Teaching methods in language translation and interpretation

Handbook of Research on Teaching Methods in Language Translation and Interpretation Ying Cui Shandong University, Weihai, China Wei Zhao Shandong University, Weihai, China A volume in th

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Handbook of Research

on Teaching Methods in Language Translation and Interpretation

Ying Cui

Shandong University, Weihai, China

Wei Zhao

Shandong University, Weihai, China

A volume in the Advances in Educational

Technologies and Instructional Design (AETID)

Book Series

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Handbook of research on teaching methods in language translation and interpretation / Ying Cui and Wei Zhao, editors

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Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN 978-1-4666-6615-3 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4666-6616-0 (ebook) ISBN 978-1-4666-6618-4 (print & perpetual access) 1 Translating and interpreting Study and teaching 2 Interdisciplinary approach in education I Cui, Ying, 1983- editor II Zhao, Wei, 1972 July editor

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Editorial Advisory Board

Marc Charron, University of Ottawa, Canada

Libo Huang, Xi’an International Studies University, China

Chengzhi Jiang, Wuhan University, China

Jack Masson, University of Alberta, Canada

Yuanyuan Mu, Hong Kong Bilingual Learning and Translation Studies Association, Hong Kong Hui Wang, Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University, China

Poching Yip, Leeds University, UK

Chunshen Zhu, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

List of Reviewers

Erik Angelone, Kent State University, USA

Anna Maria D’Amore, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico

Álvaro Echeverri, Université de Montréal, Canada

George Ho, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan

Suvi Isohella, Vasa Universitet/Vaasan Yliopisto, Finland

Fengxia Jiang, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

Natalia Kashirina, Southern Federal University, Russia

Geoffrey S Koby, Kent State University, USA

Vlasta Kučiš, University of Maribor, Slovenia

Elaine Tzu-yi Lee, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan

Bruce Maylath, North Dakota State University, USA

Birthe Mousten, Aarhus Universitet, Denmark

Pilar Ordóñez-López, University Jaume I, Spain

Elena Alcalde Peñalver, University of Granada, Spain

Tarek Shamma, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

Yvonne Tsai, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Sonia Vandepitte, Ghent University, Belgium

Natalia Kaloh Vid, University of Maribor, Slovenia

Melissa Wallace, University of Texas – San Antonio, USA

Maria Yarosh, University of Deusto, Spain

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List of Contributors

Agost, Rosa / University Jaume I, Spain 324

Angelone, Erik / Kent State University, USA 346

Brugué, Lydia / University of Vic, Spain 254

D’Amore, Anna Maria / Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico 118

Echeverri, Álvaro / Université de Montréal, Canada 297

Fengxia, Jiang / Beijing Foreign Studies University, China 362

Giró, Ruben / University of Vic, Spain 254

Ho, George / Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan 377

Isohella, Suvi / Vasa Universitet/Vaasan Yliopisto, Finland 137

Kashirina, Natalia / Southern Federal University, Russia 274

Koby, Geoffrey S / Kent State University, USA 220

Kučiš, Vlasta / University of Maribor, Slovenia 57

Maylath, Bruce / North Dakota State University, USA 137

Mousten, Birthe / Aarhus Universitet, Denmark 137

Musacchio, Maria Teresa / Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy 137

Ordóñez-López, Pilar / University Jaume I, Spain 324

Palumbo, Giuseppe / Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy 137

Peñalver, Elena Alcalde / University of Granada, Spain 102

Quinci, Carla / Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy 179

Rizzato, Ilaria / University of Genoa, Italy 46

Seel, Olaf Immanuel / Ionian University of Corfu, Greece 199

Shamma, Tarek / Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar 1

Tsai, Yvonne / National Taiwan University, Taiwan 85

Valero-Garcés, Carmen / University of Alcalá, Spain 397

Vandepitte, Sonia / Universiteit Gent, Belgium 137

Vid, Natalia Kaloh / University of Maribor, Slovenia 57

Wallace, Melissa / University of Texas – San Antonio, USA 27

Wang, Hui / Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University, China 69

Yarosh, Maria / University of Deusto, Spain 160

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Table of Contents

Preface xvii Acknowledgment xxv

Section 1 Modes and Methods of Translation Teaching Chapter 1

Competition.and.Collaboration.in.Translation.Education:.The.Motivational.Impact.of.Translation.Contests 1

Ilaria Rizzato, University of Genoa, Italy

Chapter 4

Discourse.Analysis.in.Translation.Courses:.The.Question.of.Ideology.and.Culture 57

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Learning 137

Sonia Vandepitte, Universiteit Gent, Belgium

Maria Teresa Musacchio, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy

Giuseppe Palumbo, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy

Lydia Brugué, University of Vic, Spain

Ruben Giró, University of Vic, Spain

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Section 3 Theoretical Reflections on Translation Pedagogy Chapter 15

Psychology.of.Translation:.Critical.and.Creative.Thinking 274

Chapter 16

Translator.Education.and.Metacognition:.Towards.Student-Centered.Approaches.to.Translator.Education 297

Álvaro Echeverri, Université de Montréal, Canada

Chapter 17

An.Empirical.Study.of.Students’.Views.on.Theoretical.Subjects:.The.Role.of.Theory.in

Translation.Degrees.at.Spanish.Universities 324

Rosa Agost, University Jaume I, Spain

Carmen Valero-Garcés, University of Alcalá, Spain

Compilation of References 416 About the Contributors 449 Index 456

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Detailed Table of Contents

Preface xvii Acknowledgment xxv

Section 1 Modes and Methods of Translation Teaching

Section 1 elaborates on the modes and methods of translation teaching, such as competition and collaboration in the translation classroom, team-based learning, the application of stylistic methods and strategies to translation teaching, the use of discourse analysis in translation teaching, corpus-based tools and methods of translation teaching, curricular design of specialized translation, and the role of pedagogical translation in the foreign-language classroom.

Chapter 1

Competition.and.Collaboration.in.Translation.Education:.The.Motivational.Impact.of.Translation.Contests 1

Chapter.1.describes.and.discusses.the.findings.of.a.project.that.was.intended.to.test.a.contest.format.applicable to translation teaching To be more specific, the project was designed to test the value.and.methods.of.integrating.contests.into.translation.teaching.and.investigate.the.contentious.issue.of.competitiveness.in.education

Chapter 2

Team-Based.Learning.in.Introductory.Translation.Courses 27

Melissa Wallace, University of Texas – San Antonio, USA

Chapter 2 makes a case for the effectiveness of a collaborative learning methodology that fosters.accountability,.cohesion,.and.solidarity.among.fixed.work.teams.in.introductory-level.translation.studies.courses It.describes.a.variety.of.empowerment-building.assignments,.analyzes.the.application.and.implementation.of.Team-Based.Learning.(TBL),.and.discusses.the.results.of.a.survey.in.which.students.revealed.their.perceptions.of.the.efficacy.of.TBL.and.the.extent.to.which.it.may.have.contributed.to.a.high-impact.learning.experience

