Protocol analysis has been widely used in cognitive studies. This research tries to understand the information processing activities in the subtitle translation process making use of think-aloud protocol methods. Protocols of 63 participants were analysed: 33 subjects from the translation students in Hong Kong, who attended media translation courses and with subtitles translating knowledge, and another 30 subjects from the translation students in Beijing, who attended cinema and television script writing, screen translation courses and with some subtitles translation exposure. Translating behaviour and problem solving strategies within these two groups were investigated. Their differences in thinking strategies and knowledge transfer process reflect part of the status of audiovisual translation in China and Hong Kong.

Maria CHENG is associate professor at the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, City University of Hong Kong. She is an academic and cultural worker. Prior to her academic pursuance she had a great amount of experience with the media industry, including advertising, broadcasting, film-making and publishing. Her current research interests focus on political discourse analysis, the translation process, bilingual editing and Chinese painting. Her recent publications include refereed papers published in Discourse & Society and the Journal of Translation Studies.