enterpreting and translation

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Teaching Translation and Interpreting

Teaching Translation and Interpreting:

Challenges and Practices

Edited by

Łukasz Bogucki

Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Challenges and Practices, Edited by Łukasz Bogucki

This book first published 2010 Cambridge Scholars Publishing

12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2010 by Łukasz Bogucki and contributors All rights for this book reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner

ISBN (10): 1-4438-2500-X, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-2500-9

Table Of Contents

Fiorenza Mileto and Luigi Muzii

Teaching computer-assisted translation and localization: a project

Criteria for the selection of lexical items that are false friends between

English and German, German and Polish, and Polish and English forthe curriculum of translator training in the Polish educational system 81

Joanna Janecka and Magdalena Kizeweter

Perils or perks? Teaching translation as part of Practical English

Paulina Pietrzak and Mikołaj Deckert

Teaching translation to evening students at the University of Łódź –

Table of Contents vi

Interpreter aptitude in testing procedures 179

Andrzej Łyda, Alina Jackiewicz and Krystyna Warchał

To get what you want Triggering agentlessness in the consecutive

I NTRODUCTION

Translator and interpreter training has recently received ample attention, manifested in numerous articles, books and conference papers However, many central issues still appear controversial Should translation and interpreting be taught within the curricula of language studies or independently? What is translator competence made up of? Which of its elements can be developed through practice and which require coaching? What kind of translators and interpreters, if any, are "born, not made"? In

an attempt to address these and other questions as well as to exchange experience and expertise regarding translation curricula in Poland and abroad, the Department of Translation Theory and Practice, part of the Chair of English Language and Applied Linguistics at Lodz University, has organised two conferences under the title "Teaching Translation and Interpreting"; the first was held in April 2008, the second almost exactly a year later

The present volume is an outcome of these two events It is meant as a response to the developments in translation didactics which result from the recognition of the role of the translator/interpreter and the consolidating status of Translation Studies The rationale behind the publication is manifold First, there is evidently a need among translation scholars and translators to exchange information on the process of becoming a translator – issues like the optimum profile of a translation adept, the most efficient methods for guiding students who wish to pursue the career or balancing formal education with practical training What is more, the volume hopes to offer an opportunity to discuss the design of translation and interpreting teaching tracks as they actually function in different institutions within Poland and across Europe The contributions talk about the challenges and solutions in a translation and interpreting classroom by combining theory and practice, hence allowing for implementation of the different methods in real-life situations As the authors come from a number of institutions and countries, the volume offers varied perspectives

on analogous issues to arrive at a comprehensive up-to-date account but also to discuss outlooks for the future

The volume contains thirteen papers delivered at the aforementioned events plus one invited contribution The first two articles address an issue

of increasing relevance, that is teaching computer-assisted translation, contrasting the Italian perspective (Fiorenza Mileto and Luigi Muzii) with

2 Introduction

the local one (Michał Kornacki) The paper by Łucja Biel focuses on collocations in legal translation Aleksander Gomola tackles the rarely addressed topic of religious discourse in translation Janusz Wróblewski offers a variety of instances of ambiguity at word level and discusses problems trainee translators may face Marcin Zabawa discusses the role

of students‘ first language in translation classes Adam Sitarek offers a comprehensive outline of false friends and ensuing translation problems in German, English and Polish Joanna Janecka and Magdalena Kizeweter talk about teaching translation to undergraduates as part of the practical English programme Mikołaj Deckert and Paulina Pietrzak follow up with

a discussion of translation courses offered to postgraduates Michał B Paradowski comments on LSP in translation on the example of culinary language The remaining four papers concern interpreting studies This section opens up with a paper by Jolanta Sak-Wernicka on the application

of Relevance Theory Janusz Sikorski tackles the issue of aptitude for interpreting Andrzej Łyda, Alina Jackiewicz and Krystyna Warchał focus

on consecutive interpreting and agentlessness Finally, Zuzanna Łopacińska embarks on coping with speaker’s errors in interpretation Thanks are due to Professor Piotr Stalmaszczyk, Dean of the Faculty of Philology as well as Professor Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Head

of the Chair of English Language and Applied Linguistics, for their support Michał Kornacki, the technical editor, has put in a lot of effort into preparing the volume while Paulina Pietrzak, Mikołaj Deckert and Janusz Wróblewski assisted with both events and the publication itself Most importantly, however, all the contributors ought to be given credit for their valuable and relevant work

Łukasz Bogucki

Łódź 2010

C HAPTER O NE

we observed that, especially over the last few years, translation schools in Italy have become sterile conservatories for accepted ideas, and the level

of expertise offered by graduates is far from the realities and requirements

of the workplace

This does not mean that translation schools should churn out instantly productive professionals like so many human widgets, yet we believe that students should not be considered only diploma products

The approach used for teaching computer-assisted translation and localization at the faculty of interpreting and translation at the “S Pio V” University in Rome is aimed at helping each student’s skills emerge by shifting his or her focus from grades to experience

