Sharon O'Brien

Prof.

Profile Photo

Currently, Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Sharon O'Brien is Professor of Translation Studies at the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies. She obtained a PhD in 2006 on the topic of Controlled Language and Post-Editing Effort (funded by an Irish Research Council Scholarship). She was co-ordinator of a H2020 EU-funded RISE project called "INTERACT" - The International Network in Crisis Translation (2017-2020). She was a funded investigator (Science Foundation Ireland) in the ADAPT research centre for over 10 years, where her focus was on human factors and translation technology. Prof. O'Brien holds an MA by research on Language for Special Purposes, Text Linguistics and Machine Translation (1993 - EU-funded) and a BA (hons) in Applied Languages (Translation, French and German). Between 1995 - 1999 she worked as a Language Technology Consultant in the Localisation Industry. Her teaching focuses on crisis communication and translation, language technologies and HCI, localisation, and research methods.

Other relevant achievements:
1995 - Internship at the European Parliament, Luxembourg (3 months)
1994 - Austrian Government Scholarship - Study for one year at the Dolmetschinstitut, University of Vienna 

Supervision:
I am broadly interested in supervising interdisciplinary PhDs on the following topics:

  • Crisis communication and especially the role of translation and interpreting;
  • Translation technology, especially the impact of future AI;
  • Translation technology and language learning;
  • Translation and cognitive processes;
  • Translation and ethics;
  • Translation and professional practice;
  • Reception of translated products;
  • The intersection of technical communication and translation.

Book

Year Publication
2013 Gabriela Saldhana and Sharon O'Brien (2013) Research Methodologies in Translation Studies. : St. Jerome.