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Chapter 4

Discourse.Analysis.in.Translation.Courses:.The.Question.of.Ideology.and.Culture 57

Chapter.4.illustrates.the.importance.of.introducing.critical.discourse.analysis.as.a.powerful.tool.for.ideological.analysis.in.the.translation.classroom In.the.teaching.process,.students.were.shown.how.to.analyze.advertising.slogans.with.emphasis.on.the.ways.in.which.information.is.structured.as.well.as.on.“unpacking”.ideologically.influenced.constraints.and.cultural.influences,.and.then.the.students.were.assigned.to.use.the.discourse.analysis.tools.to.analyze.Slovene.translations.of.the.same.ads

Chapter 5

Feasibility.and.Acceptability.of.In-Depth.Annotated.Parallel.Corpus-Aided.Translation.Teaching 69

Hui Wang, Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University, China

Chapter.5.probes.into.the.way.an.in-depth.annotated.parallel.corpus.is.integrated.into.the.translation.classroom With.a.90-minute.lecture.as.a.demo,.it.is.designed.to.show.how.the.combined.unity.of.teaching.materials.and.the.platform.and.the.teaching.method.and.the.annotation.mode.of.the.corpus.can.be.achieved It.also.discusses.users’.perceptions.of.the.platform.and.classroom.teaching.as.shown.in.a.recent.survey

Chapter 6

A.Learner.Corpus.Study.of.Attributive.Clauses.and.Passive.Voice.in.Student.Translations 85

Yvonne Tsai, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Chapter.6.centers.on.the.nuisance.caused.by.passive.voices.and.attributive.clauses.in.student.translations The.aim.of.this.study.was.to.correct.learners’.under-use,.over-use,.and.misuse.of.specific.terms.and.linguistic.structures By.examining.student.translations.with.learner.corpus,.this.study.contributes.in.providing.student.translators.with.an.autonomous.learning.environment.and.translation.improvement.opportunities

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Chapter 7

Financial.Translation:.First.Steps.towards.Curricular.Design 102

Elena Alcalde Peñalver, University of Granada, Spain

Chapter.7.investigates.curricular.design.in.financial.translation.based.on.previous.empirical.data.that.demonstrate.the.importance.of.financial.translation.in.different.countries The.study.identifies.social.and.market.needs.through.the.analysis.of.job.offers.for.financial.translators,.reviews.the.literature.discussing.the.profession.in.this.area.of.specialization,.and.applies.Kelly’s.model.of.translation.competence.to.financial.translation

Chapter 8

The.Role.of.Translation.in.Language.Teaching:.Back.to.GT.in.ELT? 118

Anna Maria D’Amore, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico

Chapter.8.explores.translation.in.the.foreign-language.classroom,.which.has.been.a.contentious.topic.for.several.decades.but.is.now.re-emerging.as.an.acceptable.and.useful.supporting.resource.for.language.learning By.examining.student.performance.in.problem-solving.tasks.at.the.Autonomous.University.of.Zacatecas,.this.study.demonstrates.the.validity.of.“pedagogical.translation”.in.ELT.in.Mexico,.both.as.a.means.to.perfecting.reading.skills.in.a.foreign.language.and.as.an.aid.for.consolidating.writing.and.communication.skills.in.the.students’.first.language

Section 2 Translation Competence and Evaluation

Section 2 focuses on translation competence and evaluation, including research on translation competence

in multilateral international and interprofessional collaborative learning, intercultural translator competence, translation competence for didactic purposes, the significance of contrastive cross-cultural pragmatics for translation competence, differentiated error-marking scale in translation evaluation, and evaluation in specialized translation teaching.

Chapter 9

Translation.Competence:.Research.Data.in.Multilateral.and.Interprofessional.Collaborative

Learning 137

Sonia Vandepitte, Universiteit Gent, Belgium

Maria Teresa Musacchio, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy

Giuseppe Palumbo, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy

Chapter.9.describes.the.collaborative.forms.of.learning.at.different.stages.in.the.translation.process.of.students.participating.in.the.Trans-Atlantic.and.Pacific.Project It.explores.and.analyzes.empirical.data.that.the.project.may.provide.for.future.research.into.learning.translation,.in.particular.with.regard.to.competences.needed.for.translation.decisions,.intercultural.and.interpersonal.communication,.usability.testing.and.translation.service.provision,.as.well.as.self-reflection

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Chapter 10

Translator.Intercultural.Competence:.A.Model,.Learning.Objectives,.and.Level.Indicators 160

Maria Yarosh, University of Deusto, Spain

factor.model.of.the.competence.based.on.empirical.data,.delineates.associated.learning.objectives,.and.presents.primarily.validated.developmental.level.indicators.for.each.objective A.pedagogical.sequence.based.on.the.findings.is.proposed.at.the.end

Chapter 12

Intercultural.Pragmatics.and.Text.Typology:.An.Integrated.Approach.to.Translation.Teaching 199

Olaf Immanuel Seel, Ionian University of Corfu, Greece

Chapter 12 investigates the significance of intercultural pragmatics for translation competence and.translation.teaching.on.the.basis.of.the.text.type.“obituary”.and.the.language.pair.Greek/German It.provides.an.overview.of.contemporary.translation.theory.on.the.teaching.of.translation.from.a.culture-sensitive.and.pragmatic-functional.point.of.view The.chapter.concludes.by.demonstrating.the.significance.of.language.pair-specific.text.prototypologies.for.the.development.of.the.translational.competence.of.translation.students.and.of.its.implementation.in.translation.teaching

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Chapter 14

Evaluation.in.Specialized.Translation.Teaching:.A.New.Method.for.Grading.Scientific.and

Technical.Translation.Compulsory.Activities 254

Lydia Brugué, University of Vic, Spain

Ruben Giró, University of Vic, Spain

Chapter.14.presents.a.new.scale.for.evaluating.Scientific.and.Technical.Translation.compulsory.activities.in.consideration.of.the.need.to.create.and.implement.fair.and.precise.evaluation.scales.in.Specialized.Translation.subjects The.scale.takes.into.account.most.aspects.discussed.by.teachers.and.scholars.to.offer.an.exact,.easy-to-use,.and.fast.tool.to.evaluate.these.activities The.scale.could.also.be.applied.to.other.specialized.translation.subjects.such.as.Sworn.Translation.or.Literary.Translation

Section 3 Theoretical Reflections on Translation Pedagogy

Section 3 provides theoretical reflections on translation pedagogy, such as critical and creative thinking

in translation teaching, metacognition and translation education, explorations of students’ ideology concerning the role of translation theories, self-reflection in process-oriented translator training, emotional stability as a predictor of interpreter aptitude, and the connection between the translation classroom and the real world, including the job market.

