Translator Education Research Articles

A Holistic, Interdisciplinary and Socially Engaged Approach to Translator Education

In the face of the contemporary market for translation services, it is becoming increasingly apparent that translation pedagogy should holistically embrace the teaching and learning process by integrating as many in- and out-of-classroom activities as possible into the real-life experience of students, thus leading them to acquire broadly defined skills and competences that are vital in the translation profession (cf. EMT Competence Framework 2022). A holistic approach to translation teaching and learning may be also reflected in an attempt to reconcile the two extremes of ‘creativity’ and ‘automaticity’ in translation, i.e., the creative contribution of the translator as an intermediary in intercultural communication on the one hand, and the requirement to know and use the latest technologies (CAT tools, machine translation, terminology databases, etc.), on the other hand. A holistic approach may also be associated with socially engaged pedagogy and the application of Project Based Learning (PBL), based on constructivist premises that we acquire knowledge by participating in intersubjective interactions. The paper attempts to show how translation teachers may holistically respond to the above-mentioned needs by using PBL methods and socially relevant interdisciplinary content in their teaching of the art and craft of translation.

Rozwijanie uważnych zachowań u studentów przekładoznawstwa. Od praktyki do usposobienia

Contemporary translator education aims to develop professional competences, adaptability to job market dynamics and life-long learning skills by fostering collaborative, situated and self-directed, experiential learning. In recognition of the essentiality of reflection skills for life-long learning, the author examines the possibility of stimulating students’ (cultural) reflection in online (intercultural) projects via guidance on mindful behaviour, as defined by Ritchhart and Perkins and discusses the findings with a view to informing task design which would augment the development of cultural and other components of translator competence.

Exploring Challenges in Textual Translation Proficiency Among Iraqi Learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

This research investigates the determinants of underperformance among students majoring in English in their textual translation skills. It delves into students' viewpoints on translation and emphasizes the influence of instructional methodologies. The study is restricted to fourth-year students at Al-Noor University College, during the academic year 2022-2023. To achieve this, a survey is conducted to gain insights from EFL learners concerning the factors contributing to subpar textual translation. A cohort of twenty-five college students is chosen for the investigation. The findings underscore that the principal obstacle to students' challenges is the employed teaching approach, coupled with inadequate time designated for translation exercises. The research underscores the necessity for heightened emphasis on translation education, specifically textual translation, as students recognize it as a potent tool for effectively conveying the culture of the target language, distinct from free and literary translation forms.

A Comparative Analysis of Eugene Nida's and Peter Newmark's Perspectives on Cultural Context in Translation

Translation, as a bridge between languages and cultures, is a complex and engaging field. The task of a translator goes beyond mere linguistic conversion; it involves the intricate process of transferring cultural contexts and meanings from one language to another. A review of Western translation history reveals a rich diversity of translation thoughts and a multitude of distinctive translators. Among them, two influential figures in the Western translation world, Eugene Nida and Peter Newmark, introduced renowned concepts such as functional equivalence, communicative translation, and semantic translation. These scholars have extensively studied translation theory, contributing significantly to the flourishing development of Western translation circles. This paper aims to comparatively analyze the thoughts of these two translation theorists from different dimensions, offering an analysis of the similarities and differences in perspectives on cultural context in translation and discussing implications for modern translation education. The following sections will provide a detailed discussion of this topic.

From Ethical Aspects of Literature to Literary Historical Studies in an Intercultural Context

In recent years, we have conducted research in various areas within the framework of the research programme Intercultural Literary Studies (No. P6-0265), especially on ethical aspects in literature, on the role and significance of translation as an intercultural mediation, on the literary-historical aspects of interculturality, and on the didactics of literature and translation. In the second part of this year’s double issue of Acta Neophilologica we present the latest findings of the researchers who make up the Intercultural Literary Studies programme group, and we have also invited colleagues from other programme groups as well as two colleagues from abroad.

