenlerin ortalama uygunluk oranları arasındaki fark ön plana çıkmış, ayrıca bazı profesyonel olmayan çevirmenlerin diğer çevirmenlere göre daha yüksek kalitede altyazılar üretebildiği de tespit edilmiştir. Yürütülen araştırma, dillerarası altyazı kalitesi perspektifinden Türkiye’de görsel-işitsel çeviri eğitiminin eksik ve geliştirilmesi gereken yanlarına dikkat çekerken çeviri yetkinliğinde eğitimin etkisine de yanıt aramaktadır.

Keywords

görsel-işitsel çeviri , çeviri eğitimi , altyazı kalitesi , profesyonel çevirmenler , dillerarası altyazı çevirisi

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