Enhancing Intercultural Communication and Understanding: Team Translation Project as a Student Engagement Learning Approach

Ping Yang

doi:10.5539/ies.v8n8p67

Abstract

This paper reflects on a team translation project on Aboriginal culture designed to enhance university students’ intercultural communication competence and understanding through engaging in an interactive team translation project funded by the Australia-China Council. A selected group of Chinese speaking translation students participated in the project and two English books on Australian Aboriginal history and culture were translated to Chinese from August 2011 to May 2012. The two bilingual books were published by Aboriginal Studies Press in May 2013. After the one-year translation project was completed, the author conducted a survey and audio-taped interviews about the participants’ translation experience. Using social constructivist theory (SCT), the author coded the data, conducted critical analysis of the contents, and categorised the themes. It was found that the participants not only improved their translation skills through combining theories with practices, but also got better knowledge of Australian Aboriginal cultural tradition and history than before. Having understood cross-linguistic differences, they combined translation theory with practice and raised their intercultural awareness after going through various organized learning activities centring on the translation project. Such an interaction-based student engagement learning approach helped student translators achieve meaningful communication and learner autonomy through individual reflections, group discussions, and seminars. Finally the pedagogical implications of the team translation project were discussed.

Highlights

Formal translation training as part of university translation degree programs is often delivered in the classroom translation practicum or internship is an exception
As will be discussed below, the findings of the team translation project show that student engagement learning approach used focuses on interactive learning (Diochon & Cameron, 2001), which is often used in teaching English as a second/foreign language, and features exploratory and reflective learning, critical thinking, meaningful communication and team collaboration
This paper focuses on the various learning activities we design to engage Chinese student translators in the Australia-China Council (ACC)-funded translation project on the Aboriginal history and culture and to develop their linguistic awareness and intercultural communication competence while putting translation theory into practice

Summary

Introduction

Formal translation training as part of university translation degree programs is often delivered in the classroom translation practicum or internship is an exception. Students may be given some short translation assignments to complete in or after class and the assignment topics are of different kinds. As they usually translate extracts without sufficient context or authentic materials (Grim, 2010), those with well-selected culture-loaded information, it is likely that they do not feel engaged in doing the translation exercises. As will be discussed below, the findings of the team translation project show that student engagement learning approach used focuses on interactive learning (Diochon & Cameron, 2001), which is often used in teaching English as a second/foreign language, and features exploratory and reflective learning, critical thinking, meaningful communication and team collaboration

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Discussion

Conclusion