English Translator Training Curriculum Revisited: Iranian Trainees' Perspectives

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

English and Persian translator training have been offered by many Iranian universities as an undergraduate program nation-wide. However, the program failed to keep up with the dynamics of the market demands, findings of Translation Studies research, and varied competences of students in the past two decades. This study investigated the Iranian English translator trainees’ perspectives on the former curriculum that was used for over twenty years. The other aim was to understand whether their needs and wants correspond to either of the old and the recently revised curriculum in 2018. Based on focus group interviews and literature review, a questionnaire was designed and validated, and the survey responses of over five hundred English and translator trainees (351 females & 152 males) from twelve universities in Iran were statistically analyzed. The findings revealed that the courses related to translation practice were ranked as the most important component of the curriculum by the trainees, highlighting that trainees favor practice-oriented translation courses the most.

Keywords


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