Students often decide to take up translator training despite having little or no proficiency in the foreign language they wish to choose for translation. There are two ways to tackle this problem: either by offering integrated preparatory language courses (INT) as part of a “translation” or “translation studies (TS)” programme, which is basically intended to train students for the profession in four or five years, or by requiring a satisfactory degree of language proficiency (e.g., minimum B2 or C1 according to the Common European Framework, CEFR), which may be acquired anywhere outside the programme (EXT), possibly even in the country where the language is used. The latter choice would entail taking an exam to ensure that the level of competence was sufficient to act as an entrance qualification for translator training. The INT model can be organised in two possible forms: either as a separate preparatory language tuition phase before the start of the actual translation or TS programme (INT-SEP), or a mixture of language tuition and translation teaching (INT-MIX). In this chapter, I will discuss the pros and cons of these forms. I will try to show how language teaching in translator training programmes can be geared towards translation competence without using translation as a tool for language acquisition (translation-oriented language teaching, TOLT).
In this chapter, we will explore the benefits of cognitive approaches to language teaching and learning in TI programmes. We will first explain the basic concepts of cognitivism, describe how cognitive approaches are used in translation and interpreting teaching and then draw conclusions on how these approaches can also be applied to language teaching and learning for prospective translators and interpreters and help them to become expert language users.
This chapter explores language education in translation and interpreting (TI) programs through the lens of linguistic multi-competence. In doing so, language learning and teaching in the multilingual foreign language classroom are considered as a multisensory, multimodal, multidirectional, and multidimensional adaptation process and an acculturation process with emphasis on the students’ agency. The purpose of this chapter is to stress the importance of addressing and pedagogically adopting new linguistic concepts such as translanguaging or translinguistics in translator and interpreter training. New developments in the discipline of modern translation studies (TS) which reconfigure and redefine the field by adopting a cross-disciplinary perspective lend themselves well to blending with critical, empowering plurilingual pedagogies in higher education.
The present proposal argues that it is relevant to design, implement and test more practical strategies to help Interpreting students enhance their second active working language to meet market requirements. Within the framework of a dialogue interpreting B.A. course, a free voluntary reading (FVR) experiment was conducted, based on the extensive literature proving that self-selected reading contributes to improving second language acquisition. The aim was to explore its potential as a Language and Knowledge Enhancement tool in improving native Spanish Interpreting students’ self-perceived fluency in English, and to analyze whether introducing FVR transversally as a horizontal activity in different B.A. in TI courses can help students build more robust active core competences in this foreign language.
This chapter seeks to show the specificity and uniqueness of listening comprehension in interpreter training. Although foreign language courses are aimed at enhancing students’ linguistic competence so that translation and interpreting tasks can be subsequently tackled, these courses often adhere to general foreign language principles, disregarding the specific linguistic needs of these students. In this chapter, listening comprehension is addressed with a view to elucidating the cognitive demands and nature of this linguistic skill for interpreting. A proposal of sample activities to enhance listening comprehension will also be presented to help language lecturers understand the essence of this skill and how it can best be approached when the goal is to train prospective interpreters.
Subtitling and alignment can be used as didactic tools as they contribute to the development of the linguistic, intercultural and instrumental competences that constitute the translation competence. Thus, the aim of this work is to present a methodological framework for translator training using subtitling and alignment as two activities applicable in language teaching to foster students’ skills in a foreign language and their translation competence. Firstly, students are asked to transcribe the source subtitles of various video files and, afterwards, translate them into their mother tongue. Secondly, they are given the broadcasted source and target subtitles of several TV programs and nature documentaries to align them – these alignments will be later compiled into an electronic parallel corpus.
Given that professional translators utilise English as a tool to attain a professional goal, English language teaching for translator training should be considered as a variety of English for specific purposes. This chapter discusses the bi/multicultural approach to language instruction, as well as the use of corpus-based activities, are discussed in this chapter as ways to improve English courses for translator training and to fulfil the growing need for translations into an L2. Bilingual sub-competence will be investigated within the framework of the specific needs of translation trainees and the application of current teaching methodologies. The potential of lexical and grammar aims specific to English for translator training will also be determined. Finally, as a means of achieving these goals, practical examples of corpus-based activities will be introduced.
