Tailoring Translation Programs to Social Needs: A Survey of Professional Translators

Defeng Li
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Abstract

To ensure that translation programs meet the constantly changing needs of the market, it is of paramount importance to first identify what those needs are. This article reports on a data-based study of professional translators undertaken in Hong Kong. The study reveals that recent social-political changes in the country have brought about changes in the needs of professional translators characterized by demand for better bilingual competence including mastery of Putonghua, better command of selective translation and more collaborative translation. It was also found that training in English and Chinese proved most helpful to professional translators at work, whereas training in interpretation and subject knowledge proved inadequate. The author recommends that training in L1 and L2 be strengthened, and translation teaching be brought closer to the real world through authentic training, thus responding to changing social needs.

Table of contents

Studies on translation teaching have been gaining momentum in recent years. While plenty has been written on translator competence and proficiency (e.g. Campbell 1991; Cao 1996; Shreve 1997), approaches to teaching translation (e.g. Gile 1995; Wilss 1996), the role of theory in translation teaching (e.g. Delisle 1981; Gentile 1991; Viaggio 1994; Gile 1995a) and empirical study of the translation process and its pedagogical implications (e.g. Lörscher 1991; Tirkkonen-Condit 1992), several other important aspects of translation teaching have been un- or under-explored. For example, there has been little study on design and planning of translation curriculums, yet curriculum design and planning is one of the aspects that most directly affect the quality of translators turned out by translation programs. Therefore, the subject of curriculum design and innovation in translation programs merits serious study.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Berg, Bruce Lawrence
1989 Qualitative Research Methods: For the Social Sciences. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Bogdan, Robert and Sari Knopp Biklen
1992 Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods. London: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Bühler, Hildegund
1987 “Language and Translation: Translating and Interpreting as a Profession”. R.B. Kaplan et al., eds. Language and Professions: Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 7. 105–119. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, S.J.
1991 “Towards a Model of Translation Competence”. Meta 36:2–3329–343.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cao, Deborah
1996 “Towards a Model of Translation Proficiency”. Target 8:2. 325–340.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheung, Yat-shing, Xu, Y., Chan, S. and Yim, C.
1993 Professional Translation in Hong Kong: How and By Whom. Hong Kong: Centre for Translation Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic.Google Scholar
Delisle, Jean
1981 L’enseignement de l’interprétation et de la traduction. Ottawa: Éditions de l’luniversité d’Ottawa.Google Scholar
Denzin, Norman K.
1970 The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co..Google Scholar
Dollerup, Cay
1994 “Systematic Feedback in Teaching Translation”. Dollerup and Lindegarrd 1994 : 121–132.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dollerup, Cay and Vibeke Appel
eds. 1995 Teaching Translation and Interpreting 3: New Horizons: Papers from the Third Language International Conference, Elsinore, Denmark, 9–11 June 1995. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Dollerup, Cay and Annette Lindegarrd
eds. 1994 Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2: Insights, Aims, Visions. Papers From the Second Language International Conference. Elsinore, Denmark 4–6 June 1993 Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gentile, Adolfo
1991 “The Application of Theoretical Constructs from a Number of Disciplines for the Development of a Methodology of Teaching in Interpreting and Translating”. Meta 36:2–3. 344–351.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gile, Daniel
1995a Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1995b “Mirror Mirror on the Wall: An Introduction”. Target 7:1. 1–5.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goetz. Judith P. and Margaret Diane LeCompte
1984 Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
James, Heulwen, Ian Roffe and David Thorne
1995 “Assessment and Skills in Screen Translation”. Dollerup and Appel 1995 : 177–186. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
[ p. 149 ]
Jin, Di
1991 “Contra-Bly Stages of Translation”. Translation Review 36–37. 22–24.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klaudy, Kinga
1995 “Quality Assessment in School vs. Professional Translation”. Dollerup and Appel 1995 : 197–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Defeng
1999 “Commercial Translation in Hong Kong: Problems and Perspectives”. Babel 45:3. 193–204.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lincoln, Yvonna S. and Egon G. Guba
1986 Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lörscher, Wolfgang
1991 Translation Performance, Translation Process, and Translation Strategies: Psycholinguistic Investigation. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar
Lü, Shuxiang
1984 “Translation and Miscellaneous Knowledge”. Luo, Xingzhang, ed. On Translation. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, Rosemary
1998 “The Place of Language Teaching in a Quality Oriented Translators’ Training Programme”. Kirsten Malmkjær, ed. Translation and Language Teaching. Manchester: St Jerome 1998 15–19.Google Scholar
O’Hagan, Minako
1996 The Coming Industry of Teletranslation: Overcoming Communication Barriers through Telecommunication. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Pagano, Adriana
1994 “Decentering Translation in the Classroom: An Experiment”. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 2. 213–217.Google Scholar
Poon, Hon-kwong
1997 “Grammar Learning and Translation”. Paper presented at the Conference on Translation Teaching, CUHK, Hong Kong, December 2–4, 1997.
Powney, Janet and Mike Watts
1987 Interviewing in Educational Research. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pratt, David
1994 Curriculum Planning: A Handbook for Professionals. FL, Orlando: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Inc..Google Scholar
Shreve, Gregory M.
1997 “Cognition and the Evolution of Translation Competence”. Joseph H. Danks, Gregory M. Shreve, Stephen B. Fountain and Michael K. McBeath, eds. Cognitive Processes in Translation and Interpreting. London: Sage Publications 1997 00–00.Google Scholar
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja
1992 “The Interaction of World Knowledge and Linguistic Knowledge in the Processes of Translation: A Think-aloud Protocol Study”. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen, eds. Translation and Meaning, Part 2. Rijkshogeshool Maastricht, Faculty of Translation and Interpreting 1992 433–440.Google Scholar
Ulrych, Margherita
1995 “Real-world Criteria in Translation Pedagogy”. Dollerup and Appel 1995 : 251–259. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Viaggio, Sergio
1994 “Theory and Professional Development: Or Admonishing Translators to be Good”. Dollerup and Lindegaard 1994 : 97–105.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vienne, Jean
1994 “Toward a Pedagogy of ‘Translation in Situation‘”. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 1. 51–59.Google Scholar
Wilss, Wolfram
1996 Knowledge and Skills in Translator Behavior. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar