Web 2.0 technologies and translator training: assessing trainees’ use of instant messaging as a collaborative tool in accomplishing translation tasks

Abstract

Web 2.0 technologies have had a significant impact on collaborative communication practices in teaching, learning, and professional work environments. In translation studies, computer-supported collaborative translation tasks have mainly been discussed within the project-based learning framework, where research has foregrounded correlations between collaboration and performance. However, trainees’ specific uses of collaborative tools, including transcripts of real-time exchanges, have neither been sufficiently investigated nor informed pedagogical strategies and approaches in any tangible way. This study bridges this gap by evaluating trainees’ collaborative practices while they translated a text, localized a restaurant menu, and simulated the design and launch of a language service agency. Data was gathered from a questionnaire, in-class presentations, and real-time instant messaging (IM) transcripts. Data analysis of the real-time IM exchanges unveiled considerable trainee communicative practices during collaborative tasks. Furthermore, correlations were established between the volume of instant messages, time of exchange, role played by trainees, and conversation themes with the teams’ final assessment performances. This study provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of IM as a collaborative tool in training environments. It also informed our suggested guidelines for properly integrating IM into the translator training curriculum.