Chapter 15

Psychology.of.Translation:.Critical.and.Creative.Thinking 274

Chapter.15.studies.translation.as.a.sequence.of.three.stages:.source.text.pre-translation.analysis,.translation.itself,.and.self-assessment.and.editing As.the.first.and.the.third.stages.of.the.translation.process.are.based.on.critical.thinking,.the.second.stage.rests.upon.creative.thinking;.the.study.proposes.that.critical.thinking.must.be.a.necessary.part.of.translator.professional.training,.because.it.enables.translators-to-be.to.acquire.mature.creative.thinking,.crucial.for.translation.problem-solving

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Chapter 17

An.Empirical.Study.of.Students’.Views.on.Theoretical.Subjects:.The.Role.of.Theory.in

Translation.Degrees.at.Spanish.Universities 324

Rosa Agost, University Jaume I, Spain

Chapter.17.addresses.the.commonplace.belief.that.students.have.a.rather.reticent.attitude.towards.theoretical.modules.and.presents.the.results.obtained.in.an.empirical.study.aimed.at.analysing.the.views.of.mainly.undergraduate.as.well.as.some.postgraduate.translation.students.at.Spanish.universities.regarding.the.role.and.relevance.of.Translation.Theory.as.part.of.their.degree.courses The.research.provides.new,.unexpected,.and.valuable.insights.into.both.curriculum.design.and.the.improvement.of.the.teaching.of.theoretical.modules.within.translation.programmes

Chapter 19

Evaluating.Emotional.Stability.as.a.Predictor.of.Chinese.MTI.Students’.Interpreter.Aptitude 362

Jiang Fengxia, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

Chapter.19.proposes.that.variance.in.interpreter.performance.is.dependent.on.factors.of.both.general.cognitive.ability.and.personality It.reports.a.study.of.110.MTI.students.in.China.in.the.hope.of.finding.out.what.traits.play.the.most.important.role.and.to.what.extent.these.variables.impact.learning.and.achievement Psychological.constructs.of.self-efficacy,.goal.orientation,.and.negative.affectivity.were.measured The.most.significant.finding.revealed.the.dimension.of.emotional.stability.as.a.predictor.of.interpreters’.self-perceived.competence Based.on.these.findings,.recommendations.for.admission.testing.and.interpreter.education.curricula.are.discussed

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Chapter 20

Adapting.Translator.and.Interpreter.Training.to.the.Job.Market 377

George Ho, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan

Chapter.20.focuses.on.three.basic.questions:.why,.what,.and.how.to.teach.translation.and.interpreting.students.to.meet.the.demand.for.language.professionals.by.global.businesses,.government.organizations,.and.public.services.under.the.impact.of.globalization It.believes.that.our.training.programmes.will.be.more.cost-efficient.and.accountable.if.we.have.a.clear.vision,.well-designed.and.structured.curricula,.and.right.teaching.methodology The.chapter.advocates.that.those.teaching.projects.based.on.the.principles.of.cognitive.apprenticeship.advanced.by.Kiraly.are.the.most.feasible,.because.they.help.students.effectively.acquire.translating.and.interpreting.skills.through.practice

Chapter 21

Cross-Fertilization.of.Training.and.Research.in.a.Master’s.Program.in.Public.Service.Interpreting.and.Translation:.Some.Challenges.and.Results 397

Carmen Valero-Garcés, University of Alcalá, Spain

Chapter.21.explores.two.intertwined.aspects.of.translation.training:.on.the.one.hand,.the.study.of.the.quality.of.communication.in.multilingual.societies.and.of.the.role.of.interpreters.and.translators.as.language.mediators.across.various.settings.and,.on.the.other.hand,.the.development.of.training.programs.to.prepare.efficient.translators.and.interpreters.for.these.societies

Compilation of References 416 About the Contributors 449 Index 456

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While translation has become “a full-fledged craft and profession” (Király, 2003, p 3), the research on translation pedagogy has been relatively new and largely dominated by “anecdotal evidence and case studies” (Colina, 2003, p 29) Translation teachers and scholars are faced with various problems and challenges, such as the modes of teaching and the proper evaluation methods It was in consideration

of the problems and challenges that we started this book project to provide a platform for translation teachers and scholars around the world to share their studies, thoughts, experience, and practice.There was a time when translation teaching was undervalued, and it was believed that “translators are born, not made, or that translation is something that is learned on the job, not in the classroom” (Baer

& Koby, 2003, p vii) This view is reflected in such concepts as natural translation where translation is seen as a skill inherent in bilinguals (Harris, 1977) For this reason, translation pedagogy is confused with foreign language acquisition, and translator trainers have referred to methodologies developed for teaching foreign languages (Király, 1995, p 7) However, the teaching of translation is not equal to that

of a language, for translation or cross-cultural communication is a much more sophisticated process than the re-coding of linguistic structures (Olshanskaya, 2003, p 173) It demands a wide range of analytical and creative skills and expertise, which requires a teaching methodology that is considerably different from traditional language training (Olshanskaya, 2003, p 173) Trainers need both practical experience and theoretical knowledge in order to train functional translators In addition to knowing the skills and abilities required in the profession of translation, trainers also need to know how to identify and recognize patterns of behavior and guide students to discover the underlying regularities (Nord, 2010, p 214) In one word, there are many factors to be investigated and many challenges to be dealt with in translation pedagogy today

MAJOR CHALLENGES AND SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS

Among the major challenges in translation pedagogy are the systematic theorization of translation pedagogy, the teaching of translation theories, the proper standards and methods of evaluation, and the enhancement of connections between the translation classroom and the real world

As mentioned earlier, translation pedagogy today is in need of systematic theorizing and research With more and more translation programs established at universities and colleges around the world, many institutions face the problem of lacking a “sound, consistent pedagogical and methodological criteria on how to approach the issues of translation teaching” (Colina, 2009, p 1) Without a solid theoretical basis, translation pedagogy will be “blind,” because it will fail to set reasonable objectives, create and apply

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methods appropriate to the learning task, measure and evaluate results, or train the effective translators the society demands (Király, 1995, p x) Therefore, systematic and theoretical investigation of translation teaching is essential, which includes such issues as curriculum design, strategies and models of teaching, application of teaching tools, and evaluation criteria and methods The studies in this book are in part

an effort to enrich and enhance the development of this field

A big challenge in the translation classroom is the teaching of theories The role of translation theories is often questioned and downplayed by students and practitioners Theories are “notorious among students as dull and impractical” (Li, 2012, p 14), and practitioners of translation tend to “see little value in academic theorizing on translation” (Baer & Koby, 2003, p vii) However, an important goal of teaching is to make students independent of their teachers and able to continue to learn after they leave the classroom (Manning, 1996, p 546), and the inclusion of theories is helpful for realizing this goal by equipping students with the necessary strategies and tactics Suggestions have been provided

by translation scholars in terms of what theories to teach and how to teach them For illustration, it is emphasized that the selection of what theories to teach is up to students’ needs (Li, 2012, p 18), and teachers should guide students to transform the learned theory into acquired theory via continual practice and reflection (Li, 2012, p 21) Still, more specific research is needed regarding the ways to properly combine theories and practice in translation teaching

