eBooks

New Prospects and Perspectives for Educating Language Mediators

0717
2013
978-3-8233-7819-8
978-3-8233-6819-9
Gunter Narr Verlag 
Don Kiraly
Silvia Hansen-Schirra
Karin Maksymski

Revolving around the topic of innovative translator and interpreter education, this volume covers a wide range of pedagogical issues, from curriculum design to translator competence and from classroom practice to research techniques. The authors represent a number of countries. Their proposals come mainly from an interpretivist rather than an empiricist epistemological perspective, and are sure to resonate with educators around the world. While none of the authors claims to have found the holy grail of how to train translators and interpreters, their contributions all serve as fine examples of just how multi-facetted and refreshing language mediation pedagogy and research on pedagogy can be. Revolving around the topic of innovative translator and interpreter education, this volume covers a wide range of pedagogical issues, from curriculum design to translator competence and from classroom practice to research techniques. The authors represent a number of countries. Their proposals come mainly from an interpretivist rather than an empiricist epistemological perspective, and are sure to resonate with educators around the world. While none of the authors claims to have found the holy grail of how to train translators and interpreters, their contributions all serve as fine examples of just how multi-facetted and refreshing language mediation pedagogy and research on pedagogy can be.

<?page no="0"?> Revolving around the topic of innovative translator and interpreter education, this volume covers a wide range of pedagogical issues, from curriculum design to translator competence and from classroom practice to research techniques. The authors represent a number of countries. Their proposals come mainly from an interpretivist rather than an empiricist epistemological perspective, and are sure to resonate with educators around the world. While none of the authors claims to have found the holy grail of how to train translators and interpreters, their contributions all serve as fine examples of just how multi-facetted and refreshing language mediation pedagogy and research on pedagogy can be. Kiraly / Hansen-Schirra / Maksymski (eds.) Educating Language Mediators Don Kiraly Silvia Hansen-Schirra Karin Maksymski (eds.) New Prospects and Perspectives for Educating Language Mediators Translationswissenschaft Translationswissenschaft 10 10 <?page no="1"?> New Prospects and Perspectives for Educating Language Mediators <?page no="2"?> herausgegeben von Klaus Kaindl und Franz Pöchhacker (Universität Wien) Band 10 Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Gyde Hansen (Kopenhagen) Christiane Nord (Magdeburg) Erich Pruncˇ (Graz) Hanna Risku (Graz) Christina Schäffner (Birmingham) Robin Setton (Paris) Translationswissenschaft <?page no="3"?> Don Kiraly / Silvia Hansen-Schirra / Karin Maksymski (eds.) New Prospects and Perspectives for Educating Language Mediators <?page no="4"?> Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http: / / dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. © 2013 · Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Dischingerweg 5 · D-72070 Tübingen Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Gedruckt auf säurefreiem und alterungsbeständigem Werkdruckpapier. Internet: http: / / www.narr.de E-Mail: info@narr.de Umschlagabbildung: © Wendy Fox Printed in Germany ISSN 1614-5909 ISBN 978-3-8233-6819-9 <?page no="5"?> Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................. 1 Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu: Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence ......................................................................................... 9 Kelly Washbourne: Ethical Experts-in-Training: Connected Learners and the Moral Imagination............................................................................ 35 Maria Yarosh: Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturallyspecific Elements............................................................................... 53 Éric Poirier: Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through Asynchronous Video Communications (AVC) in an Online Introductory Course in Translation .................................. 79 Sabine Braun, Catherine Slater, Robert Gittins, Panagiotis D. Ritsos & Jonathan C. Roberts: Interpreting in Virtual Reality: Designing and Developing a 3D Virtual World to Prepare Interpreters and their Clients for Professional Practice .................................................................. 93 Vanessa Enríquez Raído: Using Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Process-oriented Translator Training ...........................................121 Erik Angelone: Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’: Utilising Screen Recording in Process-oriented Translator Training.............................................................................................139 <?page no="6"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow: Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges ........................................................................................157 Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés: The Importance of Feedback in Fine-tuning Syllabus Design in Specialised Translation Classes - A Case Study .....................181 Don Kiraly: Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon: Thinking Outside the Box(es) in Translator Education ..........................................................................................197 Short Biographies.....................................................................................225 <?page no="7"?> Introduction In the Translator Education sub-domain of translation studies, the past decade has seen a burgeoning volume of research on the nature and acquisition of translator competence and its implications for teaching. A major strand of this research has clearly followed the lead of the ‘hard’ sciences in the use of the scientific method: numerous studies have been published involving the posing and testing of hypotheses regarding the nature of cognitive translation processes and competences - with the intention of improving the acquisition (and often the teaching) of language mediation skills and translation skills in particular. Translation competence is often described today in terms of hypothesized sub-competences that are ‘operationalized’ (defined so that they can be measured quantitatively). Numerous doctoral candidates and scholars in translation studies are carrying out experiments in which variables are controlled, eye-tracking patterns and keystroke sequences are recorded and then analysed quantitatively, and teaching techniques are tested for optimal effectiveness using experimental and control groups in a search for validity, reliability and generalizability of concepts, constructs and teaching methods. Especially with regard to translator competence, the apparent advantage of applying these methods is clear: the abstract concept of ‘competence’ appears to lose some of its elusive character; it is broken down into more or less measurable variables and thus seems more accessible to analysis. Applying the methods mentioned above may well lead to valuable insights in the nature of language mediation and of translator competence. As Anthony Pym has said: Training should be able to benefit from empirical studies on translation processes (rather than products), using think-aloud protocols, keystroke logging, screen recording and eye tracking. Since students are relatively easy to muster as experiment subjects, there is a growing body of data on how they compare with professionals. In principle, the differences should give a developmental view of translation competence, thus mapping out the skills that translators need to be trained in. (2009: 9) And yet, where correlations are sought between independent and dependent variables, between features of teaching and indicators of learning, we have to be careful not to be begging the question as to whether there is or can be a clearly identifiable cause-and-effect relationship between teaching and students’ learning. The epistemological similarities between the scientific methods underlying the increasingly large body of quantitative research being carried out in <?page no="8"?> Don Kiraly, Silvia Hansen-Schirra & Karin Maksymski 2 translation education research and methods of natural science research are readily apparent. As research of this type proceeds apace within the field of translation studies, and particularly in the area of cognitive process research with a view towards improving translator education, voices recommending caution in borrowing research methods from the natural sciences for use in the social sciences and education are becoming harder to ignore. The distinguished education scholar David Berliner, for example, has expressed a perspective on the nature and difficulty of educational research as opposed to the so-called ‘hard’ sciences that might surprise natural scientists but that should give translation teaching researchers pause: Easy-to-do research is what those in physics, chemistry, geology, and some other fields do. Hard-to-do science is what social scientists do and, in particular, what we educational researchers do... We face particular problems and must deal with local conditions that limit generalizations and theorybuilding - problems that are different from those faced by easier-to-do sciences. (2002: 18) Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg is blunt when assessing the utility of the Newtonian approach in the social domain: “The natural science approach simply does not work in the social sciences” (2006: 38). He has made a dramatic call for a shift from an epistemic to a phronetic epistemological paradigm in the social sciences because of the fallacy he sees in adopting the scientific method in the social domain: Inspired by the relative success of the natural sciences in using mathematical and statistical modelling to explain and predict natural phenomena, many social scientists have fallen victim to the following pars pro toto fallacy: if the social sciences would use mathematical and statistical modelling like the natural sciences, then social sciences too would become truly scientific.” (ibid.) It was against the backdrop of this tension between trends in translator education research methodologies on the one hand and on the other, more general epistemological concerns in the social sciences (including education) regarding the possibility of discovering objective truths about complex, nonmechanical and emergent processes, that the present volume began to evolve. Even among the editors of this volume themselves, there are differing opinions as to the appropriateness of the various approaches and methods discussed above. It was we who organized the panel entitled ‘Innovation in Translation and Interpreting Teaching’ at the International Association of Translation and Interpreting Studies Conference held in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the summer of 2012. The volume contains a selection of the papers submitted for presentation on that panel. Yet neither in selecting the papers to be presented nor in choosing papers to be included in this volume of panel proceedings was it the editors’ intent to limit contributions to one or the other side of the quantitative/ qualitative debate in translation <?page no="9"?> Introduction 3 teaching research. In this light, it is perhaps noteworthy that the result of this compendium is what it is: an eclectic, international collection of serious research and pedagogical design work attesting to the value of qualitative research in general and case studies specifically in enhancing the effectiveness of translator education. In the end, the presentations on the panel and the contributions chosen for this selection of the proceedings are largely devoid of hypothesis testing, quantitative statistical analyses, large-n experiments, etc. Many of them were developed and written in harmony with Bent Flyvbjerg’s phronetic social science research model, which in turn is clearly in line with qualitative, casestudy educational research. Far from attempting to discover the best or correct method for educating professional translators, a common thread throughout the select sample of panel papers presented here is a deeply interpretive, non-objectivist approach to the phenomena at hand. This least-common denominator belies, however, the great diversity in the specific topics focused on and the research approaches adopted. The relatively small number of papers selected for the volume still represent a wide international perspective, with contributions from Canada, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. An important criterion for the selection of papers was the applicability of the research methods and pedagogical techniques to diverse linguistic, cultural and institutional settings. In every case, we believe, translation teachers as well as researchers will find state-of-the art thinking and innovations in pedagogical research and practice. Overview of the Chapters While it has not proven feasible to categorize the chapters into clearly defined sections, some commonalities between various contributions will readily become apparent. The first three chapters deal largely with curriculum design and content (Cnyrim, Hagemann & Neu; Washbourne; Yarosh). Then there are two instructional-design contributions that focus specifically on enhancing the presence of the teacher in the online classroom (Poirier) and creating an interactive virtual teaching/ learning environment for interpreter training (Braun, Slater, Gittins, Ritsos & Roberts). Another chapter deals largely with questions related to translation process research methodology (Enríquez Raído), while the next three (Angelone; Massey & Ehrensberger-Dow; Fox & Rodríguez-Inés) focus on techniques for enhancing learners’ and/ or teachers’ reflections on translation processes. The concluding chapter is essentially an essay on the qualitative/ quantitative quandary in contemporary educational philosophy applied to the context of translator education (Kiraly). <?page no="10"?> Don Kiraly, Silvia Hansen-Schirra & Karin Maksymski 4 The first chapter deals with the search for suitable conceptual frameworks for translator competence with the goal of enhancing curriculum design for translator education. In this contribution, Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann and Julia Neu present a qualitative case study that elucidates their efforts to establish a framework of reference for translator competence that would help them to identify objectives of, and design curricula for, the BA and MA degree programmes in translation studies at the University of Mainz in Germany (FTSK), one of the oldest, largest and most culturally diverse translator education institutions in the world. Drawing on Hanna Risku’s models of translator competence and translator competence development, the authors propose their own model of curricular progression for their particular institutional setting. The chapter is supported by extensive qualitative data drawn from the authors’ pedagogical experience at the FTSK. The next two contributions to this volume deal respectively with two specific focal areas for curriculum design in translator education that are not dealt with specifically in any of the other chapters: ethics and culture. In Chapter 2, Kelly Washbourne’s essay discusses the importance of developing students’ awareness of the ethical implications of translatory behaviour. The author proposes considering translatory ethics as a macro-competence that interacts with all of the other translator sub-competences. This view makes a specific focus on ethical behaviour a key feature in translator education and a prime, yet relatively unexplored area of concern to translation competence research. The chapter focuses in particular on the matter of ethical maturity: students’ readiness to recognize and react to ethical factors in everyday decisionmaking. The author argues for seeing ethics not in terms of rules for action but as a way of protecting all of the stakeholders in the translation process, as well as the very conditions of the translator’s intervention. In Chapter 3, Maria Yarosh deals with the aspect of cultural-mediation competence in curriculum design. She proposes a systematic approach to identifying culturally-specific elements in texts to be translated - which in her view is a key component of intercultural translator competence. Her proposals focus on ways of systematically classifying such culturally-specific elements so that translator trainers can better evaluate students’ progress as they develop competence in this domain. In addition to an extensive literature review, the author’s proposals are based on interview data collected from translation students in a quasi-experimental setting. The chapter concludes with the presentation of the author’s proposed taxonomy of culturally-specific elements, which she suggests is very promising and worthy of empirical research. Chapter 4 is perhaps the contribution to this volume that focuses most narrowly on enhancing ‘instruction’ per se - understood as conventional teacher behaviour involving the transmission of knowledge to students. <?page no="11"?> Introduction 5 Here, Éric Poirier presents an approach for using asynchronous video communications (AVC) to enhance instructor presence in an online introductory course in translation. He discusses various formats for online courses and also factors that are important in establishing and maintaining a constructive role for the instructor in such courses. He then introduces a number of techniques for using AVCs to enhance instructor presence, for example through role-playing and off-line lecturing. Chapter 5 is the only contribution to this collected volume that deals specifically with interpreter rather than translator education. The authors, Sabine Braun, Catherine Slater, Robert Gittins, Panagiotis D. Ritsos, and Jonathan C. Roberts present an approach to training interpreters and their potential clients in a 3D learning environment. The chapter reports on a collaborative project entitled Interpreting in Virtual Reality (IVY) that uses an avatar-based 3D virtual environment to simulate professional practice in business and public service interpreting. Not only does the system allow students to practice their interpreting skills in virtual space, it also allows clients and students to interact with each other in that space. The objective is clearly the improvement of interpreter training by optimizing limited human resources for interpreter training as well as offering a virtual mode for bringing students and clients together. The use of screen recordings that track students’ translation performance and processes is the focus of three contributions to this volume. In Chapter 6, Vanessa Enríquez Raído discusses the use of screen recording as an observational tool for capturing users’ online translation and research behaviour. Referring to a study on web searching for translation purposes, she first presents a data transcription method for coding and classifying users’ online actions. In the second part of the paper, she introduces a method for analysing students’ task progression profiles from a multi-tasking perspective. Finally, she discusses how these two tools can be useful for studying cognitive processes in translation and for improving the teaching of translation skills. In Chapter 7, Erik Angelone also sees great potential for screen recordings as a tool for increasing self-awareness of translation processes in a pedagogical context. His emphasis is on having students observe and reflect on screen recordings of their own translation work and to compare their own translation performances and processes with those of professional translators. His chapter presents curricular objectives as well as concrete learning activities revolving around students’ analysis of their own screen recordings. In Chapter 8, Gary Massey and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow show how the use of screen recordings can be used to elicit students’ as well as their teachers’ reflections on the students’ translation processes, which can enhance the evaluation of translation performances and provide additional opportunities for learning. Having found the combination of screen recordings and retrospective verbalisations to be a great source of insight into translation processes <?page no="12"?> Don Kiraly, Silvia Hansen-Schirra & Karin Maksymski 6 and problems, the authors have started to use this technique in the context of classes at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. In Chapter 9, Olivia Fox and Patricia Rodríguez-Inés discuss a case study on a cooperative approach to translator education used in the final year of a specialized translation course at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The students worked in assigned teams to undertake a selection of realistic translation tasks, with members of each team then being assigned different roles (documentalist, translator, proof-reader) and tasks to accomplish over the course of each translation job. The students then responded to questionnaires on the usefulness of this training approach. The results show that the students were clearly enthusiastic about the learning effects occasioned by this approach. In the final chapter, Don Kiraly looks at the epistemological underpinnings of current translation process research, in particular with reference to the relevance of the latter for improving translator education. He questions the applicability of reductionist, positivist science for seeking concrete solutions to the problems of educating translators in the post-modern world. He considers an alternative - emergentist - epistemology supported by secondgeneration cognitive science, and proposes a non-Euclidean model of translator competence and its emergence. In the editors’ view, most of the contributions to this book can be seen as illustrating a shift away from a primary focus on instruction in translator education and toward the occasioning of translator competence through the multi-facetted design and enhancement of learning opportunities rather than the honing of teacher performances. The largely interpretivist epistemological leanings apparent in the research approaches behind these contributions should perhaps not be seen as part of an ideological battle for the ‘right’ way to investigate the nature of translator competence and its acquisition. In our view, the post-positivist under-current of this volume represents an important step towards methodological diversity, synthesis and synergy. The Editors References Berliner, David (2002): “Educational Research: The Hardest Science of All” Educational Researcher 31 (8): 18-20. Flyvbjerg, Bent (2006): “Social Science that Matters” Foresight Europe 2 (2006): 38-42. Pym, Anthony (2009): “Translator Training”. Pre-print text written for the Oxford Companion to Translation Studies. http: / / usuaris.tinet.cat/ apym/ on-line/ training / 2009_translator_training.pdf [02/ 05/ 2013] <?page no="13"?> Introduction 7 Acknowledgements The editors would like to express their gratitude to Wendy Fox and Sarah Signer for their exemplary formatting and proofreading work. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the international team of peer reviewers who made a major contribution to this volume: Dörte Andres Oliver Čulo José Dávila-Montes Álvaro Echeverri Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow Maria Gonzáles Davies Mira Kim Paul Kussmaul Gary Massey Christiane Nord Anthony Pym Hanna Risku Christina Schäffner <?page no="15"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu University of Mainz/ Germersheim Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 1 Introduction The starting point of this presentation of work in progress is a discussion within the German Department of Mainz University’s School of Translation, Interpreting, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies on the overall aims and curricular content of our BA and MA programmes. The approach we take is to ask whether a framework of reference for translation competence could be drawn up that would help us specify goals for translation training in the two programmes and design suitable curricula for both. While we obviously take our cue from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, it should be noted that our project is more limited in scope, arising as it does out of the needs of one specific translation department. The BA and MA programmes were first introduced in our department in 2006, replacing the traditional nine-semester single-cycle translation programme (Diplomübersetzen). One of the key issues in the current reform process is what the goal of the BA in Language, Culture, and Translation should be: should we train lightweight translators and recommend them to continue with the MA in Translation, or should the BA prepare students for a broader range of careers? The department’s answer is that BA graduates should be experts in German language and culture whose ability to change perspectives makes them competent to produce texts in their A and B languages, allowing them to act as intermediaries between the cultures involved. The reformed BA programme will also include components of what Jakobson (1959: 233) calls translation proper, but interlingual translation competence at a professional level will be acquired in the MA. A feature of our department which is unusual by German standards is the large number of MA students whose first degree is not in translation studies. Many hold a BA in German language and/ or literature; other first degrees range from anthropology and architecture to management science and engineering. Moreover, it is quite common for MA students to have completed their BA in another country. This means that they come from <?page no="16"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 10 teaching and learning traditions which may be very different from our own, as is the case for example with students from Arab countries or from China. Furthermore, our department is unique in Germany in that it offers translation courses for foreign students on the basis of their mother tongues as A languages. These courses are tailor-made for the needs of non-native speakers. About 635 foreign students were enrolled in winter 2011/ 12. For these students, German is compulsory as their B language; a C language is optional. Our current BA programme for German B comprises seven A languages; the MA, twelve. Traditionally, students with different A languages have been taught together in classes ranging from German cultural studies to translation theory but separately in most translation practice classes. A framework of reference for translation competence to be used in our department needs to be capable of accommodating this cultural and linguistic variety as well as the goal of our BA and the fact that MA students with a first degree in subjects other than translation studies are demonstrably able to acquire translation competence in the space of two years. We will begin by addressing the question of what this implies for our choice of definitions of translation and translation competence. 2 Translation and Translation Competence Generally speaking, we think it is important for students to come into contact with a variety of translation concepts because any single concept will inevitably narrow down their self-image and their scope of activity as translators. For the purposes of our research project, however, we need to decide on one option; and since the overall goal of our BA programme is oriented towards the translational character of perspective change rather than exclusively towards translation proper, our concept of translation needs to be a wide one. A suitable definition is provided by Holz-Mänttäri (1984: 87), who focusses on translation as expert production of texts that serve to overcome cultural barriers and form part of a wider complex of actions through which clients aim to reach an overall goal. 1 What is significant in our context is that 1 The full German definition reads: Translation sei ein mit Expertenfunktion auf Produktion gerichtetes Handlungsgefüge in einem komplexen und hierarchisch organisierten Gefüge verschiedenartiger Handlungen; konstituierende Merkmale seien analytisches, synthetisches, evaluatives und kreatives Handeln unter den Aspekten verschiedener Kulturen und gerichtet auf die Überwindung von Distanzen; Zweck translatorischen Handelns sei die Produktion von Texten, die von Bedarfsträgern als Botschaftsträger im Verbund mit anderen für transkulturellen Botschaftstransfer eingesetzt werden; Zweck des Botschaftstransfers sei die Koordinierung von aktionalen und kommunikativen Kooperationen; <?page no="17"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 11 Holz-Mänttäri’s concept of translation is text-based but not languageoriented, that it emphasizes production (or “text design”: cf. e.g. 2001: 253- 254) rather than reproduction, and that it sets translatorial action in a broader social framework. Holz-Mänttäri’s definition is, of course, not the only one consistent with our needs (for alternatives, cf. e.g. Vermeer 2006: 308- 309 and Prunč 2007: 29). Our reasons for choosing this particular approach relate to the model of translation competence that we find most useful for our BA and MA programmes. Translation competence has been conceptualized in various ways (cf. Lesznyák 2007: 172-188 for a brief survey). The fact that we have decided not to base our project on one of the well-known enumerative approaches, such as PACTE’s (e.g. Hurtado 2007) or the EMT expert group’s (2009), is due to reservations about how the subcompetences listed by these approaches are identified, how they interact with one another, and how they are affected by the specifics of the translation situation (cf. also Kiraly, in this volume, for a critique of what he calls the positivist paradigm). The model we have chosen instead is Risku’s (1998), which, as will be shown below, solves these problems, and moreover has two specific advantages. The first is that it fulfils our need for a concept which, in addition to translation proper, explicitly includes forms ranging from intralingual translation to interlingual summary writing. Risku’s approach is highly suitable from this point of view as she draws on Holz-Mänttäri and discusses some examples which go far beyond translation proper (e.g. 1998: 13-15). The second advantage of Risku’s model relates to our experience with MA students who have completed their first degrees in subjects other than translation studies. Translators, in Risku’s view, are experts, and since experts’ knowledge is, among other things, both generalizable and flexible, they process information on more abstract levels than laypersons and are therefore better able to extrapolate from known systems to unknown ones (1998: 107-109). From a converse perspective, this may go some way towards explaining how quickly and well graduates from other disciplines can find their feet in a translation MA. Risku’s 1998 model of translation competence 2 is too complex to set out in full here. Basically, it rests on two pillars: cognitive science and Holz- Zweck der Koordinierung sei Ausrichtung von Kooperationen auf ein Gesamtziel; ‘transkulturell’ markiere die besondere Art und Funktion der Massnahmen [sic] zur aktionalen und kommunikativen Überwindung von Kulturbarrieren. Holz-Mänttäri’s approach has been described in English e.g. by Schäffner ( 2 2009: 118- 120) and Snell-Hornby (2006: 56-60). Our English terminology follows Snell-Hornby. 2 Terminology poses something of a problem. Risku’s 1998 monograph is entitled Translatorische Kompetenz. In English, she speaks of translation competence (e.g. 2002: 531 and 2010: 105), which is why we use this term. However, Risku’s concept of translation competence has some affinities with what Kiraly (2000: 13) calls translator, rather than translation, competence, involving as it does a strong social dimension. <?page no="18"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 12 Mänttäri’s concept of translatorial action. 3 Risku views translation as complex problem solving (1998: 129) and, consequently, translators as experts. More precisely, they are experts in intercultural communication who specialize in text production and in this capacity perform, for instance, consultative and interpretative tasks (1998: 91). 4 Expert competence for Risku involves the social as well as cognitive levels (1998: 15-16). The former comprises the translator’s social role(s), powers, and responsibilities 5 ; the latter, the personal abilities that enable him or her to act as an expert. Cognitive and social processes are interlinked (e.g. 1998: 25, 51-52). Cognition, which includes emotions (e.g. 1998: 43-44), has both constructive and situative foundations. The development of translation competence according to Risku can be described in terms of five dimensions (1998: 131-239): - guiding images of translation (i.e. representations of the purpose of translation, of what we do when we translate), - macrostrategy formation (i.e. determining the goal of translatorial action; this includes dynamic strategy adaptation in the course of the translation process, strategy verbalization and concretization, and prioritization of competing goals), - information integration (including the use of previous knowledge and material provided by the client, research, source-text reception and evaluation, and target-text revision), - planning and decisions (i.e. procedures, including microstrategies, chosen in a specific translation situation), - and self-organization (including self-management, i.e. modelling and improving the translator’s self-awareness as well as the translation process, and co-organization, i.e. integrating the translation process into parallel and/ or superordinate frameworks of social action). These five dimensions are not distinct but closely intertwined - much more so than subcompetences in enumerative models. Translation competence develops from lay translation, which focusses on the notion of transporting 3 Combining translatorial action with cognitive science is, of course, not an idea original to Risku. Holz-Mänttäri herself merges the two in some of her later publications (e.g. 2001, originally published in 1996). 4 This quote from Risku’s German-language text poses an interesting punctuation problem. In contrast to most of the other Risku quotations, it is full-length rather than paraphrased and should therefore be enclosed in quotation marks. However, we feel that in this case standard academic practice runs counter to Risku’s concept of translation: distinguishing between direct and indirect quotations when both are our own translations would imply that one type of translation reproduces the original author’s words while the other does not. This notion is so alien to Risku’s theoretical approach that violating academic practice seems to us the lesser of two evils. 5 Cf. Washbourne (in this volume) for suggestions on how to prepare future translators for the multiplicity of ethical demands that this involves. <?page no="19"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 13 and reproducing individual signals, to expert translation, which involves constructing sense through a process of production or transformation (1998: 244). Development may stagnate, however; not all professionals will reach the expert stage (1998: 90). Risku’s model is not without drawbacks of its own. To give just one example, information and communication technologies are hardly mentioned (though they come to the fore in Risku’s 2004 monograph on translation management). This is not to say, however, that ICT in general and translation tools in particular cannot be integrated into her model: they can be seen as playing a role in information integration, planning and decisions, and coorganization, and may also be relevant to the guiding images translators create of their work. The very fact that ICT cannot be univocally assigned to one of Risku’s five dimensions indicates how complex its workings are - much more complex than the notion of an instrumental or technological subcompetence might suggest (cf. e.g. Hurtado 2007: 178 and EMT 2009: 7). 3 Levels of Translation Competence Risku herself mainly describes the bottom and top levels of translation competence, associated with laypersons and experts respectively. We have filled in the intermediate levels covering the development of BA and MA students. Moreover, we have added competence in translation studies as a further component, which is closely related to translation competence. While Risku’s model is strongly grounded in theory and is, in fact, unthinkable without theoretical reflection on the part of translators, she does not provide a detailed discussion of how they can integrate various theoretical approaches and theory-related terminology into their work. We have expanded on this aspect because we feel it is important for our overall teaching concept, which aims at dovetailing theory and practice. For instance, some of our future translation modules will combine translation practice with a discussion of theoretical texts, and theory-based translation commentary will be used as a form of assessment. It should be noted that developmental models come in two distinct types: empirical and theoretical models. While much of the recent research into translation competence and its acquisition has been empirical 6 , our model is theoretical, having been conceived as a basis for discussing and reflecting on translation studies programmes. We describe ideal-typical levels which do not necessarily correspond to individuals’ learning processes. What Bybee 6 Cf. Krings (2005) and Göpferich (2008: 9-68) for surveys of methods in translation process research, and cf. also PACTE’s description of their approach (e.g. 2011: 32-39). - We are indebted to Faranak Jeyranlouie for discussing recent trends in translation process research with us. <?page no="20"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 14 (1997: 82-83), who has provided some inspiration for our characterization of competence in translation studies, has to say about scientific and technological literacy likewise applies, mutatis mutandis, to our own model: The degree of scientific and technological literacy demonstrated by any individual at any one time is a function of a range of factors - age, developmental stage, life experiences, and quality of science education, which includes an individual’s formal, informal, and incidental learning experiences. […] a person may, at any time, be compared to the population as a whole and may demonstrate several levels of literacy at once depending on the context, the issue, and the topic. In our department, such an approach has the advantage of being better able to accommodate the heterogeneity of our student population than, for example, a statistical one. This is not to say, however, that our developmental model cannot or should not be empirically tested. Our model is set out in full in the appendix. For reasons of space, we cannot examine its every aspect here. We shall limit ourselves to the three levels relevant for our BA and MA programmes, leaving out the first and fifth levels (the laypersons’ and the established professionals’). For each level, we shall begin by setting out examples from authentic translation assignments. We shall then proceed to introduce some aspects of our developmental model which are pertinent to the examples, paying particular attention to Risku’s dimensions of guiding images and macrostrategy formation, and conclude by showing how the assignments fit into our BA or MA curricula. While our discussion is exemplary only, we hope that the different stages in the development of translation competence will nevertheless become clear. It should be noted that the examples are intended to illustrate, not to help define, learning outcomes (cf. Kelly 2005: 21-23 for a systematic approach to curricular design). Examples will be taken from a translation project carried out in the German Department in 2009/ 10 (i.e. within the framework of our original BA/ MA programmes; but the texts and assignments we refer to could also be used in the reformed programmes, which are due to start in winter 2012/ 13). The project was for Kachile, a social venture in Côte d’Ivoire dedicated to promoting African art and ICT-based entrepreneurship. Kachile texts in three languages were translated from German into English, German into French, French into English, English into German, and French into German, as well as by relay from French into German via English. Translation groups were supported by a trilingual terminology team. Subjects included art (artists’ CVs, product descriptions, etc.) and business (business <?page no="21"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 15 plan, fundraising letters, etc.). 7 The project was led by Julia Neu and managed by Susanne Hagemann. 