Exploring BA students’ intercultural awareness and their expectations of translation courses

Abstract

The aim of the research in this paper is to investigate how the third- and fourth-year BA students of English as a foreign language perceive what they should be provided with in new translation courses that Pale Faculty of Philosophy (Department of English) is introducing, and to explore their perception about the difficulties in the process of gaining the translational competence. The premise is that the students are not sufficiently aware of the translation as a part of intercultural communication, and the cross-cultural elements that it should be focusing on. The survey also relates to on the teaching methods and styles most commonly used in translation courses, the results they are providing, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The results of the research may serve as a reliable basis for enhancement of the teaching process and the translation competence acquisition process, first and foremost through methodological eclecticism, then raising the awareness of intercultural components in translation and encouraging the communicative approach to teaching, through a positive classroom atmosphere creation. In the end, several points are made on how to raise the awareness of the students in the process of intercultural competence development.