The interpreter and translator trainer p

Project-based learning in teaching translation: students ’ perceptions Defeng Lia*, Chunling Zhangband Yuanjian Hea a Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of

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The Interpreter and Translator Trainer

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Project-based learning in teaching translation:

students’ perceptions Defeng Li, Chunling Zhang & Yuanjian He

To cite this article: Defeng Li, Chunling Zhang & Yuanjian He (2015) Project-based learning in teaching translation: students’ perceptions, The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 9:1, 1-19, DOI:

10.1080/1750399X.2015.1010357

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2015.1010357

Published online: 03 Mar 2015

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Project-based learning in teaching translation: students ’ perceptions Defeng Lia*, Chunling Zhangband Yuanjian Hea

a

Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China;

b

Department of Humanities, Imperial College, London, UK

(Received 14 November 2013; accepted 8 January 2014)

Along with the increasing interest in learning-centred constructivist approaches to translator education, there have been proposals to introduce project-based learning (PjBL), popular in education, to the teaching of translation Typical of this approach

is that students are usually invited to complete an authentic practical translation project either in small groups or as individuals This article, however, presents another type of project in translator education and discusses how such a project was incorporated into the teaching of business translation in the Chinese context Furthermore, it reports on an investigation of the students’ reception and perceptions

of the PjBL project, which was carried out as part of the evaluation process of the project It is hoped that the documenting of our experimentation with the project may serve as an easy reference for other teachers who may be interested in trying this methodology in their teaching, and that the findings regarding the students’ percep-tions mainly investigated through qualitative methods can be further confirmed with future quantitative research designs

Keywords: Project-based learning; translation teaching; students’ perceptions; Macau

1 Introduction

Research on translator education has centred around two fundamental issues: what to teach and how to teach it (Kelly2005) Over the years, researchers have tried to pin down the skills and/or competencies of professional translators, hoping that such knowledge will help determine the ‘what’ and ‘how’ when constructing the translation curriculum For instance, the now well-known model of translation competence proposed by the PACTE (Process of Acquisition of Translation Competence and Evaluation) group consists of six interrelated sub-competencies, namely bilingual, extra-linguistic, knowledge about trans-lation, instrumental, strategic and psycho-physiological components (PACTE2003,2008,

2011a, 2011b) A recent survey of professional translators and revisers working at intergovernmental organisations shows that ‘translators need more than language skills:

in addition to general knowledge and in some instances specialized knowledge, they need analytical, research, technological, interpersonal and time-management skills’ (Lafeber

2010, 108)

Along with these attempts to identify the competencies, skills and knowledge required

of translators, many teachers and researchers have also been engaged in proposing, devising and debating the most effective approaches and methods to train these skills in students and/or help them develop such competencies Kelly (2005, 11–19) gives the following concise summary of the approaches to translation teaching:

*Corresponding author Email:defengli@umac.mo

Vol 9, No 1, 1–19, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2015.1010357

● Delisle’s (1980,1993) objectives-guided translation teaching;

● Nord’s (1988/1991)‘towards a profession-based learner-centred approach’;

● Gile’s (1995) process-oriented approaches (1995);

● The cognitive and psycholinguistic research-based approaches proposed by Kiraly (1995), Jääskeläinen (1998) and Hansen (1999,2002)

● Vienne (1994) and Gouadec’s (2003) situational approach;

● Hurtado (1999) and Gonzalez Davies’s (2003,2004) task-based approach;

● Robinson’s (1997/2003) balancing conscious analysis with subliminal discovery;

● Kiraly’s (2000) social constructivist approach;

Following Kiraly’s (2000) proposal of a social constructivist approach to translation teaching, we recently incorporated project-based learning (PjBL1) into our teaching of translation in a Chinese context at the University of Macau, aiming to make our teaching more learning-oriented However, as we implemented PjBL, we found that although literature abounds with propositions of innovative methods and approaches to teaching translation, as summarised in Kelly (2005), relatively few attempts have been made to provide empirical evidence to actually evaluate the anticipated strengths and effectiveness

of the proposed methods Consequently, we are sometimes left wondering whether they are indeed as effective as has been claimed Also, in many cases, the benefits claimed for the new methods are described only in broad and general terms As Kiraly (2012, 93) rightly points out after discussing his own work,

