PROOFREADING ACADEMIC TEXTS – LINGUISTIC PROBLEMS AND PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOLOGY STUDENTS

Abstract

The paper tries to shed light on some specific problems and challenges in the work of the professional editors of academic texts from the perspective of university students who are trained to be professional translators and editors. Through our work experience as editors for an academic journal and professional investigation of specific examples of incorrect translations we excerpted some samples and asked students to proofread, comment and suggest solutions to instances of erroneous pieces of English or incorrect translation approaches that were found in academic texts submitted for publication to academic journals. The basic aim is to check the extent to which students are prepared to cope with such problems adequately in their future practice. The basic results reveal that most of the students successfully deal with grammatical inaccuracies, but the instances of ambiguous and vague expression, titles of literary works and names of religious entities present a serious challenge. We provide our explanation and suggest solutions to the problems and patterns discussed in the article. The results of the study can be used to provide some suggestions for special training classes and teaching practices aimed at philology students who will work as translators, interpreters and editors, and as motivation for future studies in the field of proofreading and editing academic texts and texts for specific purposes.