In fact, the common theoretical “conduit” view of learning still predominates in translator education, and students generally tend to focus

to exams and grades rather than actual learning but when they get into business, they blame the university since they become impotent witnesses

of the unwillingness of employers abdicating their responsibility to

Chapter One 4

educate and train their employees On the other hand, the widespread practice of ceasing hiring in favor of short-term contracts confirms that certificates and diplomas are tickets to nowhere

As business is the mainstay of modern translation practice, to help the development of translator competence, and the comprehension of all aspects of the translation process learning should be carried within the context of real translation projects

This paper is a report of a five-year teaching experience starting with a post-graduate course in localization to continue in the curricular courses of computer-assisted translation and localization

The teaching approach comes from professional experience and industry knowledge as well as from the continuous exchange of ideas with colleagues and students at LUSPIO and during seminars, workshops, and conferences We came up with a “formula” to exploit class teaching at best, and help students to get accustomed to goal setting as they will typically bump into on the workplace

The purpose of this paper is to outline our approach for centered classroom activity, with no theoretical or methodological claims The paper presents a parallel structure reflecting our individual experiences in a common effort to improve each one’s approach to teaching and evaluation In this respect, special attention is given to the differences in the evaluation systems to appraise the students’ level of competence and maturity

student-PBL

Project-based learning (PBL) is a constructivist pedagogy approach for classroom activity that emphasizes learning activities that are long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centered This approach is generally less structured than traditional, teacher-led classroom activities; it is designed

to be used for complex issues that require students to investigate in order

to understand: in a project-based class, students often must organize their own work and manage their own time

Within the PBL framework students are asked to team up, work together, take on social responsibilities, and find solutions to real problems The students’ choices lead to artifacts representing what is being learned

The approach is based on two key assumptions:

− learning is enhanced when knowledge is activated;

Teaching Computer-Assisted Translation And Localization 5

− processing knowledge in a problem-solving approach to learning

improves the ability to organize, store and retrieve it

Not only do students respond by feeding back information, they also actively use what they know to negotiate, and devise solutions

In PBL, traditional classroom activity integrates with “real world” issues and practices Running a structured project allow students to practice “real-world” conditions in a “safe” environment, and finally deliver a synthesis of their learning experience in a factual product

The teacher teach students how not be at loss in real life situations, and help them build strategies to be armed with to deal with whatever comes their way The class changes from a teacher-fronted passive mass to a place of activities Instruction has its goal to make the student a self-sufficient problem-solver

Students are discouraged to be passive receivers of the information transmitted to them from the teacher or the textbooks They will otherwise end up focusing only to the exam, trying to devise strategies to pass it with the minimum effort and maximum profit

The Rationale

Over the last few years, the need has become acute to adapt educational practice in university-level schools for translator training to rapidly changing market requirements Nevertheless, teaching is still based

on a trial-and-error approach, reflecting the teacher’s self-deemed superior wisdom and the attempt to duplicate knowledge in students’ minds

We do not know of any formal study on translation teaching in Italy, and no figures are available to tell this is a universal practice; nevertheless, students attending the computer-assisted translation course and the localization course at LUSPIO are graduates from the major academic institutions in Italy

In our experience, translation buyers and employers have definite expectations of new graduates in translation, and they are finding that the universities fall short of meeting their expectations regarding the skills and preparation for being on the workplace The main obstacles encountered when hiring graduates are their preparation for dealing with specialized translation, terminology management and information technology, narrow exposure to culture, lack of practical training but also with their ability to organize themselves autonomously or work independently or in teams, solve problems or establish and effectively manage social relations on the job

Chapter One 6

Anyway, comparing job profiles with academic programs will make the educational gap clear We have been trying to reduce it by introducing

a certification pathway and a real-life project experience to endorse each student’s skills

In the traditional translation education scenario, the in-class instructional process is largely reduced to homework review: the instructor essentially identifies the errors in students’ drafts and provides “correct” solutions to translation problems The teacher is supposed to possess absolute knowledge of how to translate, while translator competence emerges as the result of the collaborative completion of authentic translation work

Gaming is a fundamental ingredient in learning, and to help students achieve a professional-like level of autonomy and expertise they should go through experience by being involved in the collaborative undertaking of authentic translation projects for real customers Nevertheless, while newspaper texts are actually rare on the translation market they are still the all-but-exclusive practice material in classes

The results achieved so far confirm the soundness of the approach, and the accomplishment of the educational goals: the rate of abandonment is next to zero, students are mostly enthusiastic in their comments in the questionnaires they are asked to fill anonymously at the end of courses, and the placement rate is largely satisfactory

Last year, the SDL Trados certification exam was introduced at the end

of the computer-assisted translation course: 18 students out of 28 passed the exam 78% of students from the post-graduate course in localization, the computer-assisted translation course and the localization course are proficiently and satisfactorily working in the GILT industry, in Italy and

abroad

The computer-assisted translation course

Computer-assisted translation is increasingly made the object of study nowadays A lot has been said and published on TEnT’s, while little has been written on their application to training Teaching methodologies as to translation tools are out of the scope of this paper, which is just the report

of a teaching experiment, and therefore does not take into account the relevant literature and any similar studies/experiments carried out elsewhere

