The Processing of Information by Different Learners

Different learners also process information in strikingly different ways. There are four main types: contextual-global, sequential-detailed/linear, conceptual, and concrete.

Contextual-global learners are sometimes described as "parachutists": they see the big picture, as if they were floating high above it, and often care less about the minute details. They want to grasp the main points quickly and build a general sense of the whole, and only later, if at all, fill in the details. They first want to know what something means and how it relates to their experience — its relevance, its purpose — and only then feel motivated to find out what it's like, what its precise nature is. They are "multitaskers" who like to work on many things at once, jumping from one problem to another as they grow bored with each and crave a change. They process information intuitively and inferentially, and often get a "gut-feeling" for the answer or solution or conclusion halfway through a procedure.

Contextual-global translators and interpreters tend to prefer jobs where minute accuracy is less important than a general overall "fit" or target-cultural appropri­ateness: escort interpreting over court interpreting; literary and commercial translating over scientific and technical translating. They want to get a general "feel" for the source text and then create a target text that feels more or less same, or seems to work in more or less the same way. When they are required by the nature of the job to be more minutely accurate, contextual-global translators prefer to do a rough translation quickly (for them the enjoyable part) and then go back over it slowly, editing for errors (for them the drudgery). Contextual-global freelancers tend to be somewhat sloppy with their bookkeeping, and often lose track of who has paid and who hasn't. They own dictionaries and other reference works, but have a hard time remembering to update them, and often prefer to call an expert on the phone or check a word with Internet friends than own exactly the right dictionary.

Sequential-detailed or linear learners prefer to control the learning process as much as possible by doing only one thing at a time: focusing on a single task until it is finished, and proceeding through that task one step at a time. These learners always want to know how to proceed in advance; they want a map, a formula, a menu, a checklist. They are analytical, logical, sequential, linear thinkers, typically high in logical/mathematical intelligence, who believe in being systematic and thorough in all things.

Sequential-detailed or linear translators and interpreters will typically gravitate toward highly structured working situations and texts. Stable employment with a steady salary is preferable to the uncertainties of freelancing. If possible, these people want to know far in advance what they will be translating tomorrow, next week, next month, so they can read up on it, learn vocabularies and registers, be prepared before the job begins. They are much more likely to specialize in a certain subject area, such as biomedical or patents or software localization, so they can learn all about their field. Sequential-detailed interpreters will gravitate toward academic and political meetings where speakers read from prepared scripts, and wherever possible will avoid more spontaneous contexts like court interpreting, where one never knows what the speaker is going to say next. If any professional translator ever does a detailed textual analysis of the source text before beginning to translate, it will be the sequential-detailed translator. Sequential-detailed translators own all the latest dictionaries in their field, and tend to trust dictionaries more than contextual-global translators; they also meticulously maintain their own private (and possibly also a corporate) terminological database, updating it whenever they happen upon a new word in a source text or other reading material.

Conceptual or abstract learners process information most effectively at high levels of generality and at a great distance from the distractions of practical experience. They prefer talking and thinking to doing, and love to build elaborate and elegant systems that bear little resemblance to the complexities of real life.

Conceptual or abstract translators and interpreters quickly lose patience with the practical drudgery of translating and interpreting, and gravitate toward universities, where they teach translators.

Concrete learners prefer to process information by handling it in as tangible a way as possible. They are suspicious of theories, abstract models, conceptualizations — generally of academic knowledge that strays too far from their sense of the hands-on realities of practical experience.

Concrete translators and interpreters are usually hostile toward or wary of translator training, and would prefer to learn to translate on their own, by doing it. Within translator-training programs, they openly express their impatience or disgust with theoretical models and approaches that do not directly help them translate or interpret specific passages better.