Dr Callum Walker

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in Translation Technology in September 2020, having previously taught computer-assisted translation technology, project management, and specialised translation (French>English and Russian>English) in various forms at Durham University (2012–2020), University College London (2018–2019), and Goldsmiths College University of London (2020). I was also an Honorary Research Fellow in Translation Studies at University College London in 2019–2021.

I obtained my PhD in Translation Studies from University College London in 2018. Concurrently with my PhD studies and teaching activities, I worked as a freelance translator (beginning in 2009), specialising in legal, business and financial translations from French and Russian into English, as well as managing translations in other language pairs and domains through a wide network of linguists.

I am a Chartered Linguist and Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL, UK) as well as a qualified Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI, UK), and have also carried out consultancy work for the CIOL in connection with the PG Diploma in Translation.

Responsibilities

• Subject Leader of the Centre for Translation Studies (2022-)
• Programme Manager of the MA Applied Translation Studies (2020-)
• Subject Research Leader and PGR Liaison, Centre for Translation Studies (2021-2022)

Research interests

I have two main areas of research in translation studies. My primary research interest lies in the translation services industry and translation profession, and in particular translation project management. Notably, I am interested in translation project constraints (time, cost, quality, scope, benefits, risk), project management frameworks (PMBOK and Prince2), CAT tool and technology-driven workflows in project management, and the micro-economics of the language services industry (with a particular focus on rate setting, supply/demand, and agency theory). My Routledge textbook on this topic, entitled Translation Project Management, was published at the end of 2022.

I am currently working on projects relating to information asymmetry in the translation industry (in particular on the part of clients and project managers), the challenges faced by freelance translators (with a focus on rates and working conditions), and the technologisation of the translation industry (drawing on emerging trends relating to the platform economy, Uberisation, and growing automation). Most of this work is situated within a conceptual framework informed by agency theory and the so-called principal-agent (or principal-professional) problem. This work feeds into an on-going project on the sustainability of the freelance translation profession in the United Kingdom (funded by a BA/Leverhulme Small Grant; in collaboration with Dr Joseph Lambert [Cardiff University] and Dr JC Penet [Newcastle University]).

Together with Dr Joseph Lambert (Cardiff University), I have a contract to edit The Routledge Handbook of the Translation Industry, bringing together authors from across a wide range of academic backgrounds and professional backgrounds. The volume is due to be published in 2025.

My secondary research interest is in the field of cognitive translation studies, and more specifically the reception of stylistic variation in translation. My doctoral and subsequent research and publications have centred around exploring the phenomenological experience of reading source texts and translations in a comparative light, notably using eye tracking to gain an insight into the cognitive dimensions of the reading experience. At the moment, I am looking to build on my methodological proof of concept by incorporating additional biometric sensors to further explore the cognitive and emotional dimensions of reading different written styles in translation. In this context, I have a keen interest in research methods, mixed-methods designs (qualitative and quantitative methods), experimental and empirical methods, and statistical analyses. In light of the case studies employed in my research, I also have a strong interest in language varieties (e.g. dialects, sociolects), especially in a literary context.

In this research area of cognitive translation studies, I co-edited the volume Eye Tracking and Multidisciplinary Studies on Translation (co-edited with Federico M. Federici, University College London), which was published in 2018 with John Benjamins. My monograph An Eye-Tracking Study of Equivalent Effect in Translation: The Reader Experience of Literary Style, which builds on my doctoral research, was published by Palgrave in late 2020.

• Chasing Status: The Sustainability of the Freelance Translation Profession in the United Kingdom

Qualifications

• PhD in Translation Studies (University College London)
• BA (Hons) in French and Russian (University of Sheffield)

Professional memberships

• Chartered Institute of Linguists (CL and MCIL)
• Institute of Translation and Interpreting (MITI)

Student education

My teaching is centred on the MA in Applied Translation Studies, with a particular focus on computer-assisted translation technology, localisation, and project management. I lecture on translation theory, with sessions on translation technology, the translation industry, and ethics and am also involved in the supervision and assessment of translation projects (FR-EN, RU-EN) and dissertations within my areas of expertise across CTS.

Research groups and institutes

• Translation
• Language processing
• French
• Russian
• Centre for World Literatures

Current postgraduate researchers

• Omar Alkhowaiter
• Adaeze Ngozi Ohuoba
• Lu Yuan
• Latifah Aldulaimi
• Meng Du
• Jemma Louise Stafford