دورة في الترجمة للصحفيين الرياضيين بقطر – A Translation Course for Sports Journalists in Qatar

A report on a translation course for sports journalists in Qatar – a good example of specialised, demand-driven translator training in the Gulf.

Carlos Teixeira: Doctoral Defence

The recorded doctoral defence of Carlos Teixeira – worth watching for research students who want to see what a translation studies viva looks like.

Two Experiments in Translator Training: Case Studies and Project Work

Training and educating translators differently means innovating in course design, course development and classroom interventions, whether face-to-face or online. Here are two experiences from my own teaching, in two very different settings and modes: an online synchronous course for practising translators, and a face-to-face course for undergraduates in Oman.

Experience 1: Case Studies in a Synchronous Online Course

In 2012 I took a challenging step: teaching and facilitating an online synchronous course on one aspect of 21st-century professional translation practice, cloud sourcing. It was the first time I had taught such content in Arabic, and a real challenge in terms of concepts and terminology, since the metalanguage for this content is still emerging and far from stable. That is true even in countries with a long tradition of translator training, let alone the Arab context, where university translation teaching is still, in many places, a new tradition with much work to do in pedagogy and in the discipline at large.

I divided my intervention into two phases. First, an online PowerPoint lecture, delivered through a virtual interface so that students could see the slides, in three major components. At the end of each component I paused for questions, which students asked via the chat box or the audio-visual channel. Then I moved to the practical part, using case studies tied to the theoretical content: for instance, a client–translator or project manager–vendor negotiation over tasks, technical issues and pricing. I looked for cases that matched the skills and concepts I wanted students to appropriate and interact with.

The participants were already practising freelancers, and some owned their own agencies, which made the second part of the course very rich. I drew on educational constructs to guide me: learning styles, learning strategies for adults (andragogy) and studies in psycho-education (motivation). Professionally, all of us, myself included, benefited from the experiences and practices described by participants living in Australia, the USA, Europe and the Arab world. Each participant resolved the problem, or proposed a solution, according to the local practices of his or her country. This intercultural dimension enriched our global understanding of the profession.

One more design choice: the lecture was in Arabic, while the practical part was in English. Many participants have Arabic as a passive language: they understand it well, but not at the oral level. As adult learners of various nationalities, meeting for the first time and online, I judged it better to let them work in the language in which they could express themselves at ease.

Experience 2: Project-Based Learning in Oman

The second innovation was in a face-to-face classroom. In 2013 I taught translation and interpreting (community interpreting) to female undergraduates at an Omani university. I had four courses: modern theories of translation, Arabic–English practical translation, introduction to interpreting, and business translation.

For the practical English–Arabic course, taken by final-year students, I decided to apply Kiraly's project-based approach. When I spent nearly an hour explaining what project-based work is, many students felt uncomfortable: the practice was new to them and very different from the traditional (collective and pastoral) methods they were used to in year 3, for example. I went ahead for two reasons. Class size: there were 22 students, and it would have been difficult with the 30 or 35 I had in other classes. And maturity: as final-year students, their level of maturity and language mastery helped, in a way, to make the approach work.

The Process

It took me a while to work out what activities would motivate students and make them see the relevance to their future careers. So I checked, and checked again. I found that the university's HR department published its employee manual in English only. No Arabic version. Strange, isn't it? I visited the HR manager and explained the initiative. She liked it, naturally: a free Arabic manual is not a bad deal. But I defended my students by proposing an officially stamped certificate of recognition they could add to their portfolios and CVs. She agreed.

The following week I told the students how they would be compensated. They were buzzing. They liked it even more when I said the activity would count as formative assessment. I told them I would note observations during every class session of the four-week project, on each candidate and each group: how each member put in effort and committed herself to the project, and the dynamics of each group.

I divided the class into seven groups of three. Each student took on the roles of terminologist, translator and reviser, and students checked their colleagues' performance (peer assessment). To my surprise, this provoked a range of negative attitudes. Some did not like having their translations criticised (a very important cultural variable for my ongoing research). Some who did not want to complain in front of their colleagues came to my office to do so. In the next class I explained further how they should adjust their attitudes: this was a project, and they were collaborating for one purpose, to hand it in at its best, on time, and get paid for it (the certificate). It was a first step toward the professional dimension of the activity, a transition phase, and such reactions are part of it.

