Successful Translation Students’ Use of Dictionaries

Dictionaries of all types are an indispensable tool for both professional and trainee translators. However, the literature on trainee translators indicates that the skills associated with dictionary use have not been given the required attention. Knowing which dictionaries to use and how to use them efficiently when engaged in the translation process are significant aspects of translation pedagogy. In fact, facilitating the development of effective dictionary use helps develop translation competence in general. Therefore, the present article reports on a qualitative case study of successful translation students’ usage of and preferences for various types of dictionaries. The results show that successful trainee translators use dictionaries to locate synonyms or better translations for target words. Successful translation students are also reported to use dictionaries frequently to check spelling. Most respondents reported consulting the dictionary after they finished reading source texts. In line with the global move toward digitalization, the participants reported using electronic dictionaries with significantly greater frequency than paper dictionaries. In most cases, successful translation students’ use of paper dictionaries was limited to classroom examinations. The open-ended interview questions also helped to reveal the variety of dictionaries used by this group of trainee translators. Taken together, these findings have utility for translation instructors, particularly regarding the improvement of trainee translators’ experiences and the provision of assistance to less successful students.

TRANSLATION PEDAGOGY VERSUS PEDAGOGICAL TRANSLATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

This conceptual paper presents the review of literatures of a study related to Translation in Language Teaching (TILT) and Translation Training, It reviews related literature on translation theories and practices in bilingual/multilingual classrooms as well. The interplay of translation, multilingualism, multiculturalism and globalisation in today’s ESL pedagogical reality demands translation to be employed in improving students’ English language proficiency. Unfortunately, research indicates that teachers do not possess adequate knowledge on appropriate translation models to enable them to perform translation in language teaching (TILT). As a result, they ended up employing unplanned code switching and code-mixing techniques throughout their English language lessons. Studies have shown that translation educators also do not possess adequate competencies in training language teachers to translate due to discrepancy between the chosen modules and teachers’ motivation. As a result, teachers failed to understand the purpose of such training. This conceptual paper, thus, attempts to conjure up two important concepts in translation studies: Pedagogical translation and translation pedagogy. Translation Pedagogy refers to the acquired knowledge on how to translate, whereas pedagogical translation refers to the actual process or practice of translation either in written or verbal form. The relevance of these two concepts in TILT are highlighted and discussed throughout this paper. A translation model is suggested as a guideline in providing training in TILT area. The result of this upcoming study may provide a direction in translation training for language teachers in Malaysia. It suggests that the concepts of Pedagogical Translation (PT) and Translation Pedagogy (TP) should be incorporated into translation training modules. By doing so, both translation trainers and teacher trainees are able to understand the actual processes of translation itself in TILT.

Pedagogy of translation in the age of digital technologies

The purpose of the research is to establish the effectiveness of digital technologies in teaching the theory and practice of translation, in particular specialized one, taking into account the pragmatic aspect (this refers to the pragmatics of translation from Ukrainian into French). The research method is the key one in the study, as well as empirical, statistical and theoretical methods have been also used. By the way, survey and observation methods have been applied in order to diagnose the effectiveness of the research. The main hypothesis is the assumption that the introduction of digital technologies in the process of teaching specialized translation will have positive results: that is, it will demonstrate an increase in the level of success, and, therefore, translation competences and skills of students, potential specialists in the field of translation. The result of the present research lies in proving the effectiveness of involving digital technologies as an innovative component in the process of teaching translation skills from the standpoint of translation pragmatics. The collected materials testify to the prospects of projects in the field of translation pedagogy.