OTHER ANGLES

Health practices are related to how workers have consolidated, used, and set the concepts that establish the Health Sciences and the teaching-learning methods and strategies in the field and that these concepts are theoretically and practically composed in training and continuing education. This essayistic study aims to discuss the contributions of elements of Nietzsche’s perspectivism to rethink classroom health education. Therefore, it proposes establishing a vision on the subject, based on three topics of discussion: 1. Education and Research in Health; 2. The classroom scene and the plague; 3. From perspectivism to the artistic didactics of translation.

An Exploratory Study on Improving Translation Education in Libyan Universities: A Mixed-Method Study with Student Surveys and Faculties Staff Members Interviews

The quality of translation education in Libyan universities is affected by several factors, including limited resources, a lack of professional development opportunities, and insufficient support and environment. This influence was demonstrated by the survey conducted by the researcher among 150 students using Likert. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with staff members of the translation department. The Findings highlighted the challenges faced by students and staff members in achieving high-quality translation education in Libyan universities. The findings also indicated that the translation education sector in Libya requires significant investments to enhance the skills of teachers and students and improve access to resources. The study findings also emphasized the significant obstacles that Libyan universities face in providing high-quality translation education, including limited access to basic resources such as translation materials, technology, and financing, along with insufficient infrastructure and support systems. Hence, the study concluded that investment and support from the Ministry of Higher Education are crucial to overcome these barriers and enhance the quality of translation education in the country.

PRINCIPLES OF FUTURE INTERPRETERS’ COMMUNICATIVE CULTURE DEVELOPMENT

This article explores the principles underlying the development of communicative culture in future interpreters. The effectiveness of translation activities is not solely dependent on the ability to translate linguistic constructions; it also requires a profound understanding of context and the skill to interact successfully with individuals from diverse cultures. The study analyses contemporary approaches and principles shaping the communicative culture of prospective translators. The primary goal and task of this research were to analyse and systematize the works of national and global scholars dedicated to the principles of developing interpreters’ communicative culture. To achieve this goal, the method of literary analysis was employed, involving the study of relevant literature and scientific sources related to the researched issue. This research method allowed the author to systematize existing theoretical approaches and identify perspectives for further study. The identified principles encompass multiculturalism (developing future interpreters’ abilities to comprehend the national peculiarities of individuals from different nations, the skill to understand ethnosociocultural features of interlocutors, and identifying the cultural subtext of messages), communicativeness (immersing learners in an environment that closely resembles the conditions of their future professional activity; engaging future interpreters in discussions, debates, dialogues, and other forms of communication during the course), interactivity (creating conditions for various ways and forms of interaction among students, e. i. working in pairs, mini and small groups, teams, etc. and with the instructor), non-linearity (a comprehensive approach to form a multicultural language personality capable of effective bilingual mediation between representatives of various nations), systematicity and consistency (formation of the communicative culture of future interpreters based on the logical presentation, sequence, and hierarchy of material in the educational process), professional personal orientation (selecting educational and methodological materials, forms and methods of conducting classes, tasks for independent preparation, which fully correspond to the general strategy of professionalization of academic vocational training), independence (redistribution of time between individual and classroom work in favour of the individual one, which will contribute to the development of student independence, autonomy, the formation of self-organization skills within the framework of preparation and execution of assigned tasks, activation of the use of information technologies, and, as a result, the transformation of the educational information environment into an open system that is constantly enriched by external sources of information), tutoring (shift of emphasis from the teacher to the student and their personal responsibility for the course and results of learning), empathy and tolerance (understanding the experiences, emotions and feelings of the interlocutor that arise during bilingual intercultural communication). The research underscores the necessity of a comprehensive approach, considering various aspects of intercultural communication and leveraging modern pedagogical technologies. Special emphasis is placed on fostering empathy, tolerance and cultural empathy among interpreters. Key findings highlight the need for a harmonious blend of internal psychological approaches and external educational conditions for advanced results in forming the communicative culture of future interpreters. The rapid development of multimedia technologies significantly influences translation education, opening new perspectives for innovative tools in honing the communicative skills of budding translators. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of considering these principles in the ongoing development of pedagogical strategies and programs aimed at enhancing the communicative culture of future interpreters. The insights provided in this study contribute to a nuanced understanding of the evolving dynamics in interpreters’ training, offering a foundation for continued pedagogical research and program design in this domain.

