Towards the acquisition of strategic competence in translator training

Abstract

Unravelling the complex process of acquiring Translator Competence (TC) is a considerable challenge. Whilst TC has been considered fundamental to translator training, research, and training have often been limited to theoretical reflections, without including empirical input. In this proposal, we will try to fill a gap in the empirical studies that have been performed to date on TC and the analysis of its acquisition in real teaching practice. We offer the reader an in-depth review of key issues for the training of translators before presenting the empirical study. In the first part, we place the reader in the context in which the study is framed, dealing with basic concepts such as TC. This paper summarizes essential ideas before exploring the question of TC acquisition, and particularly into strategic competence (SC). In the second part, we describe the quantitative and qualitative methodology of the empirical study. The longitudinal study, presented, includes a group of 37 subjects, allowing greater depth in the analysis of the processes of the acquisition of SC. Finally, we present our conclusions. Our results shed light on key issues for the development of theory and practice to facilitate advances in the training of translators.