4 Level 2: Basic Functional Competence As mentioned above, we shall not discuss Level 1, which is the entry level of BA students. Level 2 should be reached by the end of their first year. Our text example is taken from the Kachile art catalogue, of which the client provided a very provisional version for translation. A mixed group of English-A and French-A students worked together to revise poorly written English product descriptions prior to their translation into German. The client’s brief included directions for correcting the language and style of the source text. We regard this as a translatorial activity because students did more than remedy manifest linguistic errors. In fact, they produced a cross between an intralingual and an interlingual translation, drawing on existing French descriptions as well as on their own linguistic, cultural, and textual knowledge: Source text (complete description): As with all animal population in Côte d’Ivoire the main threats to rhino conservation are poaching, lack of funds, and weak government commitment to animal preservation. At present the Ivoirian government has no rhino conservation measures in place or for future proposition. The Côte d’Ivoire is not alone in having lost almost its entire rhino population, many other African and South-East Asian have seen massive declines. The major factor is habitat loss. The threat to rhinos’ survival can be reversed if the animals are not poached for luxury products or traditional Chinese medicine or for ornamental handles for daggers. Target text: Ebony rhinoceros figure. As with all of the animal population in the Côte d’Ivoire, the main threats to rhino conservation are poaching, a lack of funds and insufficient government commitment to animal preservation. At present, the Ivorian government has no rhino conservation measures in place and no plans for any in the future. The Côte d’Ivoire is not alone in having lost almost its entire rhino population; many other African and south-east Asian countries have seen a massive decline. The major factor behind this is loss of habitat. The threat to the survival of rhinos could be reversed if the animals were 7 Kachile texts are quoted and the picture by Tanoh Koffi Mathurin is reproduced by permission of Ulf Henning Richter, CEO of Kachile. Translations are quoted by permission of Marina Dudenhöfer and Susanne Hagemann. <?page no="22"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 16 not poached for producing luxury products, traditional Chinese medicine or ornamental handles for daggers. (Emphasis added 8 ) We have highlighted those changes that we find most relevant in the context of translation competence. Firstly, students added a product category at the beginning (“Ebony rhinoceros figure”). This is a change relating to the type of text: in an art catalogue offering a large variety of products, it makes sense to identify the category rather than just describe the ecological context in which the product should be viewed. The second change (“and no plans for any in the future”) improves clarity where the source text might have been difficult to understand. Thirdly, students turned a positive statement into a hypothetical one (“could” and “were”) because, as their teacher Marina Dudenhöfer has explained to us, they felt that in their British target culture and language, tentativeness was more appropriate to the uncertain situation described. The client’s original brief for correctness was thus expanded to include appropriateness because mere linguistic correctness would not have resulted in a functional text. If we look at these changes with our developmental model in mind, we can see that the assignment enabled a transition from linguistic to functional competence. While surface linguistic structures continued to be a concern (witness changes such as adding “countries” after “south-east Asian”), what took priority was the function of the text as a means of communication (in this case, as an art catalogue designed to sell products from Africa to customers in Europe). Basic concepts such as text type and culture were used for the assignment. Students acted creatively in a situation characterized by personal responsibility on the one hand and a wide range of possible solutions on the other: they decided to rewrite the text but the extent and manner of rewriting could have varied (for instance, they could have added a product description proper to the conservation text). As far as Risku’s first two dimensions of translation competence are concerned, it is clear that this group of students regarded their assignment as far more than the mechanical application of a set of linguistic rules. Rather, they acted constructively by positioning themselves as text producers in a translation situation. Their guiding image of translation seems to have been that of authorship: they rewrote parts of the text to fit their macrostrategy, which consisted in producing a description that was not only easily understandable as well as linguistically correct but also in line with target-cultural expectations for the type of text and the situation involved. This was not inherent in the client’s brief; rather, students reflected on the goal of their translatorial action and 8 For this assignment, students were encouraged to assume responsibility for their corrections and to correct as much text as possible in a short space of time. The client accepted that this approach would not result in an end product which was entirely free of errors. <?page no="23"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 17 adapted their macrostrategy, presumably during the translation process, by adding appropriateness to correctness. In our actual project, the class in which this intralingual translation took place was for advanced students. However, we think that this assignment is also suitable for first-year BA students because it allows us to start at the level of the learner. Laypersons will typically focus on surface linguistic units. If students begin by revising the Kachile product catalogue with surface correctness in mind, they can then be encouraged to consider in what other ways the text could be optimized, and will thus acquire a basic ability to think and act strategically. This can be done as part of a class in foreignlanguage competence, which in our view should be translation-oriented rather than purely linguistic. Texts to be used for this purpose in our department will of course have to be in our students’ B language, German, rather than in English. Students with different A languages can work together on such a translation assignment. 5 Level 3: Conceptual and Procedural Competence As applied to our own three-year BA programme, Level 3 covers the second and third years. This makes sense for our reformed BA where the first year, which is devoted to modules in foreign-language competence, linguistics, and cultural studies, offers opportunities for intralingual translation and cultural perspective change, while interlingual translation does not start until the second year and runs on into the third. However, it should be noted that our developmental model has not been designed exclusively with our own programmes in mind, and can be implemented differently in other contexts. Kachile project texts included a number of artists’ CVs, mainly in French. The client’s brief in this case was to translate the CVs into English and German. Moreover, we suggested to him that structure and formatting - which varied widely in the French CVs - should be standardized in the English and German translations. In some cases, as in the example given below, we used a French - English - German relay, both in order to take advantage of available capacities and to provide additional quality control for the French - English translations. Source text 1 (from the CV of Zana Soro): PARCOURS 2000 - 2001 : Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Artistiques (DESA) aux BEAUX ARTS d’Abidjan (INSAAC) 1999 Atelier de formation avec JEMS ROBERT KOKO BI et autres artistes Allemands 1998 - 1999 : Diplôme d’Enseignement Artistique Général <?page no="24"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 18 1996 - 1997 : BAC A2 (au Lycée Dominique Tiapani de Dabou) 1997 - 1998 : Président du club d’Anglais à INSAAC 1996 - 1997 : Président du club d’Espagnol au Lycée Dominique Tiapani Target text 1 / Source text 2: Education and training 2000-2001 Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Subjects, School of Fine Arts, Abidjan 1999 Workshop with Jems Robert Koko Bi and other German artists 1998-1999 Degree in Art Education 1997-1998 President of the English Club, School of Fine Arts, Abidjan 1996-1997 School leaving certificate required for university entrance, Dominique Tiapani Secondary School, Dabou, Côte d’Ivoire President of the Spanish Club, Tiapani Secondary School Target text 2: Ausbildungsweg 1996-1997 Abitur, Dominique-Tiapani-Gymnasium, Dabou, Côte d’Ivoire Präsident des Spanischen Clubs, Tiapani-Gymnasium 1997-1998 Präsident des Englischen Clubs, Kunstakademie Abidjan 1998-1999 Künstlerische Prüfung für das Lehramt 1999 Atelier mit Jems Robert Koko Bi und anderen deutschen Künstlern 2000-2001 Postgraduales Diplom in Kunst, Kunstakademie Abidjan The terminology team, most of whose work was done before translation started, produced a trilingual glossary for the translation groups to use. The glossary provided both background information and translation suggestions for technical terms such as BAC A2, and also proposed standardized headings for sections in the English and German CVs (in the case of the education section, the French source texts alternated between parcours and formation, and some non-tabular CVs had no headings at all). In addition to the glossary, the French - English translation group worked with the project style sheet 9 to standardize structure and formatting: for instance, they used specified MS Word styles for paragraph formatting, and removed highlighting by upper-case letters. Furthermore, they checked for, and corrected, defects such as having an entry for 1997-1998 in between two entries for 1996-1997. The English - German translation group likewise drew on the glossary and the style sheet; for them this involved, for instance, changing the order of entries from the reverse chronology common in English-language CVs to the 9 The style sheet was produced jointly by the teachers who took part in the project. It was based on the client’s brief (including our suggestions to the client) and our own analysis of which aspects of the project texts required standardization. <?page no="25"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 19 most-recent-last system recommended for German project texts. They also checked for defects in the English translations (for example, Word styles were not always correct in the files provided by the French - English group). A forum on the open-source e-learning platform ILIAS was used for communication between the various groups, who contacted one another with questions and problem alerts. On Level 3 of our developmental model, translatorial action is guided by a knowledge of work processes and situations. Students’ relevant knowledge in this case included the use of resources such as the brief, the project style sheet, and the glossary. They appreciated the complexity of their assignment, which was made evident e.g. by the need for cooperation between project groups, and were made aware of their own responsibility for the quality of their translations (witness the correction of defects). Their guiding image of translation for this assignment might have been translation as compilation: existing material was rearranged, and in some cases supplemented by information drawn from other texts (for instance, while the French CV from which we have quoted simply called the artist “SORO ZA- NA”, it became clear from another project text that Zana was in fact the given name rather than the family name; this was specified in the two translations). This example shows that guiding images do not necessarily arise spontaneously but can be prompted by the way teachers present the translation assignment: our style sheet was an obvious invitation for students to think about translation in terms of compilation. Moreover, by discussing our suggestions to the client with students, we brought them into contact with yet another image, namely translation as consulting. - The macrostrategy chosen was to produce a standardized, easy-to-read survey of the artist’s life and work in accordance with conventions for CVs in the target cultures. Translations were designed mainly for internal Kachile use, but the possibility of publication was not excluded - hence e.g. the styles, which allow quick and consistent changes to the paragraph layout. This translation assignment would fit in with the curriculum of the second year of our reformed BA. It builds on the basic functional competence acquired in the first year, and expands it by introducing an interlingual translation situation which is considerably more complex than the first-year intralingual one. At the same time, complexity remains manageable because students can draw on specifications such as those provided by the project style sheet, instead of having to start from scratch. The assignment is very suitable for translation from A into B: since the main problems it poses are not linguistic, it can encourage students to differentiate between their foreign-language competence and their translation competence. It would also lend itself to use in a translation class which brings together students with different language combinations, since discussing a variety of culturally specific ways of structuring, formulating, and formatting CVs can contribute to <?page no="26"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 20 students’ learning to verbalize, and question, their own assumptions about how texts and translation function. Texts such as these could, moreover, be used in a tools class to explore the workings of translation memory systems. TMS are not designed for the large-scale restructuring required here; mere paragraph segmentation would be of little help. Paradoxically, therefore, the gain in uniformity often ascribed to TMS translations by supporters as well as critics (e.g. Fiola 2009: 182) becomes impossible to achieve here. While our developmental model, as applied to our own programmes, brackets the second and third BA years together, we do think that it makes sense to internally differentiate between the two years. We shall therefore add an example of a translation assignment for third-year students, albeit without discussing it in the same detail as the CVs. Since the descriptors used for Level 3 in our developmental model apply to both years, internal differentiation is based on the specific requirements for individual translation assignments. Our focus will be on two aspects that make this assignment particularly suitable for third-year students. Figure 1 is part of a Kachile PowerPoint file. Since the client did not indicate any specific purposes for the German translation, we inferred from the text Figure 1: Kachile PowerPoint presentation (Level 3) <?page no="27"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 21 itself and from our general knowledge of the client’s way of utilizing Kachile texts that the file was designed to present Kachile both to experts in social entrepreneurship and to laypersons such as potential sponsors, and that it could be used for written documentation as well as for live presentations. Students were briefed accordingly. One aspect which makes this translation assignment more difficult than the CV one in the dimension of macrostrategy formation is what Risku, drawing on problem-solving theory, calls polytely (1998: 50). The multiplicity of goals for this translation included not only writing for different audiences and for different types of presentation but also fulfilling the competing requirements of precision and space. While the number of words will often decrease in English - German translation, the character count will usually increase. Since the font size in the slide shown here is too small for further reduction, the space available cannot be expanded significantly without changing the slide design. Yet precision is important for credibility and marketing effectiveness: for instance, sponsors might be less inclined to support a social venture that was planning to spend their money on “ICT research” rather than on “Research projects on ICT dissem[i]nation”. And whereas additional information can be provided by the speaker in a live presentation, a written document placed online or circulated by e-mail offers no such possibility. This instance of polytely is less simple than the very elementary CV one (translation for internal use and for publication), yet not particularly complex since space will clearly take priority. Another difficulty is information integration, especially in the areas of domain and text-type knowledge. While we would expect most of our BA students, irrespective of their varied cultural and educational backgrounds, to be familiar with CVs, they may not yet have come into contact with PowerPoint presentations and/ or social ventures, and may therefore find it harder to research relevant communication situations. Domain difficulty can be compounded by asking students to do their own terminology research instead of drawing on a provided glossary. What, for instance, is meant by income attribution? Is there a difference between attribution and spending in this context? These questions can be answered on the basis of either domainspecific research or textual knowledge (the way the headings are structured makes it clear that attribution and spending are used synonymously here); in other cases, such as SME, domain-specific research is inevitable. 6 Level 4: Multidimensional Competence As with Level 3, Level 4 in our case covers two years, namely those of our MA programme (but again, our developmental model can be applied differently elsewhere). One of the reasons why we find it appropriate to bracket <?page no="28"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 22 the two years together is the development of MA students whose first degree is not in translation studies. They will spend part of their first year acquiring and/ or strengthening knowledge and skills from Levels 2 and 3, but will be expected to have completed Level 4 by the end of the second year. Our example is once more taken from the Kachile art catalogue. The source text was revised in the same way as the product description quoted earlier. The brief was to translate the text both for internal Kachile use and for subsequent publication. Source text (complete description, revised version): The painting entitled The result of the couple shows what is expected from a newly married couple, that is to say a baby. The tie on the painting represents the marriage, and underneath it you can see the embryo. Many years ago, with certain African ethnic groups it was customary to offer a bracelet to a woman to declare one’s love for her and to express one’s willingness to marry her. The cowries represent the dowry, and the marriage ties represent the union, the coming together of two families. Target text: Das Ölgemälde mit dem Titel Das Ergebnis des Paars zeigt genau das, was man von einem frisch verheirateten Paar erwartet: ein Baby. Der Knoten im Gemälde repräsentiert die Ehe, und direkt darunter wird der Embryo in Kugelform abgebildet. Vor vielen Jahren war es bei einigen afrikanischen Ethnien üblich, einer Frau ein Armband zu geben, wenn man seine Liebe erklärte und einen Antrag machen wollte. Die Gehäuse der Kaurischnecken repräsentieren die Aussteuer, und die Darstellung des Ehebundes macht deutlich, dass zwei Familien zusammenkommen. What makes this translation assignment suitable for Level 4 is the fact that the text describes an abstract painting (see Figure 2) in a somewhat obscure way. The translation team had access to the picture but still found it very difficult to decide what “The tie on the painting” referred to and whether or not the referent was the same as for “the marriage ties”. The location of the embryo was another moot point, “underneath” the “tie” being a rather vague indication. The upshot of a lengthy discussion was that the team was inclined to regard the white reef knot (top left) as the “tie on the painting” and translated accordingly (“Knoten”). Another possible interpretation, in keeping with the picture though perhaps less so with the text, would have been to see the intertwined strands below and to the right of the reef knot as the “tie”. As far as the “marriage ties” were concerned, the team decided to leave the referent open by choosing an abstract noun (though some readers might make the connection between “Der Knoten […] repräsentiert die Ehe” and “die Darstellung des Ehebundes”). The embryo was tentatively identified as the small dot surrounded by black, but students did not wish to <?page no="29"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 23 Figure 2: Le résultat du couple by Tanoh Koffi Mathurin (Level 4) <?page no="30"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 24 completely exclude the idea that it might be the white part of the intertwined strands twisted around the dot. In either case, the embryo’s shape would be round, which made it feasible to add “in Kugelform” in order to make the description slightly more concrete. - The sheer effort involved in interpreting the picture may have been responsible for the fact that the team overlooked a rather obvious defect in the source text: what the picture shows to the right of the embryo is clearly a bangle rather than a bracelet, and Armreif would therefore have been more appropriate in German. In contrast to “tie”, “bracelet” lent itself to what Risku calls “signal transport” (1998: 244), a process concerned with surface linguistic units, and therefore did not encourage the team to try and identify the referent in the picture. Despite this momentary lapse into lay behaviour (which shows that competence levels as ascribed to individuals are fluid rather than monolithic), students largely acted as experts in this assignment. Their critical analysis of the brief in conjunction with their work-process knowledge led them to focus not on the text they had been asked to translate but on the translation situation as a whole. This included the client’s needs (i.e. promoting art from a country torn by conflict), the target audience (i.e. prospective art buyers reading the Kachile catalogue), and the totality of materials supplied (i.e. not only the source text and the picture but also sections of the catalogue for which no German version was required - hence the specification that the painting was oil on canvas, an “Ölgemälde”). Students showed their sense of professional and social responsibility by taking the assignment very seriously rather than using the evident defects of the source text as an excuse for a careless translation. Two guiding images of translation come to mind when examining this assignment. Translation as authorship may have played a role, but what was even more prominent was translation as interpretation. Faced with a text that did not “make sense” by itself, students realized that it was up to them to construct a sense by and for themselves. While, according to Risku, constructing sense is a characteristic of all expert translation processes (1998: 244), this text makes the fact more evident than, say, the one about the rhinoceros figure quoted above. Students’ macrostrategy consequently was to produce a description that was consistent with the picture and that revealed something about it while at the same time leaving space for readers to create their own interpretations. This translation assignment was originally given to a mixed class of MA students: some were just starting their MA in translation and held a first degree in another discipline, while others had a background in translation studies. The assignment proved relevant to both groups by helping the former to familiarize themselves with translatorial action, and the latter to diversify their guiding images of translation. According to Risku, expert translators have various guiding images at their disposal, which they use flexibly in different situations (1998: 140); and translation as interpretation will not <?page no="31"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 25 always come to the fore in translation classes as clearly as it did here. On a more general level, what we find particularly interesting about this assignment is that, while its degree of difficulty earmarks it for the MA, it involves a “non-specialized” text written in rather simple English. There is no straightforward progression in our model from “non-specialized”, or “general”, to “specialized” translation. 10 Furthermore, while we do assume that students will continue to work on their language competence, we see this as separate from translation competence. For this very reason, the assignment discussed here is appropriate for translation from A into B: it will enable students to focus on translation without getting sidetracked by purely linguistic issues. Students will realize that problems in understanding the source text are not due to an inadequate knowledge of the source language, and they will not experience particular difficulties in phrasing the target text once they are clear about their macrostrategy and the sense they wish to construct. As mentioned above, our developmental model includes a fifth level, autonomous and progressive competence, which we shall not discuss here for reasons of space. It should be noted, though, that while MA graduates will be prepared to act as experts in translation situations, acquiring translation competence is - as Bybee (1997: 85) puts it for scientific and technological literacy - “a lifetime task”. 11 7 Conclusion Risku’s model of translation competence and our ideal-typical developmental model have provided a theoretical foundation for our discussion of learning goals and curricula for our translation programmes. The overall goals of the reformed BA and MA programmes were specified before we started work on our model. The model has since been successfully used to flesh out the programmes by defining learning objectives and curricular contents for individual translation modules and courses within the modules. The descriptors employed in the developmental model can be found - in similar or somewhat less abstract form - in our department’s module handbook, which 10 We use inverted commas here because, for various reasons that we cannot discuss in detail in this paper, we do not find the distinction helpful. 11 In translation studies, Risku (1998: 101) points out that knowledge needs to be continually updated and that this includes modifying explanatory and operational frameworks. Shreve (2006: 34) emphasizes that it can take “ten or more years of deliberate practice” for translators to develop expertise, and that some will never achieve it. However, while Shreve (2006: 37) mainly sees translation expertise as involving deliberate practice, a consolidation of routines, and improvements in problem solving, our Level 5, in addition, includes new areas of competence such as assuming responsibility for the profession or creating novel guiding images. <?page no="32"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 26 will form the basis of our teaching from 2012/ 13. Moreover, we think that our model is also suitable for other translation departments, including those with student populations different from ours, since it can be flexibly implemented. For instance, as mentioned above, the transition from BA to MA does not necessarily have to coincide with that from Level 3 to Level 4. Three points should be noted in connection with the further development and implementation of the model. Firstly, our model, like Bybee’s framework for scientific and technological literacy, focusses on “vertical” rather than “horizontal” development: One dimension of the continuum [of scientific literacy] is breadth, which ranges from vocabulary to major conceptual ideas to a contextual understanding of science and technology. Another is depth, an increasingly subtle and sophisticated understanding of scientific concepts such as the atom, evolution, or conservation; scientific inquiry such as questioning, hypothesizing, and explaining; and scientific values such as verification, logic, and tentativeness. […] Horizontal development, for example, might entail learning more vocabulary and developing a higher level of functional literacy, but it would not necessarily include developing a greater understanding of the conceptual and procedural nature of scientific disciplines and technological developments. (Bybee 1997: 81, 85) We have not examined horizontal development here because our emphasis has been on illustrating different levels of translation competence. However, both the horizontal and vertical dimensions would, of course, be relevant to a full-blown framework of reference for translation competence, for which we hope our model lays the groundwork, and both would need to be included in curriculum design. Secondly, in order for the developmental model and its curricular operationalization to foster productive teaching and learning processes, we also need to give thought to how we want to organize our translation classes. One pertinent concept that has briefly surfaced in our discussion of Kachile examples is networked translation teaching, which involves students with different language combinations and/ or from different course units (e.g. units on intralingual translation, interlingual translation, terminology, and translation tools) working together on a project (cf. Hagemann/ Neu 2013). More generally speaking, the pedagogical and didactic implications of our developmental model need to be systematically analysed. This links our project with, for instance, Kiraly’s concern with situated learning (e.g. 2000 and in this volume). Thirdly, it is worth emphasizing once more that students have different educational backgrounds, different interest profiles, and different ways of learning. This is true of all student populations, but particularly so of those in our own multicultural department. What this means is that no model, operationalization, and pedagogy can adequately cover each and every stu- <?page no="33"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 27 dent’s learning needs and processes. For example, some will benefit greatly from networked translation teaching while others may feel hampered. Some will take easily to verbalizing guiding images; others will reject this as useless theorizing. It follows that any approach to translation teaching should incorporate variety. Part of our future research will have to address the question of how well our developmental model can accommodate this requirement. References Bybee, Rodger W. (1997): Achieving Scientific Literacy: From Purposes to Practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. EMT expert group (2009): “Competences for Professional Translators, Experts in Multilingual and Multimedia Communication” European Master’s in Translation (EMT). http: / / ec.europa.eu/ dgs/ translation/ programmes/ emt/ key_documents / emt_competences_translators_en.pdf [04/ 10/ 2012] Fiola, Marco A. (2009): “Translation Memories and Translators’ Memory: What to Make of Translator Subjectivity? ” Kemble, Ian, ed.: The Changing Face of Translation: Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Portsmouth Translation Conference Held on 7 November 2009. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth, 174-185. http: / / www.port. ac.uk/ departments/ academic/ slas/ conferences/ pastconferenceproceedings/ tra nslationconf2008/ TranslationConference2008files/ filetodownload,138174,en.pdf [01/ 06/ 2012] Göpferich, Susanne (2008): Translationsprozessforschung: Stand - Methoden - Perspektiven (Translationswissenschaft 4). Tübingen: Narr. Hagemann, Susanne/ Julia Neu (2013): “Vernetzte Translationslehre” Hansen-Schirra, Silvia/ Don Kiraly, eds.: Projekte und Projektionen in der translatorischen Kompetenzentwicklung (FTSK: Publikationen des Fachbereichs Translations-, Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germersheim 61). Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 189-209. Holz-Mänttäri, Justa (1984): Translatorisches Handeln: Theorie und Methode (Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian toimituksia B 226). Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. Holz-Mänttäri, Justa (2001): “Evolutionäre Translationstheorie” TEXTconTEXT 15 [new series 5.2] (2001): 245-281 [1996]. Hurtado Albir, Amparo (2007): “Competence-based Curriculum Design for Training Translators” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 1.2 (2007): 163-195. Jakobson, Roman (1959): “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation” Brower, Reuben A., ed.: On Translation (Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature 23). Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 232-239. Kelly, Dorothy (2005): A Handbook for Translator Trainers: A Guide to Reflective Practice (Translation Practices Explained 10). Manchester: St. Jerome. <?page no="34"?> Andrea Cnyrim, Susanne Hagemann & Julia Neu 28 Kiraly, Don (2000): A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education: Empowerment from Theory to Practice. Manchester: St. Jerome. Krings, Hans Peter (2005): “Wege ins Labyrinth: Fragestellungen und Methoden der Übersetzungsprozessforschung im Überblick” Meta: Journal des Traducteurs / Meta: Translators’ Journal 50.2 (2005): 342-358. Lesznyák, Márta (2007): “Conceptualizing Translation Competence” Across Languages and Cultures 8.2 (2007): 167-194. PACTE (2011): “Results of the Validation of the PACTE Translation Competence Model: Translation Project and Dynamic Translation Index” O’Brien, Sharon, ed.: Cognitive Explorations of Translation (Continuum Studies in Translation). London: Continuum, 30-53. Prunč, Erich (2007): Entwicklungslinien der Translationswissenschaft: Von den Asymmetrien der Sprachen zu den Asymmetrien der Macht (TransÜD: Arbeiten zur Theorie und Praxis des Übersetzens und Dolmetschens 14). Berlin: Frank & Timme. Risku, Hanna (1998): Translatorische Kompetenz: Kognitive Grundlagen des Übersetzens als Expertentätigkeit (Studien zur Translation 5). Tübingen: Stauffenburg. Risku, Hanna (2002): “Situatedness in Translation Studies” Cognitive Systems Research 3 (2002): 523-533. Risku, Hanna (2004): Translationsmanagement: Interkulturelle Fachkommunikation im Informationszeitalter (Translationswissenschaft 1). Tübingen: Narr. Risku, Hanna (2010): “A Cognitive Scientific View on Technical Communication and Translation: Do Embodiment and Situatedness Really Make a Difference? ” Target 22.1 (2010): 94-111. Schäffner, Christina ( 2 2009): “Functionalist Approaches” Baker, Mona/ Gabriela Saldanha, eds.: Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London: Routledge [1998], 115-121. [First edition (1998): “Action (Theory of ‘Translatorial Action’)”, 3-5.] Shreve, Gregory M. (2006): “The Deliberate Practice: Translation and Expertise” Journal of Translation Studies 9.1 (2006): 27-42. Snell-Hornby, Mary (2006): The Turns of Translation Studies: New Paradigms or Shifting Viewpoints? (Benjamins Translation Library 66). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Vermeer, Hans J. (2006): Versuch einer Intertheorie der Translation. Berlin: Frank & Timme. <?page no="35"?> Towards a Framework of Reference for Translation Competence 29 Appendix: A Provisional Framework of Reference for Translation Competence In the following developmental model, the left-hand column (translation competence) is largely based on Risku (1998: 131-261). Levels 1 and 4 closely follow her descriptions of how laypersons and experts act. For Levels 2 and 3 we extrapolate how translation competence might develop between the lay and expert stages. Level 5 is for the most part our own creation, as are the introductory sections for each level. The structure of the right-hand column (competence in translation studies) is inspired by Bybee’s framework for scientific and technological literacy (1997: 82-86). It should be noted, however, that while Bybee’s concern is with the “general education” associated with citizenship (1997: 73), ours is with the “special education” that relates to university degree programmes. In the case of translation, special education builds on general education in other fields such as language(s), culture(s), or ICT. The numbers in brackets are page references for Risku 1998 (see note 4 on p. 12 for direct and indirect quotations). ST and TT mean “source text” and “target text” respectively. <?page no="36"?> Translation competence Competence in translation studies Level 1: Lay competence Level 1 translators are able to translate amateurishly in simple everyday situations (e.g. run-of-the-mill private correspondence). - Their guiding image is often implicit (141), unexamined (141), and language-oriented (139). - Their macrostrategy involves attempting to reproduce individual elements of language and meaning (245). - When integrating information, they focus on surface elements of the ST, which call up direct interlingual associations and are processed using declarative rules (250). Their ST reception is predicated on a belief in authorial intention and in meanings inherent in the text (191). Revising the TT for them involves no more than comparing TT with ST elements (203). - Their planning and decisions are based on automated microstrategies and decontextualized rules of thumb (253). - In the area of self-organization, they ignore their own power of decision; they lack creativity, and delegate responsibility (255, 258). Level 1 translators’ understanding of translational situations is limited to naïve everyday theories. Their knowledge in this area is narrow and superficial, but they are familiar with some basic facts about translation, and can use their general knowledge to draw simple translation-relevant conclusions. While they may be aware of some of the discipline’s technical terms qua designations, this awareness will not extend to the concepts and theoretical contexts involved, and therefore cannot guide their actions. Level 2: Basic functional competence Level 2 translators use elementary translatorial knowledge and know-how adequately in simple situations and activities characterized by intercultural perspective change. They are able to act translatorially where they can follow precise specifications and/ or where there is a wide variety of possible solutions. Their knowledge of translatorial work processes is mainly declarative and relates to individual, compartmentalized “areas” of competence rather than to a holistic perception of translation. - Their guiding image is made explicit, and critically questioned (143). Level 2 translators have acquired a rudimentary disciplinary knowledge that enables them to analyse and assess translationrelated issues according to simple specifications. They are aware of some technical terms, including the underlying concepts and larger <?page no="37"?> Translation competence Competence in translation studies - In their macrostrategy formation they overcome reflexes and automatisms first by reacting adaptively to problems and then by beginning to act constructively (145). They verbalize and analyse the situation in which intercultural communication takes place, as well as the goal(s) of their translatorial action, and if necessary adapt the latter dynamically (145-149). - They begin to integrate information purposively rather than cumulatively (163). While they may continue to include surface linguistic structures in their analysis of the ST and of translation problems, they are at the same time aware of the communicative function(s) and context(s) of texts (83, 175). They are able to problematize the notion of authorial intention and the belief that the ST has an inherent meaning (191). When revising the TT, they examine it not only for linguistic correctness but also for functional adequacy in the target situation (203-204). - Their planning and decisions become geared to translation-oriented ST analysis and to the function of the TT (210, 215). - Their self-organization is characterized by an incipient awareness of, and evaluation of, the principles on which they base their actions (230). conceptual schemes, and can use them to explain translational phenomena and substantiate their own decisions. They can thus recognize, and work with, individual situations and terms but as yet lack an overall understanding of theoretical contexts and interrelationships. Level 3: Conceptual and procedural competence Level 3 translators’ procedural knowledge of work processes and situations enables them to handle moderately complex translation assignments. They can assess the social relevance of these assignments and are aware not only of their own responsibility but also of their professional involvement with others (103). This helps them to carry out assignments - including team assignments - creatively and effectively, and with situational adequacy in view. - They have several guiding images available and are aware of their theoretical and situational implications (138-140). Level 3 translators are familiar with basic disciplinary approaches and methods. They understand concepts, larger conceptual schemes, and principles as well as their contexts and interrelationships. In interpreting translatorial action, they are aware of the interplays and <?page no="38"?> Translation competence Competence in translation studies - They form macrostrategies by acting constructively and confidently in intraand interlingual situations (145). Moreover, they can set priorities in simple cases of polytely (150-151). - In order to integrate information, they generate a reasonably complex model of the target situation that structures their approach (155-158). They are aware of the extent of their own knowledge and of relevant gaps in it (163). Their research concerns action schemata and symbols used in specific communication situations, rather than isolated linguistic elements (40-42, 174). They analyse the ST not only on the basis of surface structures but also holistically and in the context of their assignment (175- 177). Similarly, they can revise the TT on the basis of their macrostrategy, without comparing it with the ST (203-204). - Their planning and decisions combine the local and global levels (217). They perceive smaller linguistic units as part of a text and a situation, and solve translation problems accordingly instead of following decontextualized microstrategies (220-224). - Their self-organization is such that they are fully aware of, and able to evaluate, their action principles (230). This strengthens their self-confidence and sense of responsibility (231). They are able to work cooperatively with other agents in the translation process (235), and to update their own knowledge (101). tensions between translatorial work processes and situations on the one hand and theoretical models on the other. They can use elaborate concepts and conceptual schemes to explain translational phenomena and substantiate their own decisions. <?page no="39"?