[I]t is clear that much work is yet to be done to establish the viability of the approach beyond the scope of my own classes For example, team-learning processes that have led to success-ful project work need to be observed and described to show how and why the approach works Systematic surveys of student attitudes regarding their emerging competence and self-confidence as semi-professional translators and as increasingly experienced team members would also contribute significantly to our understanding of the value of this approach

We need to understand whether the intended goals can be achieved, which aspects of translation teaching can be most enhanced, and to what extent, with the implementation of the new methods With such knowledge, we can better decide how the proposals, many of which have worked in other fields, most notably in education and second-language teaching, may be tweaked to suit translator education

Therefore, as part of our experiment with PjBL at the University of Macau, we decided to evaluate the effectiveness of a PjBL project As the approach adopted is to effect changes in students’ learning experiences, we decided that the evaluation, as an exploratory pilot study, would focus on students’ reception and perceptions of the method

We had two major research questions to guide the evaluation:

● What do the students think of the PjBL project? Do they find it beneficial?

● What do they perceive to be their major areas of growth as the result of carrying out the project?

In this article, we are going to explain briefly how we understand PjBL, how it was implemented in our teaching of business translation at the University of Macau, and, more importantly, how the students perceived the new method and what they felt to be the major benefits

2 What is PjBL?

A project is usually defined as an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a certain goal Students are to accomplish certain tasks under particular time constraints Project-based learning as a learning approach varies in definition, though sometimes only slightly Blumenfeld et al (1991) define it in the following terms:

Project-based learning is a comprehensive perspective focused on teaching by engaging students in investigation Within this framework, students pursue solutions to nontrivial problems by asking and refining questions, debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans and/or experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, communicat-ing their ideas and findcommunicat-ings to others, askcommunicat-ing new questions, and creatcommunicat-ing artifacts

Larmer and Mergendoller (2010) stress the following essential elements of PjBL:

● starting with a compelling question or challenge

● creating a desire to acquire or create new knowledge

● carrying out an inquiry to acquire or create the knowledge

● requiring critical thinking, communication, collaboration and technological skills

● incorporating feedback and revision

● making a publicly presented product

● rendering students’ voice and choice

Nevertheless, it is generally believed that all versions of PjBL share the following premises First, they focus education on the student and emphasise learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centred (Markham, Larmer, and Ravitz2003) Students are allowed some degree of voice and choice in making plans of enquiry and construction of the artefacts to represent their findings or knowledge gained as the result

of the project They might even be allowed to choose their own research questions within

a specified scope, especially in a higher education context

PjBL stresses learning by doing (Markham, Larmer, and Ravitz2003) It begins with a driving question or challenge, which creates a need to know essential content and skills and requires in-depth investigation to get to the answer and develop the skills It values teamwork and collaboration among participants Students are often divided into groups of varied sizes, where they work together, share their findings and decide how to best represent their new knowledge They must learn to work in a community and therefore take shared responsibilities and credits

To successfully complete a project, students will need to effectively coordinate their work, communicate with each other and external institutions, critically evaluate their findings and solve problems arising during their work It requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication, often known as‘21st Century Skills’ to achieve their goals (Trilling and Fadel2012) So students will need to expand their minds and think more critically, an ability which is often identified as lacking

In PjBL, students are encouraged to reflect on their enquiry (Barron and Darling-Hammond 2008; Thomas2000) Through reflection and discussions among themselves, they are to revise their findings and presentation of the knowledge gained, at which time they may collect feedback from the class and the teacher and further revise their conclusions PjBL also has a particularly important role for technology (Boss and Krauss 2007; Krauss and Boss2013) Students are encouraged to take full advantage of IT tools in their investigation of the driving questions as well as representing their findings PjBL also

emphasises that students represent the knowledge gained in the form of artefacts– that is, publicly presented products or performances