Challenges and Opportunities of College Students Translation Education in the Artificial Intelligence Era

All crafts and professions have been impacted by artificial intelligences explosive growth in the twenty-first century. The translation industry is no exception, by contrast, its even more affected than others. Artificial intelligence has brought a variety of opportunities to the development of the translation industry but also faced unprecedented challenges. Students who are majoring in translation have to face the structural changes brought by machine translation to the language service industry. Under this change, educators must realize the importance of cultivating excellent college students translation technology abilities. Therefore, this paper studies the opportunities and challenges of the cultivation of college students translation technology ability in the context of artificial intelligence, as well as how to make appropriate responses to these opportunities and challenges. According to research, it found in the face of the impact of artificial intelligence, the challenges of cultivating college students translation ability are mainly in the aspects of ethics and resource competition. However, the complexity and flexibility required by cross-cultural communication cant be replaced by machines at present, which is exactly the opportunity to cultivate the translation ability of college students. Translation is an important way of international communication. In the era of artificial intelligence, exploring how to make good use of the advantages of man-machine combination can not only improve their own ability but also build a more convenient and stable bridge for communication between countries.

Metode Pengajaran Penerjemahan yang Efektif di Tingkat Universitas: Pembelajaran dan Evaluasi

This article is based on the observation result of translation pedagogy at the university level. The important aspects of effective translation teaching design are highlighted with case studies of Faculty of Economics students as training participants. The purpose of this article is to present a teaching design that has been partially applied in the classroom while the training was ongoing. The key aspects to be considered in designing teaching begin with determining the goals to be accomplished, analyzing the interests, level of readiness, and expectations of training participants, analyzing the most suitable learning methods and materials, as well as preparing a learning evaluation framework. In preparing the syllabus, the selection and presentation of teaching materials is the key to achieving the expected competency. Using the special texts as translation training material builds the mental attitude of trainees and builds experience working on real translation projects. It also motivates training participants to conduct library research, develop terminology, and make corrections in group and independent work. Moreover, the correction was supervised by the instructor, both for individuals and groups. It formed the mental attitude of participants to be able to work independently, work in teams, be open to constructive criticism from training participants, admit mistakes, and make corrections.

The Application of ChatGPT in Translation Teaching: Changes, Challenges, and Responses

ChatGPT is a new natural language processing machine learning model with strong content production capabilities. ChatGPT has the potential to transform traditional translation teaching models, effectively assisting personalized teaching, promoting students’ autonomous learning, constructing new teaching subject relationships, innovating teaching management models, promoting the transformation of knowledge production methods, and expanding the research space of translation education and teaching. At the same time, the application of ChatGPT also poses potential risks, such as weakening learning autonomy, alienating teaching subject relationships, damaging academic integrity, triggering knowledge security risks, ethical risks, and ideological risks. In order to address challenges and fully leverage the potential of ChatGPT in translation teaching, it is necessary to innovate teaching models, reform teaching processes, enhance students’ self-learning abilities, strengthen translation ethics education and ideological risk education, and enhance the digital literacy of teachers and students. The new artificial intelligence represented by ChatGPT has strong teaching potential as a “human like teacher”, but it cannot replace the human factors in education and teaching, thus cannot change the essence of education. In the future, teachers will still play an irreplaceable role in many aspects.

Type, level and function of in-text comments in written feedback on specialised translations: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT Feedback can be conceived as a scaffolding strategy aimed at knowledge construction and self-regulation. Despite its pedagogical value in fostering learning processes, empirical studies on feedback in translation pedagogy are scarce. In this paper, we focus on the written corrective feedback provided by lecturers in specialised student-written translations. A corpus of 379 specific in-text comments was analysed in terms of the type of feedback, the level of the translation on which it impacted and its pragmatic function. The results show the prevalence of task-focused feedback, in-text comments on specialised terminology and a mainly corrective function of feedback, concerned with rectifying errors in the student’s translation. The feedback emerging from the results can be described as a unidirectional teacher-to-student model of communication, which does not correspond to the conception of dialogic and student-centred feedback advocated in the most current literature on this topic at university level.

