Research on Translator Training After the New Millennium: A Corpus-Based Review of Eight Journals on Translation Studies

Abstract The article is an attempt to enter into the area of metacognitive translation studies – or metacognitive translator studies – that has so far received scant coverage, and devote closer attention to the translator’s self-regulatory activity. Self-regulation seems crucial in the development of translation expertise, “especially outside of optimally structured work environments, training academies, and other places with defined translation workflows and opportunities for feedback” (Shreve 2006: 32). The article focuses on the role and nature of self-regulation in translator training. Having identified the issues that emerge from educational theories for translator training, the author analyses the approaches to metacognition in the area of translation education. In an attempt to contribute to the discussion of the multifaceted nature of translator competence, the author investigates the correlation between translation trainees’ self-regulatory activity and the quality of their translation as reflected in their translation grades.

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Las metafunciones de Halliday en traducción

Babel ◽

10.1075/babel.00164.cha ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 484-504

Author(s):

Eirini Chatzikoumi

Keyword(s):

State Of The Art ◽

Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽

Translation Studies ◽

The State ◽

Future Research ◽

Functional Linguistics ◽

Research And Teaching ◽

Translator Training

Abstract This article addresses the contribution of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to translation and, specifically, the use of Halliday’s metafunctions in translation studies research. The aim is to provide the state of the art of the main findings and proposals of these studies regarding the role of metafunctions in translation and translation teaching, thus evaluating their relevance and applicability in this field. In order to achieve this, six studies were reviewed, three of them dedicated to metafunctional shifts and three to the use of metafunctions in translation teaching and evaluation. This critical bibliographic review allowed for the corroboration of the contribution of SFL to the field of translation, and for the deduction of relevant aspects for future research and teaching proposals. More precisely, the relevance of the incorporation of semantic metafunctions in translator training and evaluation is confirmed, and the possibility of a distinction between obligatory and optional metafunctional translation shifts is suggested.

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Corpora and Translation. Are Corpora Still an Academic Luxury?

Vertimo studijos ◽

10.15388/vertstud.2019.2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 22-35

Author(s):

Jonė Grigaliūnienė

Keyword(s):

Translation Studies ◽

Small Scale ◽

Academic Institutions ◽

Translation Memory ◽

Domain Specific ◽

Language Studies ◽

Raising Awareness ◽

Translator Training ◽

The Impact ◽

Training Practice

This paper aims to consider the impact corpora have made on language studies and to touch upon the interface between corpora use and translator training/practice. A small-scale survey conducted among the translation trainers/professionals and translation students, with the aim of finding out whether professional translators and students are aware of the existence of corpora and to what extent they use them in their work, revealed that both the trainers and the students are well aware of corpora, but they still prefer translation memory technology to using corpora when translating. They have also pointed out that they would be interested in a service which quickly provided domain-and-language specific corpora tailored to their needs and a tool for extracting terminology from a domain specific corpus. The paper presents a tool which is now widely available for academic institutions in Europe and which gives a chance to quickly and easily compile a specific corpus, extract keywords, provides concordances and gives a useful word sketch that could be of great help when translating. The paper concludes that corpora have yet to make an impact on translation studies and that this will depend on raising awareness of the usefulness of corpora for translation training and practice and the availability of corpora tools that could meet translator needs.

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Towards a Text-World Approach to Translation and Its Pedagogical Implications

International Journal of Translation Interpretation and Applied Linguistics ◽

10.4018/ijtial.2019070102 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 14-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lu Tian ◽

Hui Wang

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Process ◽

Mental Representations ◽

Translation Studies ◽

Knowledge Structures ◽

Proactive Approach ◽

Cognitive Linguistic ◽

World Theory ◽

Communicative Process ◽

Translator Training ◽

Linguistic Process

Although it is widely acknowledged that translation is a cognitive process, there is scarcely any study establishing connections between the text and mental representations and giving a systematic and comprehensive explanation for this pivotal yet magical mechanism. Illuminated by Text World Theory, this study proposes a text-world approach to translation studies and addresses its implications for translator training. Translation is regarded as a cognitive communicative process of reproducing texts as worlds. The (in)coherence among text worlds as they are represented in translation provides a legitimate criterion for the evaluation of translation competence. To view translation as a cognitive-linguistic process of text-world construction and presentation may promise a more proactive approach to translator training by encouraging translator trainees to pay special attention to the expansion of their knowledge structures.

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CAT Tools in an Academic Environment

Target ◽

10.1075/target.11.1.04ken ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 65-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Dorothy Kenny

Keyword(s):

State Of The Art ◽

Translation Studies ◽

Academic Environment ◽

Computer Aided ◽

Translator Training ◽

Translation Pedagogy ◽

Descriptive Translation Studies ◽

Training Programmes ◽

The Way

Abstract Many universities have now incorporated commercially available translators ' workbench-style systems into their translator-training programmes. But, when it comes to computer-aided translation (CAT), the university's role need not be confined to teaching students how to operate some third party's system; rather new CAT tools open up whole new areas of research. For example, experience of Trados's Translator's Workbench suggests that workbench features such as automatic terminology recognition and translation memories stand to bring about fundamental changes in the way terminology is recorded and texts are authored. State-of-the-art CAT tools can also make a contribution to Descriptive Translation Studies and translation pedagogy.