The incorporation of theories and practice is an issue in the translation classroom, and it is more so

in the training of interpretation Although the momentum driving interpreter training has gathered force,

“interpretation pedagogy has led an existence in the shadows of academe since its inception” (Sawyer,

2011, p 2) Many studies on interpretation are primarily based upon the “personal experience and insight

of professional interpreters,” which is indicative of the fact that theoretical reflection on interpreter education is “in an exploratory phase” (Sawyer, 2011, p 37) Views about the contribution of theory

in the interpreting classroom differ Although there are claims that interpretation is basically a matter

of action and theories cannot improve the training or practice of interpreting, “it seems reasonable to expect a modest amount of theory in the classroom to be helpful” (Gile, 2010, p 140) Actually, it is an inevitable fact that “there cannot be practice without some kind of ‘guiding principles’” in all areas of translation studies (Ulrych, 2010, p 19), which also includes the teaching of interpretation In addition, interpretation entails other extra-linguistic factors such as interpreters’ emotional status, attention, and memory (Darò, 1994, 1995; Seleskovitch, 2002) All these aspects are worth exploring It is claimed that there is no “fixed canon” of translation teaching methods (Wilss, 2010, p 11), which is exactly the case with the training of interpreting

Apart from the incorporation of theories in the teaching of translation and interpretation, the proper methods and criteria of evaluation is another issue The importance of appropriate and meaningful assessment has been recognized for over half a century (Sawyer, 2011, p 5) “High quality education is based upon sound assessment” that provides evidence as to whether the curriculum goals and objectives are met (Sawyer, 2011, p 5) However, as far as translation pedagogy is concerned, inadequacy of assessment practices has been repeatedly pointed out (Sawyer, 2011, p 8) It has remained an underdeveloped field where subjectivity constitutes “the most salient criterion” (Arango-Keeth & Koby, 2003, p 117) Translation teaching is intended to facilitate “the acquisition of communicative translational competence” and to develop proper methods (Colina, 2003, p 30), and criteria of assessment entails the investigation

of translation competence The lack of a consensus regarding what translation competence involves poses a problem for evaluation (Arango-Keeth & Koby, 2003, p 119) In one word, a consistent and

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workable framework for proper translation assessment needs to be established, and it involves systematic exploration and further clarification of translation competence.

Lastly, translation teaching takes place in the classroom, but it keeps a link with the real world and the professional market of translation As the translation profession evolves with advances in technology, globalization, and changes in lifestyle and business practices, translation pedagogy also needs perpetual innovation (Király, 2003, p 25) New technologies and teaching tools may be introduced to the translation classroom, such as the use of corpus and machine-aided teaching methods in the translation classroom (see Zhu & Wang, 2011) In addition, translation teaching prepares some, if not all, of the students to be translators, and it needs to take into account the professional job market There have been accusations from the job market that university courses are “too rigid, detached from the real world, academic and unprofessionalising” (Bernardini, 2010, p 23) Although synchronizing the translation classroom and the professional world is hard (Mackenzie, 2010, p 33) and the learning environment has its own advantages for students (Bernardini, 2010, p 23), the translation classroom can be related to the professional market, and feedback from the professional translators can be referred to in designing the translation courses and curriculums In order to help students to be better adjusted to the professional practice after graduation,

it is proposed that translation teaching be based on authentic situated action (Király, 2000, p 3) and provide students with opportunities to participate in the activities of the profession (Király, 2003, p 18) Still, more explorations are needed regarding the specific teaching concepts, methods, and strategies to enhance the link between the translation classroom and the professional market

AIMS AND TARGET AUDIENCE OF THE BOOK

This publication is intended to bring together the studies and practices of scholars and teachers working

in the field of translation and to widen recent enquiries to include more interdisciplinary theories and a greater variety of linguistic, cultural, and educational contexts worldwide The book is expected to be utilized by scholars and teachers interested in translation and translation pedagogy It is also of value

to graduate students who plan to become teachers or do further studies on translation teaching It is intended to deepen their understanding of the theories, models, processes, principles, new options, and other matters related to translation teaching In face of the challenges described above and in the light of the explorations that have already been done, authors contributing to this book have investigated various aspects of translation pedagogy, including competition and collaboration in the translation classroom, team-based learning, the application of stylistic methods and strategies to translation teaching, the use

of discourse analysis in translation teaching, corpus-based tools and methods of translation teaching, the role of pedagogical translation in the foreign-language classroom, curricular design of specialized translation, translation competence in multilateral international and interprofessional collaborative learning, intercultural translator competence, translation competence for didactic purposes, the significance of contrastive cross-cultural pragmatics for translation competence, differentiated error-marking scale in translation evaluation, evaluation in specialized translation teaching, critical and creative thinking in translation teaching, metacognition and translation education, students’ views on the role of translation theories, self-reflection in process-oriented translator training, emotional stability as a predictor of interpreter aptitude, and the connection between the translation classroom and the real world including the job market

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ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

This book is divided into three sections Section 1, which covers Chapter 1 to Chapter 8, elaborates

on the modes and methods of teaching in the translation classroom Section 2, which covers Chapter 9

to Chapter 14, focuses on the issue of translation competence and evaluation Section 3, which covers Chapter 15 to Chapter 21, provides theoretical reflections on translation pedagogy

Chapter 1 describes and discusses the findings of a project that was intended to test a contest format applicable to translation teaching To be more specific, the project was designed to test the value and methods of integrating contests into translation teaching and investigate the contentious issue of competitiveness in education

Chapter 2 makes a case for the effectiveness of a collaborative learning methodology that fosters accountability, cohesion, and solidarity among fixed work teams in introductory-level translation studies courses It describes a variety of empowerment-building assignments, analyzes the application and implementation of Team-Based Learning (TBL), and discusses the results of a survey in which students revealed their perceptions of the efficacy of TBL and the extent to which it may have contributed to a high-impact learning experience

Chapter 3 attempts to point out the advantages of stylistics in teaching translation and interpretation

It emphasizes the elements in stylistic methodologies that may be particularly effective in teaching and shows how these elements are extremely relevant to the teaching of translation and interpretation in that they can improve trainees’ motivation and performance

Chapter 4 illustrates the importance of introducing critical discourse analysis as a powerful tool for ideological analysis in the translation classroom In the teaching process, students were shown how to analyze advertising slogans with emphasis on the ways in which information is structured as well as on

“unpacking” ideologically influenced constraints and cultural influences, and then the students were assigned to use the discourse analysis tools to analyze Slovene translations of the same ads

Chapter 5 probes into the way an in-depth annotated parallel corpus is integrated into the translation classroom With a 90-minute lecture as a demo, it is designed to show how the combined unity of teaching materials and the platform and the teaching method and the annotation mode of the corpus can

be achieved It also discusses users’ perceptions of the platform and classroom teaching as shown in a recent survey

Chapter 6 centers on the nuisance caused by passive voices and attributive clauses in student translations The aim of this study was to correct learners’ under-use, over-use, and misuse of specific terms and linguistic structures By examining student translations with learner corpus, this study contributes in providing student translators with an autonomous learning environment and translation improvement opportunities

Chapter 7 investigates curricular design in financial translation based on previous empirical data that demonstrate the importance of financial translation in different countries The study identifies social and market needs through the analysis of job offers for financial translators, reviews the literature discussing the profession in this area of specialization, and applies Kelly’s model of translation competence to financial translation

Chapter 8 explores translation in the foreign-language classroom, which has been a contentious topic for several decades but is now re-emerging as an acceptable and useful supporting resource for language learning By examining student performance in problem-solving tasks at the Autonomous University

of Zacatecas, this study demonstrates the validity of “pedagogical translation” in ELT in Mexico, both

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as a means to perfecting reading skills in a foreign language and as an aid for consolidating writing and communication skills in students’ first language.

