XVIII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2026

Introduction. Translation is often compared to art, craft, or even scientific activity. However, it is based on a specific intellectual mechanism: the professional thinking of a translator. This is not just about knowing two languages, but a complex mental system that allows for the transformation of meanings, the overcoming of cultural barriers, and the creation of new texts that have a life of their own in a different language.

The relevance of the study.In the modern world, the role of a translator is transforming from a simple linguistic intermediary to a strategist and architect of interlingual interaction. This paradigm shift highlights the importance of understanding the internal mechanisms that ensure the success of the translation process. While linguistic competence and technological proficiency have long been considered key components of professional training, the focus of scientific attention has shifted to the professional thinking of the translator, a complex cognitive construct that determines their ability to generate meaningful messages in the context of interlingual and intercultural asymmetry.

The problem of thinking in translation has an interdisciplinary character and is located at the intersection of cognitive linguistics, psychology, theory of translation and didactics. Classical equivalence theories (J. Norden, Y. Naida, V.N. Komissarov) laid the foundations for understanding the translation process as a search for semantic correspondences. The Cognitive turn in Translation Studies (R.T. Bell, D. Kiray, S. Gepferrich) shifted the focus to the mental operations underlying this search. However, despite the significant amount of research devoted to individual aspects of translation competence (linguistic, textual, and cultural), professional thinking as a holistic, dynamic, and strategically organized system has not been sufficiently studied.

The purpose of this article is to identify the key components of a translator's professional thinking and to determine the mechanisms and ways of their formation in the training of novice translators in the field of professional activity. By examining the main definitions directly related to this study, we can identify the key components of a translator's professional thinking and determine the main ways of their formation.

An analysis of scientific sources has allowed us to determine that the concept of professional thinking is "the thinking of a professional activity subject aimed at understanding and setting goals specific to this activity, at solving problems and tasks that arise during the activity, and therefore has specific features of its content, forms, operations, and means [1, pp. 246-250]. It is a specific type of mental activity aimed at solving professional problems. It involves the consolidation of practical training and specific professional activities, which is due to the interconnection of practical and theoretical components [2, pp. 199-201], reflective mental activity in solving professional problems [3, p. 200], etc.

Taking into account the above, it should be noted that the professional thinking of a translator is an integrative cognitive process aimed at the adequate transformation of information from one language to another, taking into account linguistic, cultural, pragmatic and situational factors. Its main feature is the constant existence in two realities simultaneously: the source text and its future incarnation in the language of translation.

Professional translation is not just a mechanical substitution of words from one language with words from another. It is a complex intellectual process that requires a specific type of thinking that is developed through years of training and practice. The professional thinking of a translator is a synthesis of analytical, creative, linguistic, and cultural skills that allows for adequate and equivalent interlanguage communication. The scientific literature highlights the following key components of a translator's professional thinking: the bilingual-cognitive component, the analytical-synthetic component, the cultural-reference component (background knowledge), the communicative-pragmatic component, the technical-technological component, the ethical-professional component, and others. Let's take a closer look at each of these components.

The bilingual-cognitive component is the basis of translation thinking. A translator must not only know two languages, but also be able to fluently operate with concepts and meanings in both languages. To achieve this, a translator needs to have:

- a deep understanding of language systems, which involves recognizing the grammatical, syntactic, and stylistic features of both the native and foreign languages;

- a well-developed ability to make language inferences, which means that the translator must be able to understand and interpret new or unfamiliar linguistic units in context;

- an internal "mental dictionary" that includes extensive active and passive vocabulary, idioms, terms, modern vocabulary, and archaisms.

The analytical-synthetic component is the core of the translation process. The translator must act as a researcher and a designer. To do this, they need to have the following skills:

- analyzing the source text to identify the author's purpose, target audience, style, subtext, key meanings, and potential "bottlenecks" (puns, realia, and wordplay);

- synthesizing the text in the target language to create a new text that accurately conveys the original's message while adhering to the norms of the target language and meeting the expectations of the new audience;

- the ability to decompose and restructure, i.e. break down complex sentences into semantic blocks and reassemble them in another language.

Cultural and reference component (background knowledge). A translator is a bridge between cultures. Without understanding the context, an adequate translation is impossible. A translator must have the following skills:

- knowledge of the realities of the source and target language countries, including historical, geographical, and cultural aspects;

- understanding of cultural codes and connotations, to be aware of what associations, emotions or assessments a particular concept evokes in different cultures (for example, color, animal, gesture);

- general erudition or broad outlook in the field of politics, economics, science, art, culture, etc.

The communicative-pragmatic component is focused on the addressee and the specific communication situation. The translator needs to: - identify the communicative intention and be able to answer questions such as "Why was the text created? To inform, persuade, entertain, or encourage action?"; - consider the characteristics of the recipient, such as whether the translation is intended for children, experts, or the general public. This will significantly impact the translation process; - to apply the flexibility of choosing a strategy or skill to choose between literalness and freedom, between localization and preservation of exoticism, based on the task.

Technical and technological component. Modern translation thinking is inseparable from digital tools, so a translator must have the following skills: - IT skills and an understanding of translation memory and terminology databases; - the ability to effectively search for and verify information and critically evaluate online sources, as well as to work with text corpora and specialized databases; - the basics of pre-editing and post-editing text processing, as well as the ability to work with PDFs and have basic formatting skills.

An ethical and professional component aimed at developing the mindset of a responsible professional, which is manifested in: - awareness of the responsibility of the translator, who is responsible for the result, and who may affect the fate of people (medical, legal translation) or cultural reputation; - confidentiality, which is an invariable rule of dealing with personal or commercial information; - an understanding of the limits of their competence, the ability to say "no" to an order that exceeds their qualifications, and a willingness to continuous learning.

