We often stumble in most of
undergraduate university programs in the Arab world (and elsewhere) upon mainstream and core courses such as the one entitled ' introduction to
translation'. This course has been taught in the same way and with, more or
less, the same contents for years. It is usually about teaching
to students the practical issues in translation, including principles,
techniques, strategies with minimum theoretical input (leaving this little gap for another course called 'theories of translation; or so and so...). Since, most students in
this course - in the context of languages departments- can either end up majoring in linguistics, translation or literature ( or
another track in other universities), it is suggested ( in the
syllabus) that the main thing they should do is practice basic
translation; i.e pedagogical type of translations. In terms of content or scholarship,
we find the use of the usual suspects : textbooks of Mona Baker, Hatim, Munday
and some others ( Ghazal...etc)... most of them standing for
the linguistic ( functional or text linguistic paradigm in the discipline).....In addition to traditional references such as beaugrande and Catford to
teach basic elements and techniques as well.
If we would like to approach the
course from another angle whereby updated scholarship, innovative pedagogy and insights from the profession could be added, we may find
ourselves in front of another map of that same course that is called '
introduction to translation'. In my
current argument here I will only stress the
point that whatever level of the student enrolling in a course called '
introduction to translation' what we should do is not following the old
tradition of teaching the course. The field has changed at various levels
and new insights have been introduced in it. Even translation or interpreting practice have changed and still keep changing due to many factors such as technology and globalisation. In saying this, I take into perspective the fact that no additional load should be allocated to faculty beyond his usual load, other wise the suggested endeavour to improve the course and its pedagogy will definitively fail. Teaching a course needs to go through a lengthy pedagogical engineering process whereby vibrant and stimulating learning and performance environments need to be created. Also, the instructor or faculty need to be closely acquainted with the universe of the course ( knowledge framework).
Translation has now become a matter of building and constructing sets of complex skills, knowledge and behaviors. So, introducing the student to translation needs to cater for the aforementioned elements instead of relying heavily/soleley on specific sets of textbooks to disseminate a narrow set of information and knowledge. The course ‘ introduction to translation’ should be about:
Translation has now become a matter of building and constructing sets of complex skills, knowledge and behaviors. So, introducing the student to translation needs to cater for the aforementioned elements instead of relying heavily/soleley on specific sets of textbooks to disseminate a narrow set of information and knowledge. The course ‘ introduction to translation’ should be about:
- Introducing the students to
the universe of translation (theory and practice) via real examples using print, multimedia or oral/narrative/journal mediums.
- Educating the student and develop in
him / her the 'self-concept' since he or she is studying a discipline that
is presented by a professional body in society. That includes the teaching of
KEY HISTORICAL elements preferably via the use of multimedia resources
to EDUCATE the future translator to be and welcome him
to his or her new community ( of learners and then of professionals)
- Introducing him or her on the critical
issues and ongoing practices in TRANSLATING texts ... various genres. It is
advised that students should do this in groups, although it is a
challenging task. Still, faculty with exceptional and
updated pedagogical 'know how' and 'know what' could do it.
Well! The question here is how to do it? The
answer is : you need to know how to integrate both traditional and new scholarship
into the course as well as have the pedagogical skills and abilities to do so (
to engineer your course and set significant learning performance environments).
So, introduction to translation should not
be about teaching students how to translate following an exclusively
linguistic conceptualization of translation dating back from the
seventies and eighties (including early nineties), but it should embrace the
new concept of translation: competence. Hence, how can we educate ,
train and teach at the same time new entrants in the discipline? A course on translation should be more hybrid and diverse to allow students to have a broad idea about the field of translation as theory/academic field as well as practice ( profession). Faculty needs to use his or her pedagogical and disciplinary ( updated) knowledge to engineer that very important course. No point adding other courses such as techniques, strategies of translation or even theories of translation.
We presume that teacher knowledge and
beliefs about the field and the practice is crucial . The usual thing we
witness in a university context is that faculty uses his or her subjective
perception of what should be included in the course 'Introduction to Translation' instead of
relying on updated scholarship, established practices and innovative or adapted
pedagogical skills and insights to develop the course.
Fouad
NB: At the pedagogical level, the course can be taught in a diversified way ( Mixed method of teaching, Anderson, 2000). For instance, one can use the classroom lecturing for discussion and then place the lecture on specific concepts and elements that students need to know and appropriate about the translation phenomena and concept in year 1. Faculty can have recourse to deposit selected contents, multimedia files and their own recorded lectures or explanations on either Blackboard or Moodle to allow students to either prepare or post-check and refer to the material afterwards to enhance learning. Or deposit the lecture and its activities 3 days before the day of the lecture, let students have time to revise and read or listen to the deposited file, and when in class it will be discussion and explanation to deepen learning. The use of mind mapping techniques in the classroom is very useful. It allows students to visualize the information ( theoretical) and make sense of it.....and RETAIN IT.
THE BELOW VIDEO COULD BE INCLUDED AS MATERIAL
https://twitter.com/AbdulrahmanTR/status/914028750857281537
Fouad
NB: At the pedagogical level, the course can be taught in a diversified way ( Mixed method of teaching, Anderson, 2000). For instance, one can use the classroom lecturing for discussion and then place the lecture on specific concepts and elements that students need to know and appropriate about the translation phenomena and concept in year 1. Faculty can have recourse to deposit selected contents, multimedia files and their own recorded lectures or explanations on either Blackboard or Moodle to allow students to either prepare or post-check and refer to the material afterwards to enhance learning. Or deposit the lecture and its activities 3 days before the day of the lecture, let students have time to revise and read or listen to the deposited file, and when in class it will be discussion and explanation to deepen learning. The use of mind mapping techniques in the classroom is very useful. It allows students to visualize the information ( theoretical) and make sense of it.....and RETAIN IT.
THE BELOW VIDEO COULD BE INCLUDED AS MATERIAL
https://twitter.com/AbdulrahmanTR/status/914028750857281537