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2023 Sharon O'Brien (2023) 'Human-Centered augmented translation: against antagonistic dualisms'. Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, . [Link] https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2023.2247423
2022 Briva-Iglesias, V.; O'Brien, S. (2022) 'The Language Engineer: A Transversal, Emerging Role for the Automation Age'. Quaderns de Filologia: Estudis Linguistics, 27 . [Link] [DOI]
2022 Sharon O'Brien; Patrick Cadwell (2022) 'Communicating Covid-19 in Multiple Languages: A Maturity Model Assessment of Ireland'. Revista de Llengua i Dret (Journal of Language and Law), (77). [Link]
2022 Federici, Federico M.; O'Hagan, Minako; Cadwell, Patrick; Marlowe, Jay; O'Brien, Sharon (2022) 'Ecosystems of Preparedness in New Zealand Empowering Communities and Professionals with Crisis Translation Training'. TRANSLATING AND INTERPRETING IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, 70 . [DOI]
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) 'Crisis Translation - A Snapshot in Time'. INContext: Studies in Translation and Interculturalisim, 1 (2). [Link] https://doi.org/10.54754/incontext.v2i1.12
2022 Wine Tesseur; Sharon O'Brien; Enida Friel (2022) 'Language inclusion in humanitarian organisations: Mapping NGOs’ language capacity and identifying linguistic challenges and solutions'. LINGUISTICA ANTVERPIENSIA NEW SERIES-THEMES IN TRANSLATION STUDIES, .
2022 Cadwell, Patrick; Federici, Federico M.; O'Brien, Sharon (2022) 'Communities of Practice and Translation: An Introduction'. JOURNAL OF SPECIALISED TRANSLATION, 37 :2-15.
2021 Robert I. Ogie, Sharon O'Brien, Federico M. Federici (2021) 'Towards using agent-based modelling for collaborative translation of crisis information: A systematic literature review to identify the underlying attributes, behaviours, interactions, and environment of agents'. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, . [Link] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102717
2021 Rohan, Olivia; Sasamoto, Ryoko; O'Brien, Sharon (2021) 'Onomatopoeia: A relevance-based eye-tracking study of digital manga'. Journal of Pragmatics, 186 . [DOI]
2021 Ana Guerberof Arenas, Joss Moorkens and Sharon O'Brien (2021) 'The impact of translation modality on user experience: an eye-tracking study of the Microsoft Word user interface'. Machine Translation, . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10590-021-09267-z
2020 Sharon O'Brien & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow (2020) 'MT Literacy - A Cognitive View'. Translation, Cognition & Behavior, 3 (2):145-164.
2020 Rossetti, Alessandra, Pat Cadwell, Sharon O'Brien (2020) 'The Terms and Conditions Came Back to Bite: Plain Language and Online Financial Content for Older Adults'. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, HCI International 2020 - Late Breaking Papers: Universal Access and Inclusive Design (12426). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60149-2_53
2020 Rossetti, Alessandra and Sharon O'Brien (2020) 'Neural Machine Translation and the Evolution of the Localisation Sector: Implications for Training'. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALISATION AND LOCALISATION, 7 (1/1):95-121.
2020 Federico M. Federici, Minako O'Hagan, Sharon O'Brien, Patrick Cadwell (2020) 'Crisis Translation Training: Challenges Arising from New Contexts of Translation'. Cultus Journal, .
2020 Sharon O'Brien and Federico M. Federici (2020) 'Crisis Translation: Considering Language Needs in Multilingual Disaster Settings'. Disaster Prevention & Management, 29 (2):129-143.
2020 Matthew Hunt, Sharon O'Brien, Dónal O'Mathuúna and Patrick Cadwell (2020) 'Ethics at the Intersection of Crisis Translation and Humanitarian Innovation'. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, 1 (3):23-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.7227/JHA.022
2019 Patrick Cadwell, Sharon O'Brien and Eric DeLuca (2019) 'More than tweets: A critical reflection on developing and testing crisis machine translation technology'. TRANSLATION SPACES, 8 (2):300-333.
2019 Rossetti, Alessandra, Sharon O'Brien (2019) 'Helping the Helpers: Evaluating the Impact of a Controlled Language Checker on the Intralingual and Interlingual Translation Tasks Involving Volunteer Health Professionals'. Translation Studies, 12 (2):253-271.
2020 Hu, K.; O’Brien, S.; Kenny, D. (2020) 'A reception study of machine translated subtitles for MOOCs'. Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, 28 . [Link] [DOI]
2018 Sharon O'Brien, Federico Federici, Patrick Cadwell, Jay Marlowe, Brian Gerber (2018) 'Language translation during disaster: A comparative analysis of five national approaches'. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 31 :627-636. [Link] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.07.006
2018 Teixeira, Carlos S. C.; O'Brien, Sharon (2018) 'Overcoming methodological challenges of eye tracking in the translation workplace'. EYE TRACKING AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ON TRANSLATION, 143 . [DOI]
2018 Castilho, Sheila and Sharon O'Brien (2018) 'Acceptability of machine-translated content: A multi-language evaluation by translators and end-users'. Linguistica Antverpiensia, 16 .
2017 Marie-Josée Goulet, Michel Simard, Carla Parra Escartín et Sharon O’Brien (2017) 'La traduction automatique comme outil d’aide à la rédaction scientifique en anglais langue seconde : résultats d’une étude exploratoire sur la qualité linguistique'. ASp - la revue du GERAS, 72 :5-28. [Link]
2017 Sharon O'Brien, Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow, Marcel Hasler & Megan Connolly (2017) 'Irritating CAT Tools that Matter to Translators'. Hermes (Denmark), 56 :145-162.
