The First Seminar on Corpus-based Translation for Young Scholars was successfully held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University from 15 to 17 November. The conference was jointly hosted by the Corpus-based Translation Committee of the China Association for Comparative Studies of English and Chinese and the School of Foreign Languages of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and co-organized by the Wenzhi Forum of the Division for Development Liberal Arts of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The conference focused on the innovative development of corpus-based translation in the era of artificial intelligence. More than 100 experts, scholars, and postgraduates from more than 50 universities, including Beijing Foreign Studies University, Shanghai International Studies University, Peking University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Dalian International Studies University, Southwest University, Beijing Language and Culture University and Qufu Normal University, attended this academic event.

On the morning of the 16th, the seminar kicked off at the main venue of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU, presided over by Tenured Associate Professor Pang Shuangzi of SJTU. Professor Shang Biwu, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU, gave a speech initially. He warmly welcomed all the scholars attending the conference, particularly stressed the profound accumulation of the School of Foreign Languages in the field of corpus-based translation studies and placed high expectations on the growth of young scholars.

Wang Kefei, Chair Professor of BFSU and Founding President of the Professional Committee on Corpus-based Translation, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He reviewed the development of corpus-based translation studies in China in the past thirty years. He pointed out that this symposium is mainly composed of young scholars, which fully embodies the inheritance and development of the discipline. Professor Wang Kefei said that this conference aims to build a platform for academic exchange between young scholars and to promote the innovation and progress of the discipline.

Professor Hu Kaibao, Assistant to the President of SISU, also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He pointed out that corpus-based translation studies, as an important paradigm of translation research, have far-reaching significance in promoting the development of the frontier of the discipline. Professor Hu Kaibao highly affirmed the profound academic tradition of SJTU in the field of Corpus Translation Studies and had high hopes for the future development of the School of Foreign Languages. He encouraged the participating scholars to take this conference as an opportunity to strengthen communication and cooperation, and jointly promote the continuous innovation and development of the discipline.

After the opening ceremony, the symposium entered the keynote report session, which arranged seven expert reports with rich contents and diverse themes. Professor Zhu Yifan of SJTU hosted the first and second keynote reports. The first presentation was given by Professor Hu Xianyao of SWU, entitled “Is machine translation more normalized than human translation? A corpus-based investigation across registers and a new perspective”. In his presentation, he explored whether the normalization hypothesis applies to machine translation, and by comparing the linguistic features of machine translation with those of human translation, he found that normalization is not a universal characteristic of machine translation, but rather human translation shows a stronger tendency to be conservative. This phenomenon may be related to socio-cognitive factors and influenced by stylistic differences.

The second presentation was given by Professor Li Dechao of The HKPU, entitled “Formulaicity in Simultaneous Interpretation: A Comparative Study of Lexical Bundles in UN Security Council Speeches”. Focusing on the use of four-word blocks in UN Security Council speeches and simultaneous interpreting corpus, his report found that the frequency and diversity of lexical blocks used by interpreters are higher than those of native speakers. This phenomenon suggests that interpreters are more likely to rely on word chunks to improve fluency under high cognitive load, while native speakers show greater linguistic diversity and expressive flexibility.

Professor Deng Yaochen of DUFL chaired the third and fourth keynote speeches. The third keynote lecture was given by Professor Dai Guangrong of GDUFS, entitled “Exploring the Feasibility of Corpus in Enhancing the Quality of Machine Translation”. In his presentation, he elaborated on the key role of corpus in improving the quality of machine translation, analyzed the influence mechanism of corpus processing on the performance optimization of translation models, and explored how to efficiently integrate linguistic knowledge into machine translation models, to provide powerful support for theoretical research and practical application.

The fourth presentation was given by Professor Guo Hongjie of SUFE, entitled “Metaphors on Which Economics Depends and Their Translation into Chinese - A Corpus-Based Study”. In his presentation, he summarized the six major metaphorical source domains mapping to the target domain of “economy”, which provides rich corpus support for analyzing the diversity of financial metaphors. He also discussed the three strategies of metaphor translation in cross-cultural contexts - metaphor retention, adaptation, and omission - and revealed the impact of cultural differences on the understanding and translation of metaphors.

Professor Liu Zequan of HENU moderated the last three keynote presentations in the morning. The fifth keynote presentation, entitled ”AI-driven Translation Education: An Interactive Learning and Feedback Platform“, was delivered by Associate Professor Liu Kanglong of HKPU. He introduced an innovative AI translation training and feedback platform that combines ChatGPT and machine translation technologies to provide students with a comprehensive learning experience that integrates translation, post-translation editing, and assessment. This novel teaching tool aims to enhance students' translation ability, optimize the learning process, and promote the intelligent and interactive development of translation education.

