an analysis of the self-regulatory strategies used by iranian english-persian translators in translation process: a mixed-method study

Self-regulation is considered as self-generated ideas and actions, which are directed towards achieving academic objectives (cleary & zimmerman, 2004). the purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate the english-persian translators’ perception and use of self-regulatory strategies in translation process. to that end, three research phases were designed. in the first phase, 42 male and female translators were requested to participate in a semi-structured interview designed based on pintrich’s (2004) model of self-regulation. in second phase of the study, 20 translators were requested to translate sample texts and participate in introspective and retrospective think-aloud protocols. then, the data from think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews were transcribed and analyzed. based on the recurrent themes, a five-point likert-scale questionnaire on self-regulation strategies of english-persian translators was developed. this 31-item questionnaire was composed of three sub-sections. in the quantitative phase of this study, thirty english-persian translators were selected through purposive sampling and invited to answer the questionnaire, thereby self-reporting their use of self-regulatory strategies in translation process. finally, the results revealed that english-persian translators ignored motivational, affective, contextual phases of self-regulation to a large extent, and might approach translation process only as a cognitive process. the findings of this study offer implications for translators and translation programs.