This chapter introduces the epistemological foundations of the Scaffolded Language Emergence (SLE) approach to promoting the emergence of additional languages in adults and suggests some ideas and techniques for its implementation in the classroom at university level. Developed over a period of some 20 years by Don Kiraly at the School of Translation, Linguistics and Cultural Studies (FTSK) of the University of Mainz, Germany, the SLE approach has been used successfully to introduce hundreds of translation students at that institution to one or more of 15 additional languages.
The authors have found this approach to be an innovative way to foster additional language acquisition in the context of translator training. They believe that adopting such an approach at an early stage of one’s translation study program can provide a fertile environment for adults to establish a basis in a foreign language. Its early adoption can also help adult language learners develop and rediscover their natural skills for learning a language by means of personalized, embodied and authentic learning activities.
This chapter instrumentalises an area of foreign language teaching that is often neglected in translation programmes’ curricula, namely the contrastive grammar of specialised languages. More specifically, this chapter addresses the incorporation of the contrastive grammar of legal English and Czech into an English grammar classroom. First, the rationale behind such an approach is presented with reference to the existing legal translation competence models and curricular design. Second, a number of linguistic phenomena encountered in English legal texts, and possibly neglected in English language classes for translators, are discussed from a socio-constructivist training perspective, and a series of exercises is presented that may be used, or adapted for use, by the instructors of such courses to help them cover these specific aspects of English grammar.
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.
This chapter aims to identify areas in which students of translation can benefit from specific language teaching geared towards their needs as future translators who will normally be expected to translate from as well as into their second language. Drawing on data from translations by several hundred students at a Spanish university, it is shown that general English teaching as it is currently conceived is not sufficient to prepare these students for the job, mainly because they require specific knowledge and contrastive awareness to be able to produce linguistically, stylistically and formally correct translations of the written texts they will be confronted with as professional translators. The data allows us to distinguish several types of frequent mistakes caused by linguistic interference, providing insights into the specific language teaching needs of translation students and setting a starting point for establishing a cross-linguistically valid inventory of the most common types of interference-based errors in translation.
This chapter intends to bring into beneficial interaction two language-based disciplines, i.e., foreign language acquisition (FLA) and translation studies (TS) and to demonstrate that the latter greatly benefits from the former. Concretely, by using FLA writing exercises in language courses for translation trainees (TT), it will be shown that the advantages from this implementation are not to be underestimated if these exercises are tailored to the needs of TT. Furthermore, these exercises not only improve the foreign language competence of the TT but also enhance other aspects of their overall translation competence. In order to tailor FLA exercises for translation trainees’ language courses, a specific methodological, didactical and conceptual basis is proposed which consists of an interactive implementation of constructivism, creativity theory, text linguistics and functional Skopos theory.
This chapter presents an empirical study conducted in foreign language classes and in translator training classes (Spanish–German). The main aim of the study was twofold: (1) to show whether methods used in translation classes could be used in foreign language classes to enhance foreign language competence; and (2) to show whether, and if so how, translation competence could be enhanced by using action-oriented methods in translator training classes. So, instead of beginning class by analysing the source text’s features and then translating the source text right away, students first discussed the topics and culture-specific items mentioned in the source text. The resulting translations based on the respective action-oriented translator training classes were also better than those of students who attended “traditional” translation classes.
Translator training in Chile faces the challenge of developing the students’ linguistic competence and translator competence (TC). This chapter explores the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a means to thematically articulate a language and a translation course in an undergraduate translation program. Three CLIL-based thematic units are delivered in an English language course. The academic results of the fifteen students suggest an academic improvement in the translation course in comparison to previous cohorts. Nine of those participants and the translation lecturer engage in semi-structured interviews to explore their perceptions of the approach. The findings indicate that CLIL performs an enabling function in fostering the development of TC in the translation course.
