Article published in:

Interdisciplinarity in Translation and Interpreting Process Research
Edited by Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow, Susanne Göpferich and Sharon O'Brien
[Target 25:1] 2013
► pp. 61–76

Translation competence

Explaining development and stagnation from a dynamic systems perspective

Susanne Göpferich | Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

This article introduces Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) as a framework for the investigation of translation competence development. After a presentation of the basic concepts and assumptions underlying this theory, results from the longitudinal study TransComp will be discussed against the background of DST. TransComp is a three-year product- and process-oriented longitudinal study of the development of translation competence in 12 students of translation, whose translation products and processes were compared with those of 10 professional translators. The article outlines both the difficulties involved in the application of DST to the investigation of translation competence development and the added value that it promises for our understanding of developmental processes in translators, including the ways they can be fostered in translation training.

Keywords: translation competence development, Dynamic Systems Theory, DST, expertise, novice-expert paradigm, contrastive analyses, didactical implications, cognitive apprenticeship, translatology

Article outline

1.Introduction
2.What didactically relevant variables is the dynamic system of translation competence composed of, and how can they be ‘measured’?
3.The results interpreted in the light of DST
4.Discussion and conclusion
Notes
References

Published online: 04 March 2013
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.25.1.06goe

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