Chapter 9 describes the collaborative forms of learning at different stages in the translation process

of students participating in the Trans-Atlantic and Pacific Project It explores and analyzes empirical data that the project may provide for future research into learning translation, in particular with regard to competences needed for translation decisions, intercultural and interpersonal communication, usability testing and translation service provision, as well as self-reflection

Chapter 10 discusses student translator intercultural competence development It introduces an factor model of the competence based on empirical data, delineates associated learning objectives, and presents primarily validated developmental level indicators for each objective A pedagogical sequence based on the findings is proposed at the end

eight-Chapter 11 proposes the development of a product-based definition of translation competence for didactic purposes based on the provisional findings of an empirical longitudinal product-oriented research project that aims to map some specific textual and procedural features on the subjects’ presumed level

of translation competence A product-oriented definition could assist translator trainers and trainees in defining specific learning goals and serve as a predictive developmental hypothesis in translator training.Chapter 12 investigates the significance of intercultural pragmatics for translation competence and translation teaching on the basis of the text type “obituary” and the language pair Greek/German It provides an overview of contemporary translation theory on the teaching of translation from a culture-sensitive and pragmatic-functional point of view The chapter concludes by demonstrating the significance

of language pair-specific text prototypologies for the development of the translational competence of translation students and of its implementation in translation teaching

Chapter 13 focuses on the issue of translation evaluation, specifically error marking The Flowchart for Error Point Decisions and the Framework for Standardized Error Marking developed by the American Translators Association (ATA) are used to describe errors and severities in German>English translation graduate student papers vs examination papers marked by ATA graders The predominant categories where errors occur and trends in error severities are discussed for each group and subgroup and compared across the groups

Chapter 14 presents a new scale for evaluating Scientific and Technical Translation compulsory activities in consideration of the need to create and implement fair and precise evaluation scales in Specialized Translation subjects The scale takes into account most aspects discussed by teachers and scholars to offer an exact, easy-to-use, and fast tool to evaluate these activities The scale could also

be applied to other specialized translation subjects such as Sworn Translation or Literary Translation.Chapter 15 studies translation as a sequence of three stages: source text pre-translation analysis, translation itself, and self-assessment and editing As the first and the third stages of the translation process are based on critical thinking, the second stage rests upon creative thinking; the study proposes that critical thinking must be a necessary part of translator professional training, because it enables translators-to-be to acquire mature creative thinking, crucial for translation problem-solving

Chapter 16 treats of the role of metacognition in translation teaching Translation training overlooks some crucial aspects when it focuses exclusively on disciplinary knowledge Metacognition could help translation students to become responsible for their own learning A study of translation internship reports identifies some metacognitive factors that help students become agents of their own learning.Chapter 17 addresses the commonplace belief that students have a rather reticent attitude towards theoretical modules and presents the results obtained in an empirical study aimed at analysing the views of

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mainly undergraduate as well as some postgraduate translation students at Spanish universities regarding the role and relevance of Translation Theory as part of their degree courses The research provides new, unexpected, and valuable insights into both curriculum design and the improvement of the teaching of theoretical modules within translation programmes.

Chapter 18 takes a corpus-based approach in the comparative analysis of student discourse when using translation logs and screen recordings for self-reflecting on the problems they encounter and their correlating problem-solving tendencies Preliminary findings demonstrate that the type of self-reflection modality used has an impact on how students discuss problem solving, potentially suggesting

a different problem solving approach and scope of reflection When reflection was carried out using Integrated Problem and Decision Reporting logs, discourse tended to focus primarily on textual level alone, whereas when screen recordings were used, discourse was more multidimensional, focusing not only on textual level but also various stages (comprehension, transfer, production) as well as concrete information retrieval strategies, suggesting a more holistic, multi-layered approach to problem-solving when using screen recordings

Chapter 19 proposes that variance in interpreter performance is dependent on factors of both general cognitive ability and personality It reports a study of 110 MTI students in China in the hope of finding out what traits play the most important role and to what extent these variables impact learning and achievement Psychological constructs of self-efficacy, goal orientation, and negative affectivity were measured The most significant finding revealed the dimension of emotional stability as a predictor of interpreters’ self-perceived competence Based on these findings, recommendations for admission testing and interpreter education curricula are discussed

Chapter 20 focuses on three basic questions: why, what, and how to teach translation and interpreting students to meet the demand for language professionals by global businesses, government organizations, and public services under the impact of globalization It believes that our training programmes will be more cost-efficient and accountable if we have a clear vision, well-designed and structured curricula, and right teaching methodology The chapter advocates that those teaching projects based on the principles of cognitive apprenticeship advanced by Király are the most feasible, because they help students effectively acquire translating and interpreting skills through practice

Chapter 21 explores two intertwined aspects of translation training: on the one hand, the study of the quality of communication in multilingual societies and of the role of interpreters and translators as language mediators across various settings and, on the other hand, the development of training programs

to prepare efficient translators and interpreters for these societies

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Arango-Keeth, F., & Koby, G S (2003) Assessing assessment: Translator training evaluation and

the needs of industry quality assessment In B J Baer & G S Koby (Eds.), Beyond the ivory tower:

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interference Applied Linguistics, 4(4), 365–381 doi:10.1093/applin/15.4.365

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new millennium: Pedagogies for translation and interpreting (pp 125–151) Shanghai, China: Shanghai

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Rethinking translation pedagogy (pp 3–27) Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company

doi:10.1075/ata.xii.03kir

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Li, D (2012) Curriculum design, needs assessment and translation pedagogy Beijing, China: Foreign

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The Netherlands: Universitaire Pers Maastricht

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Second, we are grateful to the Editorial Advisory Board members for spreading the call for chapter proposals and reviewing the full chapters They have made valuable contributions regarding the improve-ment of quality, coherence, and content presentation of the chapters We also highly appreciate the help

of the other reviewers

Third, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of each one of the authors and the guidance and assistance provided by the publisher, IGI Global, at every stage of the development of this book project