2017 Torres-Hostench, O., J. Moorkens, S. O'Brien, J. Vreeke (2017) 'Testing Interaction with a Mobile MT Post-editing App'. Translation and Interpreting, .
2017 Cadwell, Patrick, Sharon O'Brien & Carlos Teixeira (2017) 'Resistance and accommodation: Factors for the (Non-)Adoption of Machine Translation among Professional Translators'. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, . http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2017.1337210
2017 O'Brien, S. and Cadwell, P. (2017) 'Translation Facilitates Comprehension of Health-Related Crisis Information: Kenya as an Example'. JOURNAL OF SPECIALISED TRANSLATION, (28):23-51. [Link]
2017 Teixeira, Carlos S. C.; O'Brien, Sharon (2017) 'Investigating the cognitive ergonomic aspects of translation tools in a workplace setting'. TRANSLATION SPACES, 6 (1):79-103.
2016 Moorkens, J., O'Brien, S., Vreeke, J. (2016) 'Developing and testing Kanjingo: A mobile app for post-editing'. REVISTA TRADUMÁTICA, 14 (1):58-66. [Link]
2016 Patrick Cadwell, Sheila Castilho, Sharon O'Brien & Linda Mitchell (2016) 'Human Factors in Machine Translation and Post-Editing Among Institutional Translators'. TRANSLATION SPACES, 5 (2):222-243.
2016 Cadwell, P.; O'Brien, S. (2016) 'Language, culture, and translation in disaster ICT: an ecosystemic model of understanding'. Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, 24 . [Link] [DOI]
2016 Sheila Castilho & Sharon O'Brien (2016) 'Content Profiling and Translation Scenarios'. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALISATION AND LOCALISATION, 3 (1):18-37. [DOI]
2015 Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow and Sharon O'Brien (2015) 'Ergonomics of the Translation Workplace: Potential for Cognitive Friction'. TRANSLATION SPACES, 4 :98-118. [DOI]
2015 Moorkens J.; O’Brien S.; da Silva L.; de Lima Fonseca N.; Alves F. (2015) 'Correlations of perceived post-editing effort with measurements of actual effort'. Machine Translation, :1-18. [DOI]
2014 Mitchell, L.; O’Brien, S.; Roturier, J. (2014) 'Quality evaluation in community post-editing'. Machine Translation, 28 . [Link] [DOI]
2014 Doherty, Stephen; O'Brien, Sharon (2014) 'Assessing the Usability of Raw Machine Translated Output: A User-Centered Study Using Eye Tracking'. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 30 (1). [DOI]
2014 Sharon O'Brien & Michel Simard (eds) (2014) 'Special Issue on Post-Editing'. Machine Translation, 28 :159-329.
2014 Sharon O'Brien & Michel Simard (2014) 'Introduction to the special issue on post-editing'. Machine Translation, 28 :159-164.
2014 Moorkens, Joss; Doherty, Stephen; Kenny, Dorothy; O'Brien, Sharon (2014) 'A virtuous circle: laundering translation memory data using statistical machine translation'. Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, 22 (3). [DOI]
2013 O'Brien, Sharon (2013) 'The borrowers Researching the cognitive aspects of translation'. TARGET-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRANSLATION STUDIES, 25 (1). [DOI]
2013 Moorkens, Joss, Doherty, Stephen, Kenny, Dorothy & O'Brien, Sharon (2013) 'A Virtuous Circle: Laundering Translation Memory Data using Statistical Machine Translation'. PERSPECTIVES - STUDIES IN TRANSLATOLOGY, .
2013 Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen, Susanne Gopferich, Sharon O'Brien (eds) (2013) 'Special Issue: Interdisciplinarity in Translation and Interpreting Process Research'. TARGET (PRINT), 25 .
2012 Sharon O'Brien (2012) 'Translation as human-computer interaction'. TRANSLATION SPACES, 1 :101-122.
2012 Sharon O'Brien (2012) 'Towards a Dynamic Quality Evaluation Model for Translation'. JOURNAL OF SPECIALISED TRANSLATION, .
2011 Sharon O'Brien (2011) 'Towards predicting post-editing productivity'. Machine Translation, 25 :197-215.
2010 Doherty, Stephen, O'Brien, Sharon and Carl, Michael (2010) 'Eye tracking as an MT evaluation technique'. Machine Translation, 24 :1-13.
2010 Sharon O'Brien (2010) 'Eye tracking in translation process research: methodological challenges and solutions'. COPENHAGEN STUDIES IN LANGUAGE, 38 :251-266.
2010 Sharon O'Brien (2010) 'Controlled language and readability'. ATA SCHOLARLY MONOGRAPH SERIES, 15 :143-168.
2010 Doherty, S.; O'Brien, S.; Carl, M. (2010) 'Eye tracking as an MT evaluation technique'. Machine Translation, 24 . [Link] [DOI]
2009 Fiederer, Rebecca and Sharon O'Brien (2009) 'Quality and Machine Translation - A Realistic Objective?'. JOURNAL OF SPECIALISED TRANSLATION, 11 .
2009 Aranberri-Monasterio, Nora and Sharon O'Brien (2009) 'Evaluating MT output for -ing forms: a study of four target languages. Linguistica Antverpiensia'. Linguistica Antverpiensia, 8 :105-122.
2008 Sharon O'Brien (2008) 'Processing fuzzy matches in Translation Memory tools: an eye-tracking analysis'. COPENHAGEN STUDIES IN LANGUAGE, 36 :79-102.
2007 Sharon O'Brien (2007) 'An Empirical Investigation of Temporal and Technical Post-Editing Effort'. TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING STUDIES (TIS), II .
2006 Sharon O'Brien (2006) 'Pauses as indicators of cognitive effort in post-editing machine translation output'. Across Languages and Cultures, 7 :1-21.
2006 Sharon O'Brien (2006) 'Eye Tracking and Translation Memory Matches'. PERSPECTIVES - STUDIES IN TRANSLATOLOGY, 14 :185-205.
2005 O'Brien, Sharon (2005) 'Methodologies for Measuring the Correlations Between Post-Editing Effort and Machine Translatability'. Machine Translation, 19 :37-58.
2001 O'Brien, Sharon & Dorothy Kenny (2001) 'Language Technology in the Translator Training Curriculum: A Case Study'. LANGUAGE INTERNATIONAL, :*-*.

