Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Monday, 24 November 2014
Training and educating translators differently....innovating in course design and classroom interventions
Training and educating translators differently..... innovating
in course design, development and classroom (f2f or online) interventions:
Today highlights will be about a two important experiences i have been through in my teaching in two different types of settings and teaching/training modes. The first is about an online synchronous course, the second is about a course for translation undergraduates in Oman.
Today highlights will be about a two important experiences i have been through in my teaching in two different types of settings and teaching/training modes. The first is about an online synchronous course, the second is about a course for translation undergraduates in Oman.
- Using Case Studies ( Experience # 1):
In 2012, I decided to take a challenging step when I decided to teach and facilitate an on-line (synchronous) course in one aspect of 21st century professional translation practice (Cloud
sourcing). It was the first time I taught such content in Arabic. It was a real
challenge in terms of the use of concepts and terminology, since the metalanguage
for that type of content is still emerging and it is not yet stable. This also applies to the countries that have a long tradition in translator training, let alone the Arabic context where the teaching of translation in a university context is still in many contexts a new tradition and there is
still a lot of work to do in terms or pedagogy and discipline at large.
So, I decided to divide my intervention in two phases.
First, I used an ON-LINE Power Point-lecture (using a virtual interface-software so as students can visualize the slides) comprising three major components. At
the end of each component, I stop and get students to ask questions. Students
did that via the text box (chat box) or ask questions via the audio-visual medium. After that, I moved to
the practical part using case studies related to the theoretical part. For
instance, a case on the client-translator or Project manager - translator(vendor) negotiations over tasks, technical issues, pricing. I looked for pertinent case studies that could match the type of skills and concepts I
wanted the students to appropriate and interact with. The fact that they were
already practicing freelancers, some of them own their own translation agencies,
made the second part of this course very interesting. I relied on
educational constructs to guide me through like the constructs of learning styles, learning strategies for adults
(Andragoy) and studies in psycho-education (motivation). At the professional
level, all participants, including myself, have benefited from the various expereiences and practices highlighted by the participants living in various countries worldwide (Australia, USA, Europe, The Arab
world). So, we had really benefited from this intercultural dimension, which enriched our global understanding of the profession. Each participant resolves the problem or proposes a solution to the problem according to the local practices in his or her country. Last, the lecturing was done in Arabic, while the language of
instruction in the practical part was English. This is done to instigate
various students to participate at ease: many students have Arabic as a
passive language. They understand the language well, but at the oral level, and
being adult learners from various countries and various nationalities and MOST
of all meeting for the FIRST time on-line, I
thought it could be better to use the language they could express themselves at ease.
Using Project–based approach (Experience #2).
The second innovative move was in a face to
face classroom context. In 2013, I worked at one of the Omani
universities teaching Translation and Interpreting (community interpreting) for
undergraduates female students. I had four courses: 1- Modern theories of translation, 2- Arabic-English practical translation, 3-
Introduction to interpreting, 4- Business Translation.
For the practical course (Eng-Ara), I decided to apply Kiraly's project based approach. This was for
the final year students. At first, when I spent nearly 1 hour trying to explain
what project based work is, the students felt (many of them) uncomfortable,
since this practice is
new to them and different from the traditional( collective and pastoral) methods they were used to (in year 3, for example). I decided to do that, because
of a very important factor I thought it would help: student number ( they were 22 students). It would have been difficult to do that
if the number was reaching
the 30 or 35 as is it the case in the other
classes I had. Also, because students are in their final year and their
level of maturity and language mastery helped ( in a way) to implement the
Project-Based approach.
The Process:
It took me a
while to figure out the type of activities to design for students to motivate them and make them see its relevance to their future career. So, I checked...and checked. I found out that the HR department at the
university have their employee manual published only in ENGLISH.... no Arabic version. Strange ..eh !!!.
I paid a visit to the HR manager
and explained the initiative. She liked it...of course a possibility of having a FREE
manual in Arabic...Not a bad idea!!. However, I defended my students by
suggesting an officially stamped
recognition certificate that students could add to their portfolio and use to
enhance their CV in the future. She agreed to that.
The following week, I came to the classroom
and informed the students about the way they will be re- compensated.They were buzzing!!!...they liked
the idea. They liked it more when I said that I am going to
count the activity in the assessment (formative assessment). I told them I will
note down observations during every class session of the project (4
weeks) on each of the candidates and the groups. I noted down how each member of the team puts
in efforts and commits herself to the project as well as the dynamics of each group.
I divided the group into 7 groups (3
in each group). Each student did the role of a terminologist, translator and reviser. Students were
checking their colleagues' performance (peer assessment). This type of assessment, to my surprise, provoked various
types of negative attitudes from the students. Some of them did
not like to be criticized on their translations (This a very important cultural variable for my ongoing research). Some of
the students, who did not want to complain in the classroom in front of their
colleagues, came to my office and did that. Next class, I explained them
further how they should improve their attitudes, since this is a project and
they are collaborating for one sole purpose : to hand back the project in its best
shape, on time and get paid for it (have the certificate of recognition). This is a first step
toward developing the professional aspect of the activity. It is a
transition phase for them, so these types of negative attitudes happen.