Incorporating Corpus Linguistics Tools in the Training and Professional Development of Lecturers in Translation Studies

This research explores the impacts and strategies for integrating corpus linguistics tools in training translation lecturers. The focus of the study is to evaluate how the integration of corpus tools in the training of translation lecturers can enhance their efficiency and professional development. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires from 114 lecturers in translation studies and Ph.D. researchers in translation. Analysis was carried out using relevant statistical tools. The research findings indicate that the use of concordance tools, such as AntConc, has a notable positive impact on the effectiveness of translation instructors in demonstrating language patterns to their students. The substantial levels of agreement highlight the potential of these tools in facilitating the integration of theory and practice in the field of translation education. Furthermore, the participants recognized the effectiveness of specialized corpus-based translation tools such as TransTool in providing domain-specific linguistic information for accurate translation decision-making. The use of corpus-based tasks and exercises has developed as a strategic approach that strongly resonates with translation instructors, facilitating a comprehensive comprehension of the integration of corpus linguistics and its significance for educational methodologies. The aforementioned result underscores the need to include experiential learning and practical involvement to improve the effectiveness of translation teaching. However, there was a varied opinion of the influence of web-based corpora, suggesting the need for a more nuanced comprehension of their advantages and difficulties within the framework of translation education. Following the findings, it is thus concluded that the integration of corpus linguistics mechanisms in the training of translation lecturers remains effective as they enhance the use of real-world data in their translation studies and the use of data generated from a wide spectrum of languages in teaching translation.

The Effect of Using Dictionaries in Translation Exams on the Target Text

This research addresses the debate on whether translation students should use dictionaries in exams, a crucial topic in translation studies. It’s controversial because it affects translation quality; some believe dictionaries improve accuracy, while others argue they disrupt coherence. The central question is how dictionary use impacts translation quality for undergraduates. The study involved forty-eight Saudi female undergraduates translating English to Arabic. Half used dictionaries, and half didn’t. Results from error analysis revealed that dictionary users had fewer errors in meaning transfer and mechanics, highlighting their potential to improve accuracy. This research proposes a hybrid solution: allowing dictionaries in the first half of exams and banning them in the second. This approach strikes a balance between accuracy and coherence concerns. It’s a practical recommendation for educators and examiners, potentially enhancing translation education and practice.

大学英语课程中的语篇分析与教学策略研究

Abstract: This article delves into the theme of discourse analysis and teaching strategies in college English courses, with the objective of exploring ways to enhance teaching strategies in this context through discourse analysis. To begin, the article introduces fundamental concepts of discourse analysis, encompassing its types, methodologies, essential components, and its relevance within college English courses. Subsequently, it investigates the specific applications of discourse analysis in oral practice, vocabulary instruction, listening comprehension, and translation education. Drawing on practical teaching experience, the article proposes four discourse analysis-based teaching strategies for college English, namely theme-driven, contextual awareness, communicative function-oriented, and contextually simulated strategies.

The Effect of Discussion-based Evaluative Judgment on the Translation of Narrative Texts

The current quasi-experimental study, examined the effect of discussion-based evaluative judgment on the translation of narrative texts by Iranian university students studying translation studies. To this end, 40 Iranian EFL translation students studying at the Islamic Azad University North Tehran Branch were selected based on convenience sampling. The Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and a translation pretest were administered to ensure the homogeneity of the contributors prior to the treatment. The participants were then assigned to the Evaluative Judgment Translation Group (EJTG n=20) and the Traditional Translation Group (TTG n=20). During 16 sessions, the EJTG was taught translation through evaluative judgments as a treatment, while the TTG experienced translation via the traditional way. After the treatment stage, the participants were given a translation posttest. The overall result implied that the EJTG, taught through evaluative judgment with group discussion, significantly outperformed the TTG. The study has some implications for EFL/ESL students in translation education. For the theoretical phase, it can offer some suggestions for investigators who are attentive in developing a model for the translation course. Regarding the practical phase, all teachers could use evaluative judgment and cooperative discussion in their translation courses. In fact, evaluative judgment and collaborative strategies occupy a prominent role in the translation achievement of students in academic contexts. These strategies could be effective in enhancing EFL students’ decision-making skills.