Book Chapter

Year Publication
2022 Sharon O'Brien; Federico M. Federici (2022) 'Crisis Translation - Beyond Words into Action' In: Translating Crises. London : Bloomsbury.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) 'How to deal with errors in machine translation: Post-Editing' In: Machine translation for everyone: Empowering users in the age of artificial intelligence. Germany : Language Science Press.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) 'Translation Technology - The Dark Horse of Translation?' In: 50 Years Later. What Have We Learnt after Holmes (1972) and Where Are We Now?. Spain : Tibón.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) 'Authenticity and Machine Translation' In: The Many Faces of Translation: Driven by Humans, Powered by Technology. Brussels : European Parliament.
2022 O’Brien, S.; Cadwell, P.; Lokot, T. (2022) 'Parallel Pandemic Spaces: Translation, trust and social media' In: Translation and Social Media Communication in the Age of the Pandemic. [Link] [DOI]
2021 Federico M. Federici; Minako O'Hagan; Patrick Cadwell; Jay Marlowe; Sharon O'Brien (2021) 'Ecosystems of preparedness in New Zealand: empowering communities and professionals with crisis translation training' In: Translating and Interpreting in Australia and New Zealand: Distance and Diversity. London : Routledge.
2021 Sharon O'Brien (2021) 'Post-Editing' In: The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies (Vol. 5). London and New York : Routledge.
2020 Sharon O'Brien (2020) 'Translation, human-computer interaction and cognition' In: Routledge Handbook of Translation and Cognition. London : Routledge.
2019 Federico M. Federici and Sharon O'Brien (2019) 'Cascading Crises: Translation as Risk Reduction' In: Translation in Cascading Crises. London : Routledge.
2019 Sharon O'Brien (2019) 'Controlled Language and Writing for an International Audience' In: Translation and Localization: A Guide for Technical and Professional Communicators. New York and London : Routledge.
2019 Sharon O'Brien, Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez (2019) 'Translation and Technology' In: Routledge Handbook of Translation and Education. London : Routledge.
2019 Sharon O'Brien (2019) 'Translation Technology and Disaster Management' In: Routledge Handbook of Translation and Technology. London : Routledge.
2019 Sharon O'Brien; Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez (2019) 'Translation and Technology' In: The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Eduction. London : Routledge. [Link]
2019 Sharon O'Brien, Owen Conlan (2019) 'Moving Towards Personalising Translation Technology' In: Moving Boundaries in Translation Studies. Oxford : Routledge. [Link]
2018 O'Brien, Sharon, Michel Simard & Marie-Josée Goulet (2018) 'Machine Translation and Self-Post-Editing for Academic Writing Support: Quality Explorations' In: Translation Quality Assessment: From Principles to Practice. Germany : Springer.
2017 Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez, Sharon O'Brien (2017) 'Bringing Accessibility into the Multilingual Web Production Chain' In: UAHCI 2017, Part 1, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 10277. Germany : Springer International. [DOI]
2016 Sharon O'Brien (2016) 'Machine Translation and Cognition' In: The Handbook of Translation and Cognition. Oxford - UK : Wiley Blackwell.
2016 Sharon O'Brien (2016) 'Training Translators for Crisis Communication' In: Mediating Emergencies. UK : Palgrave Macmillan. [DOI]
2016 Joss Moorkens & Sharon O'Brien (2016) 'Assessing User Interface Needs of Post-Editors of Machine Translation' In: Human Issues in Translation Technology - IATIS Yearbook 2016. UK : Routledge.
2011 Sharon O'Brien (2011) 'Collaborative Translation' In: Yves Gambier, Luc van Doorslaer(Eds.). Handbook of Translation Studies, Vol. 2. Amsterdam : John Benjamins.
2010 Sharon O'Brien (2010) 'Controlled Language and Readability' In: Shreve, Gregory M. & Erik Angelone(Eds.). Translation and Cognition - ATA Scholarly Monograph XV Series. Amsterdam : John Benjamins.
2009 Sharon O'Brien (2009) 'Eye tracking in translation process research: methodological challenges and solutions' In: Methodology, technology and innovation in translation process research: a tribute to Arnt Lykke Jakobsen. Copenhagen : Samfundslitteratur.
2006 Kenny, Dorothy and O'Brien, Sharon (2006) 'Translation Technology in the Translator Training Syllabus' In: Anne Gallagher & Muiris Ó Laoire(Eds.). Language Education in Ireland: current practice and future needs. Maynooth, Ireland : Irish Association for Applied Linguistics.

Edited Book

Year Publication
2022 Sharon O'Brien;Federico Federici (Ed.). (2022) Translating Crises. London: Bloomsbury,
2020 Sharon O'Brien and Federico M. Federici (Ed.). (2020) Special Issue on Translation and Cascading Crises - International Journal of Disaster Prevention and Management. Bingly, UK: Emerald Publishing,
2019 Federico M. Federici and Sharon O'Brien (Ed.). (2019) Translation in Cascading Crises. London: Routledge,
2015 Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen, Susanne Göpferich, Sharon O'Brien (Ed.). (2015) Interdisciplinarity in Translation and Interpreting Process Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins,
2014 Sharon O'Brien, Michael Carl, Michel Simard, Lucia Special, Laura Winther-Balling (Ed.). (2014) Post-editing of Machine Translation: 
Processes and Applications. UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing,
2011 Sharon O'Brien (Ed.). (2011) Cognitive Explorations of Translation. UK: Continuum,

Conference Publication

Year Publication
2020 Rossetti, Alessandra, Sharon O'Brien, Patrick Cadwell (2020) European Association for Machine Translation (EAMT) . In: André Martins et al eds. Comprehension and Trust in Crises: Investigating the Impact of Machine Translation and Post-Editing [Link]
2018 Rossetti, Alessandra, Sharon O'Brien (2018) Third Congress on Technological Innovation for Specialized Linguistic Domains (TISLID 18) . In: Read, T., Montaner, S., and Sedano, B eds. Seeking Health Content Online. A Survey of Internet Users' Habits and Needs
2019 Ana Guerberof Arenas, Joss Moorkens, Sharon O'Brien (2019) MT Summit 2019 What is the impact of raw MT on Japanese users of Word? Preliminary results of a usability study using eye-tracking Dublin, 21/08/2019- 23/08/2019 [Link]
2018 Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez, Dónal Fitzpatrick, Sharon O'Brien (2018) International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP 2018) . In: Miesenberger K., Kouroupetroglou G. (eds) Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS vol. 10896), Springer eds. Is Web-Based Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) Software Usable for Blind Translators? https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94277-3_6
2017 Carla Parra Escartín, Sharon O'Brien, Marie-Josée Goulet & Michel Simard (2017) Machine Translation Summit XVI Machine Translation as an Academic Writing Aid for Medical Practitioners Nagoya, Japan, 18/09/2017- 22/09/2017
2010 Sun, Y.; O'Brien, S.; O'Hagan, M.; Hollowood, F. (2010) A novel statistical pre-processing model for Rule-Based Machine Translation system [Link]
2010 O'Brien, S.; O'Hagan, M.; Flanagan, M. (2010) ECCE 2010 - European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics 2010: The 28th Annual Conference of the European Association of Cognitive Ergonomics Keeping an eye on the UI design of Translation Memory: How do translators use the Concordance feature? [Link] [DOI]
2010 De Almeida, G.; O'Brien, S. (2010) Analysing post-editing performance: Correlations with years of translation experience [Link]