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Section 1

Section 1 elaborates on the modes and methods of translation teaching, such as competition and laboration in the translation classroom, team-based learning, the application of stylistic methods and strategies to translation teaching, the use of discourse analysis in translation teaching, corpus-based tools and methods of translation teaching, curricular design of specialized translation, and the role of pedagogical translation in the foreign-language classroom.

col-Modes and Methods of

Translation Teaching

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Educational contests, competitions, and

“olym-piads” are a common educational tool in various

disciplines Usually employed as an extracurricular

activity, they have proved effective in many fields

of study, especially in science and technology

(informatics, mathematics, programming, physics,

and chemistry), the law, engineering, mass

com-munication, political science, and the performing

arts (Verhoeff, 1997; Illston et al., 2013; son, 2006; Chung, 2003; Taylor, 2004; Gillespie, 2006) In language-related disciplines, one finds speech and debate competitions, and spelling bees (Maguire, 2006; Colbert, 1995) Studies point to various advantages of competitions, including increased learner motivation in a less stressful setting than the classroom, expanding the students’ knowledge and intellectual curiosity beyond the curriculum, and simulating (thus preparing stu-

Ander-Tarek Shamma

Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

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dents for) professional environments (Verhoeff,

1997; Long, 1989; Taylor, 2004; Chung, 2003;

Maguire, 2006; Colbert, 1995)

Little attention, however, has been given to

contests in translation pedagogy While there has

been a significant growth in recent years in the

methods proposed for testing and evaluating

trans-lation students and organizing class activities, the

potential of translation contests as an educational

method remains unexplored.1 This could be due,

in our opinion, to the difficulty of adapting the

learning outcomes of translation education, and

the specific skills which it targets, to a contest

format Most of the types of competition currently

applied in education focus on skills that require

performing skills, or are so limited in scope as to

lend themselves to the straightforward methods

of evaluation required in contests

This paper describes and discusses the

find-ings of a pilot project whose aim was to design

and test a contest format applicable in translation

education The project had two goals: 1 testing

the value and methods of integrating contests

into translation education, 2 investigating the

contentious issue of competitiveness in education

COMPETITION IN EDUCATION:

AN ONGOING DEBATE

The value of competition in the classroom has

been the subject of heated debate in research on

education over the last three decades Proponents

of “cooperative learning,” an approach that has

become a major force in pedagogical research since

the 1980s, condemn competition as undermining

self-esteem, marginalizing social skills, creating

negative feelings among students, and shifting the

focus of the educational process from personal

development to a struggle for grades and the

teacher’s approval (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Johnson

& Johnson, 1974, 1989, 1999; Kohn, 1986/1992)

Cooperation, on the other hand, is argued to

enhance students’ interpersonal skills and

self-esteem, and to promote a positive attitude about the topic of study, as well as the instructor In contrast with “individualistic” and “competitive” learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1974, 1999), collaborative learning is argued to be more productive, not only

in the affective, but also in the cognitive domain.2For example, Wentzel argues that cooperation is

“instrumental in the acquisition of knowledge and the development of cognitive abilities” (1991, p 1) According to Kohn (1986/1992), 65 studies

he examined demonstrated that cooperation leads

to higher levels of achievement than competition, while 36 studies did not indicate any statistical difference A study conducted by Johnson and Johnson (1982) also shows that collaboration is more effective in promoting achievement than other interaction patterns in the classroom.The shift toward a collaborative classroom has made a tangible impact on translation pedagogy

In A Social Constructivist Approach to

Transla-tor Education, Kiraly criticizes the conventional

(and thus far dominant) method of “translation skills instruction”, based on “transmissionist educational views,” in which the teacher is “the fountain of knowledge” (2000, p 22), that is the sole dispenser of a pre-determined and agreed-upon body of knowledge Instead, he proposes a collaborative classroom, where the teacher will be mainly a “guide, assistant, mentor, and facilitator”, whose function consists in creating an environ-ment where “learning activities will be marked by proactive students working in collaboration with each other and the teacher” (2000, p 23) Conse-quently, Kiraly stresses the need for “moving away from a transmissionist, objectivist-based teaching approach towards a collaborative approach to learning” (2003, p 20) Davies recommends an educational approach drawing on “humanistic teaching,” “the communicative approach,” “co-operative learning,” and “social constructionism” (2004a, p 14); she outlines various strategies of translator education, based mainly on team work, that could help, she argues, create a learning en-vironment where “cooperation takes over from

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competition” (p 29) Samson proposes a teaching

methodology for computer-assisted translation that

is “collaborative and student-centered” (2005, p

109) Indeed, within eight years of the publication

of Kiraly’s A Social Constructivist Approach to

Translator Education, Hubscher-Davidson found

that collaborative learning in translation education

had attained a “generally unchallenged use in the

classroom” (2008, p 75) Collaborative learning

has also been recommended for the promotion

of translation-related skills: Huertas Barros

ar-gues that it can be used as a means of acquiring

interpersonal competence, which, in the context

of the EHEA reforms, “constitutes one of the

major general competences in higher education,

especially in translation” (2011, pp 54-55)

Other studies, however, have defended the

value of competition as an important, though not

necessarily privileged, component of education

Competition, on this view, is an indispensable part

of social behavior and the workplace that should

be practiced and mastered by anyone preparing

for a career (Heckman, 2000; Heckman, Roselius,

& Smith, 1994; Verhoeff, 1997; Attle & Baker,

2007) Several studies also attest to the value of

competition in the educational process itself For

example, Lam et al (2004) found that competition

had a positive impact on performance levels and

motivation Tauer and Harackiewicz cite various

studies, including some of their own, which found

“that competitive contexts can increase both

com-petence valuation (or the desire to do well) and a

sense of challenge or excitement, either of which

can promote intrinsic motivation” (2004, p 850)

A Happy Compromise?

Not all studies on competition and collaboration

treat them as totally incompatible For example,

Owens (1991), calling for a “new theory” of

edu-cation not based solely on competition, does not,

however, postulate cooperation as a substitute, but

rather as a correlate to competition; he points to

“strong evidence” that “the desire to cooperate

is not a weak alternative to the urge to compete, and that a learner can be disposed to do both.” Similarly, Long, recommending the integration

of new, cooperative methods in vocational ing, does not discount the value of competition

train-“Cooperative learning is effective,” he argues

Yet if such relationships were the only tion, students may never have the opportunity of independent learning or of competition A com- bination of all three forms of student interaction [i.e individualistic, cooperative, and competitive] should be practiced (1989, p 2)

interac-Even some of the studies emphasizing the comparative superiority of collaboration do not dismiss competition out of hand, but recommend

it be introduced only at a later stage of study when the basic skills have been mastered (Setzer, 2000) Indeed, there is a line of research that emphasizes the need to approach cooperation and competition

as equally useful instructional tools, each with its own distinct benefits, rather than as mutually exclusive (Tauer & Harackiewicz, 2004; Attle & Baker, 2007; Slavin, 1996) In this view, “an ap-proach that balances cooperation and competition will prove beneficial to students in professional preparation programs” (Attle & Baker, 2007, p 78) Some studies in translation pedagogy have also linked competitiveness to effective transla-tion training, since this is necessary skill in the workplace (Mackenzie 2004, p 32; Anderman & Rogers, 2003, p 212; Hung 2002, p 62)