> Translation competence Competence in translation studies Level 4: Multidimensional competence Level 4 translators take a holistic view of the translation situation. They can critically analyse and coordinate complex translation assignments in the context of translatorial work processes. Furthermore, they integrate their work-process knowledge with a high sense of professional and social responsibility, and are aware of the implications of assignments for the larger social and physical environment (103). - They switch between different guiding images confidently, flexibly, and creatively as the various situations demand (140-141). - Their macrostrategy formation is active, critical, and dynamic (248), and therefore suitable for complex and competing goals (150-151). - Information integration for them involves research based on abstract problem representations and tailored to meet situational and time constraints (169-175). Their consistently holistic ST reception (176-177) systematically draws on their macrostrategy (190-191), as does their TT revision (204), which includes comparison with the ST (203). They are able to explain revisions to laypersons as well as experts (205-206). - Their planning strategies are abstract and include different agents’ perspectives as well as various textual dimensions (214-215). Their decisions involve developing macrostrategy-based method hierarchies (225) and solving entire networks of problems through recourse to typical characteristics and situation models (227). On this abstract level, the decision-making process may be partly automated (227). - Their self-organization draws on models of the target situation which they create and modify deliberately, reflexively, and flexibly (229-230). They actively assume responsibility for sense construction (231), and take up varying and appropriate roles in their interactions with other agents (234-235). They are fully prepared for life-long learning (101). Level 4 translators appreciate the complexity of translation, its history, and its social relevance. They can categorize, contextualize, and critically assess elaborate conceptual schemes and principles as well as entire approaches and theories. They draw on full-blown theories to explain and discuss translational phenomena and decisions. Moreover, they are able to appraise the suitability of different theoretical approaches for specific problems or types of problems. The technical terms and concepts they use are appropriate for the varying theoretical contexts. They can develop and apply conceptual models of their own. <?page no="40"?> Translation competence Competence in translation studies Level 5: Autonomous and progressive competence Level 5 translators assume responsibility for the profession (e.g. in professional associations) and/ or the discipline (e.g. in universities). They develop new approaches or improve existing ones. In deciding whether or not to accept an assignment, they show a high degree of autonomy and a strong sense of ethical responsibility (99, 103). Moreover, they can coordinate teams and show leadership. - They are able to create entirely novel guiding images or derive new ones from novel, emerging paradigms. - When forming a macrostrategy, they use routines both to ensure its appropriateness for the target situation and to assess its social relevance and ethical acceptability (with a view to deciding on whether or not to accept the assignment). At the same time, however, they critically question their own routines against the background of the specific situation. Faced with novel translation situations, they can create suitable macrostrategies. - Information integration for them includes critically assessing their own competence (234) for a specific assignment (which may result in their refusing the assignment). The experience they have accumulated makes their research, ST reception, and TT revision highly efficient. They can contribute to developing novel methods of integrating information. - In the area of planning and decisions, they consolidate routines (224-227) without ceasing to question their appropriateness. They are aware of the full range of options suitable for a specific translation situation, and utilize them creatively and confidently. - Their self-organization involves a high sense of responsibility for their own actions as well as those of other agents in the translation process. They handle novel translation situations appropriately and with confidence. Level 5 translators are familiar with the landscape of the discipline as a whole, including approaches from cultures other than their own. They can devise methods and theories both to shed new light on existing phenomena and to explain new ones. In doing so they may create new terminologies. They are aware of relevant parts of other disciplines, and know how to pursue interdisciplinary research. They can critically assess existing approaches to translation teaching and develop new ones. This includes pathways for training the trainers. <?page no="41"?> Kelly Washbourne Kent State University Ethical Experts-in-Training: Connected Learners and the Moral Imagination 1 Introduction Whether we speak of situated cognition (Risku 2002), translation in situation (Vienne 1994), or problem-based learning (Inoue 2005), a task or concept model is inauthentic to the extent that it ignores the ethical dimension. In this study I wish to take up ethics, or moral philosophy, from a developmental and pedagogical perspective. I also wish to posit for translator training and education an ethical expertise and an ethical literacy, fostered by method and guided by structural-developmental models of student maturation or ethical readiness. According to Davidson/ Morrissey (2011: 45-46), ethical literacy implies the use of theory, metaethical vocabulary, and decision frameworks, and an understanding of ethical evaluative criteria and their implications. Following Narvaez (2008: 312), moral experts demonstrate both knowing the good and knowing how to carry it out, resolving the notorious gap between reasoning and action, the intuitive and the deliberative. Weinstein even marks this distinction between knowing and doing with the terms ‘epistemic’ experts and ‘performative’ experts (1994: 61), reminiscent of Aristotle’s sophia (theoretical wisdom) and phronesis (practical wisdom). Narvaez establishes that moral experts “demonstrate holistic orientations (sets of procedural, declarative, and conditional knowledge) in one or more of at least four processes critical to moral behaviour: ethical sensitivity [multiple perspective taking], ethical judgment [reasoning about duty and consequences], ethical focus [self-regulating, prioritizing], and ethical action [implementing and intervening according to moral goals]” (see Table 1). Ethical sensitivity Ethical judgment Understanding emotional expression Understanding ethical problems Taking the perspectives of others Using codes and identifying judgment criteria Connecting to others Reasoning critically <?page no="42"?> Kelly Washbourne 36 Responding to diversity Reasoning ethically Controlling social bias Understanding consequences Interpreting situations Reflecting on process and outcome Communicating well Coping and resiliency Ethical focus Ethical action Respecting others Resolving conflicts and problems Cultivating conscience Asserting respectfully Helping others Taking initiative as a leader Being a community member Planning to implement decisions Finding meaning in life Cultivating courage Table 1: Ethical skills (Narvaez 2008: 319; cf. Rest et al. 1999) Ethical development accords perfectly with Becoming in the philosophical sense, as ethics presupposes discordance between natural law and moral law (de Beauvoir 1980: 10, following Hegel’s Phenomenology of Mind): ... [T]he most optimistic ethics have all begun by emphasizing the element of failure involved in the condition of [humanity]; without failure, no ethics; for a being who, from the very start, would be an exact co-incidence with himself, in a perfect plenitude, the notion of having-to-be would have no meaning. For Paulo Freire, this Becoming accompanies our condition as inserted in and formed by a socio-historical context of relations, [in which] we become capable of comparing, evaluating, intervening, deciding, taking new directions, and thereby constituting ourselves as ethical beings. It is in our becoming that we constitute our being so. (1998: 38-39) The “teaching of contents”, moreover, “cannot be separated from the moral formation of the learners” (1998: 39). We need a concomitant shift to creating learning experiences as personal engagements that centre on the whole student - intellectual, but also socio-affective and moral dimensions - and not only in the classroom but everywhere and lifelong. Becoming characterizes this progressive view of education; stage theories of moral progression situate the learner in a process that is open-ended rather than predetermined, and prize the learner’s self-determination as the greatest good (Carr 2002: 8). To Kohlberg (1981: 26), moral thought undergoes increasing differentiation and integration, and behaves like other kinds of thought; moral progress - moral learning - is possible. <?page no="43"?> Ethical Experts-in-Training 37 Neuroscientific research is now making the case that the “anchors of morality” are attachment and trust, “dispositions that contour social-problem space” (Churchland 2008: 410). Learning today takes place in ever more vast spaces, collaboratively in networks as co-constructions inside and outside our situated practice, in formal, informal and social learning - in a way that has been called connected learning (Nussbaum-Beach 2012). These environments, while emancipatory for education, can intensify the countervailing force of the ‘hidden curriculum’ 1 (Snyder 1970; Kohlberg 1981; Hafferty/ Franks 1994). The ‘hidden curriculum’ is a tacit value-set or ‘curriculum in action’, most famously identified in medical school students, which erodes ethical commitments by secretly transmitting, or self-replicating a culture of narrower, self-interested, less empathetic interests and perspectives. Parker Palmer stakes a claim against this ‘anti-community’ ethic: “Ultimately” he writes, “an ethical education is one that creates a capacity for connectedness in the lives of students” (1993: xviii). Connectedness, then, constitutes a precondition for ethical expertise: as Varela declares: “an ethical expert is nothing more or less than a full participant in a community” (1999: 24). Inghilleri’s recent work (2012), bringing a ‘discourse ethics’ to bear in Interpreting Studies, shows how thinkers in this vein have sought to fashion a consensus-building that “[shifts] the frame of reference away from the isolated moral consciousness of the individual toward a more intersubjective approach” (2012: 33). Moral autonomy has long been framed, at least as far back as Piaget, as the interdependent, active, cooperative construction of judgments (Turiel 2002: 290-291). Moreover, Aristotle’s hexis (acquired virtues) has a revealing Latin gloss - the word habitus, which refers to both individuals and groups. An inter-group and intra-group ethics make strong claims for attention in our era, in which, as Pym (2003) reminds us, translation production teams, authorless texts, and ‘collective responsibility’ are the norm. 2 Characterizing the Ethical Problem: Ethical Decision-Making How can we characterize the ethical problem for the translation classroom? First, ethical problems are coherence problems (Thagard 2000) or constraint 1 Hafferty (2010) contrasts the ‘manifest’ curriculum with what he classifies as “Informal/ Hidden/ & Other Types of Curriculum”: the creditless curriculum, the curriculum in action, the experienced/ experiential/ lived curriculum, the ideal/ ideological curriculum, the institutional curriculum, the latent curriculum, the learned curriculum, the null curriculum, the operational curriculum, the operative curriculum, the perceived curriculum, the peripheral curriculum, the recommended curriculum, the shadow curriculum, the tacit curriculum, the taught curriculum, the tested curriculum, the unintended curriculum (Hafferty, “Definition, Metaphors and Conceptual Framework”, slide 19). <?page no="44"?> Kelly Washbourne 38 satisfaction problems (Churchland 2008: 410) to be negotiated. Derrida disrupts ethics further by adding the trait of ‘undecidability’, by which he means not indecision but action in the face of incomplete knowledge. Moral deciding, he argues, occurs in a state of not knowing and yet obligation to decide; the urgency for justice has only immediate facts but requires infinite information (Derrida 1992: 23-24, qtd. in Smith 2005: 81-82). “The impossibility to find one’s way is the condition of ethics”, Derrida tells us, and [t]hat’s where responsibility starts, when I don’t know what to do. If I know what to do, well, I would apply the rule, and teach my students to apply the rule. But would that be ethical? I’m not sure. I would consider this unethical. Ethics starts when you don’t know what to do, when there is this gap between knowledge and action, and you have to take responsibility for inventing the new rule which doesn’t exist. […] An ethics with guarantees is not an ethics. […] Ethics is dangerous. (2003: 31-32) This appraisal lands us squarely at the intersection of problem-solving, decision-making, and risk-management. In translation, the ethical moment manifests itself in multiple possible scenarios involving not only texts but patrons, users, and translators: a potential boundary issue, compromised impartiality, information asymmetry or other moral hazards, conflict of interest, degraded standards or working conditions, or misrepresentation. 2 With John Dewey, I will argue that ethical reasoning strives not for infallibility, that is, eternal verities, but for the provisional, reasoned resolution of some contemporary problems (Putnam 2004: 31; cf. also Walton 2003). But we need not imagine ethical intervention only as crisis response. Kwame Anthony Appiah (2008: 193-197) questions the use of “quandary ethics” (Pincoffs’ term; 1971), defined as the problem-posing of ethical ques- 2 Summarized and categorized based on questions in student questionnaires developed by Ginori (2011); more completely: - Access to privileged information or threats to confidentiality - Knowledge of another’s wrongdoing or potential wrongdoing, whether aided by the translation or not - Compromised impartiality or conflict of interest between the initiator and translator - Inability to meet contractual or professional duties or standards - Conflicting loyalties to message, sender, receiver, other translators, or language mediation profession itself, or to yourself in the case of playing mutually conflicting roles in the use of the translation - Assertion of refusal to complete delivery of a service on ideological grounds (conflicting loyalty to self and translation assignment) - Suppressing, leaving unaccounted for, or distorting the content of a source text in translation - Requests to misrepresent a text or present it misleadingly, or the seeking of your complicity in others doing so - Working in conditions that degrade general working standards for translators <?page no="45"?> Ethical Experts-in-Training 39 tions through stylized scenarios, in that they present abstract, solitary, dispassionate agents wrestling with neatly defined options. In fact, he objects to the reduction of moral discourse to conflict, to ‘problems’ (2008: 197). This ‘applied ethics’ model is akin, in his view, to a ‘clinical intervention’, rather than the more Aristotelian everyday, and he defends an ethics of ‘wellness’, not ‘illness’ (2008: 198). The great philosophers were concerned not with difficult choices but with “moral enlightenment, education, and the good” (Pincoffs 1971: 553). The ethical expert-in-training must discern, by this logic, the ethical dimension of the everyday, or ‘small e’ ethics. Let us suppose the medical translator, for instance, is assigned a patient information leaflet written at a level of discourse too high for its intended target. Whereas an ethical novice may learn to discern situational features of field, mode, and tenor, the expert will also recognize the situation’s implicit ethical imperative, and frame his or her actions to answer the question: Is it ethical to knowingly produce medical texts that are incomprehensible to the target audience (after Hochhauser 2003)? 3 Or more fundamentally: do patients not have the right to informed participation in their own health decisions? Law, precedent or skopos 4 alone may or may not guide the translator well here, and professional ethics may be too broad to apply neatly. 3 Conflict and Complexity And yet, Appiah’s misgivings notwithstanding, ethical quandaries remain, products of competing roles, claims, rights and responsibilities. These scenarios make visible the heart of ethics: namely, conflict. Carol Maier calls for translators to “[address] the presence of conflict as an integral part of much translation practice” (2007: 265), and Matchett (following Ozar 2001) identifies a knowledge of the “potential conflicts between [a wide array of values, principles, and ideals]” and the incentives and penalties correlating to given behaviours (2008: 32). 5 In short, as Davidson/ Morrissey note: “Students need to have practice at doing what is right and to experience the challenges of acting ethically when doing so is socially, organizationally, or professionally unpop- 3 Chesterman (1997: 69) called this the communication norm, one of four norm-based ethics (clarity/ expectancy; truth/ relation; understanding/ communication; and trust/ accountability). 4 My thanks to a reviewer who pointed out that ethical discourse may be included in the skopos, and should not be considered something outside it. 5 Contrast the awareness of (micro) conflict in Translation Studies with the view of conflict in Interpreting Studies, where it tends to be seen as the trigger to entire role shifts (e.g. Jalbert 1998, in which the interpreter moves from cultural broker to advocate). Role shifts, plotted with a ‘y axis’ of ethical scenarios, may be one useful framework for the translator as well. <?page no="46"?> Kelly Washbourne 40 ular, or when it means confronting real practical obstacles” (2011: 49). Undergirding translatorial ethics always is the idea of the translator as social actor, not merely observer, as Salama-Carr (2007: 7) reminds us. The contributions of critical pedagogy, in particular Giroux’s ethic of critique (1991), locate ethics in a “social discourse grounded in struggles” against exploitation, inequality, injustice, and the silencing of marginal voices. Abdallah (2011: 134) invokes this connection as well, drawing on this tradition to trace a politically committed ‘reflexive ethics’ for the translation trainee, in part to avoid exploitative business relationships, for example in cases of what we can describe as role strain or role conflict in which: [t]ranslators are [...] forced into a position where their role as business people conflicts with their role as agents for translation users. This is a mutually exclusive, fractured role which makes it difficult to act, to retain one’s agency and hold on to one’s ethical principles, whether derived from business or the profession. (2011: 144) Ethical rights and responsibilities thus extend not only to others, but to oneself, one’s author, one’s target community or communities, and to the profession. Significantly, they extend to competing claims not only from individuals but from different ethical systems (in an ethics of scale: the self in relation to self, other, organization, nation, profession, etc.). One framework, global or cosmopolitan ethics, de-privileges all moral claims based on identifications other than ‘human being’, placing the onus on all alike to redress power inequities, and cultural and economic trade imbalances (Day/ Masciulli 2007: 110-111). Conflict is a function of moral complexity, defined as situations that invoke incompatible values (Lefkowitz 2003: 108-109). For Schäffner, to add ethical competence to translator competence reflects “the fact that translators are working in a complex socio-political context” (2003: 101). As Floros writes, “[F]oregrounding ethical thinking [is prerequisite] to reinforcing [students’] sense of responsibility […] and encouraging them to reflect on the complexities of their task” (2011: 67). Perhaps the most useful construct to model this complexity is that of ethical intensity (Jones 1991) 6 , which offers a way to size 6 Jones’ (1991) six dimensions of moral intensity in more detail are as follows: variables of “(a) magnitude of consequences - the sum of the harms (or benefits) done to victims (or beneficiaries) of the moral act in question; (b) social consensus - the degree of social agreement that a proposed act is evil (or good); (c) probability of effect - a joint function of the probability that the act in question will actually take place and the act in question will actually cause the harm (or benefit) predicted; (d) temporal immediacy - the length of time between the present and the onset of consequences of the moral act in question (shorter length implies greater immediacy); (e) proximity - the feeling of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical) that the moral agent has for victims (or beneficiaries) of the evil (or beneficial) act in question; and (f) concentration of effect - an inverse function of the number of people affected by an act of given magnitude (cf. Jones, 1991: 374-378)” (May/ Pauli 2002: 88). <?page no="47"?> Ethical Experts-in-Training 41 up the ethical problem using six components of impact: harm, others’ perceptions, probability of effects, time lag between action and effects, number affected, and psychological (empathetic) proximity. Classroom tasks that use ethical scenarios as prompts to be rated using this metric could situate the translation task in its complex sociological ethics. The disabuse of student text-involvement in favour of a healthy world-involvement is a first condition of an ethical training or education in translation. 4 Intellectual Development in College Students As a prelude to a discussion of goals in ethics education for translators, a brief consideration of ethical development is in order. Following William Perry (1968/ 1999): Stages of ethical development: duality: knowledge is divided into right and wrong; knowledge is absolute, is handed down from authorities, and learned passively; the view of knowledge is quantitative (163); multiplicity: knowledge is a question of opinion; evaluation is seen as subjective; student prone to frustration if one’s own perspective is not validated; student starts to be open to differences of opinion, no longer absolute “rightness”; learning becomes personal, student may disagree with authorities, knowledge starts to be constructed (164); 7 relativism: knowledge shifts toward a qualitative view of knowledge. Not all opinions are equally valid. Rather than sages, instructors now become guides and model critical engagement with content. There is autonomy built in this stage, but student is frustrated that no theory is all-embracing (164); 8 commitment: knowledge is now nuanced and informed. The student commits to a theory not as an absolute but as a foundation for further refinement (165). How does this scheme play out in the classroom and beyond? To a dual stage learner, the idea that there is no definitive reading of a source text is horrifying or meaningless; to a multiplicity stage learner, his translation is valid because it is his; to the relativist, a feminist translation project may seem 7 A classroom in which there is a single “right” and multiple “wrong” solutions clearly can hinder progression to higher stages of development. By the same token, multiplicity, the stage at which many college students graduate, may be in part a response to insufficient objective norms. 8 Floros’ insight (2011: 72) implicitly points from ethical relativity to the ethical commitment stage: “Sensitizing students, as future translators, to the issue of ethical relativity is the first step towards self-reflexivity (critical reflection and possibility of contestation)”. <?page no="48"?> Kelly Washbourne 42 too subjective or incomplete. To the committed stage learner, comparatively expert decision-making outcomes must be predicated on one’s motivation to uphold some system of values, for example, that of the profession. Such decisions would include refusing to allow one’s name to be associated with a translation altered ideologically after delivery, or resisting pressure to do as was done in the case of some classic novels commissioned into Brazilian Portuguese in which the translator merely replaced the continental Portuguese syntax and pronouns with the Brazilian counterparts, labelled the translation a ‘revised translation’, and omitted all credit to the original translator (Rónai 2005: 49). The dynamic applies in evaluating translations as well: the dualist is blind to the possibility that two different translations may be deemed equally adequate for different reasons. Parallels between Perry’s scheme and Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) are striking: in the latter model, the student progresses from an ethnocentric to an ethnorelative condition: moving from denial (only one’s own culture is real) through defence and minimization (differences are denigrated or downplayed) to acceptance, adaptation and integration (experience of difference, inclusion, multiperspectivism and expansion). According to Bennett’s ethnorelativism: “ethical choices will be made on grounds other than the ethnocentric protection of one’s world view or in the name of absolute principles” (1993: 43). 9 Bennett’s schematic recalls the early work of Antoine Berman, whose evaluative pole of ethical translation - “receiving the Other as Other” (1999: 74) - stood in opposition to an ethnocentric one. An important correlating factor for developmental ethics is the decline in empathy or empathetic reasoning, as one study of American college students confirmed. Declining empathic awareness may represent a challenge to ethical growth: Anderson/ Konrath (2012) report that “since 1980 scores have dropped 34 percent on ‘perspective taking’ (the ability to imagine others’ points of view) and 48 percent on ‘empathic concern’ (the tendency to feel and respond to others’ emotions)”. Selman’s (1980) developmental stage theory on perspective taking arrays perspective taking, predictably, from the undifferentiated and egocentric all the way up to the societal-symbolic. Perspective taking (self-focused [imagining self as other] or other-focused [imagining the other given what one knows about him or her], Maxwell 2008: 134) is a clear component of the translator trainee’s ethical and interpersonal subcompetences. Emotional intelligence, or emotional literacy, represents still another area related to ethicality (cf. Mesmer-Magnus et al. 2008). 9 For the interaction of cognitive development with norms, cf. Schäffner (1999). <?page no="49"?> Ethical Experts-in-Training 43 5 Goals in Ethics Education The prime goals in the teaching of ethics, in Callahan’s well-known formulation (1980: 64-69), include: 1) stimulating the moral imagination; 2) recognizing ethical issues; 3) eliciting a sense of moral obligation; 4) developing analytical skills; and 5) tolerating - and reducing - disagreement and ambiguity. The objective to foster the moral imagination harks back to John Dewey. To Dewey, in Johnson’s words, “[e]thical thinking is a form of imaginative dramatic rehearsal [...]. Moral reasoning [...] is situated (historically, culturally and personally), shaped by emotion, and reconstructive of our ongoing experience” (qtd. in Ambrose/ Cross 2009: 150). Matchett’s nuancing is especially useful for our purposes in that she points to the conditional knowledge underlying ethical choice - not only knowing which rules, but how, when, and if they should apply: “there are times when we want to figure out which rules are justified, how they should be prioritized, or whether any of the usual rules are even applicable” (2008: 31). Moreover, our goals should include fostering ethical reasoning as much as producing ethical professionals. Reasoned moral practice relies on reasoning skills (classification, compare/ contrast, drawing valid inferences, question-formulation), inquiry skills (hypothesis formulation, explanation), concept-formulation skills, and metacognitive acts (Lipman 1987: 144-145). A second category of goals relates to moral identity. Abdallah uses Rest’s 4-component (‘neo-Kohlbergian’) model of morality to articulate the goal of learners becoming ‘empowered moral agents’ (2011: 139-148). Moral agency may be considered to have a kind of executive function in which intentional control and ownership are exerted, not merely responsiveness to external stimuli; agency has been defined as a “series of processes, of various complexity, appearing at different points along the developmental continuum. Some of these are will, effort, sense of mastery and control, self-control, choice, decision, persistence, sense of responsibility, and commitment” (Blasi 2008: 274-275). Principled reasoning is inextricable to the learner’s development of self-direction, autonomy, and decentration (the shift in cognitive maturity from attending to the most salient features of a problem to a broader, more balanced attention, to its complexity, leading to decreased ‘egocentric bias’ and a greater sense of equality and reciprocity [Gibbs et al. 1992: 8- 9]). Tichy et al. (2010: 785) argue for moral reasoning, moral motivation, moral character, and the acquisition of ethical skills: perspective taking, rule orientation, and self-perception as a moral person, the latter of which are schemas psychologists term the moral self-concept and ethicists of care call the ethical ideal (Noddings 2003: 178). Ethical efficacy (Bandura 1991; Mitchell/ Palmer 2010) has been theorized as an individual’s domain-specific selfperception of his or her ability to resolve, regardless of consequences and through self-regulation of behaviour and motivation, a given ethical issue. <?page no="50"?> Kelly Washbourne 44 Others have termed this moral courage (Serkerka/ Bagozzi 2007). 10 In translator training and education, these considerations provide a dimension largely missing from conceptualizations of empowerment and the learner’s selfconcept. Additionally, they form part of the learning goals of any translator, whether in everyday ethics (e.g. Is it acceptable to produce a covert translation of a college application essay for admission abroad? ) or the more exceptional dilemmas (e.g. What are the translator’s obligations in wartime? ). A final goal relates to fostering a notion of ‘property-as-other’: students must learn to gather, store, represent, and disseminate information ethically. Information ethics (which could also include a translation research ethics and which would embrace power and censorship, copyright, access, moral and property rights, and information systems) 11 is but one of a number of developing subfields arising out of the new digital-age literacies and calling urgently for application and definition in Translation Studies. 6 Pedagogy for Experts-in-Training 12 The design of tasks, courses, modules and curricula has been shown to be most effective when challenges and supports are provided from a developmental perspective, that is, stage-appropriate input. 13 Problems themselves must be authentic as opposed to hypothetical (Snarey/ Samuelson 2008: 71) and must be targeted: a lofty value problem of interest to the reflective expert tends to be of small concern to the ethical novice, who focuses on more mundane, immediate, and solvable problems (Bebeau/ Monson 2008: 575). 14 Conflict, which we saw is the prime characteristic of values or roles in action, is also the trigger for maturation: according to Kohlberg, the teacher’s role involves: 1) attending to the learner’s stage; 2) matching students to stimulation (e.g. modes of reasoning one stage above); 3) producing cogni- 10 Significantly, ethical expertise presupposes far transfer; Lickona (1980: 110) distinguishes between vertical development (‘to more comprehensive, more consistent, more integrated stages of logical and moral functioning’) and horizontal development (‘the application of one’s highest stage to an ever widening realm of one’s life experience’). 11 http: / / icie.zkm.de/ research (International Center for Information Ethics) 12 The use of ‘training’ in this ad hoc term does not preclude translator education or its goals. 13 For a discussion of scaffolding in moral education and the use of moral schemas as scaffolds, cf. Pijanowski 2009: 7. 14 Teaching strategies can be geared to different kinds of knowers; in Baxter-Magolda’s ‘model of epistemological reflection’ (1992, following Perry 1968/ 1999 and Belensky et al. 1986), learners move through four stages: absolute (in which they learn best from demonstrations and strong support) to transitional (in which they favour group projects and experiments) to independent (in which they thrive in mutual exploration and varied viewpoints) to contextual (in which they seek collegiality with instructors and peers) (“Intentional Learning...”). <?page no="51"?> Ethical Experts-in-Training 45 tive and social conflict (not the ‘right answers’ of traditional education); and 4) exposing the student to stimuli that encourage an active role and “in which assimilatory response to the stimulus situation is associated with ‘natural’ feedback” (Kohlberg 1981: 59). 15 For Kohlberg, moral arguments are the site of plus-stage change: “Developmental moral discussion thus arouses cognitive-moral conflict and exposes students to reasoning by other students at the next stage above their own” (Kohlberg 1981: 27). Cognitive disequilibrium and re-examination of moral commitments have been shown to result from such challenges (Haan 1978). For the translation classroom, task design may take many forms (see below), so long as tasks are written to target students’ ethical stages, students’ ethical learning is largely deliberate, and their role in learning is active. Ethics emerge much less through transference of fixed rules or codes than through our collaborative problem-solving competence applied to novel situations. Levy’s (2007) work on neuroethics reminds us of how “moral knowledge, like all knowledge, is an ongoing, distributed, community-wide enterprise in which, through moral debate and under the pressure of objection and argument, our judgments are tested and revised” (MacKenzie 2012: 247, summarizing Levy 2007: 308-316). The classroom conceived as a community of ethical inquiry constitutes a methodology promoting autonomous, reflective moral agency (Sprod 2001: 5, 195). While the specific mechanics of teaching translation ethics is well beyond the scope of this paper, task architectures and assessments that can be designed on the aforementioned principles and with the objectives described, all of them dialogic frameworks and perspectives rather than authoritarian transmission, include: - Ethical decision making (EDM) frameworks: evaluating alternative actions and providing ethical justifications; e.g. five sources of standards: the utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the fairness approach, the common good approach, the virtue approach (http: / / www.scu.edu/ ethics/ practicing/ decision/ framework.html); - Case method reasoning tasks: classifying an event through analogical reasoning, drawing on paradigms; identifying relevant presumptions; commenting on circumstances of the case and their effect on overall judgment of the event; reflecting on opinions of prior authorities; and rendering a verdict (Miller 1996: 5). Ethical argumentation of case studies can be eval- 15 Cognitive conflict is induced and resolved Socratically, as in the work of John Rawls, for example: “Citing Aristotle and Henry Sidgwick, the 19th-century English philosopher, as his guides, Rawls envisages ethical reflection as basically Socratic: We hold up alternatives found in philosophical tradition to our own ‘considered judgments’ asking which among them we take to be the most firm and nonnegotiable. [...] Seeking consistency and fit, we sometimes revise our judgments to accommodate a powerful theory that impresses us; but often we reject or revise a theory to suit our considered judgments” (Nussbaum 2001). <?page no="52"?> Kelly Washbourne 46 uated on four criteria: structural correctness of inferences, relevance of inferences, weight given to both sides of a dilemma, and maieutic function (the eliciting of new insights) (Walton 2003: 63); - Mock complaints committee: role-playing (Johnston/ Corser 1998); - Transactive discussion (Berkowicz/ Gibbs 1983, qtd. in Lapsley 1996: 87): using a “mode of dialogue that operates on the reasoning of another (e.g. clarification, comparative critique, contradiction, competitive extension) rather than simply representing it (e.g. paraphrase, feedback or justification request)”; - Constructive (or cooperative) controversy: engaging in a type of creative problem-solving used in conflict resolution theory. Johnson/ Johnson (2002) recommend “students master arguments on both sides of a controversial issue and work towards a resolution that integrates the interests of both positions” (Bebeau/ Monson 2008: 566). Each side can first master their respective positions, refine them through dialogue, and then reverse sides, choosing an opposing advocacy team’s position to argue themselves (Johnson et al. 2000: 78; cf. also social interdependence theory, Tichy et al. 2010; Johnson/ Johnson 1989); - Digital gaming (FitzGerald/ Groff 2011) and ethical simulators: privileging empathetically connected learning, a web-enabled ethical simulator shows effects of decision and morally developmental activities: “e.g. the scaffolding of reasoning, the intimate relationship between reason and action, and the importance of narrative to provide meaning to experience” (Freier/ Saulnier 2011: 187); - Cognitive-structural assessment tools 16 : using ethical reasoning value rubrics, inventories, and tests adapted for translation scenarios. In sum, effective task types include debate, dialogue, role-play, and virtual simulation, and the learning process ought to elicit students’ reasoning as well as just resolutions. In this sense, ethical learning fits naturally in process-oriented learning frameworks. Diagnostic and formative assessment of developmental ethics would help form a truer picture of translators’ readiness to participate in communities of practice. Just as Chesterman (1997: 189) claims that students ought to be given the option to break norms, in full awareness of the consequences of choices, so too can ethical behaviours be shown to be alternatives chosen from the translator’s subjectivity that have impacts on wider networks of stakeholders and participants - the translator’s intersubjectivity. For the instructional designer, the imperative of ethical authenticity inheres to any translation task, and making ethics explicit in the brief, the 16 Some of these resources to consult in developing a comparable instrument for translation: Ethical Reasoning Inventory (ERI); Index of Ethical Congruence; Measure of Moral Orientation (MMO), which measures care and justice orientations; Defining Issues Test (DIT); the Developmental Theory and Moral Maturity Index (DTMMI); or the Moral Judgment Interview (MJI), which tests progression on Kohlberg’s moral reasoning scheme. <?page no="53"?> Ethical Experts-in-Training 47 process, and the assessment is incumbent upon us if we are to speak meaningfully of authenticity in pedagogy. 7 Conclusion Ethics may be especially vital for emerging disciplines such as ours in that it performs boundary-maintenance, legitimizing those who are practicing with deliberate ethical standards. Ethics highlights the socially negotiated nature of norms, a key dynamic for the initiate into professionalization; ethics makes visible for critical review our implicit assumptions; and vitally, ethics anchors the process of self-direction in an expertise no less determinant than subject mastery. Translational ethics as a field of study, and as a pedagogics, is in its infancy. Interpreting Studies has broken ground in producing much work in ethics upon which our neighbouring discipline would do well to draw. Although Baker/ Maier produced a recent issue of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer (2011) devoted to ethics, many areas remain to be researched in Translation Studies: Rawlsian justice ethics, ethics constituted in and across language(s), organizational ethics (including longitudinal descriptive studies), moral agency theory, and the role of ethics in client education, editing translations, the translator’s subjectivity (cf. Munday 2012), and decision making and problem structuring. Our goal in the field ought to be not to inculcate the good or the right but to develop more principled ethical criteria for decision-making for situated moral action, to do things with ethics, the phronesis, or practical reason, of the Greeks. Ultimately our role is no less than to model and foster ethical congruence - the alignment of behaviour to values - and to incline translation students to take morally imaginative actions not only toward expert translation but toward justice and human flourishing. References Abdallah, Kristiina (2011): “Toward Empowerment: Students’ Ethical Reflections on Training in Production Networks” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 5(1): 129-154. Ambrose, Don/ Tracy Cross, eds. (2009): Morality, Ethics, and Gifted Minds. New York, London: Springer. 