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2022 Sharon O'Brien; Pat Brereton (2022) GDA: Green Digital Accessibility Conference Green Machine Translation: Sustainability and Accessibility Barcelona / Online, . https://www.green-scent.eu/gda-conference/
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) Emily Anderson Centre for Translation Research and Practice at the University of Galway The Transboundary Nature of Crisis Translation Galway, Ireland, 16/11/2022-16/11/2022.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) Translating Europe Forum 2022 Panel on Translation & Technology in Crisis Situations, Translating Europe Forum Online / Brussels, 10/11/2022-10/10/2022.
2022 Sharon O'Brien; Patrick Cadwell (2022) Languages, Health and Crisis: Beyond COVID Communicating COVID-19 in Multiple Languages: A Maturity Model Assessment of Ireland’s Crisis Communication Practice Online & Barcelona, 28/09/2022-28/09/2022.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) Translation, Ideology, Ethics: Response and Credibility Translation as Crisis Response Vilnius, Lithuania, 22/09/2022-24/09/2022.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) New Trends in Translation and Technology Augmented Translation: New Trend, Future Trans or Just Trendy? Rhodes Island, Greece, 04/07/2022-06/07/2022.
2022 Cadwell, Patrick; Federici, Federico M.; O'Brien, Sharon; O'Hagan, Minako (2022) 10th Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies (EST 2022) Advancing Training in Crisis Translation Across Three Universities Oslo, Norway, 22/06/2022-25/06/2022.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) The 26th International Conference on Interpreting & Translation Teaching—”Re-Anchoring Translation: Translation’s Role in Crisis Prevention, Management & Response Online / Taiwan, 10/06/2022-10/06/2022.
2022 Sharon O'Brien (2022) Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Signapore Translation's Role in Crisis Prevention, Management & Response Online - Singapore, 11/03/2022-11/03/2022.
2021 O'Brien, Sharon; Cadwell, Patrick (2021) EAFT Summit 2021 Crisis Translation: Terminology and Training Dublin, Ireland, 25/11/2021-26/11/2021.
2020 Alessandra Rossetti, Patrick Cadwell and Sharon O'Brien (2020) 22nd International Conference on Human Computer Interaction The terms and conditions came back to bite”: plain language and online financial content for older adults Online, 19/07/2020-24/08/2020.
2018 Sharon O'Brien (2018) SATT 2018 - School of Advanced Technologies for Translators MACHINE TRANSLATION AND FUTURE-PROOFING THE TRAINING OF TRANSLATORS Milan, Italy, 13/09/2019-14/09/2019.
2019 Sharon O'Brien (2019) TaTra 5 - Technology and Translation Me and my machine: Considerations on the translator of the future Forlī, Italy, 14/03/2019-15/03/2019.
2019 Sharon O'Brien, Nataša Pavlocić, Patrick Cadwell (2019) MT Summit 2019 First Crisis MT Workshop Dublin, 20/08/2019-20/08/2019.
2017 Cadwell, P. and O'Brien, S. (2017) NZSTI 2017 New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters Conference Introducing INTERACT - The International Network on Crisis Translation Auckland, New Zealand, 10/06/2017-11/06/2017.
2018 Cadwell, P., Federici, F. M., & O'Brien, S. (2018) Fourth International Conference on Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation Training Needs of Translators Involved in Crisis Communication Scenarios Stellenbosch, South Africa, 22/05/2018-24/05/2018.
2018 Cadwell, P., Federici, F. M., and O'Brien, S (2018) European Association for Terminology Summit 2018 Terminology and Quality for Crisis Translation Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, 22/11/2018-23/11/2018.
2018 Sharon O'Brien (2018) 2nd Cologne Conference on Translation, Interpreting and Technical Documentation (CGN18) Positive Peripheries: A personal reflection on interdisciplinary research Cologne, 28/11/2018-30/11/2018.
2018 Sharon O'Brien (2018) 5th International Conference on Cognition and Translation Patterns, Personas and Personalisation Beijing, 03/11/2018-04/11/2018.
2019 Sharon O'Brien (2019) Future Developments in Translation (Studies) and Curriculum Development: Challenges, Responses, Creative Impulses Is “reinvention” rational”? Explorations on the reinvention of translation studies Universität des Saarlandes, 01/02/2019-01/02/2019.
2017 Ke Hu, Sharon O'Brien & Dorothy Kenny (2017) MT Summit XVI A Reception Study of Machine Translated Subtitles for MOOCs Nagoya, Japan, 18/09/2017-22/09/2017.
2017 Sharon O'Brien, Chao-Hong Liu, Andy Way, João Graça, André Martins, Helena Moniz, Ellie Kemp, Rebecca Petras (2017) MT Summit XVI The INTERACT project and Crisis MT Nagoya, Japan, 18/09/2017-22/09/2017.
2017 Carlos Teixeira & Sharon O'Brien (2017) MT Summit XVI The Impact of MT Quality Estimation on Post-Editing Effort Nagoya, Japan, 18/09/2017-22/09/2017.
2017 Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez, Sharon O'Brien, Dónal Fitzpatrick (2017) MT Summit XVI Usability of Web-based MT Post-Editing Environments for Screen Reader Users Nagoya, Japan, 18/09/2017-22/09/2017.
2017 Sharon O'Brien (2017) Dutch National Translators' Conference The Limitations of TQA - What's the research field saying? Amersfoort, The Netherlands, .
2016 Cadwell, P., O'Brien, S., and Teixeira, C. (2016) Translating Europe Workshop Forum on New Translation Technologies: How to Link Productivity and Quality Translators’ Adoption and Non- Adoption of MT: A Comparison of Two Case Studies Warsaw, Poland, 12/12/2016-12/12/2016.
2016 Marie-Josée Goulet, Sharon O'Brien, Carla Parra Escartín & Michel Simard (2016) Translation and Minority Possibilités et limites de la TA pour la rédaction scientifique en anglais langue seconde University of Ottawa, 10/11/2016-12/11/2016.