‘[PjBL] transforms the role of the teacher from content provider to learning coordi-nator As a result, teachers spend less time lecturing and leading and more time planning, observing, listening, coaching, and facilitating’ (National Academy Foundation) However, this does not mean that the teacher completely relinquishes control over the class but rather creates an environment of shared responsibility The teacher will help students set up interim goals, monitor their progress to ensure they are getting in-depth and proper understanding of the concepts being investigated, and advise them when they encounter difficulties or issues

It is also important to point out that there are no definite criteria regarding what makes

an acceptable project for PjBL But a well-thought-out project will not only help students learn key academic content and/or develop new knowledge, but also practise various social skills such as collaboration, communication and critical thinking

To summarise the above concepts, PjBL can be expressed in the following figure (Figure 1)

3 A PjBL activity in teaching business translation

Many have discussed the advantages of PjBL in acquisition of knowledge and social skills as well as students’ learning experiences (e.g Boaler2002; Helle, Tynjälä, and Olkinuora2006; Thomas2000) For instance, Strobel and van Barneveld argue that‘P[j]BL was superior when

it comes to long-term retention, skill development and satisfaction of students and teachers, while traditional approaches were more effective for short-term retention’ (2009, 1) But for us, the idea of adopting PjBL in our teaching also began with a practical need In 2012, one of the present researchers taught the course‘Special Topic in Translation’ at the University of Macau

As stated in the programme handbook, the exact topic and content of the course depend on the expertise of the instructor, who usually makes the decision in consultation with the students

Academic Content

PjBL

Varied Skills

Driving Question

Indepth Inquiry

Group Work

&

Community

Voice &

Choice

Technology

Feedback

&

Revision

Publicly Presented Product

Figure 1 Project-based learning (adapted from Kiraly2000)

This course is designed to permit visiting scholars, or existing staff, to offer postgraduate level courses in their particular areas of specialisation The topic and content of the courses will vary from year to year depending on the availability of specialised staff

After discussing with the students, we decided to focus on business translation and we further decided that besides discussing methods, principles and ethics of business transla-tion, we would focus on translation of:

● business correspondence

● office memos, minutes of meetings, business reports

● business contracts and other legal documents

● advertisements and other promotional/publicity materials

However, a number of topics that some students were keen to explore had to be excluded from the core syllabus due to time constraints To satisfy students’ interests, we decided to incorporate a PjBL project into the course That is, as part of the course, students would also complete a group project exploring translation in Macau in general, and business translation in Macau in particular In this way, we were able to construct a core course syllabus and at the same time cater for the interests of individual students and expand the scope of the course considerably

3.1 Implementation of the project

Before describing the implementation of our project, we deem it necessary to point out that there are at least two kinds of projects that may be used in translation training, namely translation-oriented and research-oriented projects While they share the same rationale and theoretical underpinnings, there are also differences In translation-oriented PjBL, students preferably work together in small groups and engage themselves in the produc-tion of an authentic or simulated translaproduc-tion assignment (Kiraly2005) Their primary task

is to complete a translation project, with guidance from their teachers only when the need arises In the process of completing the translation assignment, they activate and improve their translation competencies (please refer to Li [2013] for a detailed description) The result is that they gain better translation skills and at the same time become familiar with some of the dynamics of working as a professional translator in the real world

On the other hand, in research-oriented PjBL, rather than completing a translation assignment, students work together and conduct serious and systematic inquiries into transla-tional issues of considerable interest to them, as discussed by Kiraly (2000) Research-oriented PjBL starts with important research questions on translation As they seek answers

to the questions, students also learn to work together and (further) develop their commu-nication, collaboration, thinking and technological skills, which are deemed essential for modern-day professional translators In general, this kind of project does not work directly on students’ translation competencies, but it enables them to acquire other non-translational skills, hence contributing indirectly to their growth as future translators The following table captures the essence of the translation-oriented and research-oriented PjBL (Table 1) The project that we incorporated into the syllabus of the course was a research-oriented one and we called it ‘Exploring Translation in Macau’ (ETiM).The course

‘Special Topic in Translation’ ran for 14 weeks The project was given as an assignment

at the second meeting of the class There were a total of 42 students in 2 classes running at

the time of the experiment Instructed to team up, they made eight groups of five and two groups of six Each group elected a group leader to coordinate and oversee their projects Each group chose their own topic and they were encouraged to pursue the topics that really interested them The following were the topics they investigated:

