[New publication] Current Trends in Translation Teaching and Learning E (CTTL E)
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE TRANSLATION STUDIES CURRICULUM
Nicholas Cifuentes-Goodbody
Sue-Ann Harding
Hamad bin Khalifa University
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
This article details how a group of instructors at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar instituted an integrated curriculum for all students entering the university’s Master in Translation Studies and Master in Audiovisual Translation. First, it discusses the unique multicultural context in which these two programs operate. It then describes the details of the implementation, focusing on the role that an oral history project played in the curriculum. It ends with an appraisal of the program’s success and a consideration of future directions, looking at the need for integrated approaches to learning in the context of emerging institutions of higher education.
Key words: critical pedagogy, global approach, integrated curriculum, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), oral history, postgraduate education, translation studies, Qatar
HOW HAPPY ARE TRANSLATORS WITH THEIR STUDIES?
Sarah Henter
Henter & Asociados, S.L.
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
Although the translation industry is thriving with steady growth and a value of several billion Euros, many translators in Europe seem to hardly be able to make a living of their profession. In many countries, the average income of a freelance translator would actually be below the poverty threshold. The gap between market requirements and the actual skills of translators seems to be quite obvious. Many complain of not having the necessary technical knowledge and of lacking business skills. What conclusions can be drawn on the gaps between needed and actual skill set among translators analyzing how happy they are with the subjects they have studied at university?
Key words: University studies, translation skills, educational satisfaction, skills gap, lack of knowledge, market requirements
TRANSLATION CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AT A MODERN LANGUAGE FACULTY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: A CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TUZLA
Sanel Hadžiahmetović Jurida
Tanja Pavlović
University of Tuzla
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
This article addresses the issue of translation curriculum development at the University of Tuzla, as it provides an overview of the situation in the English Department where translation has been present in various forms but never lost momentum of its development. The article looks at the way in which translation curricula have been structured, and it examines the underlying principles, including the choice of specific components, stages of progression and development of specific competences. As a modern language faculty, the English Department has seemed to diverge from the traditional paradigm of teaching translation as a means, and not as an end. With a reference to the countries where translation education institutions are lacking (such as Bosnia and Herzegovina), it is precisely modern language faculties that are expected to fill in the niche market. Having recognized that need, the Department reworked the curricula at both the undergraduate and Master’s levels. This resulted in an up-to-date MA programme in translation which not only offers both theoretical and practical knowledge, but also serves as a networking platform through our international partners.
Key words: translation curriculum development, modern language faculty, translation education, MA programme, language industry
TRANSLATION TRAINING FOR THE EU: THE CASE OF MONTENEGRO
Igor Lakić
Jelena Pralas
University of Montenegro
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
This paper is aimed at presenting the Montenegrin experience of developing a translation programme at the University of Montenegro. The underlying idea for starting the programme was the demand for translators in Montenegro, particularly related to the EU integration process. While that was the focus of the first stage of the development of the programme, in the second stage we started introducing content based on the EMT standards, such as those related to translation service provision and CAT tools. After providing some theoretical insights into translation course design, we present the basic information about the course. This is followed by a detailed description of the course, its link to the EMT competences and a survey that we carried out in order to identify the position of our graduate students on the job market, which has turned out to be very successful.
Key words: translation training, course structure, EMT competences, translation market
COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE TRANSLATOR TRAINING AND AD HOC CORPORA
Maria Del Mar Sanchez Ramos
University of Alcalá
FITISPos Research Group
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
This article deals with the exploitation of a monolingual specialised ad hoc corpus as a documentation resource in the community healthcare translation classroom. We start with a general overview of using a corpus-based methodology in the Community Translation context, an emerging branch within Translation Studies. We follow with a description of the main steps involved in the compilation and exploitation of the corpus in a postgraduate Community Translation environment, focusing on corpus linguistics as a documentation tool for the translation of healthcare texts, and the use of a corpus-based methodology.
Keywords: specialised corpus, community translation, postgraduate translator training, corpus compilation
INTERPRETER’S CONCENTRATION TRAINING IN FIRST-YEAR MASTER CLASSES: CASE STUDY
Sergiy Skrylnyk
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
The paper presents theoretical and practical review of concentration training methodology in simultaneous interpreting in first-year master classes. The author offers his experimental study of concentration stages in interpreter’s training classes. The four stages (concentration gain, concentration loss, concentration shift and concentration regain) demonstrate the process of human reaction towards various interpreting stumbling stones, circumstantial changes and stressful situations. The author describes these stumbling stones and offers his own vision of how to learn to overcome the obstacles during interpreting process. Two-year experiment in a group of first-year master students underpins theoretical relevance of the paper. The author offers exercises to train concentration at different stages to make concentration shifts happen more smoothly. Finally, concentration index is defined to explain the students’ progress in interpreting training and to determine whether the students are ready for simultaneous interpreting. In the conclusion, the author gives his perspective of what is to be analyzed in the field of interpreting studies on the Ukrainian ground.