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Narvaez, Darcia (2008): “Human Flourishing and Moral Development: Cognitive and Neurobiological Perspectives on Virtue Development” Nucci, Larry P./ Darcia Narvaez, eds.: Handbook of Moral and Character Education. New York: Routledge, 310-327. Noddings, Nel (1984/ 2003): Caring: A Feminist Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley: University of California Press. Nussbaum, Martha (2001): “The Enduring Significance of John Rawls” The Chronicle of Higher Education. http: / / chronicle.com/ article/ The-Enduring-Significance-of/ 7360/ [08/ 04/ 2012] Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl/ Lani Ritter Hall (2012): The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Ozar, David T. (2001): “An Outcomes Centered Approach to Teaching Ethics” Teaching Ethics 2(1): 1-29. Palmer, Parker (1993): To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. 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Vienne, Jeanne (1994): “Toward a Pedagogy of ‘Translation in Situation’” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 1: 51-59. Walton, Douglas N. (2003): Ethical Argumentation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Weinstein, Bruce D. (1994): “The Possibility of Ethical Expertise” Theoretical Medicine 15: 61-75. <?page no="59"?> Maria Yarosh University of Deusto, Bilbao Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 1 Introduction With the translator’s task described as enabling intercultural mediation (e.g. Witte 2008: 56; cf. also Kelly 2005) and professional translators regarded as intercultural mediators (Bell 1991: 114; González Davies 2004: 11; Hatim/ Mason 1990; Hewson/ Martin 1991: 9, 32; Katan 1999: 1, 12; Leppihalme 1997: 19, 193; Neubert 2000; or Ulrych 1996), translator education has come to allocate a prominent role to the need for developing student translators’ intercultural competence (cf. Englund Dimitrova 2002; Kastberg 2007; Kelly 2005; McAlester 1991; Mohanty 1994; Neubert 2000; Nord 1991, 2005: 211; Pöchhacker 1993: 89-90; Schäffner 2003; Torres del Rey 2005: 63-64; or Witte 1994, 1996 and 2008; as well as CIUTI, n.d., and Gambier 2009). However, the issue of translator intercultural training remains largely unexplored and as soon as we look at it with any level of detail, we come across “blank spots”. For example, although many Translation Studies (TS) authors advocate the importance of intercultural competence for translators, few specify what this comprises. And if particular competence elements are enumerated, the question of how these can be developed is hardly ever raised. While the various configurations of translator intercultural competence are addressed by us elsewhere (Muies/ Yarosh 2011), the present paper focuses on the ability to identify (potential) cultural problems (CPs) - a key component of translator intercultural competence (cf. Arjona 1978: 36-37; CIUTI, n.d.; Gambier 2009; Kelly 2005: 141; Mohanty 1994: 35; Witte 2008, passim). This sub-competence is considered crucial even by those who do not speak of translator intercultural competence explicitly (e.g. Baker 1992: 232; González Davies 2004: 18; Hurtado Albir 1999b: 102, 105; or Leppihalme 1997: 193 and Scott-Tennent/ González Davies 2008: 786). Moreover, the capacity for (potential) problem identification is presented as central to intercultural competence development on the whole, regardless of the area of the competence application (Hoopes 2000: 36). <?page no="60"?> Maria Yarosh 54 2 Why Research is Required If the ability to detect (potential) problems is so important, it is logical to assume that translator trainers would require means for monitoring students’ development in this respect. The problem identification task is indeed among the most popular in translation pedagogy. Students are typically given a text and required to identify cultural references or CPs (e.g. González Davies 2004: 95-96; González Davies/ Scott-Tennent 2005; or Kelly 2005: 141-142), or any types of problems including cultural problems (Orozco/ Hurtado Albir 2002). Sercu (2004: 85) actually describes this task format as the favoured in any language-and-culture education. Criteria used to evaluate students’ responses, however, do not appear to be scientific. Thus, Kelly (2005: 141-142) speaks of a proportion of identified problems, while Orozco/ Hurtado Albir (2002: 382) suggest awarding a point for every problem identified. The question of the type of problems, in turn, is not addressed at all. 1 So much so that Sercu (2004: 86) observes that assessors’ opinions on what cultural references a student should identify in a given text might not coincide. Yet, without a set of coherent criteria for classifying CPs or culturally-specific elements that are as all-encompassing as possible (CSEs), instructors can hardly be sure to what extent they are successful in helping trainees develop their “spotting” ability. Students may identify more CSEs during a post-test, but it is also important to know that these are not all of the same type (e.g. brand names familiar to the initial target audience but unfamiliar to the members of the target culture or culturallyspecific measurement units) or of a limited number of types (compared with the whole spectrum). The classification desirable in this context is one that should permit establishing CSEs’ comparative identification difficulty: which types of CSEs students tend to recognise first, which require some training in intercultural awareness, and which cause even greater difficulty. To sum up, it is argued that a set of classification criteria and a difficulty scale should be elaborated for the monitoring of students’ progress to become more than impressionistic and be no longer dependent on the particular instructor’s experience and competence. The present article explains what has been done towards the twofold objective so far and outlines the actions that may permit casting further light on the issue. 1 Scott-Tennent/ González Davies (2008) consider thematic groups when designing their experiment but do not report the ratios of types of cultural references (e.g. material versus ecology) identified in preand post-test situations. The word - phrase - clause criterion was not used by the researchers in the identification part of the study. <?page no="61"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 55 3 The First Two Steps The first two sources of data explored in search of insights could both be described as experts’ opinions: a literature review was conducted to see what TS scholars had to say and 18 practicing translators were interviewed to obtain the practitioners’ point of view on the issue. 3.1 Translation Studies’ Authors on Culturally-specific Elements First of all, a comment on terminology is necessary. This article advocates the term culturally-specific elements, although it also speaks of potential CPs and ideas and contributions of TS authors who employ differing terms 2 , which are also reviewed. CP(s) is an umbrella term that covers all the other denominations and is probably the most popular among TS scholars (e.g. Hurtado Albir 1999a: 19, 39; 1999b: 105; Kussmaul 1995: 67; or Nord 1992: 46). Besides, speaking of problems, rather than difficulties, permits one to highlight the fact that these phenomena present some “objective” difficulty - due to the existence of differences between the source and the target cultures - and not subjective difficulty caused by a translator’s incompetence (Nord 1997: 64). Adding potential or likely draws attention to the fact that translators always work with estimations and that, if the translator’s behaviour is interculturally competent, the difficulty will be overcome and no communication problem caused by differences in source and target cultures will occur (cf. Rehbein 2001 and Witte 2008: 82). However, to define something as a potential CP requires both identification and consequent judgement of the element’s significance within the communicative situation. Anything might affect mutual understanding (cf. Baker 1992: 230; Neubert 2000: 10; Nord 1997: 23; or Rodrigo Alsina 1999: 66), which means that anything might also not be important enough to constitute even a potential problem. The term culturally-specific elements (CSEs), in turn, appears more instrumental when the emphasis is shifted from discussing the translator-mediated communication process on the whole to focusing on the elements students should detect and address to prevent communication problems related to cultural differences between the originally envisaged and the resulting, new, target audiences. Besides, speaking of CSEs, we might be able to combine - without confusing - typology proposals of those authors who focus on text elements, 2 For example, cultural barrier(s) - Robinson (2007: 188) and Witte (2008: 57); cultural difficulties - Vázquez-Ayora (1997: 33, 154); cultural references - González Davies/ Scott- Tennent (2005), Kelly/ Cámara Aguilera (2008) or Scott-Tennent/ González Davies (2008); culturema - Nord (1997: 34) and Chesterman (2007: 5); or culture bumps - Archer (1986), for language teaching, and Leppihalme (1997: viii) and Chesterman (1997: 185), for translation. <?page no="62"?> Maria Yarosh 56 although normally recognising that these are related to differences in the “outer world” (e.g. Baker 1992: 21 or Risager 2007: 61) and of those who focus on cultural elements (e.g. Kussmaul 1995: 67). This, in turn, might allow us to account for both the surface and the deeper-level “cultural gaps”. Reconciliation of the text-elements and the culture-elements foci is possible because this combined approach underscores the question of potential CPs’ sources, without neglecting the fact that translators operate predominantly with linguistic means. Still, despite these advantages, caution should be taken not to forget that culture does not come into play in the form of particular elements only but constitutes, at the same time, a major factor of text coherence (cf. Baker 1992: 219-220 and Witte 2005: 28). We will now artificially separate the text-elements’ and the cultureelements’ approaches and use the dichotomy in order to organise various views on how CSEs can be grouped. Nonetheless, it will become clear that neither approach alone could suffice, at least if our interest is to advance translator intercultural training. We will focus on those scholars who provide more than a general description or a definition (e.g. Nord 1997: 34 for culturema or Witte 2008: 57 for a cultural barrier). Such descriptions, although useful, fall short of clarifying what types of CSEs could be distinguished. Of limited help for us are also cases when some types of CSEs are enumerated by mode of example and the reasons for differentiation are not explained (Robinson 2007: 186-189; Kussmaul 1995: 65; Hurtado Albir 1996: 42; or Baker 1992: 230). Although Nord (1991: 159) observes that, until the discipline of comparative culturology can provide a solution, creating personal culture-pair-specific “collections” of CPs seems the only way forward, there are authors who suggest at least some CSEs classification principles. With the text-elements’ versus culture-elements’ dichotomy proposed above as an organization principle, we first look at approaches for which texts, rather than cultures, are the point of departure. Here we distinguish (a1) scholars who differentiate CSEs by topic, (a2) those who advocate applying formal-linguistic classification and (a3) those who speak of CSEs and applicable translation strategies. 3.1.1 Focusing on Text Elements (a1) Grouping Culturally-specific Elements by Topic Nida (1945) and his five categories of cultural references is usually cited as the first person within TS to group CSEs by topic. Arjona (1978: 39-40), Katan (1999: 10) and Kelly (2005: 32) are among those who pay homage to the approach within TS, while in the broader field of Intercultural Training in general, Fowler/ Mumford/ Tyler (1999: 262), who propose four useful areas of knowledge, and Kohls (1979: 172-173 and 1999: 274-277), who suggests first thirteen and later seven, are good examples. This approach demon- <?page no="63"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 57 strates that cultural specificity might be found in any area, thus, possibly widening the trainees’ concept of culture. However, such groupings seem to presuppose a thematic approach to intercultural training, an approach that is somewhat more about imparting knowledge about foreign culture(s) and although it can clearly contribute to awareness raising and cultural knowledge acquisition tasks, cannot suffice for developing students’ ability to identify CSEs. 3 (a2) Grouping Culturally-specific Elements by Linguistic Category Hurtado Albir (1999a: 23) distinguishes four levels at which student translators should learn to analyse “cultural connotations and loading”: “semiotic entities, lexical units, morpho-syntactic aspects of a language and features of text genres”. Clouet (2008: 151) also differentiates four “linguistic” levels: linguistic and paralinguistic structures (grammar, lexicon, prosody, pronunciation and kinesics); organisation and selection of language units; utterances (language use); and general text structure (genres). The logic behind the two groupings is to mirror the classification of text “building blocks” used in linguistic studies: from the smallest units of meaning to text conventions. 4 Thus, the students’ attention is drawn to the possible forms of CSEs, which is relevant to developing their ability to detect CSEs, but, again, cannot be used as the only CSEs-differentiation principle. (a3) Grouping Culturally-specific Elements by Translation Strategy to be Applied Hervey/ Higgins (1992: 21-31), Chesterman (1997: 107-109) and Carbonell i Cortés (1999: 151-152) speak of different translation strategies applicable to CSEs. None of them actually suggests different ways of “translation manipulation” as the criterion for differentiation, but all of them discuss which strategies, behaviours, or changes are normally applied to which types of CSEs. However, such generalisations have only limited value, as the authors themselves recognise (e.g. Hervey/ Higgins 1992: 34). Indeed, little more can be said with any degree of certainty than that a continuum of “fixed” solutions exists, which have nearly crystallised within a particular translation tradition (where “(Please), Do not touch” should be translated as “No tocar” into Spanish or “Руками не трогать” into Russian), on the one side; situations where translation precedents should be taken into account and often followed, in the middle; and cases where the translator is comparatively free 3 Even Scott-Tennent/ González Davies (2008), who use Nida´s categories as a main principle, also mention word-phrase-clause criterion. 4 Clouet (2008) goes beyond a strictly linguistic classification and includes culturespecific world knowledge as the topmost level, which brings him closer to (b3) Nature of problems approach discussed below. <?page no="64"?> Maria Yarosh 58 and should select a strategy appropriate to this particular communicative situation, on the other side (cf. Carbonell i Cortés 1999: 151-152). Thus, although this could be a more “competent” approach to classifying problems (cf. Lachat Leal 2008: 49 and Pretz/ Naples/ Sternberg 2003: 13-14), different CSEs could hardly be associated with one particular translation strategy. Besides, had this been possible, we would be basing our classification on mental processes that come after a CSE has been identified and its significance for the communicative act has been judged. Therefore, this approach is not considered instrumental at the stage of identification capacity fostering. 3.1.2 Focusing on the “Cultural Side” of CSEs The second “camp” is formed by the authors who focus on the causes of potential CPs, on the reasons which make CSEs culturally-specific. Interested in types of cultural differences, these TS writers opened up the traditional boundaries of the discipline and purported to create classifications based on the insights from various culture-studying fields. The three approaches distinguished here are: (b1) mirroring culture-stratifications approach; (b2) types of obstacles approach; and (b3) nature of problems approach. (b1) Mirroring Culture-Stratifications Approach Chesterman (1997), Gommlich (1997) and Kussmaul (1995) have “peeped outside” the area of TS. As a result, they distinguish more and less evident cultural strata, and, respectively, CSEs that are easier to identify from those that require more competence. In the three dyads proposed by the scholars, one part consists of the more obvious, evident or overt cultural elements, which correspond to realia (Chesterman 1997: 185) and which Kussmaul (1995: 67) refers to as differences in the material culture. Gommlich (1997: 62), in turn, speaks of certain elements mentioned in a text being overtly or outwardly cultural, of more or less evidence of the “culturalness” of their meaning. The other part comprises CSEs based on differences in the “invisible” cultural strata - in social culture (Kussmaul 1995: 67), shared knowledge (Chesterman 1997: 185) and in associations, interpretations and evaluations of certain phenomena (Gommlich 1997: 62). Differing attitudes, values and norms, which can only be perceived through their enactment or verbalisation, are the sources of this second CSEs type. This visible-invisible dichotomy is very well-known in the area of intercultural training in general, most frequently referred to as objective versus subjective culture (e.g. Brislin 1998: 3 or Pedersen 1994: xi), but also partially overlapping with high-low or Culture-culture dyads (e.g. Brislin 1998: 3). However, more differentiation seems instrumental and distinguishing at least three categories appears to be widespread. Thus, in the field of intercul- <?page no="65"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 59 tural communication training, Porter/ Samovar (1994: 11) speak of artefacts, concepts (values and beliefs) and behaviours as three categories of elements that can be found in any culture (cf. Pedersen 1994: xi). The culture-stratification approach (somewhat like Grouping CSEs by topic (a1) above) broadens the concept of culture, this time not through adding more topics but through completion with the “invisible” and/ or “not touchable” strata that which is included in “culture” and pointing out that not only visible culture is important for translators. Still, it might be argued, that visibility or overt “cultural-specificity” of CSEs is at least as important for developing CSEs-detection ability as broadening the student’s idea of culture. (b2) Types of Obstacles Approach Intercultural Communication scholars often characterise CSEs or potential problems as types of cultural differences or categories of potential obstacles. This approach permits both raising of cultural awareness and developing the habit of “being on guard” - attentive to all the aspects of the communicative process prone to harbouring differences. If we want students to go beyond identifying only familiar differences, this habit of suspecting possible discrepancies is crucial. However, lists proposed by authors unfamiliar with the translator’s task cannot be borrowed directly. Thus, Barna’s (1998: 184) six stumbling blocks describe situations of direct oral communication and are hardly applicable to translation as professionally-mediated and often written communication. Novinger’s (2001: 24) taxonomy, in turn, starts from differentiating potential obstacles for intercultural communication related to behaviour from those related to perceptions. Behaviour is then subdivided into verbal and non-verbal processes, while perceptions account for values, norms and beliefs, as well as for systems of social organisation, like education or government. Thus, perceptions cover the possible contents - both factual and evaluative - of an act of communication, while behaviour refers to what can be actually seen, heard or physically felt during the process. This might be an instrumental distinction, although, if one looks at the subcategories it becomes evident that the taxonomy has again been developed for situations of direct oral interaction and will require careful adaptation in order to not confuse students who are often first taught to work with written texts. In this sense, Hoopes’ (2000: 35) four categories of cultural differences might be more relevant. The author distinguishes differences in (1) customary behaviours, (2) cultural assumptions and values, (3) patterns of thinking, and (4) communication style. Here, the linguistic forms chosen (along with possible non-verbal elements) are placed in a separate category (“communication style”), while anything that can be referred to, described or presupposed in a text is broken down into three other categories. These are not <?page no="66"?> Maria Yarosh 60 topic-bound 5 or separated into visible and invisible realms. Therefore, if complemented by another type of classification criterion, it may well form the basis for distinguishing different CSEs types from the translator training perspective. 6 (b3) Nature of Problems Approach Günthner/ Luckmann (2001: 61-64), who are interested in the nature of problems that may arise in communication because interlocutors come from different cultures, propose a two-parameter classification of CSEs. Namely, they suggest that knowledge about the world and how things are done - “knowledge about physical and social reality” - be differentiated from knowledge about communicative genres, about what combination of resources should be used depending on the desirable effect. This is one criterion. The other distinguishes differences of zero-one type (something exists in one culture but not in the other) and asymmetries (phenomena that exist in both cultures but display dissimilarities). The classification proposed can be expressed in terms of culturally-specific world-phenomena and text-type cognitive models (cf. Emmott 1994: 157), which confirms Carbonell i Cortés’ (1999: 125) observation that cognitive models theory could account for all the CPs translators can encounter. The world-phenomena versus text-type dichotomy can also help us avoid opposing the linguistic and the cultural, recognised as futile and counterproductive by some (cf. Schäffner 1993: 155 or Pallotti 2001: 327). Attempting to oppose the two while at the same time recognising impossibility to separate culture and language makes Clouet’s (2008: 151) diagram somewhat confusing, while Antonini (2007: 158), who tries initially to separate culture-specific references from language-specific in the corpus she analyses, finally has to create a lingua-cultural category as well. 7 What is more, Günthner/ Luckmann’s proposal is compatible with that presented by Leppihalme (1997: 2-3). The latter denominates the two poles she distinguishes as extra-linguistic phenomena and intra-linguistic and pragmatic phenomena. The first group accounts for everything from natural to man-made phenomena. The second group’s core consists of idioms, puns and speech acts, but also appears to cover indirect messages and culturallyspecific connotations. 5 Unlike a four-piece classification cited by Reisinger (2009: 120): ideology, socialisation, verbal and nonverbal communication and social organisation; which seems less clear and not so different from the thematic approach (a1). 6 For example, culturally-specific objects and figures are missing in Hoopes’ classification. 7 With the corpus consisting of fragments of dubbed TV broadcast, the fourth group distinguished comprises visual elements or settings meaningful to the source culture context; gestures, however, are treated as lingua-cultural references. <?page no="67"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 61 If the three scholars’ ideas are combined, text-genres and speech-acts could be differentiated from extra-linguistic phenomena, with intertextuality and other “mixed” elements forming intermediate group(s). The kind of difference (0-1 or asymmetry) could constitute the second classification parameter because phenomena inexistent in one of the cultures, whichever their nature, may result in being much easier to identify than those that display discrepancies but - if taken at face value - appear to present no need for intercultural mediation. Still, both the number and features of the “intermediate” categories and the validity of the hypothesis about 0-1 CSEs being easier to recognise cannot be established without further empirical research. Summing up, if we compile the insights found in literature, the ideas cited in the last two sections ((b2) Types of obstacles approach and (b3) Nature of problems approach) appear to be the most promising and shall be combined to develop a twoor three-parameter taxonomy, which in turn shall later be tested against a corpus of examples, as well as in a series of experiments with students and professional translators. However, before drafting this working classification, an attempt to complete the picture with practitioners’ opinions was undertaken. It was expected that the interview data would either support the combination of classification criteria proposed and possibly add more nuances and sub-divisions or suggest that a different set of criteria might better reflect the practical perspective. 3.2 Practising Translators on Culturally-specific Elements 18 practising translators (predominantly female, see Table 1 below), most of them with ten or more years of work experience, were interviewed on the subject of the CPs and CSEs they encounter in their work. Professionals working with not-far-apart languages and cultures were selected so that the insights obtained would be applicable to training student translators with a larger number of language combinations. 8 The specialisation area was not treated as a selection factor, although care was taken to interview more people from outside the world of literary translation than from within it, so as to combat the stereotype of CPs being somehow limited to the world of literary translation. These were semi-structured interviews and responders were found through the “snow-ball” technique. All those approached were sent information on the project and the key interview questions, although more questions could be asked to clarify certain replies or to further explore the interviewee’s perspective. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and the responses then grouped under three broad headings: 8 English-Spanish or Spanish-Russian, and not only English-Japanese or Spanish-Arabic, the “West-East combinations”. <?page no="68"?> Maria Yarosh 62 1. translators’ notion of CP, 2. types of CSEs distinguished, and 3. identification and comparative difficulty. The interview questions can be consulted in the Appendix, while the interviewees’ professional profiles are summarised in Table 1 below. Gender 3 males and 15 females Years of professional experience Mean: 17.55; standard deviation: 6.8; min.: 7 ; max.: 35 Working languages Russian (A), English (B) - 7 respondents; Russian (A), English (B), Hungarian or German (C) - 2 respondents; Russian (A), Spanish (B) - 1 respondent; English (A), Spanish (B) - 3 respondents; Spanish (A), English (B) - 2 respondents; Spanish and Basque (A), English (B) - 1 respondent; Italian (A), Spanish (B), English (C) - 2 respondent Specialization areas (as reported by the interviewees, with the number of respondents who named this area of specialization indicated in brackets) academic (1); administrative (1); advertisement (1); architecture (1); art and/ or art history (5); banking (2); economy (4); education (3); edutainment (1); environment (1); finance (2); general (1); history (2); intellectual disabilities (1); IT (2); legal (3); lifestyle (1); literary translation (2); localization (1); marketing (2); media (2); medicine (3); military (1); movies (1); nuclear (1); oceanography and fishery (1); oil & gas (1); philosophy (2); psychology (1); sociology (1); technical (2); tourism (4). Table 1: Interviewees’ Professional Profiles 3.2.1 The Notion of CP The introductory part of the interviews focused on translators’ notion of a CP. All of the respondents believed that the texts they worked with contained CPs, which was interpreted as basic evidence of the concept being familiar to the interviewees. In fact, even those working in technical and legal translation said that, although other areas tend to contain more varied and “bigger” CPs, they also had to act as intercultural mediators if they wanted their translations not to look as translations. Yet, already at this stage it became clear that some practitioners found it difficult to think not of issues that (still) caused problems to them at their particular stage of expertise development but more generally of those which might cause communication problems between the author and the new target audience if the translator did not interfere. <?page no="69"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 63 To take the respondents away from the problems-for-me perspective and see to what extent they could verbalise their understanding of a cultural translation problem in general, although still based on their personal work experience, the interviewees were asked to explain what they thought a CP in translation was. Five interrelated themes can be distinguished within the answers obtained: (1) CPs as obstacles to achieving comprehension; (2) CPs as elements that call for intercultural mediation; (3) CPs as elements that cannot be translated “automatically”; (4) CPs as differences between the source and the target culture relevant in the context of the translation task in question; and (5) heterogeneity of CPs. The five themes should be regarded as complementary rather than mutually exclusive and are briefly expanded on below. (1) CPs as obstacles for achieving comprehension: For some, CPs are primarily difficulties that can prevent a translator from providing a highquality service by affecting the translator’s comprehension of the source text and/ or leading to inability to cope with certain elements of the commission. Namely, CPs were described as text elements that require cultural knowledge to enable going beyond the “surface”, immediate meaning of the words, as conceptual “false friends” or differences that can be overlooked “because words do not seem to cause any problem” or as elements of the source culture mentioned but not described in the source text, which shall, therefore, be looked up in order to comprehend the text. These “definitions” focus on the comprehension stage and regard CPs as impeding understanding or leading to erroneous interpretation, if one’s own cultural frames are imposed on a foreign-culture text. Such an approach is, however, bound to exclude text-conventions or registers, which are also culturally-specific but are not accounted for if culture-as-contents only is highlighted. Besides, this way it is easy to forget about CPs that cease to present difficulties to particular experienced translators but are, nevertheless, likely to constitute obstacles for students. (2) CPs as elements that call for intercultural mediation and (3) CPs as elements that cannot be translated “automatically”: The second and the third themes - CPs as elements that call for intercultural mediation and CPs as something that cannot be translated “automatically” - nearly always came together. 9 CPs in translation arise because new target readers and the author do not share cultural backgrounds and the target audience is not familiar with the source culture. Translators need to mediate and think about how to transfer the general message and particular meanings of CSEs that “do not translate well” and would be incomprehensible to the target reader if translated “more or less literally”. These respondents have a broad- 9 Cf. Definition of any translation problem proposed by González-Daviez/ Scott-Tennent (2005: 164). <?page no="70"?> Maria Yarosh 64 er and possibly more developed notion of CPs, although, it is hard to judge whether CSEs that have a “traditional” translation in the target language are regarded as CPs by these respondents. (4) CPs as differences between the source and the target culture relevant in the context of the translation task in question: A further perspective distinguished is to describe CPs as differences between the source and the target culture that become relevant due to the form or the contents of a particular text and the communicative situation in question. Some of the respondents spoke only of differences in the world-phenomena - their existence or not, differing perceptions and associations they have in the cultures compared - but registers or text conventions were also mentioned. Perhaps more interestingly, two of the interviewees suggested that cultural differences are always present but in some cases the differences become so pronounced that the translator cannot disregard them anymore, although even when this happens, the translator can sometimes avoid solving such problems if he/ she considers that the pragmatics of this particular translation commission permits it. (5) Heterogeneity of CPs: Finally, the fifth theme was the heterogeneity of CPs. Thus, four respondents said that there were different types of CPs and either enumerated some types or gave some particular examples (see Types of culturally-specific elements distinguished section below). This should not necessarily be interpreted as a sign of these translators being less conscious of CSEs and their role in translation. In fact, the opposite may well be the case. Judging by the variety of examples given, these interviewees should be placed among the most interculturally-aware respondents of the sample. In fact, this high level of awareness might have prevented them from describing such a diverse phenomenon with one brief phrase. One more introductory question, whose aim was that of helping interviewees activate their ideas about CSEs they encounter while translating, asked whether the respondents distinguished CPs from any other type of translation problems and whether they thought that such differentiation made sense from a professional point of view. Two main themes surfaced here. Firstly, the “classifying behaviour” was referred to as only impeding work. While translating, all the problems were reported to be dealt with together or one by one, without reflecting on whether these were cultural or not. Yet, at least two respondents also added that sometimes they would stop and say to themselves that something was cultural; when “this is something new”, one explained. Secondly, both these and other interviewees replied that they could, nonetheless, differentiate CPs from other type(s) of translation problems, referred to as “linguistic”, “syntax”, “language”, “structural” or “structure/ vocabulary/ grammar”. Curiously enough, non-CPs were described as “very simple” or “not real problems” and it was suggested that <?page no="71"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 65 only CPs “continue to exist” for an experienced practitioner. Still, as a number of translators observed, it is often a question of shades. As one of them said, “it’s really difficult to give you any specific example of one [type of problem] versus another, with one being a cultural issue and the other a linguistic one”. Similarly, another interviewee commented that linguistic problems that are not cultural may exist, but that every CP is also a linguistic one since the solution will always have a linguistic form. Summing up, the replies obtained were in line with the two premises and also revealed that speaking of CSEs - rather than of CPs - had at least two advantages in the context of the interviews. On the one hand, this could help ensure that elements not considered problematic for the respondent personally would also be accounted for. On the other hand, the reluctance to draw a line between language and culture could be overcome this way. Therefore, the term “CSEs” was introduced and explained at this stage of the interviews, after which the respondents were asked what groups of CSEs they could distinguish on the basis of their work experience. Replies to this key question are presented and discussed in the next section. 3.2.2 Types of Culturally-specific Elements Distinguished The groupings proposed by the interviewees were of three different types: some focused on the areas in which cultures often differ, others on the types of differences (regardless of the area), and others again approached the issue from the point of view of the translation process (degree of familiarity, ways of solving, and ways of identification). In other words, apart from the possible classification principles identified thanks to the literature review (the first two types), the interviews conducted permitted obtaining some novel - procedural - insights. It should be pointed out, however, that the general picture presented below is created by assembling the various partial but overlapping contributions of the interviewees, who did not necessarily distinguish between the three classification principles and were usually unable to verbalise the classification criteria. (c1) Focusing on the Areas where Cultures tend to differ If we try to organise the types of CSEs distinguished here along one continuum, Leppihalme’s classification (see b3 above) can be applied: with real or imaginary objects and actors at one end and the ways things are written at the other. Ideas about objects and actors (the qualities ascribed to them, both in terms of what these objects and actors are supposed to be like and how they are presumed to function and be interrelated); intertextual elements and culturally-significant behaviours will be the intermediate categories, moving from left to right. All in all, the groups of CSEs named by the respondents could be organised as depicted in Table 2. <?page no="72"?> Maria Yarosh 66 Real and imaginary objects and actors “names”, “cultural references”, “realia”, “phenomena”, “cultural facts”, high culture and everyday life Ascribed qualities “the way the world is organised”, “society stratification”, how people should be/ things should be done Intertextuality “quotes”, “songs and rhymes”, (in)direct references to other texts (including films) Dialects socio-, geo-& historical culturally-significant forms + politically-conditioned choice of expressions “Not plain language” “idioms”, “proverbs”, “jokes”, “puns” The ways things are written “registers”, “text/ genre conventions”, formality vs. directness or informality + political correctness + ways numbers are written (2.5/ 2,5; 19/ XIX) Table 2: Areas where cultures tend to differ 10 (c2) Focusing on the Types of Differences (regardless of the Area) Professional translators also considered the type-of-difference classification of CSEs (presented above in section (b3)) important and valid. Besides, the practitioners’ replies permit introduction of a higher level of detail. Namely, the interviewees who mentioned this criterion, differentiated not only the general two categories (exists in one culture but not in the other, versus exists in both but with certain differences), but sub-divided the types of discrepancies that can be observed into (1) differences of detail (certain elements of the general model are not identical: e.g., car parks as separate buildings in the UK and as situated below the ground in Spain), (2) differences of relevance (well-known in one culture and little-known in the other; often applicable to the level of familiarity with elements of a third culture), and (3) differences of associations (is a “gypsy” associated predominantly with a romantic character who sings and dances or with a poor and often marginal person unwilling to integrate). (c3) Translation-process-related Groupings Three more ways of differentiating CSEs suggested were: (1) known differences versus cases when you do not know exactly but you feel that there may be a difference; (2) known CSEs versus the new ones (either for the 10 The elements listed may be grouped and arranged differently; the intention here is try to organise all the groups of CSEs named by the interviewees in some way, but no claim for this to be a strict classification is made. <?page no="73"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 67 translator or both for the translator and for the two cultures in question, that is, those which reflect constant development of culture(s)); and (3) verbalised CSEs versus non-verbalised or implicitly present CSEs, which lead to certain observable behaviours and situations but are not named in the source text. 11 All the three classifications consist of only two broad categories each, with respective groups distinguished in the first and the second case being very similar (known - unknown to the translator, generally speaking). Nonetheless, they might happen to be crucial for comprehending how the (potential) CSE-identification capacity develops. As pointed out on several prior occasions, such insights shall be treated as hypotheses for subsequent empirical research. To further explore whether experienced translators could shed light on the issue, the interviewees were asked which CSEs they found easiest and/ or most difficult to identify and how they went about identifying CSEs. 3.2.3 Identification and Comparative Difficulty The translators interviewed did not consider CSEs identification mechanism to be conscious and could not explain how it develops, 12 although they did correlate higher levels of capacity with general experience of translation and comparative cultural knowledge base. The CSEs identification process was described as something “almost spontaneous” but was also said to require constant active awareness of one’s knowledge limitations, being alert and on guard all the time. “It is normal for a translator to be always suspicious”, always double-check and not take anything for granted, several respondents observed. When asked to try and describe the mechanism, some suggested that this had to be checked experimentally: “present me with a problem and I will be able to identify it” and comment on it, one of them said. Yet, others considered that the general principle is comparing cultures and constant shifting of cultural perspectives. The respondents also believed that CSEs identification can happen at two stages within the translation process: when reading the source text and when reading the (draft version of the) target text. In the first case, the ability to spot CSEs was expressed as a result of a “professional bias” at the reading stage. 