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Instrumentalising Foreign Language Pedagogy in Translator and Interpreter Training: Methods, goals and perspectives
Edited by Olaf Immanuel Seel, Silvia Roiss and Petra Zimmermann-González
[Benjamins Translation Library 161] 2023
► pp. 177–195

Chapter 10
Task-based L2 skill development for TI trainees

From competences to expertise

| University of Valladolid , Spain
| University of Valladolid , Spain

The present chapter reports on the design and implementation of a C2-level English course for TI trainees in an attempt to move away from the more traditional instruction based on linguistic competence. We intend to bring the classroom closer to industry demands by facilitating the students’ language skill development in context-relevant tasks. The course presents students with an expertise-oriented, task-based learning experience that is structured in a portfolio aiming at the development of skills identified as needs in the industry. This shift in focus – from competence to its subsumed skills – allows for more flexibility in addressing identified needs from an L2 training perspective (communication skills, general knowledge, information gathering and processing) in graduates entering the job market.

Keywords: task-based learning, competence, expertise, L2 learning, language industry
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Challenges in institutional contexts
  • 3.Translator competence and translator expertise
  • 4.Theoretical grounding for expertise-oriented, task-based language learning in TI training
  • 5.Portfolio proposal
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.161.10mar
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