The sixth keynote lecture was delivered by Tenured Associate Professor Pang Shuangzi of SJTU entitled “What Transcends ‘Translation Universals’? A Diachronic Corpus-Based Analysis of Register Features in Translated and Original Chinese Texts”. Her research expands on the existing diachronic composite corpus, analyzes the characteristics of the translated Chinese, which includes four periods and five styles and reveals the significant differences between the translated Chinese and the original Chinese. Through principal component analysis, it is found that social factors play an important role in the evolution of translated language features, which provides a new perspective for the study of translation universals and language change.

The last keynote speech was given by Associate Professor Liu Dingjia of BFSU, entitled “A Multifactorial Study on the Mechanism of Obligatory Explicitation in English-Chinese Translation: A Case Study of Chinese Translations of English Passive Structures”. He analyzed in depth the mechanism of obligatory explication in the passive structure of English-Chinese translation and used a multi-factor analysis method to make a multi-category classification and comparison to reflect the complexity of the translation phenomenon more accurately. It is found that the Chinese translation passive structure tends to undergo explicitation, which is mainly influenced by the structural differences between the two language systems.

In the afternoon of the 16th, eight sub-sessions were held at the same time. The topics of the sub-sessions included corpus-based literary translation research, corpus-based Chinese to foreign translation research, large language model and corpus-based translation research, corpus-based translation language feature research, corpus-based translator research, corpus-based translation application research, and so on. The reviewing experts of each session were, in order, Professor Li Dechao of HKPU, Professor Liu Zequan of HENU, Professor Qin Hongwu of QFNU, Professor Dai Guangrong of GDUFS, Associate Professor Liu Kanglong of HKPU, Professor Hu Xianyao of SWU, Professor Xia Yun of QFNU, and Associate Professor Liu Dingjia of BFSU. The young scholars in each session shared their latest research results, and the experts commented and guided them one by one, which was a serious and enthusiastic scene, and the participants expressed that they had benefited a lot.

Afterward, the seminar entered the Young Scholars Forum session, in which Associate Professor Liu Lei of Yanshan University, Associate Professor Han Lintao of BLCU, Dr. Wu Liangping of Hunan University of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Hu Hai of SJTU, Dr. Zhu Zhouye of PKU, and Associate Professor Li Yinghui of GDUFS reported in turn.

Liu Lei's presentation was entitled “Research on the Case Base of Computer-Assisted Translation Course Driven by Large Models”; Han Lintao reported on “Research on Large Model-Assisted Translation Methods Based on the Integration of Terminology Database and Translation Memory”; Wu Liangping gave a presentation entitled “Overview of CQP Web Retrieval and Analysis Technology”; Hu Hai reported on “Progress in the Construction of Translation Syntax Tree Database in the Field of Chinese Literature”; Zhu Zhouye gave a presentation entitled “A comparative study of the complexity of passive sentences in translated and original Chinese”, and finally, Li Yinghui reported her study on “Explicitation and interpreting students' cognitive-psychological factors: a longitudinal corpus-based network analysis”. The colorful presentations of the young scholars demonstrated their elegance and potential.

Next, the seminar entered the dialogue session between editors-in-chief and young scholars. Professor Wang Kefei, Honorary Chief Editor of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Professor Deng Yaochen, Chief Editor of Foreign Languages and Their Teaching, Professor Hu Jiasheng, Executive Associate Editor of Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Education in China, Professor Fu Jingmin, Chief Editor of Shanghai Journal of Translation, and Professor Li Dechao, Chief Editor of Translation Quarterly were present, and the dialogue was moderated by Professor Yang Feng, Chief Editor of Contemporary Foreign Language Studies.

The chief editors of these journals provided specific suggestions for young scholars in academic writing and submission: First, they should understand the main themes of each journal, decide on the target journal in the writing stage, and choose according to the characteristics of the journal; Secondly, it is necessary to carry out cross-research on translation studies with a view to solving problems and combine translation studies with linguistics, communication studies, and sociology. The third is to carefully refer to the review opinions of the editorial department when revising, and improving the theoretical depth, discussion structure, language expression, literature norms, and other aspects. The young students were eager to ask questions, and the atmosphere was warm.

The closing ceremony was hosted by Professor Zhen Fengchao of SJTU, and Professor Qin Hongwu, President of the Professional Committee on Corpus-based Translation, made a concluding speech. He emphasized that corpus-based translation research in the era of artificial intelligence needs to be brave to make breakthroughs and keep abreast of the times, and pointed out that generative AI represented by GPT demonstrates human-like linguistic capabilities and should be used as a tool for language research. Meanwhile, he encouraged young scholars to consolidate the foundation and strive for innovation.

The success of this Seminar for Young Scholars in Corpus-based Translation Studies not only demonstrated the latest research results of Corpus-based Translation Studies in the era of Artificial Intelligence， but also provided a valuable platform for young scholars to show their talents and injected new vitality and development impetus to the research of Corpus-based Translation Studies in China.