13 One interviewee described the process as reading and trying to imagine how you would say it in the target 11 The fourth classification principle named was existence of an established translation versus the need to create a solution, but this is not to be followed up here because it focuses on the translation strategy more than on CSE identification. 12 In line with studies on the “automaticity” of expert knowledge, cf. Shiffrin/ Schneider 1977. 13 Cf. Castro Arce’s (2008) experiments on how reading and comprehension processes are altered when the subject is aware of the need to translate the text afterwards. <?page no="74"?> Maria Yarosh 68 language. More particularly, the translator was reported to identify some CSEs as a source text reader and the rest as the intercultural mediator. CSEs unknown to the translator constitute the first group: “you have no idea what it is”, “you stumble against something you do not understand”; or - more generally - when you encounter something strange, suspicious, unusual or anything that seems odd, something you cannot explain. It can be a word or, even more likely, elements larger than one word, or a situation description followed by a reaction that the translator does not see as related to the preceding events. “When you think the author is an idiot or you are an idiot,” as one of the respondents put it. Besides, text fragments where all the words are familiar but the meaning is still not clear also belong to this first - unfamiliar CSE - group. As an intercultural mediator, however, the translator is expected to identify not only CSEs unknown to him/ herself but those which might be unfamiliar to the new target audience. These are identified “because you know they do not exist” or are different in the target culture. A possible “strategy” to avoid overlooking these consists in visualising what you read and constantly asking yourself what could be a problem for your target reader. Speaking of the levels of difficulty and competence required to identify different CSEs, those that have some “visible form” were named as the easiest. These could be text elements that are written with a capital letter (at least in the case of Spanish, English, Italian and Russian languages), typed in italics, whose “cultural” nature is clear from the syntax (quotes or comparisons) or which can be perceived as culturally-marked in any other way (e.g. dialects). At the opposite end are the “invisible” CSEs - causes of some observable behaviour that are not verbalised or explanations behind a situation that are not comprehensible and contain no clues for the translator to decide what exactly needs to be looked for in order to understand the event. Common cultural knowledge (e.g. of geography) that is a factor of text coherence is another example of such invisible CSEs. Familiarity with a cultural phenomenon, on the other hand, is not necessarily related to the ease of its identification as a CSE. Namely, “the most normal” CSE might well be overlooked. In this sense, as one respondent commented, a CSE may be missed because the translator does not suspect that the foreign culture might differ from the target one in this respect or because the translator is so used to the foreign version of the phenomenon that he/ she “forgets” that this is one of the aspects in which the target culture differs from the source culture or that this phenomenon and/ or (some of) its foreign-culture-specific characteristics are not known to the intended target audience. Yet, the general opinion was that more experienced translators identify many more CSEs, because of a larger comparative cultural knowledge base and because “some become obvious to you, while the others <?page no="75"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 69 you suspect” to be culturally-specific and check, if your hypothesis / estimation is correct or not. As for identifying further CSEs at the revision stage, the technique here is to read through your draft looking for possible discrepancies between the translation and the impression you formed while reading and visualising the source text. Moreover, this is the moment to check whether some elements remain incomprehensible to the person unfamiliar with the source culture. No interviewee, however, commented which CSEs would normally be identified at the first reading stage and which, at the revision stage(s). All in all, the insights obtained through the interviews have contributed to further clarifying the general picture of CSEs groups and their interrelations. Both additional nuances and new division criteria can now be added to the working taxonomy proposed on the basis of the literature review. Nonetheless, conducting further interviews of this format was not considered promising: asked to reflect on their work experience on the whole, respondents could only verbalise rather generic observations. 14 For example, although the respondents agreed that CSEs identification capacity developed with experience, 15 the categories of “easy/ easier to identify” and “difficult/ more difficult to identify” CSEs they could distinguish reflecting on their general work experience were very broad and require think-aloud protocol experiments in order to explore how CSEs identification mechanism works in each case. The same is true about the two stages of CSEs identification reported. It is not clear if any pattern - CSEs type in relation to the stage when it is discovered - can be discovered here, but this could not be done with one-off interviews. A possible methodology here could be a longitudinal study of work-portfolios, where the various stages of the initial identification and translation revision process could be recorded. Besides, when asked to reflect in such a general mode, respondents often gave examples they characterised as “clichés”. These could be the most common or obvious types of CSEs and/ or intercultural mediation “rules” and principles they have discovered and were ready “to pass on”. Such an outcome might be highly instrumental if translators of one language pair are interviewed for compiling a comparative culturology database. However, if the purpose is to develop a very detailed taxonomy of CSEs in general, more than such prototypical cases are required. A further limitation of interviewing experienced translators is that the scope of CSEs reported might be limited by two factors. First, very familiar CSEs do not tend to even be flagged as problems and are unlikely to be 14 More individual examples could be obtained, but this was not the objective behind interviewing professional translators. 15 For example, in those cases when “everything seems to fit” but a more interculturally competent translator will be able to see that “it does not”. <?page no="76"?> Maria Yarosh 70 named. Secondly, the general belief that translation is a problem-solving activity might impede enumerating some potential CPs which, although flagged as problems, are still considered something normal, “what translation is about” and, therefore, may be overlooked when reflecting on one’s practice. Therefore, the insights obtained shall probably be regarded as a starting point - hypotheses - for further research, which should focus on collecting reports about particular acts of translation. The final section of this paper brings together the key observations made throughout the first two steps and explains what seems instrumental to do next. 4 Conclusions and the Next Steps Two sources of data were explored with the twofold aim of creating a CSEs’ taxonomy focused on CSEs identification task and discovering the relative identification difficulty scale. As a result, two points, potentially instrumental for further research on the issue, can be made. Firstly, a working classification that builds on the insights from both literature review and the interviews conducted can be proposed. Secondly, it should be concluded that without empirical research of the type conducted by Christopher Scott- Tennent/ Maria González Davies (2008) little if any further progress is to be achieved. The classification proposed to be tested against empirical data is presented in Figure 1 below. It brings together four criteria and is designed with the identification-stage focus in mind. The four criteria that should help classify CSEs unambiguously in terms of their ease or difficulty for detection are as follows: (1) extraversus intra-linguistic continuum (based on approaches (c1): focusing on the areas where cultures tend to differ; (b2): types of obstacles approach; and (b3): nature of problems approach) - with five categories distinguished provisionally: real and imaginary objects and actors - ascribed qualities/ cultural assumptions - communication style - intertextuality - other inter-linguistic CSEs (“not plain language” category in Table 2 above); (2) type of difference (based on approaches (c2): focusing on the types of differences (regardless of the area) and (b3): nature of problems approach) - 1-0 difference or partial difference (“asymmetry”), be it in detail, in relevance or in cultural associations/ attitudes; (3) visibility in terms of verbalization or lack of it and overt or not overt “culturalness” (based on approach c3 (3): verbalised CSEs versus non-verbalised or implicitly present CSEs, which lead to certain observable behaviours and situations but are not named in the source text); and the subjective parameter of <?page no="77"?> Towards a Systematic Approach to Identifying Culturally-specific Elements 71 (4) familiarity to the translator (based on approaches c3 (1 & 2): known differences versus cases when you do not know exactly but you feel that there may be a difference & known CSEs versus the new ones (either for the translator or both for the translator and for the two cultures in question, that is, those which reflect constant development of culture(s)). This taxonomy purports to highlight those parameters for CSEs’ differentiation which reflect the factors at play within the CSEs’ identification process. Only those parameters which were considered relevant by the practitioners interviewed were selected from the greater variety of proposals found in the literature on the subject. Which of the four criteria are more important is not clear yet. Neither can it be said at this stage if the three apparently objective criteria (1-3) are indeed non-subjective or if everything depends on the individual translator’s experience, as Scott-Tennent/ González-Davies (2008) seem to suggest. However, the other conclusion reached is that such broad interviews that do not ask translators to reflect on a particular text are not instrumental. The answers given are often anecdotic and it is difficult to generalise from the data obtained. Besides, although experienced practitioners can be expected to have developed the problem identification capacity, reflecting on the processes involved post-factum and in general is not productive. As for the Figure 1: CSEs Taxonomy Proposed <?page no="78"?> Maria Yarosh 72 literature review, the limitation here is that when TS scholars discuss CSEs’ identification issue among many others, they do not go beyond pointing out one or two differentiation parameter(s) and do not necessarily provide examples for each category. Even when particular examples are given, it is difficult to judge whether the parameters proposed account for all or only a minor part of CSEs that can be found. The same criticism applies to the working taxonomy presented in Figure 1 above. Therefore, next, the instrumentality of distinguishing CSEs along the parameters selected shall be checked in two ways. Firstly, the CSE classification criteria should be applied to a corpus of CSEs identified in original texts to see whether all the cases found appear to be accounted for, whether any of the categories contain zero items and/ or if any further sub-division is necessary. Secondly, texts that contain various CSE types shall be given to students of different university-degree years and to professional translators to discover their comparative identification difficulty. If complemented with think-aloud protocol methodology, these experiments could also provide further insights on CSE identification principles, which need not be the same for all CSE types. At least, CSEs reflecting known cultural differences might be treated differently from the unknown ones, as the interviews conducted appear to indicate. 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Appendix: Interview Questions 1. Would you say there are “cultural problems” in translation? 2. What do you understand by a “cultural problem” in translation? 3. When you translate do you somehow differentiate such difficulties or problems or elements that require your special attention? 4. [We call these elements culturally-specific elements, because they are elements specific for a certain source culture as against a given target culture. So I use the term “CSEs” in the next question.] Do you distinguish any types of “cultural problems”, any types of such CSEs or elements of the text that require your intervention as an intercultural mediator due to the existence of certain differences between a given source culture and a given target culture? 5. What are the types you distinguish and why you differentiate them? 6. Do you find certain types of CSEs easier to spot? (Why? ) 7. Do you personally find certain types of CSEs easier to deal with than others? (Which ones? ) 8. Are you more conscious of certain types of CSEs than others when you are translating? 9. Do some of CSEs cause more “trouble” for the translator than others? (Which ones? ) 10. Are these easier to spot? 11. If you were to give a piece of advice to a student translator or a person moving into the profession about how to learn to identify CSEs, what would you tell them? <?page no="85"?> Éric Poirier Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through Asynchronous Video Communications (AVC) in an Online Introductory Course in Translation There are only three ways to improve student learning at scale. The first is to increase the level of knowledge and skill that the teacher brings to the instructional process. The second is to increase the level and complexity of the content that students are asked to learn. And the third is to change the role of the student in the instructional process. That’s it. If you are not doing one of these three things, you are not improving instruction and learning. Everything else is instrumental. City, Elmore, Fiarman & Teitel (2009: 24) 1 Introduction Anderson et al. (2001) define teaching presence as comprising three crucial components: design and organization of the learning experience, discourse facilitation and direct instruction. I discuss how Asynchronous Video Communications (AVCs) not only contribute to, but also enhance this presence in an online environment. I give examples of how to use AVCs profitably to enhance the instructor presence in the conceptual component of course design and organization as well as in the more concrete components of communication facilitator and instruction delivery. I also briefly describe what I consider to be a new form of lecturing with AVCs that mirrors the teacher’s role as an information provider as well as a knowledge building facilitator in the translation learning experience. This article is based on my experience teaching an online Translation Methodology course (TRA1094) 1 in a fully online undergraduate English- 1 I have given this course twice to groups of 75 to 85 students with very different backgrounds: first-year translation students, practising translators, practising and retired professionals from various fields (nursing, management, journalism, business, etc.). The majority of candidates are native speakers of French with English as their second language. The course is held in French. <?page no="86"?> Éric Poirier 80 French translation program. The course is intended to introduce students to the basic principles, methodology and processes of professional translation. My discussion falls within the framework of what Anderson (2008: 348) calls “the community of learning model” in which most interactions are asynchronous because of broadband limitations and in order to make interaction within large groups of students possible: […] the , uses real-time synchronous or asynchronous communication technologies to create virtual classrooms that are often modelled, both pedagogically and structurally, on the campus classroom. 2 What are AVCs? AVCs are instances of multimedia (visual or oral) speech acts 2 produced by the instructor, integrated into a learning experience, and mediatized (digitalized, registered and converted) in a specific video file format that can be read and viewed from a computer screen or other reading device. As the definition shows AVCs are defined in terms of communication centred speech acts and not in terms of their informational content. In online teaching AVCs are therefore linked more to their function rather than to their content which can vary, as will be seen later on. Below (see Figure 1) is a screen shot of the course portal displaying Module A (Week 2) and various information, dates and instructions. It features an embedded AVC entitled “À écouter” (listen), which resembles a PowerPoint slide with headings and a snapshot of the instructor to the right. The AVCs that I have produced so far depict the voice and images of the instructor. In order to enhance the learning experience, asynchronous audio communications (AAC) or podcasts, accompanied with video content (screencasts, for instance), have benefits of their own as well benefits similar to those of AVCs. In this article, AAC have not been taken extensively into account for practical reasons related to their experimental and tentative use in this course. I will make specific reference to these types of communications and to some of their benefits in this article below in discussing the direct instruction component of the teacher’s presence. I adopted the distribution mode of streaming video technology as outlined in detail in Hartsell/ Chi-Yin Yuen (2006: 34-36). In my view, the most 2 Speech acts refer here more generally to all communication activities inherent to teaching like welcoming and introductory statements, definition of concepts and theories, processes and activities, description of how-to’s, provision of instructions and description of instructions, explanation/ description of what is expected in assignments and of mistakes to avoid, etc. In a translation teaching setting, speech acts also refer more technically to the provision of verbal or textual statements in target language-text that are translations of segments in source language-text. <?page no="87"?> Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through AVC 81 relevant difference between streaming or downloadable video files has to do with the restriction in the distribution of the content of the video files related to copyright. 3 Background It’s more than a truism that teaching and learning always involve knowledge and communication, both of which lie at the very root of human nature. If knowledge building is a crucial goal of teaching, communication is the most important if not exclusive means by which teachers can try to achieve this goal. As Hartsell/ Chi-Yin Yuen (2006: 39) note, content delivery Figure 1: TRA1094 course web site with embedded AVC <?page no="88"?> Éric Poirier 82 in online courses is primarily text-based. Although the learning platform or environment is Web enabled, the multimedia files or communication are rather the exception. For example, in resource No. 9 entitled “creating ‘presence’”, in a list of 24 resources for practitioners, Salmon (2011: 215) presents nine strategies to help e-moderators “create a ‘feeling’ of presence online”, all of which are text-based. In another resource (No. 24), entitled “Communicating online”, no consideration is given to AVCs, although in a third resource (No. 16) entitled “E-moderating for podcasting” the author suggests some interesting uses of podcasts in a virtual learning environment which matches our uses of AVCs. In fact, the online learning environment involves even more written work compared to traditional settings because all formal communication such as comments and instructions as well as most if not all of the interactions with the students are by default text-based. In such an environment, there is no clear-cut way for the teacher to have immediate interaction with students other than by telephone or by special request. In my specific environment, the learning platform included a videoconference portal with which it was possible to record video vignettes for use by the students at their convenience. Even though this environment was originally designed for synchronous activities like videoconferencing, I used it asynchronously, with a minimum of formatting functionalities, to create AVCs much like creating audio PowerPoint documents. My decision not to use videoconferencing capabilities that were already available in this environment was prompted mainly by the simple fact that the videoconferencing system currently in use can accommodate a maximum of 25 students for any given event, and the number of students enrolled in the course far surpassed this limit. Due to broadband limitations, it was not possible to organize synchronous videoconferencing sessions with all the students. Another reason was the additional technical difficulties associated with videoconferencing. In his blog “time barrow. Contemplating digital orality”, dated June 28, 2010, Barrow (2010), citing a study by Griffiths/ Graham (2009), expands on these difficulties: Live video conferences require a high-level of coordination, and are now subject to many technical problems that can cause the experience to be negative for students. There is an expectation of video conferences that they will replicate the essence of a close physical location experience, and while expensive video conferencing equipment that is often used in commercial settings works well, the most available inexpensive technologies involving video through the internet are subject to bandwidth restrictions, and software/ hardware issues. When these problems occur, a video conference can often be a disappointing experience. Also, video conferences take away one of the main benefits of online learning; learner time flexibility. Online students have the benefit of choosing the time and circumstances of their learning experi- <?page no="89"?> Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through AVC 83 ence, and that benefit is removed when they are required to participate in live video conferences [online]. In addition to these technical difficulties, the requirement that everyone be online at the same time compounds the situation even further as it raises the issue of the availability of the participants and the scheduling of the videoconference. For example, I tried to organize a videoconference for only seven or eight students but it was impossible to find a time slot convenient to everyone. For those who cannot attend, videoconference events offer no specific advantage; in fact their learning becomes contingent upon their availability. In addition, they lose out on the opportunity to ask questions or interact with others. 4 AVCs in Designing and Organizing the Course With regard to the design and organization of the learning experience, AVCs offer the benefit of complementing text-based explanations through oral reinforcement, providing additional course content. This first use of AVCs contributes to what Lehman/ Conceiç-o (2010) call “telepresence” or “the sense of ‘being there’”. AVCs specifically make it clear to the students that the teacher is there and is in charge. Telepresence should be maintained periodically in order to be effective. At the very least, the teacher should make it clear when there is no need to use AVCs and why there will be no AVCs for a specific class. When systematically incorporated in the design and organization of the course, AVCs help reassure students that they will be accompanied throughout their learning experience and that they will not be left “alone” or “isolated”. This use of AVC in a traditional classroom could be seen as a teachercentred approach to learning. In an online context, since most of the activities and the design of the course are learner-centred, and since the teacher never or rarely meets with the students physically, what could be seen as a redundant feature in a traditional classroom environment plays the opposite role because it translates itself into a creative telepresence behind the scene which reinforces the teacher accountability regarding the design and the organization of the course and their commitment to the learning experience of the students. AVCs can serve as a metacommunication device used to make students aware of the choices and decisions made in the design and organization of the course and how this is shaping or affecting their learning. They can therefore help the teacher to renegotiate some principles and guidelines provided in a text-based message or in the textbook or to highlight why those principles and rules have been adopted. For example, in my first video vignette, I explained the difference between passive and active language <?page no="90"?> Éric Poirier 84 competence, the importance of knowing the definition of certain key concepts in translation. These explanations clearly showed why the first two modules of the course were devoted to analysing and grasping certain concepts such as intralinguistic translation, interlinguistic translation, interpreting and translation, etc. For newcomers to the environment, AVCs can also address the perceptions of the learners as to what an online programme is. This metacommunicative function of AVCs somewhat mirrors spontaneous oral exchanges taking place in the traditional classroom. When these exchanges are conducted on a text-based forum, chances are the message will be perceived by most as too formal. Compare for example the written statement “Late submission of assignment will be subject to a 20% penalty” and the impact of an oral and more assertive addition: “even if it’s just a minute or so after the deadline”. The impact of the performative act is certainly different and much more effective in the latter case. The other two components of teacher presence, which are more directly associated with the learning experience of the students, draw more extensively on the skills of effective teaching in an online environment identified by White/ Weight (2000: 10). Discourse facilitation involves maintaining a positive interpersonal relationship; providing instructions embodies the importance of communicating clear and accurate messages. It should be noted however that these two attributes overlap since, as Anderson et al. (2001: 8) suggest, there is no clear-cut demarcation between the facilitator role and the content provider role of the teacher. 5 AVCs in Discourse Facilitation There are two different communicative functions associated with this role of the teacher: the first function relates to student-teacher interactions which foster discussion and debate. This specific type of teacher presence in the facilitating discourse component relates to what Lehman/ Conceiç-o (2010: 3) call the sense of “being together with others”. This first function initiates student exchanges, encouraging them to value and respond to the contributions of their peers, thus fostering further discussion that favours better understanding of the content. AVCs have the advantage of being asynchronous, affording students time to rethink their answers, which can ultimately be completed or reinforced by the teacher later on the forum. AVCs can also serve to portray the teacher’s use of language, thus emphasizing the teacher’s communicative presence. Asynchronous audio communications (AACs) or podcasting might also be used to attain the same objective. The teacher can be portrayed as a translator and “super-user” of the target language, showing students how to express themselves appropriately. At the same time, from this language perspective, AVCs can also show <?page no="91"?> Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through AVC 85 that the teacher is not a “perfect problem-solver” of all the terminological and translation problems and that in certain cases there is no magic solution but acceptable ones. In such instances, students can learn from the authentic creative corrections and hesitations from the teacher’s speech acts in search of an acceptable wording. It’s important to note that although all of this firsthand information is relevant in a translation course, it is difficult to efficiently adapt it to text-based communication. What has been said of teacher language proficiency can be said of teacher translation proficiency. The portrayal of the teacher as a role-model in AVCs relates to the dual language and transfer skills required of the translator. For short-form bilingual information, AVCs are excellent for exemplifying the process, at least partially. For example, in some of my video vignettes, I described specific translation difficulties and different solutions as well as limits to the translatability of certain expressions in the source language and the translation of their quasi-synonymous expressions in the target language. Even though translation rarely follows a systematic pattern, there are established thinking and reasoning formulas to help overcome some wellknown translation difficulties. Basic examples of this on the syntactic level are the standard translation strategies of English passive into French (use of “on” or the active voice, or keeping the passive voice where appropriate), and on the semantic level, the use of the “negated contrary”, a specific type of modulation, which consist of using the negation of an antonym such as make sure to… = n’oubliez pas de… (“do not forget to…”). The use of AVCs in oral descriptions and for illustrating problem-solving makes it possible to comment less formally on what is written. As an extension of the transfer and dual language skills, there are also creative literary skills which the teacher can model in the restatement phase of the translation process. Verbalizing what the teacher is doing can also be an effective use of AVCs in order to show the students what the limits of translation are (impossible to do this and that), which path to follow when looking for an idiomatic or better way of saying something (which reasoning and/ or tools I use for example). A general benefit of AVCs in role-modelling language use, transfer and creative restatement skills by the teacher is that it allows students to observe the behaviour and the output of the “expert”. This form of scaffolding, as described by Kiraly (2000: 47), calls to mind what Dominguez (2012) called the Pygmalion Effect and how it can be used in empowering the learner in teaching interpreting. As documented and tested by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1992), the Pygmalion Effect refers in this case to the influence the teacher may have to the learning of the students by the expectations of enhanced performance showed to them. In a translation course where translational speech acts serve as examples to be followed, verbal inputs facilitate this use of the Pygmalion Effect. With the role-modelling function of AVCs in teach- <?page no="92"?> Éric Poirier 86 ing translation (performance in target language skills, in bilingual transfer abilities and in creative restating of source meaning), the teacher can show students what he or she considers good language uses, good transfer results as well as interesting and relevant restatements of source-text meaning. By role-modelling, the teacher is setting the standard of expectations that every student will have to meet later in the profession. With AVCs, the teacher can influence the learning outcome by expecting the same performance from the learners. AVCs can then allow the teacher to make use of the Pygmalion Effect to increase and enhance the learning experience, which would be more difficult if not impossible in a text-based online environment where there are scarce role-modelling opportunities and no virtual (telepresence) or real presence of the teacher. The second function of AVCs in discourse facilitation consists in encouraging a constructive attitude among students and developing their evaluative skills (how to properly give and receive constructive comments and improvement suggestions on the translation). This particular skill in translation has to do with the technical aspect of communicating changes that are considered improvements to a translation as well as with the psychological and socio-professional issues encountered in revision. In one of my video vignettes, I analysed a translation submitted by a student, explaining its strengths and weaknesses to convey to the students that a translation is not necessarily entirely bad when it’s not entirely good. Sometimes, a minor change like a plural or a singular, or even a different preposition or other word, can make all the difference. I also did the same with some of my translations presented as examples of correct or professional versions (among other possible translations), except that I introduced minor mistakes to show how such slips could turn a good translation into a bad one. From a psychosocial and socio-professional perspective, AVCs can show how the teacher can make constructive comments and handle different translations respectfully. This use of AVCs is closely related to providing instructions as it deals with how to justify and to reflect on translation as a result (or text). The difficulty for the teacher here is to provide a positive learning environment by encouraging students to disagree or to point out cognitive problems related to translation results and processes. Instead of trying to defend his or her translation, the teacher must take special care to show that there is room for certain variations that are acceptable in a correct translation, so that it will be natural for the students to stay open-minded reviewing their peer’s translations and to not take the teacher’s version as the ultimate translation. Also, it is certainly not because the teacher suggests a translation that this is the only good rendition, and it is not because the teacher corrects a translation of a student that this translation is totally wrong or outside the range of the acceptable. Discussing these complex issues with concrete examples <?page no="93"?> Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through AVC 87 taken from the texts to be translated is easier to handle orally in an AVC than in a text-based document. 6 AVCs in Direct Instruction and in Defining a New Mode of Lecturing This third and last component relates to the teacher’s role in presenting information to the students to enable them to build on their acquired knowledge with new skills and competencies. At this level, the teacher’s approach to education comes into play. I am a proponent of a mixture of educational approaches, as each has its merits. One crucial skill of a good teacher is to make use of the most appropriate teaching techniques for a specific learning task. Although I subscribe to many of the key principles of social-constructivist education embraced by Kiraly (2000: 34-50), I also agree with Kiraly (2006) that there is room for a transmissionist perspective in many learning activities, especially in an introductory course in translation where students need to grasp a certain number of concepts as well as factual terminological information in building their translation skills. The key factor is to make sure that the students are not engaged in passive absorption of information but in active knowledge building activities. The role of the teacher in this case is therefore to create learning activities that stimulate the appropriation of information by the students, but this obviously starts with the imperative of communicating and transmitting appropriately this information to the students. In order to build on this difference between information and knowledge building, I found that the information provider approach similar to that of the news report style is particularly useful in the delivery of AVCs. This form of expression is adapted to coaching situations which tend to be less formal and serves as a spring board to critical thinking and analysis. The experience of my video vignettes made me see lecturing as a completely different activity that is closely related to AVCs and that can be referred to as asynchronous video lecturing (AVL). The big advantages of this new form of lecturing is that the teacher can prepare and somehow “stage” and practice this activity before delivering it to the students in a prerecorded and edited video file that the students can “read” or “listen” at their convenience and pace, as opposed to traditional and in-class lecturing generally delivered in real time. The AVL or mini-lecturing activity can also enhance the teacher’s presence by complementing course notes and making references to the textbooks and other helpful text-based material. The parameters defined by Dorothy Kelly (2005: 98) for traditional classrooms also apply in an online environment: the value-added nature of lecturing from the content material that is readily available to students, the <?page no="94"?> Éric Poirier 88 importance of using visual supports like slides and/ or screen captures (which can be shown to the students so they can take notes) such as embedding the video in a PowerPoint, linking the content of the lecture to specific outcomes of the course (like commenting on and doing an example of the exercises they will be asked to do). As in the traditional classroom context, our online experience concurs with the recommendation that AVLs should not be longer than 15-20 minutes. Other than the asynchronous dimension of the AVL which makes it possible for students to stop and start reading at their convenience, the asynchronous nature of lectures makes it also possible for them to listen more than once for better understanding and taking notes. This new form of lecturing also enables the teacher to discuss course content and make conceptual links to the text-based material of the course in an easy-to-understand and simple verbal form. Another important use of AVL is the possibility for the teacher to wrap up a particular class with abstract thinking and conceptual conclusions that will naturally and seamlessly lead to other modules or other classes of the course. AVLs are the perfect tool for this teaching and cognitive skill since they provide opportunities for use of verbal reasoning and discourse. This use of the AVL can apply to the beginning or end of a class, as an introduction or a wrap-up. They can also be used, in multiple formats if necessary, for examination instructions or guidelines. An interesting use of AVC in direct instruction includes all the communication from the teacher regarding post-assessment and examination activities. These uses can be particularly useful, too, in a traditional classroom setting with a large number of students and for whom the performance of the teacher may be compromised by multi-tasking performance issues like short-term memory of problems embedded in the text and how to effectively solve them. Besides specific reasoning on precise problems, this use can also serve to give general comments to the students on how their performance was evaluated as a group. Individual feedback is normally given individually on the student’s assignment and in a text-based form. I generally use textbased communication to give general comments on the kind of errors observed and how those could have been avoided in general. In conjunction with this, I use AVCs to show exactly which answers were considered acceptable or semi-acceptable and why these decisions were taken. If the teacher prefers not to give acceptable answers, the AVC format makes it possible to give cues to obtain some good translation solutions, such as by indicating which interpretation would be wrong, or by making the meaning that was to be understood in the target text explicit. In this respect, AVCs can allow the teacher to give enough comments for students to make their own annotations instead of passively reading the answer key. From a socioconstructivist perspective to learning, the use of AVCs in post-assessment <?page no="95"?> Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through AVC 89 communication makes the “journey” to the correct translation more profitable than the mere attainment of the correct answer. A final use of AVC relates to the many how-to competencies that are associated with translation and which all benefit from the asynchronous format of communication: how to search the Web with Boolean operators, consult a bilingual dictionary or a specific terminology databank, use a translation memory, a concordancer and a text-alignment tool, etc. In all of these instances of instruction, the specific format of asynchronous audio communications (AAC) is useful as it makes it possible to show how to do things step by step while the teacher describes important considerations related to the task and to what is going on on the screen. The AAC format is here more useful than AVCs for illustrating any computerized processes involved in translation. 