Students often decide to take up translator training despite having little or no proficiency in the foreign language they wish to choose for translation. There are two ways to tackle this problem: either by offering integrated preparatory language courses (INT) as part of a “translation” or “translation studies (TS)” programme, which is basically intended to train students for the profession in four or five years, or by requiring a satisfactory degree of language proficiency (e.g., minimum B2 or C1 according to the Common European Framework, CEFR), which may be acquired anywhere outside the programme (EXT), possibly even in the country where the language is used. The latter choice would entail taking an exam to ensure that the level of competence was sufficient to act as an entrance qualification for translator training. The INT model can be organised in two possible forms: either as a separate preparatory language tuition phase before the start of the actual translation or TS programme (INT-SEP), or a mixture of language tuition and translation teaching (INT-MIX). In this chapter, I will discuss the pros and cons of these forms. I will try to show how language teaching in translator training programmes can be geared towards translation competence without using translation as a tool for language acquisition (translation-oriented language teaching, TOLT).
In this chapter, we will explore the benefits of cognitive approaches to language teaching and learning in TI programmes. We will first explain the basic concepts of cognitivism, describe how cognitive approaches are used in translation and interpreting teaching and then draw conclusions on how these approaches can also be applied to language teaching and learning for prospective translators and interpreters and help them to become expert language users.
This chapter explores language education in translation and interpreting (TI) programs through the lens of linguistic multi-competence. In doing so, language learning and teaching in the multilingual foreign language classroom are considered as a multisensory, multimodal, multidirectional, and multidimensional adaptation process and an acculturation process with emphasis on the students’ agency. The purpose of this chapter is to stress the importance of addressing and pedagogically adopting new linguistic concepts such as translanguaging or translinguistics in translator and interpreter training. New developments in the discipline of modern translation studies (TS) which reconfigure and redefine the field by adopting a cross-disciplinary perspective lend themselves well to blending with critical, empowering plurilingual pedagogies in higher education.
The present proposal argues that it is relevant to design, implement and test more practical strategies to help Interpreting students enhance their second active working language to meet market requirements. Within the framework of a dialogue interpreting B.A. course, a free voluntary reading (FVR) experiment was conducted, based on the extensive literature proving that self-selected reading contributes to improving second language acquisition. The aim was to explore its potential as a Language and Knowledge Enhancement tool in improving native Spanish Interpreting students’ self-perceived fluency in English, and to analyze whether introducing FVR transversally as a horizontal activity in different B.A. in TI courses can help students build more robust active core competences in this foreign language.
This chapter seeks to show the specificity and uniqueness of listening comprehension in interpreter training. Although foreign language courses are aimed at enhancing students’ linguistic competence so that translation and interpreting tasks can be subsequently tackled, these courses often adhere to general foreign language principles, disregarding the specific linguistic needs of these students. In this chapter, listening comprehension is addressed with a view to elucidating the cognitive demands and nature of this linguistic skill for interpreting. A proposal of sample activities to enhance listening comprehension will also be presented to help language lecturers understand the essence of this skill and how it can best be approached when the goal is to train prospective interpreters.
Subtitling and alignment can be used as didactic tools as they contribute to the development of the linguistic, intercultural and instrumental competences that constitute the translation competence. Thus, the aim of this work is to present a methodological framework for translator training using subtitling and alignment as two activities applicable in language teaching to foster students’ skills in a foreign language and their translation competence. Firstly, students are asked to transcribe the source subtitles of various video files and, afterwards, translate them into their mother tongue. Secondly, they are given the broadcasted source and target subtitles of several TV programs and nature documentaries to align them – these alignments will be later compiled into an electronic parallel corpus.
Given that professional translators utilise English as a tool to attain a professional goal, English language teaching for translator training should be considered as a variety of English for specific purposes. This chapter discusses the bi/multicultural approach to language instruction, as well as the use of corpus-based activities, are discussed in this chapter as ways to improve English courses for translator training and to fulfil the growing need for translations into an L2. Bilingual sub-competence will be investigated within the framework of the specific needs of translation trainees and the application of current teaching methodologies. The potential of lexical and grammar aims specific to English for translator training will also be determined. Finally, as a means of achieving these goals, practical examples of corpus-based activities will be introduced.