● History of business translation in Macau

● Business translation and local economy

● Market of business translation in Macau and neighbouring Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland

● Use of translation technology in business translation in the region

● Professional translators’ strategies for dealing with regional dialects of Chinese in business translation

● Cultural and social issues in business translation

● Business interpreting in Macau, Hong Kong and Chinese mainland

● Translation in the Macau gambling industry

● Tourist translation in Macau: methods and strategies

● Working conditions of translators and interpreters in Macau

‘Project work, whether it is integrated into a content-based thematic unit or introduced

as a special sequence of activities in a more traditional classroom, requires multiple stages

of development to succeed’ (Stoller [2002] 2008, 111) The present project consisted of five phases: preparing for the project, piloting the research, carrying out the investigation, presenting the findings and summarising the project (seeTable 2below) In the first few weeks, the students made up their groups, decided on their research topics and made action plans After piloting their investigation, the group leaders each briefly presented their plans to the class and discussed any difficulties encountered in their trial run of the project In weeks 6–10, the students carried out their research In the eighth week, the group leaders made progress reports on their investigations, and the class offered sugges-tions where appropriate The 30-minute formal presentation took place in the 12th week,

Table 1 Translation-oriented PjBL vs research-oriented PjBL

Translation-oriented PjBL Research-oriented PjBL Aim To improve translation competencies and

become familiar with real-world translation dynamics

To seek in-depth understanding of translational issues

Task To work in small groups and complete an

authentic or simulated translation project

To work in groups and make an inquiry into topics on translation through various data-gathering methods, e.g library search, literature review, interviews, observations, questionnaire surveys Product A completed translation submitted to the

client

Class presentation of findings of the investigation

A summary report of the project Outcome Improved translation competencies Enhanced knowledge of translation

Acquisition of meta-cognitive translation skills

Development and/or growth of meta cognitive translation skills Indirect contribution to translation competencies

when the groups presented a summary of their findings to the class, which was then followed by Q&A (question and answer) sessions To encourage reflections amongst the students, all groups were required to submit a 2000-word written report of their project, using the following questions as a guide:

(1) What were the primary aims and purposes of your project?

(2) Why was the project important or interesting to you?

(3) What major questions did you wish to answer through this project?

(4) What data and/or materials did you use while you tried to answer the questions? How were they collected and analysed?

(5) What were the major findings of your investigation?

(6) How did the new findings contribute to our understanding of translation (studies)

in general?

As in a translation-oriented PjBL, the teacher retreated into a supporting role in the project No training was provided to the students but they were encouraged to consult the teacher before/after classes or in specially arranged office hours

While small group projects have the advantage of encouraging student learning, assessing group work has been challenging and sometimes even controversial But the rule of thumb is that if the focus of the activity is on the group working skills, then the assessment is on the process; and if the focus is on the performance of the group, then the focus is placed on the end product The purpose of our project was twofold: for students to acquire the knowledge on the topic of their choice and for students to develop skills of working together as a team So the focus was on both the product and process

Table 2 ETiM project

Phase I Announce the project to the class Make groups

Week 2–3

Preparation

Explain the requirements and method of assessment for the project

Elect a group leader Choose topics for the investigation Discuss possible methods of

investigation of the topics

Work out an action plan Suggest possible topics

Phase II

Week 4–5

Piloting

Make himself or herself available for consultation during office hours and/

or by appointment Offer suggestions and guidance together with the class

Carry out initial investigation of the project

Report on any problems encountered in their pilot investigation

Adjust their plans if necessary Phase III Organise a session of progress reports Carry out full investigation

Week 6–10 Offer feedback and suggestions as

necessary

Make a progress report on their projects Investigating

Phase VI Organise presentation sessions for the

groups to share their findings

Present their findings of the project

Phase V

Week 13–14 Receive the final reports from thegroups

Summarise their projects, incorporating the feedback from the class

Summarising Assess the projects (action plan; interim

reports; presentation; final reports)

Reflect on their projects Write up the final project reports Give feedback to the students Submit their reports

The assessment of the project, which accounted for 30% of the overall grade for the course, consisted of both peer assessment (Freeman1995; Lejk and Wyvill2001) and the teacher’s assessment For the peer assessment, each student was required to assess the contribution of all of the other members of their group The teacher assessed the group presentations and their final reports As the focus was on the group working skills, both the presentations and the reports were assessed per group, not for each individual

As mentioned previously, the other major purpose of incorporating the project into the course was to carry out a systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of this approach For this purpose, the focus was placed on how students perceived such a PjBL project and where they saw the biggest growth in their skills and abilities So from the beginning of the project, we set out to collect relevant data through different means We found it gratifying that interesting perceptions were gathered In the following section, we shall report on the design of the evaluation process and the major findings, followed by discussions of the possible implications for future translation teaching

4 Gathering and analysing students’ perceptions

4.1 Instruments to gather students’ perceptions

Since this was perhaps one of the first attempts to evaluate the use of such kind of research projects in translation training, a qualitative research method was used to gauge students’ perceptions of the PjBL With this design, the researchers could probe in detail and in depth into students’ thoughts, beliefs and experiences of conducting such a project They were not restricted to specific questions and the interviews could be guided or redirected in real time They could also quickly revise the research framework and direction as new information emerged (Denzin and Lincoln2012) The students as research subjects were also free to fully express their thoughts and report their experiences We therefore felt such a qualitative design was particularly appropriate for this exploratory project

The raw data consisted of students’ reflective journals, a questionnaire survey and two focus group interviews All students were invited to hand in, on a voluntary basis, 2 reflective journals (in week 6 and week 14 respectively) on their experience of carrying out the project In addition, at the end of the project, they were all invited to complete a short questionnaire, the primary purpose of which was to gather their perceptions of possible learning or growth resulting from completing the project Thirty-six students completed and returned the questionnaire, a return rate of 85.7% In addition, two groups were randomly selected for a one-hour focus-group interview, which was audio-recorded The questionnaire consisted primarily of open-ended questions to encourage full, meaningful answers from the students The focus group interviews offered them a chance

to discuss and share their understandings and feelings about the project, and the journals encouraged them to reflect on this experience The recordings of the focus group inter-views were later transcribed verbatim

4.2 Analysing students’ perceptions

The two researchers first read the transcripts of the interviews, together with the written comments in the questionnaires and students’ journals, and independently identified themes with regard to students’ perceived areas of growth They then discussed together and drew up the final list of the possible themes as shown inTable 3 below After they reread and coded one-third of the interview transcripts as per the list, they compared and

discussed their coding and resolved the slight differences between them Finally, they read and coded the entire data set, and resolved any differences in their coding before the number of mentions regarding each theme in relation to the students’ experiences and the project effectiveness was calculated for reporting

5 Students’ perceived areas of growth

5.1 Perceptions of the ETiM project

The students were overwhelmingly positive about the project All of the 36 students who completed the questionnaires reported that the project helped them gain in-depth knowl-edge about the topic they studied, and develop and/or enhance skills believed to be crucial for professional translators (seeTable 3)

They felt that the project gave them a chance to work together with their peers to research on a topic that interested them and gain in-depth knowledge on the topic It enabled them to become more independent in seeking answers to their questions They also saw themselves as having better research, communication, technological and pre-sentation skills as well as a heightened sense of teamwork:

(1) I was very excited throughout the entire project It was much more complicated than I thought at the beginning We had to go to the library to find the books and articles we needed, we had to work out a good schedule for all of us because two of our members had full time jobs But we found time for sharing and discussing our findings and rehearsing our presentations I think I’m a better speaker now (J:Kary:22)

Many recommended that such projects should be retained in the course in the future

A few students even suggested adding a small project to be completed in the first part of the course:

(2) The project helps but we need more Perhaps to add a small one in the beginning

of the semester would be perfect (f-1-283) Interestingly, many reported that the project made them see the need to enhance some other skills and abilities besides their translational competence, in order to prepare themselves better for a career as a professional translator This was especially the case for those who carried out fieldwork in their investigations:

Table 3 Students’ perceived areas of growth