Hubscher-Davidson, S 2007, 'Meeting students' expectations on undergraduate translation programmes' , The Translation Journal, 11 (1) .

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Abstract

According to the American Translators Association (Tinsley 1973), completing a translation program does give a student certain skills but does not provide any assurance that these skills will find a ready market. Moreover, an approximate picture of the current and future needs in the field of translation is difficult to obtain and institutions should make this clear to their translation students. In view of this uncertain job market, the ATA advises institutions to provide students with as much 'real-world' practice as possible and to specialize themselves as soon as possible, so as to become competent professionals. Although more than thirty years old, this advice is still followed today by many translator-training institutions. In the context of my current job, I teach translation to first and second year students registered on various academic programs. Their interests and aims differ from one another, as do their expectations of the outcomes of the class. At this stage few have seriously considered translation as a career and they do not perceive the class as a way to becoming a professional translator. This naturally implies that the aim of the class cannot be to prepare them for a career as a translator. The few students who may be considering this career-path are a minority in the group and the class cannot be geared towards their sole needs. In this research paper, I will aim to gather an understanding of student expectations at this early stage of their academic studies with the help of a carefully designed questionnaire. Because it is essential that educators are sensitive to student career needs in structuring their curriculum offerings, they must learn to reconcile their varied expectations with the intended aims and objectives of a translation class. While it can be difficult to keep motivation levels up if all of the learner's needs are not met in each class, it is the educator's responsibility to ensure that all students gain skills useful to them in their respective career choices. This paper will highlight some of the ways in which educators can achieve this.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > P Language and Literature > PB Modern languages. Celtic languages > PB0001 Modern languages Subjects / Themes > L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education Memory, Text and Place Subjects outside of the University Themes
Schools:	Colleges and Schools > College of Arts & Social Sciences Colleges and Schools > College of Arts & Social Sciences > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences
Journal or Publication Title:	The Translation Journal
Publisher:	Accurapid
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1536-7207
Depositing User:	H Kenna
Date Deposited:	27 Jan 2009 11:50
Last Modified:	17 Nov 2011 10:59
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/1354

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