The Effect of Paper vs. Screen-Based Translation Proofreading on Error Detection

Abstract

Although it is assumed that written information is better processed in print, recent studies indicate that digital reading might be as effective due to a change in user behaviour. Considering both the fact that current practice trends still advocate for the printing of translated texts for revision purposes and the lack of dedicated studies in the field of translation, this study aims to identify any differences regarding the effect of paper-based vs. screen-based translation proofreading. Thus, a group (n = 70) of students from the University of Alicante, Spain, was asked to proofread a translation containing a number of both non-linguistic (i.e., which could be identified without any specific language proficiency) and linguistic errors (i.e., for the identification of which a certain degree of foreign language proficiency is required), which was presented before them digitally, i.e. via a computer screen, whereas another group (n = 73) performed the same task having both the translation and the original document in print. The statistical analysis carried out indicates that proofreading on screen was more effective for both types of errors, especially for the non-linguistic one.