Translation Teaching Competence: Teachers and Students' Perspectives

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

This qualitative study is an attempt to gain insights into the competence and sub-competencies required for a successful English and Persian translation teacher in the context of undergraduate education in Iran. To this end, 95 senior graduate and undergraduate students of English translation and 13 experienced translation teachers in Iranian universities were invited to participate in the study. Using focus-group and in-depth interviews, two sets of qualitative data were collected and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding procedures of Grounded Theory. According to the students, translation teaching competence includes the components of pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and psychological-personality competence, while the teachers believed in pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and mental-personality competence as the underlying constructs. Whereas content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge are mainly common in the views of the students and teachers, psychological-personality and mental-personality sub-competences are the factors which are not shared by the two groups.

Keywords


Albir, A. H. (2007). Competence-based curriculum design for training translators. the Interpreter and translator trainer, 1(2), 163-195.
Albir, A. H. (2015). The acquisition of translation competence: Competences, tasks, and assessment in translator training. Meta, 60(2), 256-280.
Alibakhshi, G. (2019). In-service training professional development needs of Iranian teachers of English as foreign language: A qualitative research study. Teaching English Language, 13(2), 95-119.
Aminkhandaghi, M., & Seyfi, G. (2013). Tavanmandiha va maharathaye moaser va morede niyaz baraye tadris dar daneshgah [Abilities and practical required skills for teaching at university]. Faslnameye pazhohesh va barnamehrizi dar amozeshe aali [Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education], 19(3), 121-167.
Ashrafi, N. (2012). Construction and validation of the translation competecny test and the scale of students' perception of translation teachers. (Unpublished master thesis), Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran.  
Bailey, M. K. (2006). Language teacher supervision: A case-based approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
 Davies, M. G. (2004). Multiple voices in the translation classroom: activities, tasks and projects. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.
EMT Expert Group (2013). The EMT translator trainer profile. competences of the trainer in translation. Retrieved from  https://scribd.com/document
Fathi, J. & Derakhshan, A. (2019). Teacher self-efficacy and emotional regulation as predictors of teaching stress: An investigation of Iranian English language teachers. Teaching English Language, 13(2), 117-143.
Gile, D. (2009). Basic concepts and models for interpreter and translator training. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Göpferich, S. (2019). Translation competence as a cognitive catalyst for multiliteracy–research findings and their implications for L2 writing and translation instruction. In Researching Cognitive Processes of Translation (pp. 169-197). Singapore: Springer.
Kelly, D. (2005). Hand book for translator trainers. Manchester, England: St. Jerome.
Kelly, D. (2008). Training the Trainers: towards a description of translator trainer competence and training needs analysis. TTR: Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction, 21(1), 99-125.
Khazaie, S., & Jalilifar, A. (2015). Exploring the role of mobile games in a blended module of L2 vocabulary learning. Teaching English Language9(1), 61-91.
Kiraly, D. (2000). A social constructivist approach to translator education: Empowerment from theory to practice. Manchester, England: St. Jerome.
Kiraly, D. (2005). Project-based learning: A case for situated translation. Meta, 50(4), 1098-1111.
Khoshsaligheh, M. (2015). Targeted competences in Persian and English translation education. Language and Translation Studies, 47(3), 113-143.
Khoshsaligheh, M., Moghaddas, M., & Ameri, S. (2019). English translator training curriculum revisited: Iranian trainees' perspectives. Teaching English Language, 13(2), 181–212.
Kornacki, M. (2015). The making of a translator –a functional approach to translator training. In P. Pietrzak & M. Deckert (Eds.), Constructing translation competence (pp. 283-297). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Kościałkowska-Okońska, E. (2015). Translation teaching: how to make it more effective for our students? In P. Pietrzak & M. Deckert (Eds.), Constructing translation competence (pp. 49-63). Bern, Germany: Peter Lang.
Larrivee, B. (2005). Authentic classroom management: Creating a learning community and building reflective practice. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Lin, W., & Liu, W. (2020, March). The Construction of Competence Training Platform of Foreign Language Translation. In 4th International Conference on Culture, Education and Economic Development of Modern Society (ICCESE 2020) (pp. 700-704). Atlantis Press, Moscow, Russia.
Massey, G.  Kiraly, D., & Ehrensberger-Dow, M. (2019). Training the translator trainers: an introduction. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 13(3), 211-2015
McNamara, D. (1991). Subject knowledge and its application: Problems and possibilities for teacher educators. Journal of Education for Teaching, 17(2), 113-128.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.
Moghaddas, M., & Khoshsaligheh, M. (2019). Implementing project-based learning in a Persian translation class: A mixed-methods study. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 13(2), 1–20. Mohammed, T. A. (2020). Investigating the translation programme at two Yemeni universities in the light of PACTE's translation competence model. Alustath59(1), 103-121.
Nord, C. (1991). Text analysis in translation: Theory methodology, and didactic application of a model for translation-oriented text analysis. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi.
Orlando, M. (2019). Training and educating interpreter and translator trainers as practitioners-researchers-teachers. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 13(3), 216–232.
PACTE. (2003). Building a translation competence model. In F. Alves (Ed.), Triangulating translation: Perspectives in process-oriented research (pp. 43–66). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
PACTE. (2005). Investigation TC: Conceptual and methodological issues. Meta, 50(2), 609-619.
PACTE (2019). Evolution of the Efficacy of the Translation Process in Translation Competence Acquisition. Meta64(1), 242-265.
Passos, A. F. J. (2009). A comparative analysis of teacher competence and its effect on pupil performance in upper primary schools in Mozambique and other SACMEQ countries. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), University of Pretoria, South Africa.  
Piotrowska, M. (2015). Revisiting the translator competence in the 21st century. In P. Pietrzak & M. Deckert (Eds.), Constructing translation competence (pp. 14-26). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. W. (2002). Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. London, England: Longman.
Risku, H. (2016). Situated learning in translation research training: academic research as a reflection of practice. The Interpreter and translator trainer, 10 (1):12-28.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard educational review, 57(1), 1-23.
Tao, Y. (2012). Towards a constructive model in training professional translators: A case study of MTI education program in China. Babel, 58(3), 289-308.
Tao, Y. (2016). Translator training and education in China: past, present and prospects. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 10(2), 204-223.
Westera, W. (2001). Competences in education: A confusion of tongues. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 33(1), 75-88.
Wu, D., Zhang, L. J., & Wei, L. (2019). Developing translator competence: understanding trainers’ beliefs and training practices. Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 13(3), 233–254.
Wu, D. Wei, L. & Mo, A. (2019). Training translation teachers in an initial teacher education programme: a self-efficacy beliefs perspective. Perspectives, 27(1), 74-90.
Yin, Y., & Xu, G. (2005). The recent tendencies of the reform of translation teaching in Chinese Mainland [Jinnian lai guonei fanyi jiaoxue gaige qushi]. Journal of The University of Petroleum 2, 110–113.