A framework that combines the benefits of both competition and collaboration has sometimes been proposed in the form of group competition (where students cooperate in teams competing against each other) This approach involves “the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning” (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith,

1998, p 27) Tauer and Harackiewicz (2004, p 860) also found “strong and consistent evidence” that group competition produces more positive

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outcomes than either pure collaboration or pure

competition Similarly, Edward Wynne (1995)

recommends group competition among

coopera-tive teams as an effeccoopera-tive way of combining the

advantages of both collaborative learning and

motivational competition

STUDY AIMS AND METHODS

This study describes findings from three

transla-tion contests conducted for undergraduate students

at the Translation Studies Department at United

Arab Emirates University (UAEU).3 The first, two

“Class Contests” were implemented as

supple-mentary components of two translation courses

taught by the researcher in the spring semester

of the academic year 2009-2010 “Introduction

to Translation” was an introductory course,

taught as part of the general education program at

UAEU, and thus had students preparing to major

in translation as well as in other disciplines The

second, “Translating Arabic Texts,” was a course

for translation majors; classified by the

Transla-tion Department as an “intermediate” course, it

was taken by translation majors following

“Intro-duction to Translation,” and, for some students,

“Translating English Texts.” The first (here called

“Gen-Ed”) class had 20 students; the second (here

called “Major”) 23 students The two contests ran

simultaneously with two sets of questions, each

designed for the topics taught in the related course

and the general competency level of the students

Thus, questions dealt with theoretical topics and

translation techniques covered in each course

Yet, contests were used for the reinforcement of

regular classroom instruction, rather than as an

integral part of it, aiming for the review and further

development of topics tackled in the classroom

For this reason, winners (students achieving the

first five places) were assigned only bonus grades,

and student participation was voluntary

The third (here called “Extracurricular”) contest was conducted in the fall semester of

2011 Participants were all translation majors at various stages of their study 25 students joined the competition In this contest, questions were varied in topic and difficulty level to cover the different competency levels of the participating students At the end, certificates of achievement were awarded, stating the position of the partici-pant for the five first winners, and “participation” for the rest (those who answered at least 60% of the questions)

To put the general competency level of the students in perspective, it can be noted that the admission requirements for UAEU stipulate a TOEFL minimum score of 500 (paper) / 61 (iBT), while admission to the Translation Department requires a TOEFL minimum score of 550 (paper) / 80 (iBT) This would roughly put the expected minimum competency of the students in the Gen-

Ed and Major courses at the lower and higher limits, respectively, of the B1 level (“threshold or intermediate”) of the CEFR scale (see ETS 2014 and EST Global 2005)

1 Aims

There were two aims of the project First, the study explored the use of contests in translation education and the possible forms in which they can be integrated into education Second, the study investigated the role of competition in education in general, and in translation in particular, by testing various frameworks of competition described in the literature (pure competition and the synthesis

of competition and cooperation) The various contest formats that were used attempted to assess the advantages and disadvantages of competition,

as perceived by students, in different instructional contexts (extracurricular vs part of classroom instruction, and group vs individual)

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2 Contest Format

Email was used as the method of communication

In the Class Contests a total number of 10

ques-tions were emailed to students over a period of one

month, at a frequency of two questions per week

for the first two weeks, and three questions per

week for the last two weeks Students were given

48 hours to answer each question In the

Extracur-ricular Contest a total number of 8 questions were

emailed to students over a period of one month, at

a frequency of two questions per week Students

were given 48 hours to answer each question In the

Class Contests, competition was only individual

In the Extracurricular Contest, team competition

was allowed as an option Answers were collected

and graded on a true-or-false basis, awarding one

point for each correct answer Sometimes half a

point was awarded to partial answers By the end

of every week, current standings and scores were

emailed to students By the end of each contest,

winners were declared By the end of the

Extra-curricular Contest, certificates were handed out

3 Question Design

The educational purposes (and consequently the

questions) of the contest were mapped out to the

educational objectives in Bloom’s taxonomy

As translation targets cognitive skills, focus was

placed on the “cognitive domain” of Bloom’s

taxonomy, mainly the first three areas: knowledge,

comprehension, and application Questions

requir-ing assessment of translation samples

(identify-ing and correct(identify-ing mistakes) targeted one of the

higher-order areas of the “cognitive domain,”

namely evaluation

Questions were designed based on:

1 Targeted translation competencies

Targeted translation competencies were vided into two areas:

di-1 Theoretical (knowledge and sion): Translation theories, concepts, prin-ciples, approaches, and research skills

comprehen-2 Practical (application and evaluation): cific linguistic/stylistic issues (usually in the context of Arabic/English translation), such

spe-as tense, voice, emphspe-asis, word order, and punctuation

Question formats included definitions and multiple-choice questions, but mainly open-ended questions, such as finding equivalents for terms or idioms, giving examples of theoretical concepts, identifying translation mistakes and correcting them, basic research questions (e.g finding information on a theoretical topic or investigating common “standard” translations of particular terms or expressions), and translating constructions, phrases, or sentences by applying techniques and principles taught in the relevant course A list of sample questions is provided in Appendix A

4 Data Assessment and Analysis

Upon the completion of each contest, surveys were administered to students, using hardcopy in-class questionnaires for the Class Contests and

an online questionnaire for the Extracurricular Contest Multiple-choice questions queried the extent of motivation and interest generated by the contest, whether students would like contests

to be integrated into class activities, what they believed were the advantages and disadvantages

of the contest, and their suggestions to improve

it Students were also encouraged to provide optional reflective comments on these issues

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Multiple answers were allowed in some questions

For example, students could cite more than one

incentive for taking part in the contest and more

than one advantage/disadvantage to contests This

explains why the number of responses to some

questions exceeds the total number of students

For the questionnaire used in the study, see

Appendix B

DISCUSSION

Rates of response to the survey were generally

quite satisfactory In the Class Contests rates of

response to all required questions were no less

than 90% Out of the twenty students who finished

the Extracurricular Contest, 18 completed the

optional online survey

1 Levels of Participation

and Continuation

Rates of participation in the Class Contests were

predictably high, as shown in Figure 1

Continuation rates in general were also factory: in the Major Class 14 students answered all questions, 3 answered some, and 2 answered none; in the Gen-Ed Class 17 students answered all questions, and 3 answered some It seems that the Class Contests provided students with stronger incentive for joining and continuing to the end,

satis-as competition wsatis-as for grades Another possible advantage of the Class Contests was that students did not find that the contest interfered with their regular study schedule, as it was supplementary

to the class

The Extracurricular Contest attracted a good number of students (25 against a minimum target

of 20) It should be noted, however, that initially

33 students signed up for the contest: 8 did not answer any questions, and were counted as with-drawals Obviously, this factor should be taken into account when designing any contest of this type Still, the continuation rate was satisfactory:

