Unlocking the Power of Corpus Studies in Translation and Interpreting Research

In the ever-evolving world of Translation and Interpreting Studies (TIS), researchers and professionals are increasingly turning to corpus methods to uncover linguistic patterns, as well as translation and interpreting phenomena. But what exactly are corpus studies, and how can they enhance research and practice in TIS? 
  
What Are Corpus Studies? 

Corpus studies can be considered a methodology with theoretical status that can be applied to many linguistic areas and theories (McEnery, Xiao, & Tono, 2006, pp. 7-8). In the field of TIS, it is one of the methodologies for textual analysis that has been most developed in the last thirty years (see, for example, Zanettin, Saldanha, & Harding, 2015, p. 180). 

Corpus studies involve the systematic collection and analysis of linguistic data through large, structured datasets, known as corpora (see, for instance, Brezina, 2018, p. 4; McEnery et al., 2006, pp. 4-5; Sinclair, 1994). These corpora —whether monolingual, comparable or parallel— allow researchers to identify trends, patterns, and shifts in translation and interpreting, providing a data-driven approach to linguistic inquiry. 

By using specialised corpus analysis tools (also known as concordances), such as WordSmith Tools, AntConc, Sketch Engine, or CQPweb, researchers can: 

• Compare translations across languages to analyse consistency and variation. 
• Examine lexical and syntactic patterns in different genres and registers. 
• Explore how translators and interpreters handle specific linguistic challenges through real-world data. 
• Analyse typical features of interpreted language —such as paraphrasing, generalisation, or reformulation— and compare their use across different contexts. 
• Examine how interpreting strategies vary depending on the mode (e.g., simultaneous vs. consecutive), the setting (e.g., legal, medical, or conference interpreting), the language pair and other variables. 
• Investigate how pragmatic aspects such as politeness, hedging, or turn-taking are handled across languages in interpreted discourse. 
• Investigate changes in terminology and style over time. 

  
Why Are Corpus Studies Essential in TIS? 

Unlike traditional approaches, corpus research provides empirical evidence that strengthens academic findings. It allows scholars to: 

• Move beyond intuition – Instead of relying on anecdotal observations, researchers can use large datasets to back up their claims. 
• Enhance translation and/or interpreting quality – By studying corpora, translators and interpreters can improve their decision-making, ensuring terminological consistency and style alignment. 
• Improve machine translation systems – Corpus studies provide valuable training data for AI-driven translation tools, making them more accurate and reliable. 
• Expand research horizons – Whether investigating interpreting strategies, translation universals, or cross-linguistic discourse patterns, corpus methods open new avenues for exploration. 

If you are a PhD student, researcher, or professional looking to integrate corpus methodologies into your research, Course 4 of the ReMeTIS programme on Corpus Studies, provided by the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting, is the perfect opportunity to develop hands-on skills in corpus compilation, analysis, and interpretation. 
  
Bibliography 

• Brezina, V. (2018). Statistics in Corpus Linguistics: A Practical Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
• McEnery, T., Xiao, R., & Tono, Y. (2006). Corpus-based language studies: An advanced resource book. Londres y Nueva York: Routledge. 
• Sinclair, J. (1994). Corpus typology. EAGLES DOCUMENT EAG–CSG/IR–T1, 1.  
• Zanettin, F., Saldanha, G., & Harding, S.-A. (2015). Sketching landscapes in translation studies: A bibliographic study. Perspectives, 23(2), 161-182. doi:10.1080/0907676X.2015.1010551