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Current Trends in Translation Teaching and Learning E
Volume 2, 2015
WIDENING THE RANGE OF RESEARCH IN TRANSLATION EDUCATION
Mike Garant PDF 1-4
University of Helsinki
SITUATED TRANSLATION IN THE TRANSLATION CLASSROOM
Ralph Krüger & Jesús Serrano Piqueras PDF 5-30
Cologne University of Applied Sciences
Abstract
This paper sets out to illustrate the design of an in vivo translation course that attempts to project, as closely as possible, into the translation classroom the professional environment that students will encounter in their later careers as translators. The course forms part of the MA in specialised translation programme offered by the Institute of Translation and Multilingual Communication at Cologne University of Applied Sciences. It is based on the theoretical framework of situated translation (Risku, 1998, 2004), which stresses the situation-dependence of the intelligent human action of translation. Based on this framework, we review Göpferich's (2008) model of translation competence and illustrate how specific subcompetencies of this model can be linked to and are reflected in the design of our translation course. To conclude the article, we present several components of the translation course which are intended to develop the various subcompetencies of Göpferich's translation competence model.
Key words: situated translation, translation didactics, in vivo translation course, translation competence model, psycho-motor competence, tools and research competence
A PROPOSED CURRICULUM ROADMAP FOR “MARKETABLE” UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES IN TRANSLATION: IT ALL BEGINS WITH A DIGITAL SCIENCES INFORMATION SESSION
Bin Liu PDF 31-71
Kent State University
Abstract
On a global scale, undergraduate programs in translation have raised considerable concern over their applicability to industry practice, since many graduates find themselves unprepared professionally for working in the translation industry and quite a few choose to pursue a master’s degree upon graduation or after working briefly. To address this predicament, the current study proposed a roadmap for curriculum design by highlighting the possible career paths of a translation-major graduate. Built upon a curriculum review of the translation programs offered by selected US universities, the roadmap is characterized by customized field concentration requirements, which align individual preferences to job-market realities while maintaining the essence of academic training in core program requirements. In the end, the author discussed the limitations of the current study and recommended future research directions, among which involving translation students in the bilingual teaching of non-humanities courses will be the theme for a separate study.
Key words: Translation undergraduate program, Curriculum design, Market-oriented, Career interest, Career choice, Core program requirement, Field concentration requirement
LEARNING THROUGH REAL ASSIGNMENTS IN THE AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION CLASSROOM
Purificación Meseguer & Marina Ramos PDF 72-96
University of Murcia
Abstract
The actual educational system is more and more interested in training not only individuals capable of integrating theoretical knowledge, values and attitudes but also competent professionals in their fields of expertise (Gil Montoya et al, 2007). In this way, different tasks oriented to recreate the professional environment are being included in university programmes, with the aim of fostering motivation and self-learning in students (Cifuentes y Meseguer, 2014; Meseguer y Ramos, 2014; Ramos y Meseguer, 2015). The present study aims at testing whether professional practices in the translation classroom can bring better learning results than pre-designed tasks. With this aim in mind, a translation project was included in the programme of the course “Introduction to Audiovisual Translation” taught by both authors at the University of Murcia. In the present paper we describe the working process designed to achieve in a classroom environment the quality standards required by the client, giving an account of the students’ response to such a learning experience. Our results show that working with professional assignments in the translation classroom can foster students’ motivation and improve the quality of their performance.
Key words: Higher education, translation, Audiovisual Translation, professional aspects of translation, professional assignments
GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE NEW UNDERGRADUATE TRANSLATION CURRICULUM: THE CASE OF HONG KONG
Andy Lung Jan Chan PDF 97-138
Community College of City University, Hong Kong
Abstract
In recent years, more attention has been paid to undergraduate translation programmes, but students in these programmes are often found to lack the necessary background knowledge to carry out translation tasks effectively and efficiently. The research focus of this paper is Hong Kong, a cosmopolitan city in which there has been a constant demand for bilingual talents. In 2012, the four-year undergraduate programmes were introduced, and general education has become a significant component. Through a curricular analysis of the undergraduate translation programmes offered by five Hong Kong universities, it was found that general education courses account for about 20% of the total course credits and cover areas like ethics, science and technology, business and social science. This paper concludes that these courses may act as a scaffold for other specialised translation courses and help students develop soft and transferrable skills. There are implications for universities in other regions, because four-year undergraduate translation programmes with a significant general education element are unique on an international level.
