Online Teaching and Learning of Translation: Is It Possible?

Translation practicums are best facilitated with information and communication technologies, paired with a suitable pedagogical approach. That is my firm belief, and it is the core of my doctoral research.

We can no longer imagine a translator or language service provider who is not versed in the internet, word processing, and the translation databases and tools needed to handle assignments of every size. So why are we not designing programmes and learning environments that enable this kind of virtual training? Translation practice in the cloud and across networks is a must for the twenty-first-century language professional.

Competencies Nobody Has Put on the Table

A set of competencies that translation curriculum designers have never seriously addressed needs to be reconsidered and embedded in translator training programmes. Linguistic and general knowledge is not enough to build the translator of tomorrow. Employers keep asking for other, more important competencies that universities do not offer because they "do not form part of the disciplinary courses". Consider:

• social competencies;
• using technology to translate, and to train translators in practical workshops through active pedagogies rather than lectures;
• teaching translation content through multimedia tools, such as recorded lectures combined with other technology-enhanced methods that engage students and lift them out of the boredom of "lecture mode".

The Online Environment as a Training Space

The online environment is a natural space for trainee translators. They will spend their working lives in technology-based environments, networking with clients and colleagues as they move from one space in the cloud to another. That is what the future workstation, and the future working pattern, will look like.

It therefore makes sense to organise the knowledge base, resources, teaching methods and evaluation (or quality) criteria into a curriculum or programme of study that can be delivered fully online or in a blended mode that mixes face-to-face and online learning.

A large part of my PhD research addresses precisely this question. I will share further briefings and reflections here as the work progresses.