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MT Literacy—A cognitive view

Translation Cognition & Behavior ◽

10.1075/tcb.00038.obr ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 145-164

Author(s):

Sharon O’Brien ◽

Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Load ◽

Academic Writing ◽

Crisis Communication ◽

Translation Studies ◽

Use Case ◽

Digital Literacies ◽

Knowing How ◽

Course Content ◽

Translator Training

Abstract MT literacy means knowing how MT works, how the technology can be useful in a particular context, and what the implications are of using it for various purposes. As MT usage grows, the necessity for MT literacy also grows. This knowledge forms part of the greater need for digital literacies. In this contribution, we relate MT literacy to the concept of cognitive load in professional translation production and in translator training scenarios. We then move beyond the sphere of translation studies to examine other use-case settings—crisis communication, academic writing and patent publishing—to consider how MT can offer solutions and how MT literacy can impact cognitively in those settings. We discuss how training in MT literacy can empower language professionals and present two proposals for course content designed for MT users in other sectors.

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Language Teaching in Translator Training

Babel ◽

10.1075/babel.47.4.05li ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 343-354 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Defeng Li

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Translation Studies ◽

Language Training ◽

Language Competence ◽

Translator Training ◽

Il Y A ◽

Key Issues ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

Cette Question ◽

Compe Tence

Abstract In recent years there has been an increasing interest among translation scholars and practitioners alike in promoting translation professionalism and hence winning recognition for translation studies as an independent discipline. Many have convincingly and justly argued for the existence of a hardcore subject-matter knowledge for translation studies and have stressed the importance of this knowledge in the development of the students’ translational competence. Unfortunately, in this attempt, the importance of language competence and thus language training is unduly played down. This article examines this issue by looking at translator training in Hong Kong. It argues that the assumption of students L1 and L2 competence being adequate to study translation immediately upon entering translation programs is unfounded and might be at least partially responsible for students’ slow improvement in their translational compe-tence throughout the program. Key issues for strengthening language training for transla-tion students are also highlighted in this paper. Résumé Au cours des dernières années, il y a eu un intérêt accru parmi les professeurs de traduction et les traducteurs tendant à promouvoir le professionnalisme de la traduction, et donc obtenir la reconnaissance des études de traduction comme discipline indépendante. Avec conviction et raisonnablement, beaucoup ont présenté l’argument d’une connaissance approfondie dún domaine de base pour les études de traduction et ont souligné l’importance de cette connaissance dans le développement de la compétence traductionnelle des étudiants. Malheureusement, lors de cette tentative, l’importance de la compétence linguistique, et donc de la formation linguistique est minimisée à mauvais escient. Cet article examine cette question en étudiant la formation des traducteurs à Hong Kong. Son argument est que supposer une compétence suffisante des étudiants L1 et L2 pour étudier la traduction, dès leur entrée dans des programmes de traduction, n’est pas fondé et serait, au moins, partiellement responsable de la lenteur de leur progrès dans leur compétence translationnelle pendant leur programme dtudes. Les questions essentielles destinées à renforcer la formation linguistique pour les étudiants en traduction sont aussi soulignées dans cet article.

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Practice Orientation in the Teaching of LSP Translation

Babel ◽

10.1075/babel.46.1.04hol ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 41-65

Author(s):

Maj-Britt Holljen

Keyword(s):

Quality Assurance ◽

Translation Studies ◽

Translation Process ◽

Research Project ◽

Practical Orientation ◽

The Future ◽

Translator Training

The issue of translator training has become one of FIT’s principal concerns, as it touches fundamental aspects of the future of the field of translation generally, and of LSP translation in particular. Quality assurance in connection with translation studies is not something that is built up over night. I have long been concerned with the problem of how to integrate into the students’ workload texts which not just reflect but rather challenge the different kinds of requirements demanded by their future employers. The POSI project — PraxisOrientierte Studieninhalte für die Ausbildung von Übersetzern und Dolmetschern – is approaching the same problem from a different angle, namely by focusing on the market’s need for qualified translators, and defining qualified as including not just the actual translating abilities, but indeed abilities to manage the entire translation process with all its extra-textual aspects. Theoretically I lean on Christiane Nord and the functionalist model of translation in my didactic approach to translator training. The article is two sided: a)it is a report on a three-year research project involving the introduction of real external translation assignments into the curriculum of LSP translation studies, and b) it is a didactic reflection on this kind of practical orientation, on what we are able to achieve, how and why it is so vital to enlarge the scope of teaching translation in this direction.

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