7 Conclusion Through the prism of the three-pronged model of teacher presence developed by Anderson et al. (2001), drawing on examples from my experience in an introductory translation course, I tried to show many uses of AVCs that help to enhance teacher’s presence as well as the learning experience of an online course. Over and above their varied advantages, AVCs add a human touch to the learning experience in the text-based environment; they enhance its “connectivity” by reducing the psychological distance between teacher and learner but perhaps also between learner and material. Their metacommunication function gives rise, among others, to a new mode of lecturing which enhances the text-based environment. Worthy of note are student comments regarding the use of AVCs’. Analysis of the written comments by the students after the course showed that most of them appreciated this feature. They stated that AVCs gave them a feeling of being in a “real” class. Of interest too is the correlative association of the benefits of AVCs with the usefulness of the discussion forum (which was actively moderated by the instructor). While this is not a clear conclusion that can be drawn from the evaluation questionnaire filled out by a fair number of students after the course, it seems that the appreciation of AVC on the teacher presence was also associated with the positive and beneficial effect of the instructor presence in the discussion forum. Others commented that the video vignettes were not easy to follow, and expressed preference for texts which they felt were generally easier to understand and read. Despite the general appeal, the divergence of opinion points to individual differences and preferences with regard to learning styles. <?page no="96"?> Éric Poirier 90 The uses and benefits of AVCs in the delivery of a translation course in an online environment are summed below. The one-word designation in parenthesis expresses the role or type of presence of the teacher. These roles highlight the “human” aspect of the environment. AVCs: - Ensure the telepresence of the teacher in course design and organization (“e-conductor”); - Serve as a metacommunication device to explain the rationale behind course design and organization (“e-judge”); - Ensure the social presence of the teacher in the course by stimulating student interactions (“e-initiator”); - Role model language use (“e-super-user”), professional transfer skills (“etranslator”) or the creative writing and problem-solving skills (“eproblem-solver”); - Showcase professional interpersonal skills required in translation-specific tasks as in how to give and receive feedback (“e-super-reviewer”); - Provide a means for delivering mini-lectures with value-added content (“e-lecturer”); - Serve as a tool for wrapping-up or introducing class content or material (“e-analyst”); - Complement text-based instructions and provide guidelines for various tasks (“e-coach”); - Constitute a channel for post-assessment (“e-valuator”). References Anderson, Terry (2008): “Teaching in an Online Learning Context”, chapter 14 of Terry Anderson, ed.: Theory and Practice of Online Learning. 2nd edition. Edmonton: AU Press, Athabasca University, 343-366. http: / / www.aupress.ca/ books/ 120146/ ebook/ 99Z_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf [02/ 05/ 2013] Anderson, Terry/ Liam Rourke/ D. Randy Garrison/ Walter Archer (2001): “Assessing Teacher Presence in a Computer Conferencing Context” Journal of the Asynchronous Learning Network 5(2). http: / / hdl.handle.net/ 2149/ 725 [13/ 05/ 2013] Barrow, Time H. (2010): “Using Asynchronous Video in Online Classes - Griffiths” Blog Time Barrow - Contemplating Digital Orality, http: / / blog.timebarrow.com/ 2010/ 06/ video-in-aoc-griffiths-graham/ [28/ 06/ 2010] City, Elizabeth A./ Richard F. Elmore/ Sarah E. Fiarman/ Lee Teitel (2009): Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. <?page no="97"?> Enhancing Instructor Presence and Learning Experience through AVC 91 Dominguez Lara (2012): “Why and how to Empower the Interpreter Trainee: A Didactic Experience Using Formative Assessment as a Learning Trigger in the Consecutive Interpreting Classroom”. Talk at the 4th Conference of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies; 2012 July 24-27; Belfast, Northern Ireland. Griffiths, Michael E./ Charles R. Graham (2009): “Using Asynchronous Video in Online Classes: Results from a Pilot Study” International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning 6(3) http: / / www.itdl.org/ Journal/ Mar_09/ article06.htm [02/ 05/ 2013] Hartsell, Taralynn/ Steve Chi-Yin Yuen (2006): “Video Streaming in Online Learning” Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education Journal 14(1): 31-43. Kelly, Dorothy (2005): A Handbook for Translator Trainers: A Guide to Reflective Practice. Manchester: St. Jerome. Kiraly, Don (2000): A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education. Empowerment from Theory to Practice. Manchester: St. Jerome. Kiraly, Don (2006): “Beyond Social Constructivism: Complexity Theory and Translator Education” Translation and Interpreting Studies 1(1): 68-86. Lehman, Rosemary M./ Simone C. O. Conceiç-o (2010): Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching. How to “Be There” for Distance Leaners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Rosenthal, Robert/ Lenore Jacobson (1992): Pygmalion in the Classroom, Teacher Expectation and Pupils’ Intellectual Development. Bethel, Carmarthen: Crown House. Salmon, Gilly (2011): E-Moderating. The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. New York: Routledge. White Ken W./ Bob H. Weight (2000): The Online Teaching Guide: A Handbook of Attitudes, Strategies, and Techniques for the Virtual Classroom. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. <?page no="99"?> Sabine Braun 1 , Catherine Slater 1 , Robert Gittins 2 , Panagiotis D. Ritsos 2 & Jonathan C. Roberts 2 1 University of Surrey 2 Bangor University Interpreting in Virtual Reality: Designing and Developing a 3D Virtual World to Prepare Interpreters and their Clients for Professional Practice 1 Introduction Due to migration and mobility in Europe, the demand for interpreting in business and community contexts is on the increase. This shift in focus in the professional interpreting landscape also entails a change in training requirements. In particular, community interpreting requires language combinations that are different from those traditionally taught in interpreter training programmes, often including languages spoken in migrant communities, and lesser taught and ‘rare’ languages. Although Higher Education programmes for business and community interpreting have emerged throughout the world (Niska 2005) in the past decade, the provision is still insufficient. Due to a lack of tutors and resources in the relevant language combinations, such programmes often cannot cover the languages that are relevant to business and community contexts. Another aspect that is important in these contexts - namely that clients develop an understanding of how to work effectively through and with an interpreter - is also not normally addressed in such programmes, i.e. there are few opportunities for trainee interpreters to interact with potential clients in a sheltered environment (i.e. before embarking on an internship or placement, or entering the professional market). In addition, reduced teaching contact hours have increased the need for self-study and collaboration outside classroom hours and for more flexible approaches to learning and teaching. This, in turn, has encouraged the application of solutions using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in interpreter training to provide such opportunities (Hansen/ Shlesinger 2007), drawing on the now widely recognised potential of ICT to sup- <?page no="100"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 94 port modern pedagogical approaches in which learner collaboration as well as self-study, flexibility and autonomy are key. The European Language Council Special Interest Group on Translation and Interpreting for Public Services (SIGTIPS) contends that the lack of tutors and resources “may be addressed by resorting to new technologies allowing for the creation of a virtual learning environment”, which “will make training possible irrespective of location or geographical distance between trainers and trainees” (SIGTIPS 2011: 18). One of the group’s recommendations to Higher Education institutions is therefore that “whenever appropriate, remote teaching and learning facilities should be put in place” (2011: 22). However, current ICT solutions are mostly geared towards conference interpreting. Moreover, they only address interpreting students, not clients, although, as Ozolins/ Hale point out, particularly in community interpreting, interpreting quality is a shared responsibility (2009). Recognising the specific challenges of community interpreting, SIGTIPS recommends to public service providers that their “staff should be trained to work with translators and interpreters” (SIGTIPS 2011: 22). Similarly, Article 6 of Directive 2010/ 64/ EU on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings states that the training of legal practitioners should include training on how to work with an interpreter. Even more importantly, Corsellis (2008) suggests that interpreters and their clients should be trained together. New generations of ICT-based tools and platforms (Web 2.0 and social software, Web 3.0 and 3D virtual worlds) with the potential to provide dynamic and comprehensive support for learning and teaching are rapidly growing in popularity. As an emergent type of virtual learning environment, 3D virtual worlds have been shown to foster social constructivist approaches to learning, providing, as they do, opportunities for experiential and autonomous learning and different forms of learner collaboration (cf. e.g. Calongne 2008). They enable users - including learners from different contexts such as interpreting students and their potential clients - to meet and interact in virtual educational spaces and to simulate professional practice. Equally important, given the increasing use of different forms of ICT-based and ‘remote’ interpreting, the use of emerging technologies in training contexts will also help interpreting students and their clients acquire digital competence and will thus encourage “an easier insertion of professionals in the labour market” (Berber 2008: 9). With these developments in mind, this paper reports on the conceptual design and development of an avatar-based 3D virtual environment in which trainee interpreters and their potential clients (e.g. students and professionals from the fields of law, business, tourism, medicine) can explore and simulate professional interpreting practice. The focus is on business and community interpreting and hence the short consecutive and liaison inter- <?page no="101"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 95 preting modes. The environment is a product of the European collaborative project IVY (Interpreting in Virtual Reality). 1 The paper begins with a state-of-the-art overview of the current uses of ICT in interpreter training (section 2), with a view to showing how the IVY environment has evolved out of existing knowledge of these uses, before exploring how virtual worlds are already being used for pedagogical purposes in fields related to interpreting (section 3). Section 4 then shows how existing knowledge about learning in virtual worlds has fed into the conceptual design of the IVY environment and introduces that environment, its working modes and customised digital content. This is followed by an analysis of the initial evaluation feedback on the first environment prototype (section 5), a discussion of the main pedagogical implications (section 6), and concluding remarks (section 7). The more technical aspects of the IVY environment are described in Ritsos et al. (2012). 2 ICT-based Interpreter Training ICT are already being used successfully in interpreter training programmes in different ways. At the simplest level, digital audio/ video repositories and spoken language corpora are available for interpreter training purposes, although most of these address the needs of conference interpreter training. Examples include the Speech Repository (http: / / www.multilingualspeeches. tv/ scic/ portal/ index.html [10/ 05/ 2013]), a resource provided by the DG Interpretation (SCIC), offering digital speeches in several European languages; the SIMON (Shared Interpreting Materials Online) collection for interpreter trainers at the Ecole de Traduction et d’Interprétation in Geneva (Seeber 2006); and the ORCIT website (Online Resources for Conference Interpreter Training; http: / / www.orcit.eu [10/ 05/ 2013]). Different in its aims but also geared towards conference interpreting, the European Parliament Interpreting Corpus (EPIC; http: / / dev.sslmit.unibo.it/ corpora/ corporaproject.php? path=E.P.I.C. [10/ 05/ 2013]) includes speeches from the European Parliament and their simultaneous interpretations in several languages. The source and target texts have been aligned and annotated for research purposes and possible pedagogical applications (Bendazzoli/ Sandrelli 2005). What makes these resources interesting beyond their use in conference interpreter training, is their approach to the storage and retrieval of content. All of these resources can be searched according to specific criteria including proficiency level, topic or content, and communicative features. The ORCIT website also offers training in generic skills (such as active listening and analysis and public speaking) and information about interpreting. 1 Lifelong Learning Project 511862-LLP-1-2010-1-UK-KA3-KA3MP (2011-13; www.virtualinterpreting.net; co-ordinator: University of Surrey). <?page no="102"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 96 In the field of business interpreting, resources are still scarce. Hansen/ Shlesinger (2007) describe an initiative to develop video-based interpreter training at the Copenhagen Business School, using a series of video clips that provide bilingual role-play dialogues for self-study purposes. This initiative yielded very positive feedback, and student motivation and performance improved dramatically with exam pass rates of 97% and above after the introduction of this resource. Along with the video clips, students were also given a range of additional materials including background documents, written texts for sight translation, PowerPoint presentations and glossaries, as well as tasks and exercises (Hansen/ Shlesinger 2007: 105-106). Similar in its aim was the development of several sets of small spokenlanguage corpora available as online resources. The English Language Interview Corpus as a Second-Language Application (ELISA, http: / / www.unituebingen.de/ elisa/ html/ elisa_index.html [10/ 05/ 2013]) 2 is a collection of narrative interviews with native speakers of English giving accounts of their professional lives. It was designed to be a resource for language learning and interpreter training. The interviews are available as video clips and transcripts and can be searched by topic (Braun 2005, 2006, 2007a, 2010). The ELISA corpus was a precursor to the European BACKBONE project 3 , which produced similar video interviews with native speakers of English, French, German, Polish, Spanish, and Turkish, and non-native speakers of English (English as a Lingua Franca corpus) (Kohn 2012; Kohn et al. 2010). The speech in these corpora can be characterised as elicited and thematically focused speech. This makes them different from other spoken corpora that have been collected for different purposes (such as linguistic research) and that represent situations which are not necessarily characteristic of the situations interpreters encounter. By contrast, the interviews in the ELISA and BACKBONE corpora rely on different types of contexts and knowledge, in particular the wider cultural and professional context and related background knowledge, which is highly relevant for most interpreting students. At the same time, the speech in the interviews is semi-formal and thus well suited to simulating situations of business and community interpreting. Yet whilst the interviews represent a form of dyadic communication (most interviews have short prompter questions and longer answers), they are monolingual, i.e. do not cater for the needs of training in dialogue interpreting. 2 The development of the ELISA corpus was supported by a young researcher grant (S. Braun), University of Tübingen 2003-04; http: / / www.corpora4learning.net/ elisa [10/ 05/ 2013]. 3 BACKBONE (European Lifelong Learning project 143502-LLP-1-2008-1-DE-KA2-KA2MP, 2009-10; co-ordinator: University of Tübingen; www.uni-tuebingen.de/ backbone [10/ 05/ 2013]). <?page no="103"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 97 A general shortcoming of all the resources mentioned above is that they cover only a limited number of languages. Another, arguably more advanced, way of using ICT in interpreter training has addressed this problem by developing computer-assisted interpreter training (CAIT) packages which offer digital content along with bespoke learner and authoring functions for an interpreting context. Sandrelli/ De Manuel Jerez (2007) provide an overview of the CAIT options available, focusing in particular on the evolution of authoring programmes, starting with Interpr-IT, through Interpretations, and finally to Black Box 3.0. The first of these, Interpr-IT offered practice materials and audio-only dialogues in Italian. The aim of Interpretations was to “develop an authoring programme that would make it possible to create language-independent teaching materials for interpreting” (Sandrelli/ De Manuel Jerez 2007: 287), combining audio, video and textual resources. Black Box 3.0 is an authoring tool with which “trainers are able to create exercises to train students in all interpreting modes, i.e. simultaneous, consecutive and liaison interpreting, as well as sight translation” (Sandrelli/ De Manuel Jerez 2007: 289). However, in her survey of the use of ICT in conference interpreting, Berber found that CAIT packages “are used in only 30% of the institutions consulted” (2008: 18). One of the reasons for this could be that - like speech repositories and corpora - these packages focus rather exclusively on self-study and individual practice. Although this satisfies (cognitive) constructivist principles of learning insofar as they foster self-guided and autonomous learning, and knowledge construction from appropriate learning activities and materials, they omit important principles of a social constructivist approach to learning (Vygotsky 1978). This approach purports that learning is a social as well as a cognitive activity. It highlights the importance of the social embedding of learning for the process of knowledge construction. Adopting this approach, Kiraly therefore argues, with regard to translator training, that it should combine “authentic situated action, the collaborative construction of knowledge, and personal experience” (2000: 3). Building on these ideas, Tymczyńska (2009) presents a social constructivist approach to interpreter training, combining the provision of training material with an online course management system (Moodle), which was used in a healthcare interpreting module at University Adam Mickiewicz in Poland. She concludes that this approach is “capable of supporting both students and instructors in creating collaborative learning communities” (2009: 158), although she has some important caveats including the danger that students are overwhelmed by the amount of material an online course can present them with. She also highlights the importance of a match between the learning resource, the students’ learning potential and the learning context; the practicality of the resource; its provision of a sense of achievement and its integration with traditional teaching methods in a <?page no="104"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 98 blended learning approach (2009: 158). A general shortcoming of course management systems like Moodle in an interpreter training context is, however, that they focus on the written mode of communication, and often prefer asynchronous over synchronous forms of interaction and collaboration. The emerging picture from this brief review of ICT uses in interpreter training to date is that the digital content available mainly covers the traditional languages of conference interpreting, although authoring packages do go some way to supporting the needs of business and community interpreter training, which increasingly requires training in hitherto ‘unusual’ language combinations. Equally important, content in the form of speech repositories and corpora and CAIT packages mostly focus on self-study while omitting other important aspects of interpreter training. The most important of these is perhaps collaboration through role-play simulation in the form of ‘mock conferences’ and similar activities, which form an integral part of many traditional interpreter training curricula and constitute an important type of “situated action”. Due to the lack of collaboration opportunities, current ICT solutions also do not provide for joint training of interpreting students and potential clients. It has been shown, however, that role play can be used successfully in training clients of interpreters (Friedman-Rhodes/ Hale 2010, Kalet et al. 2002, Marion et al. 2008, McCaffrey 2000) and could therefore be seen as an important linking element for bringing training and education of interpreters and clients closer together. Berber contends that ICT should be “a crucial element” of interpreter training, but that the selection of ICT requires “constant updating” (2008: 20). Now a new generation of tools is available, which arguably - and without falling in the trap of being technology-driven in the approach - provides enhanced opportunities for supporting the requirements of modern pedagogy. One of the tools that has become increasingly popular is the 3D virtual environment (VE). Whilst 3D VEs have not yet been used in interpreter training, their advantages in terms of supporting the simulation of real-life situations as well as individual and collaborative knowledge construction are already becoming apparent in other educational settings. In language learning, for example, the use of VEs has been shown to promote high levels of user engagement and learner collaboration (Deutschmann et al. 2009). The next section synthesises recent findings from research into educational uses of VEs and highlights the points that are relevant for the training of interpreters and their clients. <?page no="105"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 99 3 3D Virtual Environments for Educational Purposes A 3D virtual environment is a virtual ‘world’ that is created by computer graphics to imitate or simulate aspects of the real world. Although such virtual worlds are often used as entertainment and may be perceived as ‘games’, their use in education has increased as 3D virtual environment technology has matured in the last decade. In particular, environments in which users can create a virtual representation of themselves (‘avatars’) and interact live with the VE and with other avatars have become popular in educational settings to support distance learning. In Second Life (SL), the most widely used public-facing 3D environment today 4 , users can interact through various forms of public and private text and voice chat. Applications range from relatively simple virtual lecture halls to game-based learning and complex simulations, and they cover different educational sectors (cf. e.g. Calongne 2008). This section takes a brief look at the growing body of research into educational uses of 3D VEs, highlighting perceived advantages and challenges, and those features that are particularly relevant for creating a VE in the field of interpreting. The focus is on SL, which was used to create the educational environment for the IVY project. Some of the perceived advantages are the same as the advantages discussed in relation to other kinds of online learning, namely that learners can learn at a time that suits them; they can interact with others; costs of teaching are reduced; learning is not confined to the traditional classroom settings; learners have 24-hour access and do not have to travel. Time has also shown, of course, that some of the projected advantages have not always materialised, especially the promise of cost-saving. Traditional distance learning has furthermore created problems with learner motivation and participation. Whilst it is, therefore, widely believed today that the key to success for education lies in ‘blended learning’, combining distance and presence learning (cf. e.g. Kohn 2006 in a language learning context), it has been argued that three-dimensional immersive virtual worlds will help overcome some of the problems of motivation and participation because of “the sense of presence” they create (Calongne 2008: 36). As Kim (2012: 3) puts it, “[e]ven though existing e-learning tools offer a great deal of flexibility for designing learning environments, they cannot provide the deep sense of environmental and conditional immersion for multiple users afforded by virtual worlds”. The idea of immersion in the scene is in line with the concept of “situated action” highlighted in section 2 and is of particular importance for training 4 Second Life was developed by Linden Research Inc® and launched in 2003 (www.secondlife.com [10/ 05/ 2013]). It had 30 million registered users in July 2012 (http: / / www.gridsurvey.com [10/ 05/ 2013]). <?page no="106"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 100 interpreters and users of interpreting services. One of the most important features of virtual worlds in this respect is that they provide ‘augmented capabilities’, i.e. opportunities to perceive a situation from different perspectives (e.g. through flying, zooming, seeing around corners, taking different positions and roles; Helmer/ Learning Light 2007) that could otherwise only be gained from experiencing that situation in the real world, which is often difficult or impossible to do. Another important feature of 3D environments is the wealth of opportunities for synchronous communication and interaction, which have also been shown to have positive effects on the learning process (e.g. Konstantinou et al. 2009; Russo/ Benson 2005). It has also been suggested that learning in VEs can be better tailored to individual learning styles and preferences than more traditional online or distance learning environments. Calongne notes, for example, that “[s]ome people learn best by listening to course content, others by seeing and visualizing the content in context, and the rest by using a hands-on approach to demonstrate course competences. In virtual worlds, we can leverage a mix of content and activity to support all learners: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic” (2008: 48). Learning in virtual worlds may therefore have greater potential for customisation, especially worlds such as SL, which are mediarich and provide the opportunities for integrating user-created content. However, there is a danger in virtual worlds - as in more traditional online environments - that learners may not push themselves to try more complex tasks or harder activities which would be necessary to achieve given learning outcomes, compared to a traditional classroom environment where a teacher is present to provide guidance but also to monitor the work that the learner is doing. This has been addressed to some extent by recent studies on educational uses of virtual worlds. One of the problems for achieving learning outcomes that has been identified in most studies is ‘socialisation’. As Moscato/ Moscato (2009: 93) note, it is very important to get the students to “buy in” to the whole experience of learning in a virtual world. Salmon et al. (2010: 181) argue that an initial phase of “online socialisation” is required for this to happen to “enable each student to become comfortable in his or her avatar’s identity and ‘at home’” in the virtual world before being asked to work and learn in it. It is also suggested in the literature that there is a steep learning curve in SL (cf. e.g. Sanchez 2007; Carr et al. 2010; Toro-Troconis et al. 2010). Carr et al. talk about the SL “pain barrier” - the point after which SL becomes “fun, enjoyable and potentially interesting” (2010: 18). According to this research, the amount of time it takes to show the users the software, train them to a sufficiently competent level, and then maintain their interest and motivation should not be underestimated. However, Woods disagrees with the argument that users have to be fully competent with the software to benefit from the learning opportunities they offer, arguing instead that “the level of skills <?page no="107"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 101 needed is directly related to the context and intended outcomes of the learning” (Woods 2010: 92). Another aspect that has been highlighted is the link between achieving learning outcomes and the design of the VE, i.e. the appearance and architecture within the virtual world (Peachey 2010; Saleeb/ Dafoulas 2010; Savin- Baden et al. 2010). Peachey suggests that the design be “simply as flexible and appealing as possible within the context of the environment” to support learning success (2010: 96). The design and appearance of the virtual world can be assumed to be particularly important when the aim is to simulate professional practice in a credible way. In this sense, prior research into this aspect of VEs is highly relevant for the IVY environment (see section 4). At the same time, it is noteworthy that other relevant aspects, such as the link between learning success and available learning content and activities, and the integration of the environment into the curriculum, have received much less attention in current VE research. With regard to integration, it is possible, for example, that the novelty of using VEs could divorce the virtual world learning experience from the aims of the course to which the VE relates. Similarly, as Carr et al. (2010: 26) state, a virtual world environment such as SL, where the learners are free to explore a range of virtual locations, including locations which are not related to the course at hand or to educational aims at all, can be “occasionally anarchic and chaotic”. Not least for this reason, virtual worlds at present still seem ‘alien’ to many educators, and may be seen as belonging to the world of gaming, and associated with social activities and having fun. They also presuppose access to computers with high-end specifications to run the virtual world client software. Arguably, the pedagogical advantages of virtual worlds may at present also be overshadowed by financial constraints underlying institutional decisions with regard to “adopting new methodologies and approaches to learning and teaching” (Thackray et al. 2010: 140). However, with virtual world technology becoming more readily available, these problems are likely to diminish in the future. Advances in OpenSim technology and web-based 3D technology (a 3D internet) are likely to alleviate further such problems. Given the affordances of 3D virtual worlds, whilst also bearing in mind the challenges inherent in learning and providing learning opportunities in such environments, the IVY project seeks to explore the capabilities of a 3D environment as a means of providing training opportunities for both interpreting students and (potential) clients of interpreting services. The project builds on the research to date, focusing in particular on the importance of design features and on the importance of socialisation and familiarisation. In addition, the IVY environment integrates findings from research into using <?page no="108"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 102 ICT in interpreter training and presents a corpus-based solution for populating the bespoke VE with relevant learning content (here, multilingual content for interpreter training). 4 The IVY Environment One of the first steps in the IVY project was to select an appropriate VE for the project. The literature review undertaken in the project showed that, of the available 3D VEs, those allowing multiple-user interaction with the environment through avatars are considered to be the most engaging environments for educational purposes. Of those environments, SL appeared to be the most suitable environment, given that it is public-facing and well established for educational purposes; it is a graphically rich environment; and basic membership is free of charge. From a development perspective, SL comes with many features that support core aspects of the IVY environment and on which the development work can build, e.g. ready-made and modifiable buildings and landscapes, robot-avatars (which can be used as role players), voice chat between users, streaming of audio and video files, links to websites and options for creating learning activities. The IVY environment combines the use of SL with the use of digital content from spoken audio/ video corpora to simulate and explore interpreting. The 3D environment is implemented as a ‘virtual island’ in SL, i.e. a dedicated region that hosts a reception area and a range of virtual interpreting scenarios such as a meeting room, a presentation area and a courtroom. The island and the scenarios are used to situate the learning activities, while the corpora are used to populate the environment with relevant content for interpreting practice. Users can work in the environment in different modes to practise their interpreting skills (interpreting students), explore and observe interpreting practice (clients), carry out a range of learning activities, and meet and interact live with others. The present section describes the different aspects of the IVY environment and their underlying rationale, including the IVY ‘virtual island’ and the virtual interpreting scenarios (section 4.1), the process and requirements of content production (section 4.2), and the working modes (section 4.3). 4.1 The IVY Island and the Virtual Interpreting Scenarios Upon entering the IVY virtual island, the user arrives in a reception and orientation area (see Figure 1), which gives access to different types of information about SL and IVY, and to the virtual interpreting scenarios. <?page no="109"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 103 In line with the research reported in section 3, it was assumed that a user who enters SL and the IVY island for the first time would need a certain amount of induction. In spite of Woods’ (2010) argument (see section 3) that users need not be ‘experts’ in order to use the VE successfully, it was assumed that the specifics of SL and the aims and purpose of IVY would need to be explained to an extent that allows IVY users to operate in the environment without getting distracted by technicalities. To this end, the IVY reception and orientation gives access - among other things - to: - an exhibition about the aims of, and opportunities offered by, the IVY project - a short tutorial on SL - a tutorial about the IVY environment Exhibition-style display panels are used to realise these options, including PowerPoint screens and video clips, similar to the exhibition area shown in Figure 2. The reception area is also the place where students can obtain an IVY heads-up display (HUD), an on-screen control panel that allows the users to navigate the island, access different working modes and select content to work with. From the reception area, users (avatars) can either walk or fly or ‘teleport’ to the virtual interpreting scenarios, by selecting the desired scenario from a menu system in the HUD, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 1: IVY reception area <?page no="110"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 104 The virtual interpreting scenarios represent situations where interpreters work, focussing on business and community interpreting. Many of their architectural and design features are shaped by real life. As illustrated in Figure 4, they are populated with relevant spatial objects (furniture, backgrounds, etc.) and robot-avatars, who act as role players presenting the audio content (see section 4.2). Figure 2: Exhibition area on the IVY island Figure 3: HUD (bottom left) and teleport menu system (top right) <?page no="111"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 105 One important question concerns user involvement with the scenarios. One of the advantages of using a 3D virtual environment is that the user can move around in the environment (with their avatar) and can view each virtual interpreting scenario from different perspectives (‘augmented capabilities’, see section 3). It was assumed that this would promote the sense of realism, especially if students are given the opportunity to explore different positions in relation to other interlocutors to discover the best position for the interpreter or to try out how much of the event they can ‘see’ from different positions in the room, as illustrated in Figure 5, which gives the view of the IVY virtual court room from an interpreting booth. 5 All scenarios therefore offer different seating or standing options for the user’s avatar. 5 Although IVY currently focuses on consecutive and liaison interpreting, an interpreting booth was implemented in the virtual courtroom for demonstration and exploration purposes. Figure 4: IVY virtual interpreting scenarios (top left: meeting room; top right: tourist office; bottom left: presentation area; bottom right: court room) <?page no="112"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 106 As highlighted in section 3, customised content and tasks are of crucial importance for the success of a virtual world. The approach taken in IVY was mainly to use and adapt legacy material, i.e. content from multimedia corpora available from previous projects (see section 4.2). It was therefore important that the virtual scenarios reflect the content of these corpora. To fulfil these criteria, a core of 14 scenarios that reflect business and community interpreting situations and that match the corpus content was implemented. As also illustrated in Figure 4, some of these are more business-related in sensu stricto (meeting room/ office, presentation area, seminar room, factory workshop), others have educational and recreational contexts in mind (classroom, tourist office, shop, museum/ exhibition, sports ground, outdoor spaces), and further scenarios have a community orientation (court room, police station, medical centre, community centre, shop). The focus was on the essential components and functionality of the virtual scenarios. The look and feel of the scenarios was kept neutral. Whilst the inclusion of specific issues such as culture-specific features of a particular scenario and cross-cultural differences (e.g. the layouts of court rooms in different countries) would further enrich the VE, it was decided that in this first version, such issues could be addressed through awareness-raising activities and discussion. With a view to the sustainability of the environment, it was furthermore important that the scenarios strike a balance between being specific enough to provide authentic settings for the content and generic enough to accommodate a range of different materials in several languages or language combinations. Sustainability was also a major point in the development of the digital content, which will be described briefly in the next section. Figure 5: IVY virtual court room seen from the interpreting booth <?page no="113"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 107 4.2 Pedagogical Content for the IVY Environment Due to the focus of the IVY environment on business and community interpreting, the availability of interactive small-group communicative situations for the practice of short consecutive and liaison interpreting and learning about the role of the interpreter in such situations was crucial to the conceptual design of the environment. One major problem in this respect was the availability of suitable bilingual content. There is no space here to consider more fully the notion of ‘authenticity’ of learning content in the eyes of a learner, but the use of ‘authentic’ (rather than scripted) material was an important consideration from the outset. The content development therefore drew on available material from the ELISA and BACKBONE corpora and similar new corpora created in IVY for additional languages. As explained in section 2, these corpora contain narrative interviews which were, in principle, well suited to create content for the purposes of interpreter training. Some of these lent themselves to different genres of monologue such as presentations, short welcome speeches or explanations, whilst other material provided the basis for dialogue genres such as meetings, discussions, debates and interviews. Whilst monolingual monologues were created by selecting appropriate extracts from the original narrative interviews, a greater degree of adaptation was required to produce bilingual material for dyadic communication situations. Selected interviews were converted into bilingual dialogues by inserting question-turns into the original narrative. The questions were first scripted in the language of the answers but then (freely) translated into other languages in order to obtain bilingual dialogues in different language pairs. For example, selected English narrative interviews were converted into dialogues by using the original English speech as answers and inserting questions in other languages (currently Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Hebrew, Polish, Russian, Spanish). Turns are of varying length taking into account such factors as speech rate, grammatical and ideational complexity, lexical and terminological density, as well as different requirements and different institutional and national conventions regarding turn length. The method of multilingual content production adopted in IVY allows for a dynamic extension of language combinations, which is particularly important in the field of community interpreting as it is a field that is highly dependent on global developments and migration waves, leading to sometimes sudden changes in required language combinations with all the problems that these entail for interpreter training (as outlined in section 1). The idea of dynamic extension of content is supported in the IVY environment in that it incorporates authoring tool functions similar to those proposed and implemented by Sandrelli and her colleagues in various CAIT packages (see section 2): the materials are created outside the environment and posted to a database, which is linked to the environment, via an administration form (cf. <?page no="114"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 108 Ritsos et al. 2012). In this process, each monologue/ dialogue is linked to a virtual interpreting scenario to ensure that when the user selects a particular monologue or dialogue to work with, the appropriate scenario is loaded in the VE. In section 3, the importance of situating and contextualising educational content was highlighted. One way of ensuring contextualisation and creating a sense of realism was to create an interpreting brief for each monologue and dialogue. This is provided in the form of a short description of a plausible situation for the chosen monologue or dialogue, which is uploaded to the database along with the monologue/ dialogue information and audio files, and can be viewed by the students before starting to work with the material. The other way of ensuring that the monologue and dialogue materials are contextualised was to enrich them with pedagogical materials (learning activities). This idea of pedagogic ‘enrichment’ is derived from the insight that learners normally require guidance and assistance in the use of genuine, corpus-based resources (Braun 2005, 2007b). Given the research into educational uses of virtual worlds, the same assumption can be made with regard to the IVY environment. Enriching the IVY environment with pedagogical materials can be seen as a major step towards the ‘pedagogic mediation’ of the IVY environment. 