The dominance of English

The unprecedented spread of English and its growing dominance in the translation and interpreting industry have implications on the market behaviour of translators and interpreters depending on the combination of their working languages. This paper investigates the extent to which market signals (e.g. average rates and workloads) can be reflected in the motivation of students to enter the translation profession in respect to the combination of their working languages and the inclusion of English within that combination. Two surveys were used to obtain data for our analysis: one focused on the market behaviour of professional translators, whereas the other assessed the plans and motivations of T&I students at the end of their studies. Respondents in both surveys were divided according to the role of English in their language combination. As this paper demonstrates, professionals working only with English (or with English and at least one other foreign language) had a better position in the market in terms of overall workload. These groups of professionals also had a more positive outlook in terms of demand for their services. On the contrary, professionals working with languages other than English had a lower workload and a more pessimistic outlook in terms of demand for their services. As our data suggest, students in the same category of working language combinations (without English) were more hesitant to pursue a career in the industry. Our findings underline a degree of sensitivity among students to market signals depending on the combination of their working languages. Importantly, they present relevant information for T&I programme administrators and university management when designing curricula and planning future study programmes.