This chapter introduces the epistemological foundations of the Scaffolded Language Emergence (SLE) approach to promoting the emergence of additional languages in adults and suggests some ideas and techniques for its implementation in the classroom at university level. Developed over a period of some 20 years by Don Kiraly at the School of Translation, Linguistics and Cultural Studies (FTSK) of the University of Mainz, Germany, the SLE approach has been used successfully to introduce hundreds of translation students at that institution to one or more of 15 additional languages.
The authors have found this approach to be an innovative way to foster additional language acquisition in the context of translator training. They believe that adopting such an approach at an early stage of one’s translation study program can provide a fertile environment for adults to establish a basis in a foreign language. Its early adoption can also help adult language learners develop and rediscover their natural skills for learning a language by means of personalized, embodied and authentic learning activities.
This chapter instrumentalises an area of foreign language teaching that is often neglected in translation programmes’ curricula, namely the contrastive grammar of specialised languages. More specifically, this chapter addresses the incorporation of the contrastive grammar of legal English and Czech into an English grammar classroom. First, the rationale behind such an approach is presented with reference to the existing legal translation competence models and curricular design. Second, a number of linguistic phenomena encountered in English legal texts, and possibly neglected in English language classes for translators, are discussed from a socio-constructivist training perspective, and a series of exercises is presented that may be used, or adapted for use, by the instructors of such courses to help them cover these specific aspects of English grammar.
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.
This chapter aims to identify areas in which students of translation can benefit from specific language teaching geared towards their needs as future translators who will normally be expected to translate from as well as into their second language. Drawing on data from translations by several hundred students at a Spanish university, it is shown that general English teaching as it is currently conceived is not sufficient to prepare these students for the job, mainly because they require specific knowledge and contrastive awareness to be able to produce linguistically, stylistically and formally correct translations of the written texts they will be confronted with as professional translators. The data allows us to distinguish several types of frequent mistakes caused by linguistic interference, providing insights into the specific language teaching needs of translation students and setting a starting point for establishing a cross-linguistically valid inventory of the most common types of interference-based errors in translation.
This chapter intends to bring into beneficial interaction two language-based disciplines, i.e., foreign language acquisition (FLA) and translation studies (TS) and to demonstrate that the latter greatly benefits from the former. Concretely, by using FLA writing exercises in language courses for translation trainees (TT), it will be shown that the advantages from this implementation are not to be underestimated if these exercises are tailored to the needs of TT. Furthermore, these exercises not only improve the foreign language competence of the TT but also enhance other aspects of their overall translation competence. In order to tailor FLA exercises for translation trainees’ language courses, a specific methodological, didactical and conceptual basis is proposed which consists of an interactive implementation of constructivism, creativity theory, text linguistics and functional Skopos theory.
This chapter presents an empirical study conducted in foreign language classes and in translator training classes (Spanish–German). The main aim of the study was twofold: (1) to show whether methods used in translation classes could be used in foreign language classes to enhance foreign language competence; and (2) to show whether, and if so how, translation competence could be enhanced by using action-oriented methods in translator training classes. So, instead of beginning class by analysing the source text’s features and then translating the source text right away, students first discussed the topics and culture-specific items mentioned in the source text. The resulting translations based on the respective action-oriented translator training classes were also better than those of students who attended “traditional” translation classes.
Translator training in Chile faces the challenge of developing the students’ linguistic competence and translator competence (TC). This chapter explores the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a means to thematically articulate a language and a translation course in an undergraduate translation program. Three CLIL-based thematic units are delivered in an English language course. The academic results of the fifteen students suggest an academic improvement in the translation course in comparison to previous cohorts. Nine of those participants and the translation lecturer engage in semi-structured interviews to explore their perceptions of the approach. The findings indicate that CLIL performs an enabling function in fostering the development of TC in the translation course.