Integrating Intercultural Competence with the Translator Training

Abstract

The definition of an intercultural competent translator used in this paper is one who consistently exhibits a high degree of intercultural knowledge, abilities, attitude, and adaptability in all of his or her professional endeavours. I contend that in order to achieve this goal, intercultural competency must be formally and conceptually integrated into the curriculum for translation training. The importance of intercultural communication in the translator training curriculum has already been attempted, and in this paper, I relied on a questionnaire distributed to Tunisian university teachers to gauge their awareness about their students’ intercultural communication (IC) in relation to translation classes. The data obtained from six-point Likert questionnaires were analysed via SPSS to reveal Tunisian university teachers’ knowledge of Translation practice in line with their students’ IC. This study culminated in showing the existing gaps in teachers’ training and understanding about their students’ IC in relation to translation. Thus, it calls for more focus on this area in future research works.