GENRE-SPECIFIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH AUTHENTIC TEXTS AS A SOURCE OF PROSPECTIVE TRANSLATORS’ COMPREHENSION DIFFICULTIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2522-4077-2025-215-30Keywords:
authentic text, genre, text type, genre awareness, comprehension difficulties of authentic textsAbstract
The article explores the genre characteristics of authentic English texts and their potential impact on how prospective translators understand such texts. Emphasis is placed on the importance of translators’ genre awareness, which includes a set of declarative knowledge about those genre features that may cause difficulties in text comprehension. Based on an analysis of existing interpretations of the concepts of genre and text type, as well as models of text comprehension and text complexity, the characteristics of authentic texts that may hinder their comprehension during reading are identified. Genre and text type influence the selection of its lexical composition, determining the lexical density, the use of concrete or abstract, common or rare words, and their belonging to particular terminological systems. Genre also shapes the syntactic arrangement of texts involving particular cause-and-effect, coordinative, contrastive, and temporal relations between text elements. The presence of long multi-unit constructions and passive forms within sentences increases the reader’s cognitive load and complicates comprehension. Cohesive devices which determine the degree of visibility of connections between phrases and sentences are also considered a potential source of difficulty. The choice of narration, exposition, argumentation, and other rhetorical structures depending on the communicative purpose of the text influences its comprehension. Background knowledge, i.e., prior knowledge of the text’s topic, helps activate relevant conceptual frameworks, facilitating the perception of complex (terminological) vocabulary or phraseology. Authentic texts from “nonequivalent” fields may contain more difficulties related to background knowledge than texts from “equivalent” domains. The key factors contributing to comprehension difficulties of authentic texts involve the features of a text vocabulary characteristic of a given genre; the specifics of its syntactic organization; the degree of textual cohesion; its narrative qualities and the extent of interactive conversational style; as well as the reader’s relevant background knowledge and experience. An authentic text, due to the naturalness of its linguistic composition, its cultural markedness, and its communicative orientation, can intensify these comprehension difficulties.
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