Attitudes towards translation of grammatically gender-neutral English (L2) nouns into grammatically gender-non-neutral Polish (L1) nouns

Thesis

This mixed-methods study investigates attitudes of Polish translators (n = 44) and translation students (n = 108) toward translating gender-neutral English (L2) occupational nouns into grammatically gender-non-neutral Polish (L1) forms, with a focus on feminatives. Polish feminatives were extracted from source texts and translated into English to create gender-neutral stimuli. Participants then back-translated these English sentences into Polish, enabling analysis of whether they selected feminatives, masculine generics, or alternative nominal strategies. The study examines how participants evaluate and approach occupational titles and how these attitudes relate to professional self-identification. A novel three-block online survey was administered, comprising sociodemographic questions, noun translation tasks involving potential feminatives, and a 5-point Likert scale based on an adapted version of Markowski’s Language Attitudes Theory, here applied empirically for the first time. To complement the quantitative findings, voluntary semi-structured post-survey interviews were conducted with 13 participants. Given the highly non-normal distribution of the data, several non-parametric analyses were used, including Mann–Whitney U tests, Eta coefficients, Chi-Square tests, and exploratory Principal Component Analysis (PCA) across 11 descriptive parameters, 19 subattitudinal variables, and 27 noun choices. Quantitative results revealed significant group differences in translation choices and language attitudes, influenced by factors such as age, geographical background, and translator status, aligning with contemporary findings across other gendered languages. Qualitative analysis identified recurring attitudinal themes shaping participants’ translational decision-making. The novel PCA clusters may serve as a basis for developing a more comprehensive empirical tool. While the application of Markowski’s Theory highlighted certain conceptual limitations and the overall sample size (n = 152) restricts generalisability, the study addresses a notable research gap in attitudes toward translation in Poland and contributes valuable pedagogical insights.

Authors: Wacewicz-Chorosz, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-8rmg0nxae
• Type of award: MSc
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English, Polish
• Keywords: mixed-methods; feminative; Polish; ALLT; gender; occupational; translation; attitudes; PCA; vocabulary; applied linguistics; nouns
• Subjects: Polish language; Translating; Attitudes; Vocabulary; Gender; Mixed methods research; Feminine names; Translators; Students; Occupational prestige