Translation, ESP and corpus studies: Bridging the gap in a French context

While ESP and translation studies have developed and diversified, there is little convergence between the two disciplines. This paper addresses the relevance of translation studies for ESP as seen from a French context. It is argued that recent developments in corpus linguistics contribute to bridging the gap between ESP and specialized translation by providing the methodology and conceptual framework needed to describe and contrast the specific use that LSP makes of language. As an illustration of this cross-fertilization, two scientific papers and two masters students’ reports are examined. In the former case, the issue considered is the extent to which research on corpus-based specialized translation teaching contributes to a better understanding of specialized language and its interaction with general language. Attention is then focused on practical applications in the form of two case studies of trainee translators’ analysis of translation problems. Findings show that corpus-informed research on the translation of specialized texts sheds light on major issues for ESP such as the mutual pervasiveness of the specific features of general and specialized languages, the explanatory adequacy of research on collocational patterns, and the decisive influence of context of situation and culture on linguistic choices.