Key words: General education, Hong Kong, translation syllabus, transferrable skills, undergraduate translation education.
STUDENTS’ DATA MINING SKILLS IN SECOND-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE TRANSLATION
Mari Pakkala-Weckström PDF 139-170
University of Helsinki
Abstract
This paper discusses the different research methods that second-year undergraduate translation students employ for their homework, and particular attention is paid to the relationship between the genre and function of the source text, and the variety of sources used by the translators. The material of the study consists of the students’ own work reports (or translation commentaries) on five homework assignments representing different genres: a tourist brochure, a popularized science column, two food recipes, an EU report, and a page from an art history textbook. The results strongly suggest that in their second year of translator training, the students have already acquired rather versatile data mining skills that depend on the type of assignment they are working on. While the Internet was clearly the most important source of information, other sources were used quite creatively as well, and in their use of Internet sites, the students showed they were able to do selective and precise searches.
Key words: translator training, translation competence, data mining skills
DIFFICULTIES OF SIGHT TRANSLATION: TRAINING TRANSLATORS TO SIGHT TRANSLATE
Mohammad Ahmad Thawabteh PDF 171-195
Department of English, Al-Quds University, Jeruseum
Occupied Palestinian Territories
Abstract
From time immemorial, translation has always been described as an exercise of intercultural communication. Undoubtedly this exercise requires more and more training of translators to fulfill different translation tasks as effectively and efficiently as possible. Translator training thus received undivided attention in all training institutions all over the world. Drawing on findings of previous research, the article argues that sight translation remains an optimal invariable tool for interpreter training; yet it fails to exert any influence and presence in such training. The article further addresses theoretical and teaching methodological issues, and offers insights into an eminently pedagogical problem gained from an analysis of genuinely output of two MA translation students who sat for the comprehensive exam at Al-Quds University for the scholastic year 2013/2014. The article shows serious problems in the translation task assigned to the students and, based on the analysis of their translations, it proposes pedagogical tools that may hopefully help to overcome sight translation intricacies.
Key words: interpreter training, sight translation, simultaneous interpreting, Arabic, English
PROBABILISTIC LAWS AND RISK AVERSION IN TRANSLATION: A CASE STUDY IN TRANSLATION DIDACTICS
Ioannis E. Saridakis PDF 196-245
University of Athens
Abstract
The systemic contrastive analysis of translation shifts in selected textual instances allows the examination of translational behaviour on the level of sociolects and of certain features of the translation act, in terms of both process and function, and on the level of the translation product as such. Such a systemic view of translation is envisaged in the so-called probabilistic laws of interference and growing standardisation, proposed by Gideon Toury. This paper focuses on interference, by analysing synchronically the lexico–semantic and stylistic performance of trainee translators in technical and scientific discourse. Some methodological and didactic conclusions will also be drawn [1].