DIDACTIC ASPECTS OF TRANSLATION THEORIES

The relationship between translation theory and translation pedagogy is undeniable. Translation studies developed, in fact, as a result of analysis and theoretical generalization of both professional and classroom translation activities. However, the views on the role of theory in translation instruction are rather controversial. Moreover, even though numerous studies have given detailed insights into translation theories, there are still issues to consider. Unexplored are didactic aspects of translation theories: to our knowledge, no research has discussed the didactic contribution of translation theorists to translation pedagogy. Hence the purpose of the paper is to carry out a critical analysis of literary, linguistic, communicative, and cognitive translation theories with a view to exploring and interpreting their didactic strengths and weaknesses. The research methodology relies on the analysis of available literature as well as textbooks in translation practice to discover the didactic contribution of translation theories to translation pedagogy. Noteworthy is the fact that every translation theory has contributed to the development of translation pedagogy as a branch of applied linguistics. Among the major gains of literary theory is textual approach to learning and teaching translation. Linguistic theory has provided the theoretical foundations for translation pedagogy and creating textbooks that meet the didactic requirements. Teaching translation from the standpoint of treating it as a process of communication has become the achievement of communicative theory. The gains of cognitive theory include the adoption of a competence-based approach to teaching translation, as well as the intensification of research efforts in the field of translation pedagogy. In addition to progressive aspects, the translation theories had certain shortcomings. Literary theory, for instance, rejected the idea of translation pedagogy because of perception of the activity as art. Linguistic theory overemphasized certain aspects of language in teaching translation and promoted the idea of interlingual equivalence. This idea has led to the absolute predominance of bilingual dictionaries in translation classrooms, which is currently considered unjustified. The concept of communicative equivalence, supported by the advocates of communicative theory, has negatively affected evaluation of classroom translations. Finally, cognitive theory is criticized for its failure to apply its theoretical concepts to the development of translation pedagogy.

The Pedagogy of Corpus-aided English-Chinese Translation from a Critical & Creative Perspective

With the advancement of corpus linguistics, there has been an increasing interest in using corpora as a tool for translator training and translation practice. Despite the usefulness of corpora in translation pedagogy, the more and more reliance on parallel corpora in translating activities has diminished the ability to determine the meaning of words within different contexts using dictionaries. However, it has hampered the enhancement of translation competence of trainee translators. This study investigates the necessity of adopting critical and creative thinking in the teaching of corpus-aided English-Chinese translation. It first examines the increasing importance of corpora in aiding translator training and translating practice. A critical analysis was adopted to analyze a translation case using a parallel corpus. Thirteen Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice's opening remark were compared and analyzed critically and creatively with the aid of different corpora. Pedagogical implications for translation teaching were summarized.

Translation pedagogy the missing component in Translation studies in the Arab world

This article discusses the pedagogical role of translation and its relationship with methods of teaching foreign languages. Translation in education has a long history in foreign language pedagogy. Translation was the only method -along with grammar- that was employed in foreign language classrooms. This long-established relation between language pedagogy and translation was then attacked after the 18th century and translation was accused of hindering good language use. It was claimed to impede the process of understanding and linguistic thinking. However, translation regained its status within language teaching methods recently through the approaches of cognitive psychology and the universal grammar. The article also reviews the evaluative role of translation as a testing technique for measuring translation skills and assessing proficiency in foreign languages. Translation is also a school subject that needs special to be taught through special teaching techniques. In order to so, translation skills are deconstructed to sub-skills on the kernel levels. The article also reviews the different approaches to designing translation curricula. It is concluded that the educational role of translation should appear clearly in the contemporary endeavors to establish Translation Studies as an independent and differentiated discipline that should be hosted in an independent university department separate from departments of foreign languages. The study program for this department should thus include important aspects of translation pedagogy and field-oriented training.

Stepping into the translator trainees’ shoes: a descriptive study

In the growing field of translation pedagogy little has been discussed about the importance of key central concepts such as translation problems, translation strategies or translator competence through empirical studies. This article examines the theoretical background as the starting point of the empirical study performed at five different universities in Spain: Universitat Jaume I (UJI), Universidad de Salamanca (USAL), Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (UPCO) and University of Granada (UGR). The research presented here focuses specifically on the development of translator competence and, particularly, the students’ capacity to identify translation problems. The study results demonstrate no regular patterns for the development of translator competence within the undergraduate translators and interpreters training programs in Spain.