To develop translation thinking, a novice translator needs to learn how to "break" the source text into semantic units by disabling direct correspondence. This can be achieved through exercises that involve paraphrasing, non-literal retelling, and identifying key meanings.

The formation of key components of a translator's professional thinking is a complex and multi-stage process that requires not only systematic training but also deep personal transformation. It is a journey from mastering a language pair to developing unique meta-thinking, the ability to consciously manage one's cognitive strategies based on the text, purpose, and context. Let's represent the process of forming key components of a beginner translator's professional thinking in the form of a matrix in Table 1.

Table 1 Matrix for Forming the Key Components of a Beginner Translator's Professional Thinking

The conducted theoretical analysis allowed us to achieve the research goal and formulate a number of significant results regarding the structure and ways of developing the professional thinking of a novice translator.

Research results. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, the six-component structure of a translator's professional thinking has been confirmed and detailed. The study has shown that these components do not exist in isolation but form a dynamic hierarchical system. At the initial stage, the bilingual-cognitive component plays a dominant role, but as the translator develops, the ability to make strategic choices (communicative-pragmatic component) and to engage in reflective self-evaluation (ethical-professional component) becomes more prominent.

It has been empirically and theoretically substantiated that the formation of thinking is a non-linear but progressive process. The following conditional stages can be identified:

- the stage of deconstruction of linguistic automatism.

- the stage of conscious application of strategies.

- the stage of integration and automation.

The central result was the development and presentation in Table 1 of a matrix of correspondence between the key component of thinking and specific practices for its development. This matrix translates the theoretical model into a practical framework, providing clear guidelines for organizing the learning process.

The results confirm the hypothesis about the systemic nature of professional thinking. For example, the effective development of the cultural and reference component (through country studies) directly affects the quality of communicative and pragmatic solutions (the choice of localization strategy). At the same time, working on the technical and technological component structures and strengthens analytical and synthetic operations, contributing to the creation of consistent terminology. The conclusion about the key role of the ethical and professional component and reflection deserves special discussion. It is the reflective practice (error analysis, case discussion, and translator's diary) that acts as the "cement" that binds individual skills into a cohesive mindset. It allows the novice translator to become aware of their cognitive strategies and begin to manage them, which is the core of metacognition. The critical importance of the technical and technological component has been confirmed. However, the discussion shows that its formation should not be reduced to the mechanical mastering of software. It is necessary to cultivate critical digital thinking: understanding the limitations of machine translation, the ability to verify data from online sources, and the ethical use of other people's translation solutions from translation memory. This protects the novice specialist from the risk of degradation of their own analytical abilities.

Thus, the results of the study allow us to state that the professional thinking of a translator is not a set of static knowledge, but a dynamic system of interconnected cognitive strategies that is formed through purposeful and reflective practice. The proposed formation matrix demonstrates that the path from novice to professional lies in the parallel and complementary development of six key components, where the cultivation of reflexivity and ethics plays a special role. This transforms the translator from a “technical executor” who is vulnerable to automation into a strategist of intercultural communication whose unique value lies precisely in a holistic and flexible professional mindset. These findings have a direct practical significance for the modernization of translation training methods, shifting the focus from drills on individual skills to the cultivation of a holistic cognitive system.

Conclusion. The formation of a translator's mindset is a long and purposeful process. It requires a systematic education from a novice translator, constant, conscious practice, reflection, and a life of curiosity. A translator is an eternal student who is interested in everything around them.

In the era of neural networks and instant machine translation, it is professional thinking that becomes the key difference and the main value of a human translator. A machine works with patterns, while a human works with meanings, contexts, and intentions. A translator's professional thinking is a dual-purpose mental bridge. On the one hand, it is a tool for solving specific tasks in interlanguage communication. On the other hand, it is a unique cognitive skill that develops mental flexibility, intercultural empathy, and systemic vision. This is a mindset that not only translates texts, but also expands the boundaries of mutual understanding in a world where words still hold meaning, and the accuracy of their transmission is a matter of professionalism, ethics, and sometimes even peace between people. Developing this mindset is a lifelong journey, where each new challenge, complex context, and cross-cultural dialogue honed the skill, transforming the translator from a technical executor to a communication strategist.

It should also be noted that the professional thinking of a translator is his superpower, his multifaceted and dynamic construct. It combines the linguistic virtuosity of a scientist, the analytical clarity of a detective, the creative intuition of an artist, and the tact of a diplomat. The formation of such thinking is not just a stage of learning, but the essence of a translator's professional development and self-improvement throughout his career. It is this thinking that transforms a language specialist into a true architect of intercultural understanding.

Списоклитературы

1. Gilmanov, S. A. Professional Thinking as a Problem of Organizational Psychology / S. A. Gilmanov // Psychology of the Professional and Educational Space of a Person: Collection of Scientific Articles of the 8th All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference, November 19-20, 2009, Yekaterinburg. Part 1 / Russian State University of Professional Education. Yekaterinburg: RGPPU, 2009. pp. 246-250.

2. Andronov V. P. Types and main components of professional thinking of a specialist // ITS. 2014. №1 (74). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/tipy-i-osnovnye-komponenty-professionalnogo-myshleniya-spetsialista-1 (date of application: 01.19.2026).

3. Taraskina I. V. Necessary conditions for improving the quality of education // Humanities: Current Issues in Science and Education. 2009. No. 8. Pp. 199-201.