At the end of the project, I submitted a type of survey
comprising ONE question whereby I asked them to describe their
experience. I told them not to put their name on the sheet. I gave them 10 min to do that. I went out and came back after 10 min. At home, I read the replies. I was surprised to the changes this activity had (especially) on
their attitudes and the way they conceive and understand translation (as a
profession and not an activity to improve their L2 competence as it has been
-and still is- the tradition in this context). I guess this is what Kiraly (1995, 2000) refer to as the development of the self-concept. Two of the
students expressed their dissatisfaction, since they did think that translation is not
what I showed them, but they enrolled in the program to improve
their language... And be a language teacher after graduating.
These are two true experiences I would
like to share with my community, and I hope that other colleagues could engage
in more innovative initiatives. However, these innovations must be backed up by
insights from educational sciences
(concepts in Higher Education pedagogy and curriculum studies).
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Part 1 of Increasing Literacy Across the Curriculum Through Mobile Learning
Please post your comments.
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
About the Ottawa graduate student conference in Translation Studies...a student reflexion.
I attended the translation graduate
student conference last week at the University of Ottawa and it was very
interesting. The theme was about networking in the context of literary
translation. Various intriguing proposals were delivered. In this paper, I
will synthesise in brief the topics I interacted with in the conference, which
I personally feel close to. Various other topics were also good in their own right.
My inclination went for the practical or semi-practical presentations. I
quite liked those addressed social, technology issues or hinted to some
pedagogical dimensions (which is the area I focus on in my PhD).
I travelled from Quebec on Friday morning
and was on campus around 1pm, so I missed few discussions. Pitty !!. So, I will cover
only some selected topic from the sessions I attended.
First, I start with the great presentation
of Mme Charbonneau of the ATIO. She tackled many sound points in
relation to translation and interpreting practices in Canada. I was pleased
that she firmly explained to me a point I have been inquiring about : the
kind of rapport and collaboration between academia (translation programs) and
the organisation. I mean to what extent ATIO participate actively in
curriculum design and development as well as in the vetting process of any
translation or interpreting degree or certificate in the Ontario region . To my
surprise, she replied that the association is hardly involved in that process( or perhaps, not enough). This gave me an idea bout the on-going curricular practices and approaches at the decision- making level.
Then, Sandra Najar from Kent university in the USA went right to the
heart of the conference's theme 'Networking phenomena in relation to
litterature' Bingo!!. She presented a very innovative initiative when referring
to the social networking theory to back up her proposal. This area is new. It
suits the field of human sciences and social sciences despite its close
relation to the field of information technology. In her presentation, she
signaled a gap she wants to work on eventually : how to implement that framework (social
networking) in the context of teaching literary translation. I suggested to her
to check the works of Siemens(2005), a Professor at Athabasca university (Canada). He is known for proposing connectivism
( as the new learning theory) and how it could be applied to a student learning curve (e.g translation and interpreting trainees). For the author, the brain is not the only source of knwoledge. Knowledge can also be found in nodes and other resources (online, in the clouds, in communities of practice or of learners)..etc). In our opinion this could be a sound move, but still careful instructional design
process and relevant pedagogics need to be mobilized as well to ensure the
success of the learning experience. Also, she could check the works of Wenger
(1984)on communities of learners, and how to develop them in a learning and teaching context. This latter element could be useful for translator training (
collaborative work, Croudsourcing, Cloudsourcing, Fan-subbing activities...etc).
On crowdsourcing, Gulnara presented
a great topic. Prof.Elizabeth Marshman had also showed interest in the topic. Of
course, it is a new practice. It challenges the traditional definitions of what
is professional translation.We cannot say it is an amateurish practice since many experienced practitioners voluntarily participate in crowdsourcing
too. My interest in the topic, again, was its pedagogical and training
dimensions. Can we bring this new 'content' into a university-based classroom
(in its f2f or hybrid or virtual formats) of translation.Crowdsourcing, in my opinion, due to
its voluntary (sometimes reactionary) aspect, will remain a recognized practice
outside academia and if we have professionally oriented programs geraed to train students on competences that could lead them to get jobs in their area or closely related to it,
crowdsourcing will remain an activity that students may learn on their own like
they do when they navigate in other social media sites to connet .
However, what we would like to see
integrated in the curriculum is the Freelancing phenomenon whereby
students can be both receivers of translation assignments and at the same time
outsourcers, later on project managers. So, we see that there is a
professional as well as an educational dimension (gradual progression
of competencies) to that practice. In Canada , this content is in some
universities presented as AN ELECTIVE( under the name of réalitées professionnelles), which is
surprising.Well! universities have traditions as well. May be in 5 or 10 years time
or so, this content will be a core and obligatory course of 3 credits. In
Spain, Cravo (2011) introduced it into a Masters program at the Universidad
autonoma de Barcelona as a core activity for future professional translators. Great move!