Aspekty terminologiczne w programach studiów kształcących tłumaczy

The starting point of the research and its results described in the article was the assumption that educational concepts for a specific field of study at a university should be based on scientifically embedded competence models. In the case of translator education, these should be models developed on the basis of empirical research on translation competence. Besides, of crucial importance for the devising educational concepts is the explicative description of translation in its processual, strategic-communicative and generic specificity, wherein a certain terminology which reflects systems of concepts, distinguished categories of translation reality, is applied. Study programs, educational contents and the applied terminology should show internal terminological consistency, as well as terminological consistency with scientifically justified translation and translodidactic concepts. The research results presented in the article indicate certain groups of deficits in this regard. The formulated conclusions point out the necessity of constructing study programmes on the basis of concepts based on empirical research

Training of translators and implementation of ai in the educational process: challenges and prospects

The view of the science of translation as an applied branch of linguistics, which developed in the middle of the last century at the stage of formation of this scientific discipline, does not correspond to the current state of scientific knowledge of translation, which can only be transdisciplinary. Given that currently, the training of translation personnel is carried out mainly by teachers of foreign languages who do not have the necessary understanding of translation activity and the differences between linguistic didactics and translation didactics, it is also important to develop professional retraining programs in educational institutions with a pedagogical or philological focus. Thus, today the professional training of a translator, which already competes, so far successfully, with AI, poses many pressing questions to the scientific and pedagogical community, the solution of which cannot be delayed: how many translators will be needed in the digital space; with what competencies and cognitive abilities; For which fields of activity and with which language combinations; what will be the nature of human interaction with artificial intelligence; will the translation remain as we are used to imagine it today. All these and many other questions of a futuristic plan are necessarily faced by those who are entrusted by society to prepare translators for the digital age because those who come to master the speciality of translator today will enter the labour market only in 4-6 years when AI reaches such a level of abilities, which is difficult to predict today.

Exploring the efficacy of peer assessment in university translation classrooms

ABSTRACT Informed by the effective feedback model, the study explored the efficacy of peer assessment (PA) regarding feedback content, strategy, and uptake along with their intertwined relationships in translator education. Multiple sources of data, including students’ translation drafts and their revised work, audio recordings of PA presentations and discussions, questionnaires, and teaching materials were collected. The results revealed that the students tended to provide direct correction and reformulation on lower-level language issues. While they positively responded to the peer feedback they received, the explicitness of the feedback and solutions to the problems significantly influenced their responses. The study also discovered associations between content and strategy, as well as between strategy and uptake, while no connection was found between content and uptake. The study contributes to the extant research on PA in higher education by investigating its efficacy from a multidimensional perspective and provides practical implications for its effective implementation in translation classrooms.

ANNOTATING TRANSLATION AS A MEANINGFUL METACOGNITION-ORIENTED PRACTICE IN THE TRANSLATION CLASSROOM

Translating is a cognitively complex activity aimed at tackling an ill-defined problem: selecting only one viable rendition in the target language from a series of multiple viable choices for a given text in a source language (PYM, 2003). Developing the ability to perform such an activity with a reasonable speed and justified confidence (PYM, 2003) may profit from learning how to perform a parallel activity, i.e., annotating, as a fruitful avenue toward metacognition (ALVES, 2005; SHREVE, 2006) and the articulation thereof. We argue in this article that annotating (or commenting) can be an effective practice in the translation of any genre and play a relevant role from the beginning of translator’s training. Building both on a review of expertise (ERICSSON, 2001) and translation pedagogy (GONÇALVES, 2020; ESQUEDA, 2020) and on our own teaching experience, we suggest that annotating translation can: a) be performed as part of deliberate practice (in the broad sense) during the translation process, b) honestly inform students and trainers about the difficulties faced during the process, c) invite useful feedback, and d) potentially leverage students’ metacognition.