Group Research Project in Translator Training: Students’ Perceptions

Abstract

Learner-centred teaching is one of the key elements in almost all curricular innovations in translation training in the twenty-first century. Meanwhile, trainers and scholars have advocated the introduction of research and teamwork into the training of future translators and interpreters. While these ideas and approaches are often seen as desirable, we have little knowledge about whether and how they work in the context of translation training, which may have a very different set of goals compared with other disciplines. For instance, how do translation students see these notions and approaches? What are their experiences with them? Such questions warrant our attention in order to ensure any success of curricular innovations. This chapter adopts a qualitative approach and looks at the reactions of students from an MA in Translation Studies programme towards group work/project, which is commonly used in second language teaching, in their learning of translation. To offer the reader an authentic feel of how the learner-centred approach blending research and teamwork was received, the students’ comments are presented verbatim with little editing. Their curricular and pedagogical implications are discussed where appropriate.