Yes! It has been a while since I did not place any of my reflections in this Blog. Well! There has been a delay because I was so busy with my on-going doctoral work. Doing my studies at the faculty of education instead of Arts and Letters (Department of translation or linguistics), is challenging. Folks in the Education unit stress heavily on the methodology and didactic elements and there is no way you can escape that. This has been a privilege for me, though. At least I gained something crucial I can transfer to the domain of translation studies in general, particularly applied translation studies (training, quality and technology). I have finished my seminars now and am preparing to deposit my research project, soon after (around summer) I will be doing my Data Collection, then analysis and then depositing my doctoral thesis.
Last year, while in Oman, I managed to network with key colleagues operating in the translation programs in many universities in the country. I am pleased that they showed interest in the project and were ready to collaborate. This year, however, I am heading to Qatar and see if I can give more scope to my data. The problem is that the teaching of translation at a university level in Qatar can be seen only in two institutions and at various levels (1- Qatar University: minor in translation; 2- TII: Postgraduate (MA) level). So, Qatar has a different type of practice and context. Still, this could be interesting in the sense that it will allow me to cover the teachings and curricular practices in either one country or two. It seems that Qatar has a young experience in translator training and education; but, despite that, we can see that the only fully accredited postgraduate program in translation in the region is in Qatar (The Translation and Interpreting Institute), which is very interesting.