In 2012, I delivered and facilitated an
online course on virtual professional translation practice on PROZ.com platform
in Arabic and English. I had about 20
students online from all the over the world : US, Australia, Europe, Middlle
east,...etc. I used case studies and online interface software to demonstrate how and where to navigate on the platform to manage portfolios and bid for translation assignments online. In 2013, and as part of my PhD preparation for the field work I
went to work as a lecturer in translation and 'community interpreting'
(Arabic-English) in Oman. The Omani students were intrigued by the idea of
freelancing and working from home. So, it is a practice in demand.
Well, here is the three presentations I
feel I can discuss. All the other presentation were great as well. As you know,
we all have inclinations to an area of knowledge and practice,
Last , please feel free to react to this e-mail and if you can do the same reflections, please do so in this Blog or send your reflexions on a distributed mailing list.
Fouad
Fouad
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Saturday, 25 October 2014
Translator Education and Training in a University Context : Pedagogy, Practice and Research: Learn how to process your translation and revision work critically and constructively
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Sunday, 21 September 2014
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Monday, 25 August 2014
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Monday, 16 June 2014
Sunday, 27 April 2014
How to Translate a Google Doc
This is an interesting video. It could be useful for trainers / teachers who are embarking or willing to embark on using technology or e-tools to support their and their students' training needs. GOOGLE DOC can be used a platform to import, store , process , edit and post-edit translation documents...including( the most interesting bit) organizing collaborative working environments in or out of class (virtual/online environments) enhancing learners' / trainees transferable and generic skill sets. (My comments: Fouad).
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Friday, 4 April 2014
Friday, 14 February 2014
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Ministry of Education plans to launch teacher training centre
Please read the link
http://www.edarabia.com/95099/ministry-of-education-plans-to-launch-teacher-training-centre/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Edarabia-Education-News+%28Middle+East+Education+News%29
Further retroaction :
Recent trends in Higher Education emphasize the need to extend such initiate to the university context as well. This has started in many western universities; nevertheless, at Arab based context, this needs to be initiated. Research revealed that significant learning/performance outcomes could be achieved if the 'human factor' (teachers / trainers and students alike) was taken seriously. This endeavor should not only be backed up with research insights from translation studies, but also from curriculum studies and mainstream pedagogy (such as the professionalization of the teaching profession - especially in professionally oriented translation programs).
السعودية تبرم اتفاقية لترجمة أحكام محكمة العدل الدولية إلى اللغة العربية
Great move from Saudi Arabia to translation the contents / bylaws of the International Court of Justice into Arabic. That benefits the practice, the profession as well as society.
Please read the link (InArabic)
http://www1.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=998691&SecID=88
Please read the link (InArabic)
http://www1.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=998691&SecID=88
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Not reforming our translation curriculum and pedagogies but rethinking , 'renewing' and 'remedying' them !
In the case of the Arab-based university translation programs, and as a result of our recent review of the literature on teaching and curricula design practises in translation programs in the region (especially gulf countries), as well as my own experience as a practitioner (educator) in the field, led us to conclude that there is a disturbing and amateurish practise of planning courses and programs of translation within faculties where the program is installed. Furthermore, we realised that the classroom teaching practices (interventions in the classroom) needs to be reviewed and re-approached in a way that could match the way other professionally oriented programs were delivered/facilitated ( engineering, law, medicine) in higher education contexts.
We think that there is an issue with the above. Traditional curricula evaluation have always addressed 'content' issues and less has been placed on process( translator agency/competencies) or human capital issues (students, trainers, faculty) (Kelly, 2005, 2008). Besides, most of these evaluated programs were carried out by organisations or external evaluators that have little to do with MAIN FRAME discipline of TRANSLATION STUDIES and its various approaches and dimensions, the new sub-field of Translator Education and Training that is taking pace , and last the mainstream pedagogy and curriculum studies . In our opinion, these are the knowledge frameworks we would preferably seek into the entity which will give us feedback on our programs.
The worst thing is that these programs are, according to our experience as trainers and faculty in the field, designed by internal faculty operating in different knowledge frameworks (linguistics, literature) and know little about 21st century translation industry, translator work patterns, employers' requirements, type of competencies that would lead students to employment . .etc. Consequently, the program suffers from disturbances either at the design/development or implementation/intervention levels ( including modes of assessments). Also, social and institutional criteria are rarely included in the design process (local issues, institutional criteria).
That is the point we addressed in our title as an issue . Hence, reforming could not be the answer, but perhaps 'renewing' (Kearns, 2006) and 'remedying' (Atari, 2012) could be the answer. Instead of relying only on our experience and what the literature said about the topic, we are going to undertake a ground research with the stakeholders (immediate and on-immediate) to determine their needs and perceptions about translation practise and how we - as training providers- could develop a framework for university trainers/faculty to undertake sound approaches based on informed decisions and data.
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Today I had a very interesting peer-to-peer interaction with my colleagues in the department. I was pleased with their interest and reaction...
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In my experience of teaching translation at many departments of translation in the Arab context (Oman, Qatar, Morocco and Saudia), I alway...
