Abstract
This study investigates the position of the translation market in translator-training and curriculum-design practices in Turkey from the perspective of various stakeholders, mainly the graduates of translator-training programs at the undergraduate level. The role of the market in curricular design and education practices in higher education has been at the core of discussions in education, specifically for disciplines that have a vocational aspect. The discussions are mostly based on theoretical grounds. This study derives from the need for empirical research on what the market expects from translators and how training programs meet these expectations. This study first presents data from a survey and interviews with graduates of translator-training programs, as this group of stakeholders is familiar with both training and market practices (supposing that they are employed professionally on the market after graduation). The initial findings obtained from the graduates were supported with interview findings from other stakeholders. The point of departure in this study was that translator training and the translation market – as two parties to translation service provision – should be in close interaction in order to improve the quality of training in higher-education institutions and the quality of translations on the market. In the present study, almost all the stakeholders agreed that there is a need for greater interaction between training and the market, and that the elements that prepare students for the market should find a place in the translation curricula. However, the results suggest that there is a need to handle the efforts to solve the problems related to training and the profession with the involvement of various stakeholders in a more systematized way. Furthermore, it is desirable to integrate market-training elements into training practices rather than offer them only in individual courses – including translation technologies and professional work procedures and ethics.
Highlights
This study investigates the position and role of the translation market in translator-training and curriculum-design practices in Turkey from the perspective of various stakeholders, mainly the graduates of translator-training programs at the undergraduate level
The result shows that the majority of the respondents (64.1%) have a positive opinion of their training, apparently rejecting the assumption that training practices fail to correspond to market needs
The point of departure in this study was that translator training and the translation market – as two parties to translation service provision – should be in close interaction in order to improve the quality of training in higher-education institutions and the quality of translations done on the market
Summary
This study investigates the position and role of the translation market in translator-training and curriculum-design practices in Turkey from the perspective of various stakeholders, mainly the graduates of translator-training programs at the undergraduate level. The main objective of university translator-training programs is to train translators for the translation market, not all graduates work as translators. The role of the market in curricular design and education practices in higher education has been at the core of discussions in education, especially for disciplines that have a vocational aspect. The role of the market in translator training, defined by Kearns (2008: 185) as a “typically vocational activity which is often based in, and in other ways contingent on, academic settings”, has been discussed extensively in Translation Studies literature. This study collects empirical research directly from stakeholders, regarding what the market expects from translators and how training programs respond to these expectations
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