The purpose of this paper is to show that tech-driven courses need a different approach from traditional courses

Teaching Computer-Assisted Translation And Localization 7

The teaching approach for the computer-assisted translation course is borrowed from the experience made in training translators and trainers for the GILT industry as well as organizations and academic institutions This approach is aimed at reconciling education and work-linked training The computer-assisted translation course is aimed at introducing students to a working methodology different from “Word and dictionary” and based on translation tools as an integral and indivisible part of the translation process

Therefore, it is important for students to learn about the industry, understand and evaluate their working environment, mature a teamwork attitude, and meet the deadlines, while getting accustomed to identify the technical aspects and skills to develop

In this way, students can face a non-traumatic impact with the “real world”, while a first-time approach to computer-assisted translation can help the teacher take advantage of a total absence of habits and prejudices affecting long-time translation professionals This makes it possible to integrate translation tools in the working process, and develop an unbiased view of a project

The working strategy comes from the experience in training the translators where being acquainted with each other helps cooperation, and cooperation helps initiative and learning Teamwork cannot be taught, but

is more and more widespread in the workplace Individual skills should therefore be used and students should be invited to rely on each other to solve the problems in the classroom positively moving the focus from the teacher to the class team

The assisted translation course at LUSPIO starts by presenting the basic concepts of computer-assisted translation and the basic functions of a translation tool through increasingly challenging exercises where attention

is focused entirely on technical aspects

The next step consists in reviewing a ready-made work with a translation tool The translation is chosen from those done during the course of specialized translation Pros and cons of computer-assisted

Chapter One 8

translation are discussed, together with the texts that are best suited for processing with translation tools Working strategies are finally evaluated that would have been faster and convenient At this stage the development

of termbases, translation memories, and specialized corpora is also suggested

The project

Once the introductory lessons are over, students are called to participate in a translation project under the teacher’s guidance, who will set deadlines and assign tasks Students are requested to team up and develop a time plan, while respecting the (virtual) customer’s instructions, starting with the style guide, to handle communications with all the parties involved, and solve any problems with terminology and translation memories The student teams will have to deal also with any technical and logistic issues that could occur

To help a contrastive analysis, the project is chosen from a bunch kindly granted for academic purposes, to anticipate problems and

“challenges” that students must then confront and win

One of the projects was run on materials developed by Lou Cremers during his office at Océ Technologies in Venlo, the Netherlands Océ materials proved particularly suitable for training purposes for their relative simplicity and the thorough compilation (style guides, instructions, files, and memories) Such “realia” allowed for the arrangement of a “real-world” working environment, and to “plan” a few incidents to stimulate technical abilities and problem-solving talent

In this respect, the course is a convenient introduction to the localization course where a real project will be run, in a controlled environment

Benefits

After a five-year experience, the use of a ready-made translation project proved to allow the teacher to have definite references and goals, while students can work freely and with full autonomy In the same way, the teacher can reproduce the typical issues that students will find in the workplace and give them the chance to cope safely in a sheltered environment These issues will be repurposed, in a harder setting, to the students that will attend the localization course

Teaching Computer-Assisted Translation And Localization 9

The teacher can exploit the students’ curiosity to prevent them to approach translation tools in the future to mechanically reproduce a few tasks with no apparent convenience

The most immediate and rewarding achievement is the abandonment of the exams-and-grades logic: the students’ efforts turn to be goal-oriented Running a translation project requires students to waive mechanical or mnemonic learning: translation tools alone are not enough to solve the problems arising and fulfill the assignments; students must understand the business and operation logic behind them to use them actively and usefully

The most ambitious goal, which results in greater satisfaction and durability, is the development of an integrated approach to translation tools and language and technical and management issues

Assessments

Having experienced some traditional assessment systems with ongoing evaluation, the best way to assess the students’ achievements is to test the different skills they should have developed during the course Therefore, the final exam consists of three parts:

− a short essay presenting the features of a translation tool reviewed

during the course or a project done using a set of translation tools;

− a working session where students must demonstrate to know how

to manage a small translation project;

− an academic session where students must answer a multiple-choice

questions test; students are also given the chance to receive

certification of their knowledge from tool vendors

In many cases, the effort required to write the essay has led students to deepen the subject in their final dissertation

The way the exam is broken down reflects the comprehensive combination of skills that students must develop for a profitable working strategy with translation tools The final exam is aimed at assessing the integration of computer-assisted translation with the translation process and the working methodology, and the absence of any mnemonic and mechanical use of the programs addressed during the year

In a five-year experience, even though the basic structure of the course has remained unchanged, small adjustments have been made to the final exam as to topics and duration Only 15% of students fail when taking the exam at the end of the course, and only 10% run out of time Typically,