What the Students Said

At the end of the project I gave them a survey with one question: describe your experience. No names, ten minutes, and I left the room. Reading the replies at home, I was struck by the change this activity had produced, especially in their attitudes and in how they conceive of translation: as a profession, not as an exercise to improve their L2 competence, which has been, and still is, the tradition in this context. I take this to be what Kiraly (1995, 2000) calls the development of the self-concept. Two students expressed dissatisfaction: translation was not what I had shown them, they said; they had enrolled to improve their language and become language teachers after graduation.

Takeaway

These are two true experiences I wanted to share with my community, in the hope that colleagues will engage in more innovative initiatives of their own. But such innovations must be backed by insights from the educational sciences: concepts from higher education pedagogy and curriculum studies.

Increasing Literacy Across the Curriculum Through Mobile Learning, Part 1

Part one of a talk on using mobile learning to raise literacy across the curriculum – ideas that transfer easily to language and translation classrooms.

Reflections from the Ottawa Graduate Conference in Translation Studies

Last week I attended the graduate student conference in translation studies at the University of Ottawa. The theme was networking in the context of literary translation, and the proposals were intriguing. Here I sum up the presentations that spoke to me most: the practical or semi-practical ones, and those touching on social, technological or pedagogical issues, the last being my own PhD focus. Many other topics were good in their own right.

I travelled from Quebec on Friday morning and reached campus around 1 pm, so I missed a few discussions. A pity. I cover only the sessions I attended.

ATIO and the academy

First, an excellent presentation by Mme Charbonneau of ATIO, who raised many sound points about translation and interpreting practice in Canada. She gave me a clear answer to something I had been asking about: the relationship between academia (translation programmes) and the association. To what extent does ATIO take part in curriculum design and development, or in vetting translation and interpreting degrees and certificates in Ontario? To my surprise, she replied that the association is hardly involved, or at least not enough. That told me a good deal about current curricular practice at decision-making level.

Social networking and connectivism

Sandra Najar from Kent State University went straight to the heart of the conference theme, networking in relation to literature. She presented a genuinely innovative initiative grounded in social networking theory. The area is new; it sits well in the human and social sciences despite its close ties to information technology. She also flagged a gap she wants to work on: how to apply the social networking framework to teaching literary translation.

I suggested she look at Siemens (2005), of Athabasca University in Canada, who proposed connectivism as a new learning theory and showed how it could apply to a learner's development, for instance that of translation and interpreting trainees. For Siemens, the brain is not the only source of knowledge; knowledge also resides in nodes and other resources, online, in the cloud, and in communities of practice or of learners. This could be a sound move, but careful instructional design and relevant pedagogy still need to be mobilised to make the learning experience succeed. Wenger's work on communities of learners, and how to develop them in a teaching context, is another useful source, particularly for collaborative work, crowdsourcing, cloud-sourcing and fan-subbing in translator training.

Crowdsourcing: outside the curriculum

Gulnara presented a strong paper on crowdsourcing, a topic Prof. Elizabeth Marshman also showed interest in. It is a new practice that challenges traditional definitions of professional translation, and we cannot dismiss it as amateurish, since many experienced practitioners volunteer for it too. My interest, again, was pedagogical: can we bring this new content into a university translation classroom, whether face-to-face, blended or virtual?

My view is that crowdsourcing, because of its voluntary (and sometimes reactive) nature, will remain a recognised practice outside academia. If our programmes are professionally oriented and aimed at competences that lead to jobs, crowdsourcing is something students can learn on their own, just as they learn to navigate other social media.

Freelancing: bring it in

What I would like to see integrated in the curriculum is freelancing, where students act both as receivers of translation assignments and as outsourcers, and later as project managers. It has a professional and an educational dimension, with a gradual progression of competencies. Surprisingly, some Canadian universities offer this content only as an elective (under the name réalités professionnelles). Well, universities have their traditions. Perhaps in five or ten years it will be a core, compulsory three-credit course. In Spain, Cravo (2011) introduced it into a Master's programme at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona as a core activity for future professional translators. A great move.