Key words: Translation didactics, Descriptive Translation Studies, Risk Aversion, Interference, Standardisation
APPRECIATION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY THROUGH TRANSLATING AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL CULTURE: A PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH
Ping Yang PDF 246-284
University of Western Sydney
Abstract
This paper is focused on how translation students engaged themselves in a translation project funded by the Australia-China Council and came to appreciate cultural diversity through translating two books on Australian Aboriginal culture. Not only did they practice various translation skills and techniques related to translation theories, but also gained an insight into perspectives of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage and tradition. After the translation project was completed, a written questionnaire survey and audio-taped interviews were conducted about their personal experiences translating the books. Using Grounded Theory (GT), the author coded the data, conducted critical analysis of the contents, and categorised the themes. The results show that the participants gained an understanding of Australian Aboriginal social practices and cultural values. Furthermore, they have developed learner autonomy in exploring the project-relevant learning through different channels. The students used relevant translation theories, applied translation techniques, and undertook textual analysis, particularly in dealing with culture-loaded contents that characterise the richness and diversity of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage. It was established that a project-based learning approach is an effective and engaging way for translation students to experiment with their translation skills and different translation theories, achieve linguistic and cross-cultural understanding of Australian Aboriginal culture while participating actively in various organized learning activities. More importantly, they have raised their intercultural awareness and enhanced their intercultural communication competence. Such a project-based, reflective, and exploratory learning approach promotes students’ willingness to communicate both orally and in written form as well as the development of their risk-taking and appreciation of cultural diversity. Its pedagogical implications are discussed.
Key words: Intercultural translation, project-based learning approach, Australian Aboriginal culture, student engagement in learning, English–Chinese translation
LEARNING TO FAIL:
UNSUCCESSFUL TRANSLATION AS PEDAGOGICAL RESOURCE
Kelly Washbourne PDF 285-320
Kent State University
Abstract
This study considers the pedagogical usefulness of failed translation. ‘Constructive failure’ and other instructional design techniques postulated in learning theory are considered in light of the utopian subtext that has accrued to translation, and a more expansive role for translation as a heuristic of trial and error, as iteration – to borrow a term from design and manufacturing – is assigned. True process-orientedness carries several entailments, among them the promotion of a growth mindset. The translation classroom is re-imagined as an environment for fail-safe learning. Ultimately, a case is made for failure in the creative process, as a necessary component of the information loop inherent to all writing, and as a prompt toward the student’s tolerance of ambiguity, resilience-building, and the self-correction necessary toward failure management and maturity as an autonomous translator.
Key words: constructive failure, adaptive learning, interactivity, translation error, failure management
Volume 2, 2015
WIDENING THE RANGE OF RESEARCH IN TRANSLATION EDUCATION
Mike Garant PDF 1-4
University of Helsinki
SITUATED TRANSLATION IN THE TRANSLATION CLASSROOM
Ralph Krüger & Jesús Serrano Piqueras PDF 5-30
Cologne University of Applied Sciences
Abstract
This paper sets out to illustrate the design of an in vivo translation course that attempts to project, as closely as possible, into the translation classroom the professional environment that students will encounter in their later careers as translators. The course forms part of the MA in specialised translation programme offered by the Institute of Translation and Multilingual Communication at Cologne University of Applied Sciences. It is based on the theoretical framework of situated translation (Risku, 1998, 2004), which stresses the situation-dependence of the intelligent human action of translation. Based on this framework, we review Göpferich's (2008) model of translation competence and illustrate how specific subcompetencies of this model can be linked to and are reflected in the design of our translation course. To conclude the article, we present several components of the translation course which are intended to develop the various subcompetencies of Göpferich's translation competence model.
Key words: situated translation, translation didactics, in vivo translation course, translation competence model, psycho-motor competence, tools and research competence
A PROPOSED CURRICULUM ROADMAP FOR “MARKETABLE” UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES IN TRANSLATION: IT ALL BEGINS WITH A DIGITAL SCIENCES INFORMATION SESSION
Bin Liu PDF 31-71
Kent State University
Abstract
On a global scale, undergraduate programs in translation have raised considerable concern over their applicability to industry practice, since many graduates find themselves unprepared professionally for working in the translation industry and quite a few choose to pursue a master’s degree upon graduation or after working briefly. To address this predicament, the current study proposed a roadmap for curriculum design by highlighting the possible career paths of a translation-major graduate. Built upon a curriculum review of the translation programs offered by selected US universities, the roadmap is characterized by customized field concentration requirements, which align individual preferences to job-market realities while maintaining the essence of academic training in core program requirements. In the end, the author discussed the limitations of the current study and recommended future research directions, among which involving translation students in the bilingual teaching of non-humanities courses will be the theme for a separate study.