20 students out of 25 completed the contest, which was defined as the student answering at least 60% (i.e 5 out of 8) of the questions However,

Figure 1 Rates of participation

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a salient observation is that the last two weeks

had the lowest levels of participation: 2 students

answered one question out of the two questions

for the week, and 4 students answered neither)

Evidently, some students who had lost the chance

to win, and had already answered the minimum

60%, stopped answering the questions to focus

on their studies

2 Affective Impact of Contest

When students were asked to explain their reasons

for taking part in the contest (Figures 2 & 3), the

desire to win was the least significant factor

In the Class Contests the desire to improve

the grade was, unsurprisingly, the most important

consideration; yet, it exceeded the desire to learn

only by a small margin The gap between the desire

to improve the grade and the desire to learn was

slightly larger in the Major Course, which may

reflect greater concern over grades as students

were at a more advanced stage (and the

possibil-ity, indicated below, that contests as supporting classroom education may be more effective in introductory courses) In the Extracurricular Contest, the desire to learn was the most impor-tant factor, which suggests the desire to learn as generally the highest incentive for taking part in contests in the absence of competition for grades Again, the desire to win was the least significant motive; participation “for fun” was the most im-portant factor after learning These figures are consistent with the students’ expressed motivation for participating in a future extracurricular contest,

as stated in the Class Contests survey (Figure 4).Students were asked about their motivation for taking part in an extracurricular contest in the future The desire to learn was the most impor-tant factor, followed by enjoyment, and then by the desire to improve one’s CV (the latter being understandably a more important consideration in the Major Course) Winning a prize was deemed insignificant In their optional comments in this section, students indicated as motivating elements

Figure 2 Reason for joining the contest (class)

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the desire to learn (“to have more information,”5

“In order to improve my abilities in translation”),

but also enjoyment: “It may be very interesting”

Competiveness was not seen as interfering with

taking the contest “for fun”; indeed, some ments saw these as complementary One student said: “What is useful for my knowledge and I respect it and like it to challenge the questions

com-Figure 3 Reason for joining the contest (extracurricular)

Figure 4 Motivation for an extracurricular contest

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and challenge myself”; and another: “For fun

and learning as challenges (that is the best way

for learning).”

Students’ responses to the question on the

dis-advantages of using contests in education, which

was administered to the Contest students (Figure

5), give little weight to “negative feelings among

students,” one of the major drawbacks attributed

to competition in the literature

It should be remembered that students here not

only competed for grades, but their achievement

of grades (contrary to the usual condition in the

classroom) was mutually exclusive: only a number

of students eventually received the extra grade,

which precluded the rest from getting any

advan-tages from the contest other than the participation

itself This should have created an even more

nega-tive environment for competition Indeed, in the

optional comment section on things “you did not

like about this contest,” two comments indicated

precisely this fact, “That the first 5 students only

will win” and that “All students work but 5 best get

a bonus grade.” Still, the overall responses (Figure

5) indicate “negative feelings among students” as the least significant disadvantage of the contest (equal with time constraint) In students’ opinions, the most negative effect of contests was that they

“focus students’ attention on winning rather than

on learning.” Optional comments in this section (three in total) are all focused on grades; one student, for example, said “when I didn’t get a grade I didn’t answer the rest of the questions.” The second largest section of respondents did not think contests had any disadvantages

Students’ optional comments on what they liked and did not like about the contest again do not seem to support the claim that competition could foster negative feelings among students

In fact, in the responses to the question on the positive aspects of the contest, “competition” and

“challenge” were mentioned consistently as tive elements In the Class Contests, comments cited the “Friendly contest between students” and “how everyone was trying to answer all the questions to be the winner.” In the Extracurricular Contest, a student stated that “competition between

posi-Figure 5 Disadvantages of contests

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students” was a positive factor, and another said:

“I liked it because it was a challenge for me, and I

wanted to see what I can do in translation.” In the

optional comments for the question on the negative

aspects of competition, the most frequently cited

problem was time pressure, besides complaints

(e.g difficulty, unclarity) about particular

ques-tions Again, negative feelings or behaviors were

not mentioned

When asked about the most useful component

of the contest (Figures 6 & 7), the largest

num-ber of respondents in the Gen-Ed Course cited

motivation

This was the second most important factor

in the Major Course by a small margin, and the

highest when the two courses are put together The

motivational aspect is also the most significant

factor in the Extracurricular Contest survey, with

more than half the responses citing it as what was

most useful about the contest Thus, the students

generally believed that the motivational aspect

was the most important advantage of contests,

especially in the introductory course and in the extracurricular contest

3 Use in Education

When asked if contests should be used as a lar method of class instruction (Figures 8 & 9), the majority agreed In the Class Contests, while most students supported the use of contests in class instruction, the rate of approval was slightly lower in the Major Course, which may indicate that contests as contributing to class instruction are more suited to introductory courses

regu-This observation is confirmed by responses to Question 10 (Figure 10), which show a preference for extracurricular, rather than in-class, contests among major students

However, it should be noted that, despite the general support for contests in education,

a majority of students thought it should not be used for grades, as shown in answers to Question 11(Figure 11)

Figure 6 Advantages of contests (Class)

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Figure 7 Advantages of contests (extracurricular)

Figure 8 Contests as a regular method of instruction (class)

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Figure 9 Contests as a regular method of Instruction (extracurricular)

Figure 10 In-class vs extracurricular contests

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In fact, in the Extracurricular Contest, in her

comment on Questions 8 & 9 (Figures 8 & 9) on

whether contests should be used as a method of

class instruction, one student commented: “but

nothing to do with grades.”

4 Contest Format: Group

vs Individual

This section (Figures 12 & 13) attracted the

larg-est number of students’ optional comments, for

and against, indicating an interest in this issue on

part of the students

Responses in the Class Contests survey show

a general preference for group competition The

advantages of group competition, as reflected in

students’ comments, include “More Ideas and

possibilities;” “It will be easier and more

use-ful;” “better to share information and teach each

other;” “To evaluate my knowledge, to share

Ideas and to think together;” “Because it is easy

to exchange our ideas;” “Because we can share

our ideas with each other;” “to present different

opinion and choose the best one.” These remarks are consistent with the advantages of group work indicated in the literature

A relevant observation here is that support for group competition was higher in the Major Course This may be attributed to the fact that students in the Gen-Ed Course came from various depart-ments; most of them, including those planning to major in translation, met for the first time in this class, which would have made it harder for them

to form groups and coordinate work in them In contrast, students in the Major Course were all translation majors, and most of them had already taken a course or two with each other

Considering the majority of support for group competition in the Class Contests surveys, the lack of support among the Extracurricular Contest students merits special attention In attempting

to explain this difference of opinion, it may be proposed that students view group work differ-ently, depending on whether it is part of their classroom instruction or not, and, specifically, depending on whether grades are at stake (It

Figure 11 Whether in-class contests should be graded

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