In 2012 I delivered an online course on virtual professional translation practice on the ProZ.com platform, in Arabic and English, to about 20 students from the US, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. I used case studies and screen demonstrations to show how to manage portfolios and bid for assignments online. In 2013, as part of the fieldwork preparation for my PhD, I worked 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. It is a practice in demand.

Those are the three presentations I feel able to discuss; all the others were good too. We all lean towards our own areas of knowledge and practice. Feel free to react here on the blog or on the mailing list.

A Consecutive Interpreting Demo: Boudica

A demonstration of consecutive interpreting on the 'Boudica' speech – useful modelling material for interpreting students.

Translator Education and Training in a University Context : Pedagogy, Practice and Research: Learn how to process your translation and revision work critically and constructively

Translator Education and Training in a University Context : Pedagogy, Practice and Research: Learn how to process your translation and revision work critically and constructively

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The House of Wisdom and the Legacy of Arabic Science

A documentary on Baghdad's House of Wisdom and the legacy of Arabic science – the great translation movement that every Arabic-speaking translation student should know.

The Networked Student

A short animation on the networked student – how learners build their own knowledge networks online, and what that means for the teacher's role.

Law Regulating the Translation Profession in the UAE

The UAE's Federal National Council has approved a draft law regulating the translation profession – a significant step for professional recognition in the Gulf.

المجلس الوطني الاتحادي يقر مشروع قانون تنظيم مهنة الترجمة

European Commission DG Interpretation Podcasts

The podcast channel of the European Commission's DG Interpretation – a steady source of listening and shadowing material for interpreting students.

European Commission – Interpretation (podcast)

تحميل الجامعات مسؤولية ندرة المترجمين الفوريين – Universities Blamed for the Shortage of Interpreters

An Asharq Al-Awsat report laying the shortage of conference interpreters at the door of the universities – a charge our programmes need to answer.

تحميل الجامعات مسؤولية ندرة المترجمين الفوريين

مطالب بتبني القطاع الخاص ترجمة العلوم التطبيقية والتقنيات الحديثة – Calls for the Private Sector to Fund Scientific and Technical Translation

An Asharq Al-Awsat report on calls for the Arab private sector to take on the translation of applied science and modern technology.

مطالب بتبني القطاع الخاص في المنطقة العربية ترجمة العلوم التطبيقية والتقنيات الحديثة | الشرق الأوسط

مؤتمر أبوظبي الدولي الثالث للترجمة – Abu Dhabi Translation Conference Calls for More Translation from Arabic

News from the third Abu Dhabi International Translation Conference (Kalima), which called for more translation from Arabic, not just into it.

مؤتمر أبوظبي الدولي الثالث للترجمة يدعو إلى زيادة الترجمة من العربية

University Graduates Lack Basic Literacy Skills

A Language Portal of Canada headline on university graduates lacking basic literacy skills – if that is true in Canada, we should be asking the same question of our own graduates.

University graduates lack basic literacy skills – Language Portal of Canada

Google Docs as a Collaborative Translation Platform

This is an interesting video, and a useful one for trainers and teachers who are embarking, or willing to embark, on using technology and e-tools to support their own and their students' training needs.

Google Docs can serve as a platform to import, store, process, edit and post-edit translation documents. The most interesting part is that it can also host collaborative working environments, in or out of class, in virtual or online settings, which enhance learners' transferable and generic skill sets.

What Is Interpreting?

A clear introduction to what interpreting is, from the UK's National Network for Interpreting – a good first reading for new students.

What is interpreting? (National Network for Interpreting)

Rethinking Private Higher Education

A University World News piece on rethinking private higher education – relevant to the growing private HE sector in the Gulf and MENA.

Rethinking private higher education – University World News

Sir Ken Robinson on Creativity, Learning and the Curriculum

Sir Ken Robinson on creativity, learning and the curriculum – a reminder that curriculum design is about people, not just outcomes.

MA Translation Studies by Distance Learning

A presentation of an MA in Translation Studies delivered by distance learning – a model worth studying as online translator education grows.