2016 Cadwell, P., O’Brien, S., and Teixeira, C. (2016) Translating Europe Forum 2016 Reasons for MT Use and Non-Use among Translators in an Institutional versus a Commercial Setting Brussels, 27/10/2016-28/10/2016.
2016 Olga Torres-Hostench, Joss Moorkens, Sharon O'Brien & Joris Vreeke (2016) iMT - Interacting with Machine Translation Workshop at AMTA 2016 Testing Interaction with a Mobile Post-Editing App Austin, Texas, 28/10/2016-28/10/2016.
2016 Sheila Castilho & Sharon O'Brien (2016) iMT - Interacting with Machine Translation Workshop at AMTA 2016 Evaluating the Impact of Light Post-Editing on Usability Austin, Texas, 28/10/2016-28/10/2016.
2016 Sheila Castilho and Sharon O'Brien (2016) LREC 2016 Evaluating the Impact of Light Post-Editing on Usability Slovenia, 23/05/2016-28/05/2016.
2016 Sharon O'Brien (2016) Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation (NPIT3) Training Volunteer Translators for Crisis Communication: The Translators Without Borders Example Switzerland, 05/05/2016-07/05/2016.
2015 Pat Cadwell, Sheila Castilho and Sharon O'Brien (2015) MT@Work 2015 Human Factors in Machine Translation and Post-Editing Brussels, 04/12/2015-04/12/2015.
2015 O'Brien, Sharon (2015) Third Durham Translation Studies Postgraduate Colloquium Quantitative vs. Qualitative Approaches in Translation Studies Research Durham, UK, 07/02/2015-07/02/2015.
2015 O'Brien, Sharon and Michel Simard (2015) Fourth Workshop on Post-Editing Technologies and Practice (WPTP4), Workshop held at the MT Summit 2015 Proceedings of the 4th WPTP4 Workshop Miami, Florida, 30/10/2015-03/11/2015.
2015 O'Brien, S., J. Moorkens, J. Vreeke and R. Schaeler (2015) Traducteurs à l’œuvre : approches ergonomiques des pratiques professionnelles et des formations de traducteurs Kanjingo: Considering the Ergonomics of Mobile Apps for Post-Editing Grenoble, France, 05/03/2015-06/03/2015.
2014 Castilho, Sheila, Sharon O'Brien, Fabio Alves and Morgan O'Brien (2014) The 17th Conference of the European Association for Machine Translation Does Post-Editing Increase Usability? A Study with Brazilian Portuguese as Target Language Dubrovnik, 16/06/2014-18/06/2014.
2014 O'Brien, S. and J. Moorkens (2014) the XXth FIT World Congress Towards Intelligent Post-Editing Interfaces Berlin, Germany, 04/08/2014-06/08/2014.
2014 O'Brien, Sharon, Joss Moorkens and Joris Vreeke (2014) The 17th annual conference of the European Association for Machine Translation Kanjingo - A Mobile App for Post-Editing Dubrovnik, 16/06/2014-18/06/2014.
2014 O'Brien, Sharon, Michel Simard and Lucia Specia (Eds) (2014) Third Workshop on Post-Editing Technologies and Practice (WPTP3) Workshop at the AMTA 2014 conference Vancouver, Canada, 26/10/2014-26/10/2014.
2013 Linda Mitchell, Johann Roturier and Sharon O'Brien (2013) MT Summit XIV Workshop on Post-editing Technology and Practice (WPTP-2) Community-Based Post-Editing of Machine Translated Content: Monolingual vs. Bilingual Nice, France, 02/09/2013-.
2013 Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen and Sharon O'Brien (2013) Translation Studies and Interdisciplinary Dialogue Ergonomic Issues at the Professional Translation Workplace: Reducing Cognitive Dissonance Florianópolis, Brazil, 23/09/2013-26/09/2013.
2013 Moorkens, Joss and Sharon O'Brien (2013) Machine Translation Summit 2013 User Attitudes to the Post-Editing Interface Nice, France, 02/09/2013-06/09/2013.
2013 Moorkens, J., S. Doherty, D. Kenny & S. O'Brien (2013) Tralogy II: Futures in technologies for translation A Virtuous Circle: Laundering translation memory data using statistical machine translation Paris, 17/01/2013-18/01/2013.
2013 O'Brien, Sharon & Stephen Doherty (2013) Optimale Symposium & Final Conference Focusing on the End Users of Machine Translated Documentation: A Usability Study Rennes, France, 06/06/2013-07/06/2013.
2013 de Almeida, Giselle and Sharon O'Brien (2013) Third International Workshop on Translation Process Research Post-editing: Linking experience with performance Gran Canaria, Spain, 21/01/2013-23/01/2013.
2013 O'Brien, Sharon, Michel Simard and Lucia Specia (eds) (2013) Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Post-Editing Technologies and Practice Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Post-Editing Technologies and Practice Nice, France, 02/09/2013-02/09/2013.
2012 Doherty, S. & S. O'Brien (2012) Tobii Eye Track Behaviour Conference Assessing the Usability of Machine Translated Content: A User-Centred Study using Eye Tracking Leuven, Belgium, 09/10/2012-10/10/2012.
2012 O'Brien, Sharon, Michel Simard and Lucia Specia (Eds) (2012) Proceedings of the First Workshop on Post-Editing Practices and Technology Proceedings of the Workshop on Post-Editing Practice and Technology San Diego, California, 28/10/2012-28/10/2012.
2012 Doherty, S. and S. O'Brien (2012) The 10th Conference of the Association for Machine Translation in the Americas A user-based usability assessment of raw machine-translated technical instructions San Diego, California, 20/10/2012-01/11/2012.
2012 O'Brien, Sharon (2012) 3rd Conference of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies Organiser of special panel entitled: Translation, Technology, Status Belfast, 23/07/2012-27/07/2012.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) Translation Automation User Conference / Localization World The Post-Editing Challenge - Workshop for industry professionals Barcelona, Spain, 13/06/2011-15/06/2011.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) TMT - The Future is Here: Conference of the Dutch Translators' Association (ATA) The Post-Editing Challenge Ede, The Netherlands, 09/09/2011-09/09/2011.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) European Master's in Translation Conference Translation Technology Panel Brussels, Belgium, 30/11/2011-30/11/2011.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) 2nd Research Models in Translation Studies Conference Researching the Cognitive Aspects of Translation: Borrowing from Other Fields Manchester, 29/04/2011-02/05/2011.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) 2nd International Workshop on Translation Process Research Research Methods for Post-Editing Giessen, Germany, 27/07/2011-29/07/2011.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) Translating and the Computer 33 London, UK, 17/11/2011-18/11/2011.
