Dealing with Translational Uncertainty
Student Perceptions and Behaviors in Human Translation, Post-editing, and GPT-Enhanced Revision
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61200/mikael.164083Avainsanat:
translation pedagogy, translational uncertainty, uncertainty management, human translation, AI tools in translationAbstrakti
This article examines how translation students perceive and manage uncertainty across three modalities: human translation (HT), post-editing (PE), and GPT-enhanced revision. Drawing on data from a final-year translation course at the University of Cyprus—including students’ translations of satirical French texts into Greek, reflective commentaries, a post-project questionnaire, and weekly assignments—the study traces how units of creative potential (e.g., metaphor, cultural reference, stylistic markedness) trigger uncertainty and how students address such challenges. Rather than being experienced primarily as a hindrance, uncertainty often functioned as a catalyst for research, comparison, and creative reformulation. The modalities shaped this dynamic in distinct ways: HT generated the highest levels of uncertainty but also elicited the richest exploratory responses; PE tended to channel uncertainty into error detection and constrained intervention; and GPT-enhanced revision was perceived to foster a dialogic, evaluative mode of engagement where students compared alternatives and selectively adopted suggestions, though not always successfully. The article argues that uncertainty should be reframed pedagogically as a resource for creativity, risk management, and self-regulation, and that AI tools are most effective in training when embedded within a pedagogy of critical evaluation.
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