4.3 Working Modes of the IVY Environment The ‘working modes’ of the IVY environment are the different ways in which the environment can be used. There are four modes - ‘interpreting practice’, ‘exploration’, ‘learning activity’ and ‘live interaction’ - to cater for different activities and, above all, for the different target groups that IVY addresses. The ‘interpreting practice’ mode gives interpreting students access to material in their chosen language or language pair. To this end, the audio of the monologues and dialogues is projected onto robot-avatars, i.e. avatars controlled by the environment rather than an individual user. This creates the impression that the robot-avatars are the speakers or primary interlocutors, who interact with each other. The students can participate in the scenario with their avatars in order to practise consecutive and liaison interpreting. The HUD allows students to select the language or language combination they want to work with and then select a monologue or dialogue, based on the interpreting brief. The selection of a particular monologue or dialogue activates the associated virtual scenario including the robot-avatars as well as a player (see Figure 6). <?page no="115"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 109 To enable the students to initiate and control the audio playback, the monologues and dialogues have been divided into turns or sections. As a default, the user listens to a turn until it finishes, interprets the turn, and then clicks to call up the next turn, but the user can also pause the audio within a turn at any time. It is furthermore possible to repeat the current turn. It will, however, be important to guide students as to how to use the options sensibly and, for example, encouraging them to reflect upon different ways of asking a speaker for repetition and the result each of these ways might trigger. The ‘exploration’ mode primarily addresses clients of interpreters. It offers an induction to interpreting and gives information about the different types and modes of interpreting, and about the role, task and skills of an interpreter. The mode uses guidance notes, interactive panels and demo video clips (e.g. of good and bad practice). The focus is on observation, exploration and acquisition of knowledge about interpreting. The ‘learning activity’ mode is aimed at both target groups. It presents the pedagogical materials mentioned at the end of section 4.2. In line with the information presented in the exploration mode, the activities for clients focus on how to communicate effectively through an interpreter. The learning activities for trainee interpreters include preparatory, skills-based and reflective activities. These activities build on the interpreting exercises developed in the LLP project BACKBONE (see section 2) and use the BACK- BONE corpus search website to give students access to the original video corpora (and transcripts) underlying the IVY content. 6 To prepare for an 6 To create a close link between the IVY environment and the corpora used in IVY (BACKBONE, ELISA, and the new corpora), the BACKBONE corpus search site integrates all of these corpora. Figure 6: IVY audio player <?page no="116"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 110 interpreting assignment in the IVY environment, students are, for example, encouraged to watch the original video clips, research the background knowledge and terminology relating to these, study the communicative behaviours of the speaker, or explore a specific interpreting problem (Braun/ Kohn 2012). The skills-based activities include exercises to practise individual interpreting skills (e.g. listening comprehension, identifying ideas, memory training, note-taking). The reflective exercises can be carried out after completing an interpreting assignment in the IVY environment. The range of learning activities is shown in Figure 7, which gives an overview of the IVY working modes. The ‘live interaction’ mode, by contrast, provides a virtual space where interpreting students and their ‘clients’ can work and learn together without any prepared content. In this mode, students can use the virtual interpreting scenarios to work together in an interpreter-mediated setting. For example, a business management student can give a presentation in one language, and an interpreting student can render this into another language. In the healthcare centre, medical students and interpreting students can meet to simulate a doctor-patient conversation. The student who interprets can be briefed by a medical student before meeting the patient. The lack of such Figure 7: The IVY environment and its working modes <?page no="117"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 111 collaborative learning opportunities was highlighted in section 2 as a significant shortcoming of current ICT solutions in interpreter training. 5 Preliminary Evaluation of the IVY VE Prototype The first evaluation stage involved a small number of participants from the target groups to assess, essentially, whether the environment could be used as anticipated, and how the user engaged with the concept and interacted with the VE. This first evaluation stage thus focused on evaluating usability and user-friendliness, which were considered to be important prerequisites for some of Tymczyńska’s (2009) evaluation criteria (see section 2). Given the heterogeneity of the IVY target user groups and the anticipated differences in their experience with educational technology, it was also deemed important to evaluate the IVY solution in light of this. The present section first gives a brief overview of the participants in the evaluation and the methodological procedures (section 5.1) and then outlines the main findings (section 5.2). 5.1 Participants and Procedure Six evaluation sessions were arranged at the Centre for Translation Studies, University of Surrey, in May 2012. A further six sessions were held at other project partner institutions (three at University Adam Mickiewicz in Poland and three at the University of Cyprus). The participants were drawn from a convenience sample of available interpreting students, interpreter trainers, and clients of interpreting services. For the University of Surrey evaluation sessions, which are the sessions reported on here, the participants were three interpreting students (one Erasmus student who had taken the third-year undergraduate French-English interpreting module [Ps1]; one part-time Masters in Business Translation and Interpreting student who had completed the first year of the two-year part-time course [Ps2]; and one full-time Masters in Business Translation and Interpreting student who had just completed the training year [Ps3]). Two interpreter trainers were invited to participate: one participant was the current tutor of the third-year undergraduate German-English interpreting module and also a PhD student researching spoken corpora in undergraduate interpreter training [Pt1]; the second trainer was Assistant Professor in Translation and Interpreting at a University in Spain, specialising in the study of legal translation and interpreting between English and Spanish, and also a practising legal interpreter [Pt2]. The final participant worked for a number of years with a public service provider where she was responsible for interpreter deployment. She therefore provided a client-side link between public services, interpreters and their clients [Pc-s]. <?page no="118"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 112 The primary aim of this initial evaluation session was to assess the functionality of the interpreting practice mode. Given the novelty of the environment, it was difficult to predict the best way of eliciting user reactions. The evaluation therefore combined several methods including participant observation, introspection and questionnaire-based elicitation of feedback. Observation served as a control instrument to ascertain what the participants did, irrespective of what they reported they did. This was important given the participants’ unfamiliarity with the environment and their potential difficulty in verbalising what they did in SL. Introspection was, however, deemed to help gain some insight into the processes, whilst the questionnaire was aimed at getting comparable responses to some of the key features of the environment. Each evaluation session was held separately and consisted of a member of the IVY project team working with the participant to explain the IVY concept, and introduce and show the environment to the user. After the introductory part, the participant was given a ‘walk-through’ document for gaining hands-on experience of the environment and asked to verbalise their thoughts. Each of these sessions lasted approximately 1-1.5 hours. Generic avatars were created for the participants to use during the evaluation session to negate the need for each participant to create their own avatar and then be invited to join the IVY environment. During the session, the IVY team member observed the user and made field notes. In addition, the evaluation sessions were recorded using Camtasia, which recorded the screen, the user’s actions in the VE and the conversation between the IVY team member and the participant. At the end of the session, the participant was asked to complete a questionnaire. 5.2 Main Findings Generally speaking, the reactions and responses of the participants were positive and the insights they gave from their respective user positions were valuable contributions to the development and refinement of the environment prototype. What follows here are some of the key findings from this first evaluation phase. 5.2.1 Accessing and Navigating in the VE The steep SL learning curve reported in the literature was not fully corroborated in the evaluation sessions, with five of the six participants grasping the IVY concept and working in SL very quickly. Two of the interpreting students (Ps1 and Ps3), for example, wanted to explore straightaway and knew exactly what to do, while Ps2 was very hesitant, moved very slowly, and did not seem to be engaged with the VE or interested in exploring. She suggested that the user would need training on how to use SL and that it “needs a <?page no="119"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 113 bit of practice”. Despite her hesitation, when asked about the value of working in a VE, she said that it makes the experience “more real” and immersive, and that the realism makes a difference to the user. This is in contrast to Ps3, who said that, although she would use the environment, she felt that there was no need to situate the materials in the virtual scenarios. Despite this, Ps3, having significant gaming experience, was very engaged with the environment and was confident moving around the island. Pt1 was very confident in starting to explore and see what was available, although he did not move out of the IVY reception building. Pt2 grasped the concept quickly and understood how to use teleporting to move around, saying that the teleport option was important so that the user does not waste time getting to the correct location for the selected interpreting assignment. Pc-s came to the evaluation session having already set up her own SL account and created her own avatar, but she commented that she had become “daunted” and then frustrated by a poor internet connection at home. During the evaluation session, however, she was engaged with the environment and was interested to orientate herself, move around in the environment and play with the camera controls to see the different perspectives. 5.2.2 Working in the Interpreting Practice Mode All of the evaluation participants were satisfied with access to the IVY working modes through the HUD (see section 4.1). Ps1 commented that accessing the interpreting practice mode was “fast” and “works very well”. Ps2 and Ps3 found accessing the working modes “quite easy” and “very easy” respectively. One aspect that seems to be of critical importance is the explicitness of the available learning content: although Pt1 and Pc-s had no problems working through the material selection phase, they both commented independently that the link between the material (monologue/ dialogue) selection and the teleporting location (see section 4.1) could be made more explicit. This view was also held by Pt2, who felt it would be useful to have explanations about the locations. For example, it was not clear to Pt2 what the “Community centre” was. In a similar vein, when Pc-s selected the medical setting, she asked whether the robots were doctors or patients, thereby showing that, despite having the brief (see section 4.2), the situation was not always apparent to the users. Irrespective of these difficulties, the brief given for working with the material was considered extremely important by all participants. Furthermore, whilst this initial evaluation phase did not attempt to gauge the usefulness or appropriateness of the content in detail, the participants’ comments made it clear that they appreciated the opportunity of having tailor-made training materials, given the dearth of appropriate resources. <?page no="120"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 114 5.2.3 Technical Quality of the Materials One of the aspects that the evaluation did try to gauge was user reaction to the technical quality of the ready-made materials. Given that a large proportion of the bilingual dialogues was created from legacy corpora and that there were differences in sound quality across the different corpora, it was important to assess how users reacted to the sound quality of the content in one language being different from that in the second language. Ps1 and Ps3 said that the difference in sound quality was not a big issue, while one of the tutors commented that students would understand that this was a tool and that the differences in sound quality would not detract from the usefulness of the materials as a training resource. Indeed, he commented that interpreters have to deal with poor sound quality in real-life interpreting situations and saw this as an opportunity to discuss real-life working conditions with the students. Ps2, however, found the difference in sound quality “offputting”, although she could see the value of having training materials with differing audio quality. 5.2.4 Operating the Player The audio player (see section 4.3) was considered very user-friendly and intuitive by the participants. On the whole, the participants adopted a very pragmatic approach to the player and were willing to explore the available options (e.g. play previous turn, play next turn, replay current turn); the standard symbols on the player were familiar to the users and enabled them to work quickly and efficiently with the materials, with only Ps2 experiencing some frustration with the player. Given that users will ultimately have access to in-world tutorials which will include sections on how to work with the IVY environment and that the majority of the evaluation participants were able to start working with the materials with the minimum of explanation, it is expected that all users will be able to access the materials quickly and productively. 6 Discussion The findings from this first evaluation phase can be used to consider the contribution the IVY environment makes to addressing the shortcomings in existing ICT approaches to interpreter training and to reflect on the known pedagogical and technical challenges of learning and training in a virtual world (see section 3) in the context of a bespoke environment. The innovation of the IVY approach and what is added to the existing ICT solutions for interpreter training is the sense of presence and contextualisation of materials in appropriate and situationally realistic scenarios. The value of sense of presence was seen e.g. by Calongne (2008), and the initial <?page no="121"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 115 feedback from users showed that some users engaged with their avatars and projected themselves into the virtual world more readily than others. In the evaluation questionnaire, all users said that the way in which the environment has been designed and developed is “real on a functional level”, showing that the environment has the capacity for users to immerse themselves in the environment. Whether an individual user can, or wants to, immerse themselves in that environment is another matter. For example, one user commented that it felt “a bit like being there”, whereas others said that they “didn’t look at the robots” and that they “didn’t feel like the avatar”. Another key feature of the IVY approach is the opportunities it provides for collaborative learning. Although the initial evaluation sessions focused primarily on the interpreting practice mode rather than the live mode, which perhaps offers the most opportunities for collaborative learning, one of the interpreting tutors commented on the environment as a place for students to meet and practise together. Moreover, the same tutor remarked on the potential for anonymity of working in a VE and that this could help students who feel inhibited working in front of others in traditional collaborative learning settings, particularly perhaps at the start of their training. However, as Moscato/ Moscato (2009: 93) note, there needs to be “student buy-in” to learning in virtual worlds. In the IVY context, this can be expanded to include “buy-in” from all target user groups for collaborative learning to take place and for interpreting students and clients to work and learn together. Although “buy-in” was largely achieved in the evaluation sessions, it must be borne in mind that the evaluation participants were people working in the interpreting field (primarily either students or trainers) who are aware of the dearth of resources for interpreter and client training; the next evaluation phase will include larger numbers of participants from the client user groups (students in higher education or vocational training and adult learners) and it is here that user “buy-in” might be more of a challenge. With regard to the interpreting practice mode, the findings from the evaluation show that the participants were very positive about the availability of new and appropriate interpreter training materials and the ease with which they could be accessed. It should be noted, however, that some users did not find it necessary to be in the VE to use the materials, stating that the monologues and dialogues would be a useful resource independent of the VE. This relates to the importance (or otherwise) of the sense of presence gained from working in a virtual world and it perhaps highlights different learner preferences or different levels of autonomy: some users will respond easily to the opportunity to engage with and become immersed in the virtual world and find learning value in the opportunities afforded by the virtual world (such as sense of presence in realistic simulations of interpretermediated scenarios), whereas others may not derive benefit from such additions or may need more guidance to be able to do so. <?page no="122"?> S. Braun, C. Slater, R. Gittins, P. D. Ritsos & J. C. Roberts 116 In any case, the so-called “Second Life learning curve” (see section 3) was not found to be as steep as it has thus far been reported in the literature. This could be attributed to any of the following factors, or a combination thereof: firstly, that the participants were given an explanation of the environment and an overview of the working modes (using Figure 7 above) so that the evaluation participants knew what to expect before accessing the IVY environment; the evaluation participants were generally competent users of computers and technology, with only one student participant finding the system overwhelming; the participants had access to user accounts and generic avatars that had already been set up in SL for participants, thereby eliminating the initial phases of getting started in SL; and finally the menudriven navigation of the IVY environment that had been built into the design, thereby minimising any feelings of disorientation or being “overwhelmed” by the options available upon arrival in the VE. In general, the evaluation confirmed the viability of the IVY environment. The participant feedback and suggestions given during these sessions were considered and, where appropriate, fed back to the developers of the environment to further refine the environment to match user needs as closely as possible (for example, making the teleporting location more explicit to enhance the link between the content selected and the interpreting scenario). Moreover, some of the challenges faced by the users, notably the one student participant who was not as confident working in the virtual world as the other participants, will be addressed in the user guides, such as the handbook and in-world tutorials. 7 Concluding remarks Against the backdrop of existing ICT approaches to interpreter training and current knowledge about learning in virtual worlds, this paper has sought to present the IVY 3D environment and the options available for both interpreting students and clients of interpreting services, and to demonstrate how the differing needs of each target group were addressed in the conceptual design of the VE, ensuring that the pedagogy informed the technology and not vice versa. Early evaluation feedback elicited from both target groups showed that user needs and expectations were met to a large extent. Two of the key challenges associated with providing training in virtual worlds - the learning curve and the feeling of being ‘overwhelmed’ - were not borne out in the evaluation, with five out of the six evaluation participants being very comfortable working in the environment. This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that virtual worlds are becoming more familiar to users and that if a VE created for training purposes is designed with the learning outcomes in mind and clearly introduced and explained to users, the feeling of being <?page no="123"?> Interpreting in Virtual Reality 117 overwhelmed can be minimised, if not negated. The next phase of the project evaluation will be broader in that it will include a greater number of participants from all user groups, and the findings will be correlated to assess the longer-term usability of the environment and integration into existing interpreter and client-side education. 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Woods, Jane (2010): “Improving the Student Experience - Student Support in Virtual Environments” The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education 1(1): 90-110. <?page no="127"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído The University of Auckland Using Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Process-oriented Translator Training 1 Introduction Studies of the translation process and its features have been mushrooming ever since introspection, usually in the form of thinking aloud, was borrowed from the field of psychology. More recently, the adoption of more rigorous methods and tools such as keystroke logging, eye-tracking and screen recording has also contributed to an already significant body of knowledge on translation processes. One of the main reasons for conducting research in this field is, as Anthony Pym (2009: 135) explains, “that it will be of use in the training of translators”. Yet, as Pym also notes, “[v]ery little work… has been done on the actual ways in which” process research methods can be used in translator training (cf. Dam-Jensen/ Heine 2009: 1). This recognition implies a distinction between process-oriented methods that can be used for either data collection in research settings - thus potentially aiming at transferring results to translator training - or direct applicability in classroom settings. While it is true that, as Helle Dam-Jensen and Carmen Heine discuss in the their 2009 article, certain process methods and tools are better suited to research situations than pedagogical ones, and vice versa, other methods and tools - including screen recording, i.e. the focus of this paper - are indeed useful for both pedagogical-oriented research and research-informed teaching. Process research aimed at applying research findings to translation pedagogy dates back to the 1980s, when first-generation think-aloud protocol studies were carried out to improve our understanding of translation processes, mainly by looking at differences between novice and expert performance (e.g. the volumes edited by House/ Blum-Kulka 1986, Færch/ Kasper 1987, as well as the work of pioneering researchers such as Hönig, Kussmaul, Königs, and Kiraly during the 1980s and 1990s). In later think-aloud protocol studies, however, new hypotheses developed to investigate not so much the features that characterize translation processes but the process of acquiring translation expertise, or competence - also with the aim of applying results to translator training. In this context, two main approaches to the <?page no="128"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 122 study of translation competence developed in our discipline, representing, as Pym notes (2009: 136), two main procedures for applying empirical work to translator training: 1) comparisons between professional and novice translators that characterize features of expertise (e.g. Tirkkonen-Condit 1989; Lörscher 1991; Jääskeläinen/ Tirkkonen-Condit 1991; Jensen/ Jakobsen 2000; PACTE 2005) and 2) developmental studies that aim to increase our understanding of translation competence acquisition, which in turn may help novice translators shorten their learning curves in becoming expert translators. The second approach, in particular, “justif[ies]” the existence of developmental models of translation competence and related sub-competences (Pym 2009: 136). 1 Recent work in this area includes Gary Massey and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow’s (2010) longitudinal project entitled Translation Tools in the Workplace. This project, in turn, is part of a larger-scale project named Capturing Translation Processes, which, since 2009, has been conducted at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences with the aim of exploring translation processes and the development of translation competence (cf. Massey / Ehrensberger-Dow 2011a, 2011b, as well as their contribution to this volume). Similarly, the University of Graz’s TransComp project (Göpferich 2009a, 2009b), which was launched in 2007, explores, like PACTE (2009, 2011), processes of translation and competence acquisition from a longitudinal perspective. A third approach to applying process research in training - one that Pym sees as “far more direct and perhaps of more limited applicability” - is to have students engage in actual process research in the classroom, “both as a means of self-discovery and as an approach to learning about research” (2009: 136). In his 2009 article, Pym presents this mode of application by using screen recording as a direct training tool to conduct three experiments (one on machine translation, another on translator styles, and a third on time pressure and its effects) in the classroom. As Pym himself acknowledges, the pedagogical value of using process research methods and tools as a means to increase students’ awareness of their own processing styles has long been recognized in our discipline. He refers, for example, to Juliane House, who as early as 1986 pointed out the benefits of using “dialogue protocols” (obtained by translating in pairs) not just for research but also for learning purposes. In addition to verbal protocols, written protocols have been widely 1 Cognitive explorations of translation processes have favoured not only the study of “translation competence” (understood as the ability to produce acceptable texts in the target language) but also of what Don Kiraly refers to as “translator competence” (or the ability to join and participate in new communities of expertise) (2000: 13). From a research as well as a pedagogical perspective, Kiraly goes one step further and suggests, in his contribution to this volume, shifting the focus from translation processes to the emergence of translator competence, thus opening up new avenues for future research into translator education. <?page no="129"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 123 used (e.g. Gile 2004; Hansen 2006; as well as Scott-Tennent/ González Davies/ Rodríguez Torras 2001a, 2001b) not only for data-elicitation but also as pedagogical tools for increasing students’ awareness about their translation problem-solving and decision-making behaviours. Similarly, Fabio Alves (2005) reports on the direct application of the keystroke-logging programme Translog in the classroom for learning purposes. Screen recording software is another observational tool that has also found its way into the classroom. Pym (2009), as briefly mentioned above, as well as Pekka Kujamäki (2010) report on the direct use of screen recording as a training tool for students to reflect upon their own translation processes, as well as those of fellow students. Erik Angelone (this volume) also reports on the direct use of screen recording as a self-training tool for students to model expert translation and problem solving behaviours. These are all examples that illustrate the most direct way of applying process research methods in the classroom for pedagogical purposes. Like these researchers, I am also interested in this pedagogical aspect, in particular in assessing the usefulness of screen recording for developing and increasing students’ awareness about their own translation processing styles. Yet, the kind of pedagogical work I describe in this paper differs from that of Pym and Angelone in one fundamental aspect. While these authors propose the direct application of screen recording for students’ general use as a self-discovery and/ or expertise modelling tool, I suggest using screen recording as a teacher’s diagnostic tool (cf. Kujamäki 2010; Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011b), at least in beginner classes like the one providing the main research setting for the study described below. This particular use of screen recording may help teachers direct students’ attention to processing aspects that may otherwise go unnoticed as well as design pedagogical activities involving the direct use of screen recording in more advanced classes, such as the task progression activities that I propose at the end of this paper. 2 Overview of the Study The work presented in this paper is part of a larger study that aimed at exploring the web search behaviours of a small group of six participants (Enríquez Raído 2011). These were four postgraduate translation trainees (in their first year of studies) who enrolled in an introductory course on technical and scientific translation from Spanish into English, and two translators - a PhD student with three years of casual professional experience and a translation teacher with over 15 years of experience - who took part in a pilot study. <?page no="130"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 124 To explore the participants’ web search behaviours, I used case study research, combining various qualitative and quantitative sub-methods and data-collection tools. In particular, I employed direct observation via screen recording and survey research using semi-structured interviewing and two types of online questionnaires. The first type of questionnaire, referred to as the “background questionnaire,” aimed at eliciting demographic data (gender, age, academic qualifications, and languages) as well as data on two user attributes (translation and web search expertise). The second questionnaire, called “online search report” (OSR), adopted the form of a written protocol and aimed at gathering information on the third user attribute of the study (i.e. domain knowledge) along with introspective data on the web search tasks that the research participants performed for translation problem solving. For each search task, the participants had to report on their search need, search goal(s), search process, and search solution adopted to potentially solve a specific (and self-constructed) translation problem. In addition to the participants’ web search tasks, their working styles - conceptualized in terms of time usage and task progression - were also analysed to explore the potential impact that the completion of the online search report (i.e. before, during and/ or after translation) may have had on their translation and/ or online search processes. Here, I only discuss the participants’ task progression profiles to exemplify the use of screen recording as a diagnostic tool for 1) learning about students’ processing styles, 2) drawing implications for training, and 3) designing pedagogical activities that may raise students’ awareness about their own progression through various tasks. The research participants of the main study - who took the translation practice course as part of the degrees they were completing in an Englishspeaking environment - were all females in their early to mid-twenties, except for Martha (all names are fictitious), who was in her mid-thirties at the time of the study. Two of the participants (Martha and Laura) were nativespeakers of English, one (Anna) was a near-native speaker and one (Maria) was a non-native speaker. All were first-semester students in translation except for Anna, who was in her second semester. They had little or no experience in translation (neither didactic nor professional), and the quality of the translations they produced was relatively low. The students’ web search expertise was rather low as well. In contrast, the two participants of the pilot study, i.e. the translation teacher (Bob) and the PhD student (Daniel) were in their early forties and thirties, respectively. Bob, a near-native speaker of English, was the most experienced and knowledgeable translator of all, followed by Daniel (a native-speaker of English) and the four translation students. The quality of the translations produced supports this, showing significant differences not only between Bob and Daniel but also among the translation students themselves. <?page no="131"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 125 Bob also displayed the highest level of web search expertise of all participants, which was significantly higher than that of Daniel and the translation students. Overall, the user attributes mentioned above along with the translation task attributes (translation brief, text type, and degree of specialization) selected for the study and the participants’ level of domain knowledge (see below) contributed to shaping their task progression profiles in several ways. Before discussing the main findings obtained, though, let me first describe how I generated the task progression profiles based on my screenrecorded data. 3 Task Progression Profiles The first step to creating the task progression profiles analysed in this section was to transcribe and code all the screen recordings of the study. To do so, I adapted Eszter Hargittai’s (2004) method for coding and classifying users’ online information-seeking behaviour, according to which users’ online actions are recorded and designated by separate lines of code in individual Excel spreadsheets. 2 Unlike other more sophisticated, yet perhaps more complex transcription and coding methods involving the use of XML in accordance with the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) conventions as suggested by Göpferich (2008: 77-94; cf. Sun 2011: 944 as well as Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011b: 32), Hargittai’s coding method makes it possible to understand many aspects and details about users’ action sequences “simply by looking at the spreadsheet that contains the information” (2004: 210). While Hargittai refers to an online action as “the mode of moving from one web page to the next” (2004: 211), in my study online actions included not only these information-seeking (IS) movements but also other IS-related actions such as clicking a button or typing a search query, as well as translating and reporting actions. This extended concept of online action allowed me to analyse, in context, the participants’ web searching behaviours from a multitasking perspective, i.e. from the vantage point of simultaneously handling “the demands of multiple tasks through task switching” (Spink et al. 2006: 264-265). Web searching alone, for instance, “can also include information multitasking behaviors that occur when users juggle the challenge of searching on multiple topics” (ibid.). Furthermore, 2 Transcribing, as I did, every single action is of course an extraordinarily timeconsuming activity, one that may be warranted for research purposes but not for teaching purposes. In fact, the amount of time and effort that would have to be invested in complete transcription would not justify teachers’ (or for that matter students’) use of task progression profiles in the classroom. <?page no="132"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 126 Web search engine users may information multitask in two ways. First, a user may begin their Web search with multiple topics, or second begin with a single topic and then develop additional topics during the search process. Both processes include information task switching, or switching back and forth between different topics during a search session. For example, a user may switch between seeking health information and new car information as they think and work on multiple information problems concurrently. (Spink et al. 2006: 265) The research participants of my study switched back and forth not only between different web searches but also between these and the remaining online tasks of the study, i.e. translating and reporting about online searches performed for translation problem solving. Each of these online tasks represented a different category of analysis for generating and visualizing the task progression profiles of my study. As the charts (these are not to scale) in the following sections show, I distinguish between four online tasks: “translation” (to refer to translation-related actions such as adding, deleting and/ or modifying text), “research” (i.e. web search-related actions such as typing a URL or entering a search query), “report” (i.e. filling the OSR to report on web searches carried out for translation problem solving), and “switching” (which refers to the participants’ continuous clicks on windows to locate a particular online task). Once I transcribed and coded my screen-recorded data, I proceeded to analyse it from a multitasking point of view by creating a timeline that recorded the exact points in time at which changes from and to the various online tasks were performed. The individual online tasks were therefore assigned a number from one to four, which allowed me to generate charts representing the participants’ task progression profiles. The charts, in turn, facilitated the analysis of how the participants switched back and forth between the different online tasks of the study and the extent to which the online search report may have interfered with their translation and/ or online research processes. The following overview of the participants’ task progression profile charts is grouped according to the quality of the translations they produced for a small excerpt (177 words) taken from a Greenpeace guide to genetically modified food. I will start my description with the participants who produced the translations of the highest quality (Bob and Daniel, i.e. the translation teacher and the PhD student, respectively) and will then move to the medium-quality translations of Laura and Martha (i.e. the two English native speakers of the translation practice course) and the low-quality translations of Anna and Maria (i.e. the remaining two students who are a nearnative speaker and a non-native speaker of English, respectively). I should note that, although the original text deals with two specialized subject matters (agriculture and biology), this popular science text is still accessible to <?page no="133"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 127 the average reader. Nevertheless, only the PhD student (Daniel) and one of the two students who are English native speakers (Laura) declared to have enough knowledge on the topic to understand most of the specialized concepts and ideas mentioned in the text. The remaining participants ranked their level of domain knowledge as low or very low. 3.1 High-Quality Translations Charts 1 and 2 (see Figure 1 and Figure 2), corresponding to Bob (who produced the translation of the highest quality of all participants) and Daniel (whose translation was the second highest in quality), show that these two participants performed the least amount of online task changes, with a total of 29 and 43 changes, respectively. These charts show a rather controlled manner - particularly apparent in Bob’s case - of progressing through the various online tasks, i.e. switching (represented by number 1), reporting about problem solving (represented by number 2), researching (number 3) and translating (number 4). For both Bob and Daniel, the periods of actions carried out for each online task are generally more distinct and stable than those of the translation students (especially if compared to Anna and Maria). Their task progression profile charts show periods of uninterrupted translation that are generally longer than those of the students, indicating that they were processing larger units of information at a time. Although the features mentioned above point to some commonalities between Bob’s and Daniel’s working styles, their task progression profiles vary significantly. Bob, for example, spent the first six and a half minutes reading the brief and the source text, and then proceeded directly to carrying out his background research before he started to translate. He continuously researched a number of items until the 25-minute mark, when he begun translating - a process supported by his resorting to the Web to find translation variants or confirm his own solutions. For this participant, translation thus only begun after a prolonged period of background research and then progressed until a problem was encountered, at which point research was undertaken again, and then translation resumed. This process lasted until the 45-minute mark, when the first change to the reporting task takes place. In fact, the last 15 minutes focus solely on completing the online search report, with only three changes to previous web pages and the translation task to gain contextual information to complete said report. Interestingly, Bob did not carry out any translation revision before or after completing the OSR. <?page no="134"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 128 To sum up, Bob’s chart shows four highly distinctive phases: ST reading, background research, translation interspersed with selected research, and online search reporting. The fact that this translator completed the OSR at Figure 1: Bob’s Task Progression Profile Figure 2: Daniel’s Task Progression Profile <?page no="135"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 129 the end of the whole exercise suggests that this tool did not interfere directly with his translation and/ or research processes. Daniel’s chart shows that he only spent a few seconds in the translation window before conducting his first web search. He then proceeded to complete the first section of the OSR (dealing with ST domain knowledge) and fill out his first OSR entry. This took him to the four-minute mark before he begun translating. His first translation period lasted until the ten-minute mark, at which point he encountered a new problem, researched it, and then reported it before resuming translation. From the 15: 30 to the 18: 30-minute marks, this process is repeated for a new problem but in a slightly different order, whereby the problem is researched first, then translated, and finally reported. He repeats this process for the subsequent problems that arise. This shows that Daniel’s translation proceeds predominantly in large, uninterrupted periods of time with pauses only occurring for research and subsequent reporting. Daniel’s working style thus seems to progress in a linear fashion with translation at the core and clusters of activity around translation problems where researching and reporting are attended to sequentially (either in the form of “translate-report-research” or “translate-research-report”) before translation resumes. This suggests that the OSR directly interfered with Daniel’s translation and research processes. Finally, Daniel, unlike Bob, spent the last three and a half minutes revising his final translation, which nevertheless did not lead to any target-text editing. 