Key words: Translation undergraduate program, Curriculum design, Market-oriented, Career interest, Career choice, Core program requirement, Field concentration requirement
LEARNING THROUGH REAL ASSIGNMENTS IN THE AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION CLASSROOM
Purificación Meseguer & Marina Ramos PDF 72-96
University of Murcia
Abstract
The actual educational system is more and more interested in training not only individuals capable of integrating theoretical knowledge, values and attitudes but also competent professionals in their fields of expertise (Gil Montoya et al, 2007). In this way, different tasks oriented to recreate the professional environment are being included in university programmes, with the aim of fostering motivation and self-learning in students (Cifuentes y Meseguer, 2014; Meseguer y Ramos, 2014; Ramos y Meseguer, 2015). The present study aims at testing whether professional practices in the translation classroom can bring better learning results than pre-designed tasks. With this aim in mind, a translation project was included in the programme of the course “Introduction to Audiovisual Translation” taught by both authors at the University of Murcia. In the present paper we describe the working process designed to achieve in a classroom environment the quality standards required by the client, giving an account of the students’ response to such a learning experience. Our results show that working with professional assignments in the translation classroom can foster students’ motivation and improve the quality of their performance.
Key words: Higher education, translation, Audiovisual Translation, professional aspects of translation, professional assignments
GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE NEW UNDERGRADUATE TRANSLATION CURRICULUM: THE CASE OF HONG KONG
Andy Lung Jan Chan PDF 97-138
Community College of City University, Hong Kong
Abstract
In recent years, more attention has been paid to undergraduate translation programmes, but students in these programmes are often found to lack the necessary background knowledge to carry out translation tasks effectively and efficiently. The research focus of this paper is Hong Kong, a cosmopolitan city in which there has been a constant demand for bilingual talents. In 2012, the four-year undergraduate programmes were introduced, and general education has become a significant component. Through a curricular analysis of the undergraduate translation programmes offered by five Hong Kong universities, it was found that general education courses account for about 20% of the total course credits and cover areas like ethics, science and technology, business and social science. This paper concludes that these courses may act as a scaffold for other specialised translation courses and help students develop soft and transferrable skills. There are implications for universities in other regions, because four-year undergraduate translation programmes with a significant general education element are unique on an international level.
Key words: General education, Hong Kong, translation syllabus, transferrable skills, undergraduate translation education.
STUDENTS’ DATA MINING SKILLS IN SECOND-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE TRANSLATION
Mari Pakkala-Weckström PDF 139-170
University of Helsinki
Abstract
This paper discusses the different research methods that second-year undergraduate translation students employ for their homework, and particular attention is paid to the relationship between the genre and function of the source text, and the variety of sources used by the translators. The material of the study consists of the students’ own work reports (or translation commentaries) on five homework assignments representing different genres: a tourist brochure, a popularized science column, two food recipes, an EU report, and a page from an art history textbook. The results strongly suggest that in their second year of translator training, the students have already acquired rather versatile data mining skills that depend on the type of assignment they are working on. While the Internet was clearly the most important source of information, other sources were used quite creatively as well, and in their use of Internet sites, the students showed they were able to do selective and precise searches.
Key words: translator training, translation competence, data mining skills
DIFFICULTIES OF SIGHT TRANSLATION: TRAINING TRANSLATORS TO SIGHT TRANSLATE
Mohammad Ahmad Thawabteh PDF 171-195
Department of English, Al-Quds University, Jeruseum
Occupied Palestinian Territories
Abstract
From time immemorial, translation has always been described as an exercise of intercultural communication. Undoubtedly this exercise requires more and more training of translators to fulfill different translation tasks as effectively and efficiently as possible. Translator training thus received undivided attention in all training institutions all over the world. Drawing on findings of previous research, the article argues that sight translation remains an optimal invariable tool for interpreter training; yet it fails to exert any influence and presence in such training. The article further addresses theoretical and teaching methodological issues, and offers insights into an eminently pedagogical problem gained from an analysis of genuinely output of two MA translation students who sat for the comprehensive exam at Al-Quds University for the scholastic year 2013/2014. The article shows serious problems in the translation task assigned to the students and, based on the analysis of their translations, it proposes pedagogical tools that may hopefully help to overcome sight translation intricacies.