Key words: simultaneous interpreting, concentration shift, concentration factor, interpreting training, interpreting curriculum
THE PRACTICE-ORIENTED TRANSLATOR TRAINING CURRICULUM: AN EXAMPLE
Marcel Thelen (ret.)
Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
These days, under the influence of the Bologna Process, the development of the European Master’s in Translation (EMT) network and the OPTIMALE project, translator training is in the process of changing considerably from rather purely academic and theory-oriented to more practice-oriented with a strong focus on professionalisation and employability. This paper will outline a curriculum whose footprint was set up almost two decades before the signing of the Sorbonne Declaration in 1998 and the Bologna Declaration in 1999, but which is still highly relevant today as an example of a practice-oriented translator training curriculum and which fits well in recent views on translator training.
Key words:Bologna Declaration, “emergentist” learning system, employability, in-house simulated translation bureau, language placement abroad, professional attitude, professional placement, professionalisation, skills lab
Common Intentions, different implementation: BA curricula in Translation Studies in Castelló de la Plana and in Graz
Heike van Lawick
Universitat Jaume I
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
One of the aims of the Bologna Process is to increase mobility. By definition Translation and Interpreting Studies have an international orientation. For this reason at some universities compulsory mobility plans exist for Translation students, but instead it seems mobility has actually decreased, a fact that could be related to differences in the length of study cycles and curricular design. This paper aims to compare two curricula of Translation Studies, at an Austrian and a Spanish university, focusing on aspects that could affect student mobility. The wider context, related to study cycles and social factors, is therefore presented first. Then the relevant aspects of the curricula of Translation Studies in Graz and in Castelló de la Plana are described and compared. The differences can be situated in general academic organisation, in some curricular aspects and, above all, in a different structure of the study cycles. Paradoxically, the forthcoming study reforms may completely invert the present situation.
Keywords: BA curricula in Translation Studies, study cycles, Bologna Process, student mobility.
THE PARTICIOATORY ROLE OF NON-PROFESIONAL INTERPRETERS: A CASE OF EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
Wang Yanqiang, Fudan University
Wang, Junping, Harbin Institute of Technology
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
The abstract notions of visibility and participation are often used to describe the interpreter’s role. The visibility and participation are seen as a matter of degree, assuming that an interpreter may be more or less visible or involved depending on a number of considerations, including the mode and domain of interpreting as well as the interpreter’s professional status. Particularly inspired by Goffman’s participatory framework and Bourdieu’s sociological theory on the whole set of social relations — political, economic, and cultural, the author tries to explore four authentic interpreting cases conducted by non-professional interpreters in English-Chinese educational settings in order to reveal the roles of the ad hoc interpreters and their visibility or active participation in the communicative events. Through detailed critical discourse analysis of authentic interpreting transcripts, it could beconcluded that the non-professional interpreters in some educational settings participate more in the communicative events due to their strong academic background and the ad hoc status. Some social factors leading to the involvements are revealed, such as pronoun shifts and cultural capital etc.
Keywords: participatory role, non-professional, educational settings, cultural capital
INSTRUMENTAL COMPETENCE IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING CURRICULA IN SPAIN: PRE-EHEA VS. EHEA BACHELOR’S DEGREES
Cristina Plaza Lara
University of Málaga
Abstract FULL TEXT PDF
The implementation of the European Higher Education Area has made it necessary for universities to adapt to market requirements. The introduction of new technologies in the translation process and changes in the kinds of texts to be translated require universities to increase the number of subjects in which instrumental competence is essential. These subjects are mainly (but are not limited to) computer science, documentation, terminology and audiovisual translation. To enable the drawing of conclusions regarding the changes introduced by the Bologna Process, two comparative tables will be presented that allow the reader to review the changes made in recent years to Translation and Interpreting studies at Spanish universities with regard to instrumental competence. Some of these conclusions are summarised and our own proposal regarding the distribution of this content in translation curricula is presented.
Key words: instrumental subcompetence, translation and interpreting curricula, PRE-EHEA bachelor degree, EHEA bachelor degree, computer tools in translation studies
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