2011 O'Brien, Sharon (2011) International Conference on Translation Process Research: Breaking New Ground Eye tracking and process research: Opportunities and Challenges Birmingham, 09/12/2011-09/12/2011.
2010 O'Brien, Sharon and Reinhard Schäler (2010) Translating and the Computer 32 Next Generation Translation and Localization: Users are taking charge London, 18/11/2010-19/11/2010.
2010 O'Brien, Sharon, Minako O'Hagan and Marian Flanagan (2010) European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics 2010 Keeping an Eye on the UI Design of Translation Memory: how do translators use the concordance feature? Delft, The Netherlands, 25/08/2010-28/08/2010.
2010 De Almeida, Giselle & Sharon O'Brien (2010) EAMT 2010 - European Association for Machine Translation Analysing Post-Editing Performance: Correlations with years of translation experience St. Raphaël, France, 27/05/2010-28/05/2010.
2010 O'Brien, Sharon (2010) Tobii Eye Tracking Conference on Psychology and Linguistic Research Investigating computer-based translation via eye tracking Copenhagen, 25/01/2010-26/01/2010.
2009 Doherty, S. & S. O'Brien (2009) MT Summit XII Can MT Output be Evaluated through Eye Tracking? Ottawa, Canada, 27/08/2009-29/08/2009.
2009 O'Brien, Sharon (2009) 1st International Research Workshop Methodology in Translation Process Research Eye tracking in translation process research: methodological challenges and solutions Graz, Austria, 06/04/2009-08/04/2009.
2009 O'Brien, Sharon (2009) Eye-to-IT conference on translation processing, sentence processing, and the bilingual mental lexicon Translation Memory Interfaces and Attention Shifts Copenhagen, 28/04/2009-29/04/2009.
2008 O'Brien, Sharon (2008) 2nd Athens International Conference on Translation and Interpretation: Teaching and Researching the Practice Challenging Translation Technology Athens, Greece, 10/10/2008-11/10/2008.
2007 O'Brien, Sharon (2007) Teaching Localization for Global Business Readiness: The LISA-Lessius Forum 10 Years of Localisation Teaching in Ireland: Challenges, Outlook and Fruitful Industrial Collaboration Antwerp, Belgium, 10/12/2007-12/12/2007.
2007 O'Brien, Sharon (2007) Transadaptation, Technology, Nomadism The Link Between Controlled Language and Post-Editing Montréal, Canada, 08/03/2007-10/03/2007.
2007 O'Brien, Sharon & Johann Roturier (2007) Machine Translation Summit XI How Portable are Controlled Language Rules? A Comparison of Two Empirical MT Studies Copenhagen Business School, 10/09/2007-14/09/2007.
2006 O'Brien, Sharon (2006) Second Conference of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies Investigating Translation from an Eye-Tracking Perspective Cape Town, South Africa, 12/07/2006-14/07/2006.
2004 O'Brien, Sharon (2004) 4th International EST Congress Methodologies for monitoring post-editing activity Lisbon, Portugal, 26/09/2004-29/09/2004.
2004 O'Brien, Sharon (2004) 26th Translating and the Computer Conference (ASLIB) Machine Translatability and post-editing effort: How do they relate? London, UK, 18/11/2004-19/11/2004.
2004 O'Brien, Sharon (2004) First Dublin City University Postgraduate Conference in Translation Studies Methodologies for Monitoring Post-editing activity DCU, 01/04/2004-02/04/2004.
2004 O'Brien, Sharon (2004) Translation Seminar Series, Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies, University of Manchester Translatability Assessment in a Controlled Language Environment Manchester, UK, 23/03/2004-23/03/2004.
2003 O'Brien, Sharon (2003) Joint Conference combining the 8th International Workshop of the European Association for Machine Translation and the 4th Controlled Language Applications Workshop Controlling Controlled English: An Analysis of Several Controlled Language Rule Sets Dublin City University, 15/05/2003-17/05/2003.
2002 O'Brien, Sharon (2002) The 6th International Workshop of the European Association for Machine Translation Teaching Post-editing: A Proposal for Course Content Manchester, UK, 14/11/2002-15/11/2002.
2002 O'Brien, Sharon (2002) Society for Automotive Engineers' TOPTEC forum Preparing translators for a variety of career paths Nashville, TN, USA, 01/10/2002-02/10/2002.
1999 O'Brien, Sharon (1999) Translating and the Computer 21 Translation Technology - The Next Generation London, 10/11/1999-11/11/1999.
1998 O'Brien, Sharon (1998) The Localisation Industry Standards Association Alpnet's TSS/Joust: Project Management, Production Support and Integration with Machine Translation Madrid, 25/08/1998-28/08/1998.
1998 O'Brien, Sharon (1998) Unity in Diversity: Recent Trends in Translation Studies Practical Experience of Computer-Aided Translation Tools in the Software Localisation Industry Dublin, 01/05/1998-02/05/1998.
1998 O'Brien, Sharon, Katharina Macke (1998) Software Localisation Interest Group Alphabet Soup: TM-MT-CAT-MAT in Localisation Dublin, 25/03/1998-25/03/1998.
1997 O'Brien, Sharon (1997) The Localisation Industry Standards Association Localisation Workflow and CAT Tools Washington DC, USA, 04/06/1997-06/06/1997.
1993 O'Brien, Sharon (1993) IRAAL Research in Progress Workshop Sublanguage and Text Type Analysis DCU, 15/05/1993-15/05/1993.
1993 O'Brien, Sharon (1993) 9th European Symposium on LSP Sublanguage, Text Type and Machine Translation Bergen, Norway, 02/08/1993-06/08/1993.
1992 O'Brien, Sharon (1992) 5th Annual Conference on AI and Cognitive Science Sublanguage: Characteristics and Selection Guidelines for MT Limerick, 01/08/1992-02/08/1992.