Key words: interpreter training, sight translation, simultaneous interpreting, Arabic, English
PROBABILISTIC LAWS AND RISK AVERSION IN TRANSLATION: A CASE STUDY IN TRANSLATION DIDACTICS
Ioannis E. Saridakis PDF 196-245
University of Athens
Abstract
The systemic contrastive analysis of translation shifts in selected textual instances allows the examination of translational behaviour on the level of sociolects and of certain features of the translation act, in terms of both process and function, and on the level of the translation product as such. Such a systemic view of translation is envisaged in the so-called probabilistic laws of interference and growing standardisation, proposed by Gideon Toury. This paper focuses on interference, by analysing synchronically the lexico–semantic and stylistic performance of trainee translators in technical and scientific discourse. Some methodological and didactic conclusions will also be drawn [1].
Key words: Translation didactics, Descriptive Translation Studies, Risk Aversion, Interference, Standardisation
APPRECIATION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY THROUGH TRANSLATING AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL CULTURE: A PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH
Ping Yang PDF 246-284
University of Western Sydney
Abstract
This paper is focused on how translation students engaged themselves in a translation project funded by the Australia-China Council and came to appreciate cultural diversity through translating two books on Australian Aboriginal culture. Not only did they practice various translation skills and techniques related to translation theories, but also gained an insight into perspectives of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage and tradition. After the translation project was completed, a written questionnaire survey and audio-taped interviews were conducted about their personal experiences translating the books. Using Grounded Theory (GT), the author coded the data, conducted critical analysis of the contents, and categorised the themes. The results show that the participants gained an understanding of Australian Aboriginal social practices and cultural values. Furthermore, they have developed learner autonomy in exploring the project-relevant learning through different channels. The students used relevant translation theories, applied translation techniques, and undertook textual analysis, particularly in dealing with culture-loaded contents that characterise the richness and diversity of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage. It was established that a project-based learning approach is an effective and engaging way for translation students to experiment with their translation skills and different translation theories, achieve linguistic and cross-cultural understanding of Australian Aboriginal culture while participating actively in various organized learning activities. More importantly, they have raised their intercultural awareness and enhanced their intercultural communication competence. Such a project-based, reflective, and exploratory learning approach promotes students’ willingness to communicate both orally and in written form as well as the development of their risk-taking and appreciation of cultural diversity. Its pedagogical implications are discussed.
Key words: Intercultural translation, project-based learning approach, Australian Aboriginal culture, student engagement in learning, English–Chinese translation
LEARNING TO FAIL:
UNSUCCESSFUL TRANSLATION AS PEDAGOGICAL RESOURCE
Kelly Washbourne PDF 285-320
Kent State University
Abstract
This study considers the pedagogical usefulness of failed translation. ‘Constructive failure’ and other instructional design techniques postulated in learning theory are considered in light of the utopian subtext that has accrued to translation, and a more expansive role for translation as a heuristic of trial and error, as iteration – to borrow a term from design and manufacturing – is assigned. True process-orientedness carries several entailments, among them the promotion of a growth mindset. The translation classroom is re-imagined as an environment for fail-safe learning. Ultimately, a case is made for failure in the creative process, as a necessary component of the information loop inherent to all writing, and as a prompt toward the student’s tolerance of ambiguity, resilience-building, and the self-correction necessary toward failure management and maturity as an autonomous translator.
Key words: constructive failure, adaptive learning, interactivity, translation error, failure management