Published Report

Year Publication
2019 Federici, Federico M., Gerber, Brian J., O'Brien, Sharon, & Cadwell, Patrick (2019) The International Humanitarian Sector and Language Translation in Crisis Situations. INTERACT The International Network on Crisis Translation, . [Link]

Invited Review Articles

Year Publication
2019 Sharon O'Brien (2019) Peer Review Report For: Multilingualism and strategic planning for HIV/AIDS-related health care and communication [version 1; peer review: 3 approved]. INVRA https://doi.org/10.21956/wellcomeopenres.17066.r37382

Seminar

Year Publication
2017 Cadwell, P. and O'Brien, S. (2017) The Disaster Prevention and Management Seminar Series @ The University of Auckland: Crisis Translation - the Role of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity When Communicating in a Disaster. SEM [Link]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2023) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Professional Associations

Association Function From / To
Irish Humanities Alliance Board Member 03/08/2020 -
International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies Chair of Nominations Committee 04/04/2010 - 04/04/2016
ISO Technical Committee 37 - Standards in Translation 01/01/2013 -
European Association for Machine Translation Member -

Honors and Awards

Date Title Awarding Body
01/01/2005 DCU RAP Career Start Funding
01/10/2001 IRCHSS Scholarship
01/09/1993 Austrian Government Scholarship

Committees

Committee Function From / To
Faculty Research Committee 01/09/2014 - 30/08/2016
Translation Spaces Journal 01/01/2012 - 01/01/2020
Research Committee, SALIS 30/12/1999 - 30/12/2004

Employment

Employer Position From / To
ALPNET Inc Language Technology Consultant - 30/12/1999
International Translation and Publishing Computer-Aided Translation Specialist - 01/08/1997

Enterprise Engagement

Year Engagement Type Client Description
Consultant on Translation Tools in Localisation Consultant on Controlled Language and MT Evaluation

Research Interests

I am interested in interdisciplinary research that touches on the topics of translation, AI, HCI, and crisis communication, broadly speaking. I take a primarily empirical approach in my research and have used keylogging and eye-tracking to research the cognitive aspects of translator-computer interaction. I am also interested in end users of translation and in concepts such as translatability, usability, readability, comprehensibility and the measurement of cognitive load. I have co-authored a book on research methods for translation studies and have co-edited two books on translation and interpreting in crisis settings. I have also collaborated on numerous projects with industry, specifically on the topics of machine translation, post-editing and the dynamic framework for quality assessment in the localisation industry. My industrial collaborators have included Symantec, Alchemy, VistaTEC and the Translation Automation User Society. I have also collaborated with NGOs in the humanitarian sector.

Modules Coordinated

Term Title Subject
2022 Research Methodologies LC521
2020 Translation Technology LC501
2022 Localisation LC504