3.2 Medium-Quality Translations Chart 3 (see Figure 3), corresponding to Laura (i.e. one of the two English native speakers of the course), shows a somewhat different task progression profile. To start with, her number of online task changes (78 in total) is considerably higher than Bob’s (29) and Daniel’s (43). Yet, similar to these translators, Laura spent rather distinct and stable periods of time on the various online tasks. The first twelve minutes are characterized by frequent changes between all four online tasks. During this time, she almost always changed from the translation window to a switching process before settling upon the next online task (either completing part of the search report or researching). For approximately the next 20 minutes, a linear pattern of changes between translation and research emerges, where research is carried out on unfamiliar terms and translation continues until the next search need arises. From the 33: 45-minute mark until the end, the focus shifts towards the OSR, with the majority of online task changes taking place between the OSR and the translation windows (the amount of switching also increases). Like the rest of the participants, changes to the research and translation online tasks in this final phase are largely made to fill out the OSR. <?page no="136"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 130 In short, Laura, like Daniel, starts by filling out the first part of the OSR on domain knowledge and conducting a few web searches. Unlike Daniel, however, and similar to Bob, Laura then proceeds to translate the entire text with pauses only occurring when a problem is encountered and subsequently researched. As was the case for Bob, Laura did not perform a final revision of the translated text and her final phase corresponds to the completion of the OSR, which, again, suggests that this task did not interfere much (at least not directly) with her translation and/ or research processes. Martha’s chart (see Figure 4), in contrast, is very different to that of all the other participants. Martha, who made a total of 70 online task changes, started by reading the source text for approximately two and a half minutes and then spent eleven minutes filling out the first part of the OSR (i.e. level of domain knowledge). Up until the 50-minute mark, Martha shows a sequential pattern in which she identifies a problematic item in the source text, researches the item, and then completes the corresponding OSR entry without translating. From the 50 to the 54-minute marks, there is no screen activity, which is later followed by a second period of inactivity from 0: 59: 00 to 1: 10: 00. The last phase is dedicated to translation only and took place in one consecutive block, i.e. it went on without any interruptions for about 15 minutes. This appears to indicate that the OSR did not directly interfere with Martha’s process of translation. Nevertheless, the fact that she spent approximately 70 percent of her active online time on the OSR clearly indicates the impact of this tool on her working style. Figure 3: Laura’s Task Progression Profile <?page no="137"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 131 Martha’s final translation period was conducted at a good pace, with each sentence being translated below the original one. Here, proofreading and editing was carried out simultaneously, ending with a final check of the target text. 3.3 Low-Quality Translations The fifth chart (see Figure 5), corresponding to Anna (i.e. the near-native speaker of English) also shows a very different picture. Despite the high number of online task changes (113 in total), the chart shows three distinct phases. The initial phase, which lasts for approximately 15 minutes, shows changes between translating, researching, and reporting. Although no distinctive pattern emerges during the initial phase, Anna’s profile shows that most of her activity is clustered around the research online task. The middle phase - which begins at around the 20-minute mark and becomes her sole focus of attention between minutes 35 and 55 - shows a clear and somewhat linear translation-research process (like with most other participants). This is then followed by the final phase, which focuses on the completion of the OSR (also with frequent changes to the online search and translation tasks for reaccessing contextual information) and includes a final period of revisionedition-confirmation that lasts for approximately two and a half minutes. Figure 4: Martha’s Task Progression Profile <?page no="138"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 132 Anna’s OSR completion periods are found mainly at the beginning and the end of the entire exercise, with a relatively long intersection period in the middle phase (approximately ten minutes), which suggests that the reporting task directly interfered with her translation and/ or research processes. Maria’s task progression profile chart (see Figure 6), finally, is highly dense and significantly less distinctive than that of the other participants, which can be attributed mainly to her high number of online task changes (186 in total). Her task progression chart is characterized by a ricocheting style, yet nevertheless shows several progression phases. The initial phase, which lasts for five minutes, focuses exclusively on research. It is followed by an eight-minute period of changes between translation, the OSR, and some minor research. From the 13 to the 50-minute marks, a sequential pattern of changes between translation and research emerges, interspersed with reporting, for which Maria sometimes conducted repeat searches. The last phase starts at the 50-minute mark after the OSR reporting was finished and includes the remaining 20 minutes, which are dedicated to translation combined with research for checking purposes. Maria’s task progression profile shows the highest level of interference between the OSR and the translation process. Figure 5: Anna’s Task Progression Profile <?page no="139"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 133 Overall, the methods presented here for coding screen recordings and analysing users’ multitasking behaviours made it possible to identify a few behavioural patterns concerning the task progression profiles of my study. I discuss these patterns below, where I also draw implications for translator training and make suggestions for the direct application of screen recording in the classroom. 4 Main Results and Discussion The study outlined in this paper confirms the view now commonly held that screen recording is an effective and information-rich method for learning about users’ translation processes in general and for establishing potential correlations among different variables in particular. The main results of my study show, for example, that although no clear correlations could be established between task progression and translation quality, in general the participants who produced high-quality translations seemed to progress through the various online tasks in a more controlled and focused manner, thus spending more prolonged and stable periods of time on each online task than those who produced mediumand low-quality translations (see Table 1). Figure 6: Maria’s Task Progression Profile <?page no="140"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 134 Bob Daniel Laura Martha Anna Maria English proficiency Nearnative Native Native Native Nearnative Nonnative Translation experience High Medium Low Low Low None Translation quality High+ High Medium+ Medium Low Low+ Progression phases Highly stable Stable Relatively stable Frequent interruptions Significant interruptions Highly significant interruptions Task changes 29 43 78 70 113 186 Information needs 10 5 11 7 19 29 Table 1: Overview of Findings Longer periods of uninterrupted translation, in turn, seemed to correlate with the processing of larger units of information at a time. They also seemed to reflect a lower cognitive load than in cases with frequent interruptions and changes among all four online tasks, and where no progression phases could be clearly identified. For instance, the two translators of the pilot study showed highly distinctive progression phases such as “translation and research” in one continuous block of time and problem solving reporting in a separate block. In contrast, the lower the level of English proficiency and translation experience among the students was, the less stable and shorter their periods of uninterrupted translation were, thus indicating a high cognitive load. This appeared to be related not only to the number of information needs but also to the interference that the OSR may have had on some of the participants’ translation and/ or research processes. Finally, the participants’ task progression profiles also show that, in most cases, translation quality correlated with the number of changes among the four online tasks of the study. Generally speaking, the higher the number of online task changes, the lower the degree of translation quality. The number of online task changes, in turn, seemed to be influenced by the participants’ number of information needs. <?page no="141"?> Screen Recording as a Diagnostic Tool in Early Translator Training 135 Perhaps one of the main implications of my findings for translator training at a beginners’ level relates to the importance of making sure that we explicitly encourage our students to focus on individual and concrete tasks one at a time and to warn them against engaging in too much multitasking, which appears to be rather disruptive to the novice translator. Also, the training of novice translators could benefit from emphasizing more strongly the need to invest effort and time in acquiring background knowledge prior to translating. As Bob’s and Martha’s task progression charts show, background research appeared to contribute to higher levels of translation quality when conducted prior to the translation process and for a prolonged period of time. Bob, who produced the translation of the highest quality between the two translators of the pilot study, spent almost 20 minutes carrying out his background research before he actually started to translate. Similarly, Martha, who produced one of the highest quality translations among the four students, spent approximately 40 minutes conducting her background research and reporting about it before she begun translating. The remaining students, in contrast, proceeded almost directly to translate and research individual problems simultaneously at the micro level of the text. In general, my research supports conclusions from previous process research that screen recording can be “a useful, practicable diagnostic tool for translator trainers” (Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011b: 36). One of the main advantages of using screen recording for diagnostic purposes is that it allows trainers to apply the knowledge gained through this tool to teaching and learning contexts that are primarily needs driven. Based on the findings of my study, I see, for example, a number of concrete applications on both the macro level (e.g. translating, researching, problem-solving reporting, switching, etc.) and the micro level (e.g. drafting, revising, editing, etc.) of the translation process. On the macro level, we could further encourage our students to 1) critically reflect on their individual working styles by viewing their own screen recordings and analysing their task progression profiles; 2) engage in different overall working routines, i.e. the order in which the individual tasks are carried out, and in doing so help them find an approach that “works” for them, that they consider to be more efficient or less disruptive, etc.; and 3) examine their use-of-time profiles (cf. Enríquez Raído 2011: 313-317) to see whether they need to allocate their time differently among the various tasks. Similarly, on a micro level my findings suggest a number of areas of focus. With regard to the actual translation tasks, students might want to analyse, for example, whether they are working on shorter or longer translation units at a time and to relate their translating style to the overall quality of their work. With regard to reviewing, students could benefit from observing their own revising styles and discussing the differences between revising the text concurrently with the translating process and revising the final translation entirely after the completion of the translating task. <?page no="142"?> Vanessa Enríquez Raído 136 Nevertheless, the direct application of screen recording in the classroom for conducting these and other pedagogical activities should, in my view, be subject to learning considerations of a sequencing and/ or developmental nature. Most trainers share the seemingly uncontroversial understanding that novice students “problematise relatively little [and therefore] translate quickly and effortlessly (and perhaps wrongly, depending on the difficulty of the task), i.e. novices are blissfully unaware of their ignorance” (Jääskeläinen 1996: 67). Consequently, at this level of training the use of screen recording may be recommended as a teacher’s tool not only for diagnostic purposes but also for exemplifying translation processes, thereby developing students’ awareness of the complexity of cognitive translation operations. That is, in this context screen recording would serve as a tool for what Dam-Jensen and Heine refer to as “learning by observation,” or “adopting the good and rejecting the bad of observed performances” (2009: 17). Teachers’ involvement to help “direct the students’ attention to certain process phenomena which would have otherwise escaped their notice” (ibid.) would have to be naturally higher than that required for semi-advanced or advanced translation students, who are generally more aware of their ignorance than novices are (Jääskeläinen 1996: 67). At this level of training, i.e. advanced classes, the macro-level and micro-level analyses proposed above would be better implemented in terms of comparative analyses, in which students study their own screen recordings alongside those of more advanced students and/ or professional translators, giving them the opportunity to compare and, if need be, to model their own styles after those of the professionals (see Angelone, this volume). 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Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja (1989): “Professional versus Non-professional Translation: A Thinkaloud Protocol Study” Séguinot, Candace, ed.: The Translation Process. Toronto: H.G. Publications, York University, 73-85. <?page no="145"?> Erik Angelone Kent State University Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’: Utilising Screen Recording in Process-oriented Translator Training 1 Introduction In the mid-1990s, Kiraly’s seminal publication Pathways to Translation: Pedagogy and Process (1995) emphatically drew attention to what, at the time, was a common and persistent problem in translator training. A curriculum that tended to overemphasize the translation product as such and errors contained therein was firmly in place. The decision-making, strategies, and behaviours that went into the creation of the product were often either forced to take a back seat or were neglected altogether. Furthermore, as Kiraly points out, no significant pedagogically-oriented empirical research was being conducted at the time to better grasp the role of translation processes in defining the professional translator’s skillset (1995: 2). In other words, from a process perspective, translator training was more often than not a shot in the dark. No systematic guidelines were in place on which to base the much-needed pedagogical exploration of translation processes. Despite the fact that translator training continues to be somewhat biased towards the product at the expense of the underlying processes that go into its creation (Dam-Jensen/ Heine 2009: 1), Kiraly’s work served as a wake-up call in the field of translation pedagogy. In the nearly two decades that have followed, insightful empirical translation process research has been conducted by various research groups worldwide in documenting a series of concrete, trainable translation sub-competencies (cf. PACTE group 2003, 2005, 2011; Göpferich 2009). These sub-competencies can be regarded as the pillars of a process-oriented translator training curriculum and have served as a theoretical framework for recent process research on a wide variety of student behaviours, such as the utilisation of internal and external support (Alves/ Liparini Campos 2009), segmenting strategies (Dragsted 2005), and problem-solving tendencies (Angelone 2010). Thanks to the dedication of trainers, who now have a better idea of how processes can be trained as well as the technological advancement of innovative, user-friendly methodologies for doing so, such as keystroke logging (Jakobsen 1999) and screen re- <?page no="146"?> Erik Angelone 140 cording, we are moving closer and closer to Kiraly’s proposed notion of a translation curriculum “based on a theoretically adequate, empirical description of translation behavior” (1995: 11). 2 Professionalism and Autonomous Learning in Process-oriented Training While trainers have increasingly come to the realisation that the translation product should not dictate the curriculum, and that, as Catherine Way states, “any assessment serves little purpose unless the students become aware of the reasons behind their errors and the reasons for their successful decisions” (2008: 4), we still have quite a way to go in addressing two additional paramount criteria outlined by Kiraly. Firstly, more attention needs to be directed to establishing and integrating process models (strategies, behaviours, and tendencies) encompassing what professional translators do well (and need to do well! ) in their line of work. In continuing to re-shape the process-oriented training curriculum, these models would foster a learning environment in which students could optimize their strategies and behaviours and address any deficiencies in line with best practices as exhibited by successful professionals. Way was one of the first trainers to outline such an approach in describing student-centred classroom practices directed at error analysis: We discuss the strategies that may be used in the most typical examples, thereby encouraging verbalization and analysis of the reasons underlying the weaknesses or errors and the strengths and successful decisions which become apparent first in translations by professional translators and then in both classwork and in the students individual graded work. (2008: 95) Having students engage in meta-reflection of their own behaviour vis-à-vis the successful behaviours exhibited by professionals holds great promise in fostering problem and problem-solving awareness, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive capacities in general. In such a learning environment, students learn about themselves by learning from professionals. Alves was one of the first strong proponents of having students gain such awareness through self-analysis of their own process data against a backdrop of processes exhibited by others, such as professionals (2005). Ultimately, by engaging in such comparative analyses of translation processes, students are presented not only with an opportunity to directly observe best practices as exhibited by professionals in a concrete strategic sense, but will also come to regard themselves as active “thinkers and problem solvers” (Dam-Jensen/ Heine 2009: 1), as opposed to passive learners. A second criterion from Kiraly’s proposed process-oriented curriculum that also has yet to truly take root in current pedagogical practices is the notion of learner autonomy, something Holz-Mänttäri already called for in <?page no="147"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 141 the 1980s (1984: 180). A training approach centred around learner autonomy ideally equips students with the skills and resources needed to take charge of their own learning in line with their own unique learning needs. For example, in the context of problem-awareness training, rather than simply marking up errors types in a delineated fashion in the students’ translations, the trainer could instead indicate problem areas and have the students retrace their steps as documented in corresponding process protocols, such as keystroke logs or screen recordings, in order to determine error type, and, ideally, error trigger. Better yet, the students could be trained to identify problem indicators in various process protocol types and mitigate errors on their own in the future through deliberate meta-reflection. The longer-term success of autonomous learning hinges on familiarizing students with concrete skills early on in their training, ideally inductively, but also deductively. These skills would then be applied by the learner to solve problems in the future in varying contexts, and, most importantly, without reliance on the trainer. There are several reasons why autonomous learning makes particular sense in the context of process-oriented translator training. The learner heterogeneity found in many training environments, with variation in such areas as student competence (SL, TL, research competence, technological competence, etc.), translation experience, and interests makes it virtually impossible for the trainer to dedicate face-to-face classroom time for addressing all learner needs in a holistic fashion. This especially holds true in large enrolment practice courses, where the trainer is likely already pressed for time to read through and provide feedback on all of the translations. This explains, to a large extent, why errors in translation products take centre stage, considering that the time it takes to mark an error is much shorter than the time it would take to explain why an error likely occurred after close analysis of not only the translation product, but also some sort of documentation of the processes that went into its creation. To account for this, ideally, a course solely dedicated to enhancing process awareness, such as that offered by Pym (2009), could be incorporated into the curriculum. In the event that curricular reform is not a realistic option, process-oriented translator training can be set up in such a manner that it takes place in conjunction with translation practice courses, but primarily outside of the formal classroom learning environment, requiring minimal face-to-face class time. This will be illustrated in greater detail later in this paper in a discussion on how screen recording can be utilized for fostering process awareness in a relatively autonomous fashion. If learner autonomy is further defined as student independence from the trainer as such, several peer learning activities, such as dialogic think-aloud tasks (House 2000: 159) and collaborative translation protocols (Pavlović 2009: 83), hold promise as pedagogical tools. Here, students have an opportunity to articulate problems and problem-solving strategies in a student- <?page no="148"?> Erik Angelone 142 centred environment, learning from each other and about themselves in the process. When it comes to students reflecting on their processes and receiving feedback from others, several scholars have found that they are more willing to share protocols documenting their behaviours with their peers as opposed to with their trainers (Heine 2012; Kujamäki 2012). Collaborative learning activities can go a long way in mitigating the trainer/ trainee hierarchy, thereby helping students to overcome their apprehension and ultimately empowering them to take on responsibility for their learning and think more independently. Furthermore, through peer interaction, the likelihood is greater that students will become more aware of alternative, viable ways of solving translation problems (Kiraly 1995: 33) as well as of their own problem-solving tendencies. As Kussmaul states, this sense of self-awareness often goes hand-in-hand with a greater sense of self-confidence (1995: 149), which is vital for success in the language industry, where translators will likely be expected to explain and justify their decisions and strategies on a regular basis. Although collaborative translation protocols foster a relatively autonomous (at least from the trainer) “friendly, relaxed, and stress-free” learning environment (Pavlović 2009: 85) and can serve as a rich source of data insofar as problem and problem-solving reporting are concerned (House 2000: 159), “more” is not necessarily “better” insomuch as quality is concerned. The verdict is still out on whether or not students can accurately, let alone holistically, delineate and report on the problems they encounter. Studies have shown that student problem-reporting is relatively weak and that students often struggle with recognizing problems in the first place (Angelone 2010). In other words, while students would benefit from collaborating with their peers along the lines described above, they might not be engaging in discussion and analyses of optimized problem-solving strategies and many of the problems they encounter in translation might go unnoticed. This paper proposes and contextualizes a collaborative learning approach in which students self-reflect on their own problems and the efficacy of their subsequent problem-solving behaviour using the documented problemsolving behaviour of professionals who translated the same texts as a concrete diagnostic framework. Students will glean insight into their own performance as well as that of professionals in a comparative fashion by watching respective screen recordings that capture and render the translation task from beginning to end, including such phenomena as the textual level of target text generation, look-ups and utilization of external support (such as CAT tools, parallel texts, etc.), revision behaviour, and general translation workflow. Not unlike what transpires during a collaborative translation protocol session, learners will likely realize that there are multiple ways to go about solving problems, assuming the professionals exhibit strategies varying from their own. Here, however, “interaction” is between a student and a professional, and rather than having to think aloud or reach a consen- <?page no="149"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 143 sus, the student learns inductively from a “virtual” professional by watching translation unfold in real time. Later in this paper, preliminary student data in the form of collected retrospective comments will be presented to provide greater insight as to how such learning can transpire. Learning, in the context of this paper, will be based on the students’ comments correlating with concrete translation sub-competencies (PACTE group 2003, 2005, 2011; Göpferich 2009). First, screen recording will be discussed in greater detail as a promising pedagogical tool for process-oriented translator training. 3 Screen Recording as a Methodology in Process-oriented Translator Training In a nutshell, screen recording is a software application that unobtrusively records all on-screen activity that transpires during the course translation from beginning to end. Unlike most other translation process research tools that have been incorporated in translator training to date, screen recording preserves an inherent sense of naturalness in that the student is not required to do anything that would not otherwise be done during task completion. There is no need to break away from the task at hand for purposes of documenting problems and problem-solving strategies, as is the case when constructing Integrated Problem and Decision Reporting logs (Gile 2004). There is also no need to articulate thoughts, as is the case with think-aloud activities of various kinds. The student is not bound to a given user interface or a fixed screen, as is often the case when keystroke-logging or eye-tracking are used. As a tool that caters to autonomous learning, screen recording does not require the student to make sense of potentially abstract data that would need to be deciphered with help from the trainer. All the student needs to do is start and stop the recording and then press play to watch it unfold in real time. My students have always been appreciative of the tool’s userfriendliness and the naturalness of how their performance is rendered during video playback. It is also worth noting here that several screen recording applications 1 are free of charge and fully functional for the purposes of process awareness training. In recent years, screen recording has made its way from the research lab into the training environment as a pedagogical tool. Since 2008, Pym has had his students analyse screen recordings of their own translation performance to foster an awareness of translator style and to monitor allocation of the time they spent on reading/ comprehension, documentation, drafting, and post-draft reviewing (2009: 142-143). These activities were part of an over- 1 Cf. Blueberry Flashback Express (http: / / www.bbsoftware.co.uk [10/ 05/ 2013]) if using Windows or Quicktime (http: / / www.apple.com/ quicktime/ download/ [10/ 05/ 2013]) if using Mac. <?page no="150"?> Erik Angelone 144 arching series of empirical investigations intended to “compare novices with professionals on a wide range of performance variables, to collect significant differences and to organize those differences in terms of a set of learning objectives or competencies” (2009: 136). This approach resonates quite strongly with what Kiraly outlined in 1995, the difference being that screen recording (which was not available at the time) is being used as a tool instead of TAPs. Interestingly, these learning activities took place in the context of a specific course solely dedicated to process awareness, with the primary objectives being 1) to “make students self-critical of their translation processes”, and 2) to “make students aware of the contributions of new technologies to the actual act of translating” (2009: 137). These are two objectives around which an entire process-oriented translator-training curriculum could be constructed. In a similar approach to the one taken for data collection in the exploratory study described later in this paper, Pym elicited feedback from his students as to what they learned as a result of watching screen recordings documenting their own performance. Students commented on the relative ease with which they acquainted themselves with their own translator style and with which they made connections between errors made in translation and time spent (or not spent! ) on comprehension, drafting, and reviewing. Watching screen recordings proved to be an eye-opening learning experience, in both a literal and figurative sense. At the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, students in the translation programmes compile screen recordings to document their performance. Here, students are asked not only to reflect on their own performance, as documented in the screen recordings, but also to watch the screen recordings of their peers (see Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow in this volume). In the end, “students were better able to reflect on what they themselves do as a result of watching others”, and some “became aware of certain inefficient practices of their own” (2011: 35). Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow particularly noticed student growth in the domain of procedural knowledge, or knowledge of how to go about executing efficacious translation strategies, as a result of comparative screen recording analyses (2011: 37). Students were asked to simply discuss what they observed in their own screen recordings as well as in those of others. They were deliberately given no concrete instructions pertaining to exactly what they should observe, hence learning was entirely inductive, further in the spirit of relatively autonomous learning. As is the case in the study described in the next section of this paper, students at the Zurich University for Applied Sciences analysed their own screen recordings as well as those of professionals, with a primary objective being to “raise awareness and establish good, better, and best practices” (Massey 2012) in translation as a result. Angelone recently had his students utilize screen recordings as a selfdiagnostic tool for enhancing problem recognition and error mitigation in <?page no="151"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 145 the translation product. Students were given the task of creating one of three types of process protocols (either an IPDR log, an audio recording of articulated thought processes, or a screen recording) in conjunction with a corresponding translation task. They were then asked to carefully reflect on problem indicators embedded in the protocols documenting their translation processes, and, after doing so, make any desired revisions to the translation product drafts. The students’ efficacy in problem recognition and error mitigation, as rendered via the frequency of errors in the draft translation versions versus the frequency of errors in the revised translation versions, proved to be strongest when engaging in self-reflection using screen recording (Angelone 2012). The highly visual, natural rendition of translation made possible through screen recording seems to be associated with more overt, salient problem indicator cues (see Enríquez Raído in this volume), making screen recording a method of choice for training problem and problemsolving awareness. 4 Learning by watching Virtual Professionals in Action After becoming highly proficient at recognizing problem indicators and analysing problem solving strategies documented in screen recordings, the same six first-semester MA students (German-English translation), involved in the Angelone study discussed at the end of the preceding section, engaged in a learning activity in which they watched the screen recordings of two professional translators who translated two of the same texts the students had translated and for which they had created a screen recording earlier in the semester. The first text was an excerpt from a dentist’s website and the second was a travel guide excerpt for Borkum, an island in the North Sea. Both of the professionals were graduates who were interested in “giving back” to the programme by serving as “virtual mentors” to the students. When translating the two texts and creating screen recordings of each, both the students and the professionals had access to any and all resources of their choosing. The translations were not timed, and the students were told to simply press pause to temporarily stop the screen recording if they decided to take a break. The texts were deliberately kept relatively short (~200 words) in hope that the students and professionals would be more inclined to complete the respective tasks in one sitting and not have to pause recording. Using the screen recording-based learning activities conducted by Pym (2009) and Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow (2011) as a framework, I asked my students to reflect on differences between their own problems and problemsolving and that of the professionals as documented in the respective screen recordings. This activity occurred towards the end of the semester, so the students were relatively well-versed in screen recording analysis. They <?page no="152"?> Erik Angelone 146 knew to be on the lookout for extended pauses in screen activity, look-ups and other utilization of external support, and episodes of revision as potential problem indicators. Having focused exclusively on their own problemsolving performance up to that point, the students now had a chance to directly observe what professionals did when facing either similar or entirely different problems. As was the case in the Pym and Massey/ Ehrensberger- Dow activities, learning was deliberately designed to be inductive. The students were asked to keep a running log of their observations. Other than that, the reflection task was relatively open-ended in that no minimum or maximum number of entries was requested and students were told they could use any written style they wanted (key words, bulleted lists, sentences, etc.). They were also told in advance that their documentation would be collected for research purposes, but not graded, and that the primary utilization of the compiled content would be in-class whole-group sharing. Documentation of observations took place outside of class. It is important to note here that the class size was relatively small at six students, implying that whole-group sharing would enable each student to share documented content. In a higher-enrolment setting, such sharing could take place first in individual groups and then as a whole class. Another option in both lower and higher enrolment settings would involve the sharing of content in pairs prior to whole-class sharing. Regardless of the discussion format the trainer ultimately decides to use, it is hoped that analysis and follow-up discussion will foster an awareness of “self” through direct observation of “other” and an awareness of best practices in problem solving. 5 Student Comments from the Perspective of Translation Sub- Competencies For purposes of documenting inductive learning in line with a concrete theoretical model, student observations were classified according to their tie-in with trainable translation sub-competencies (PACTE group 2003, 2005, 2011; Göpferich 2009). More specifically, when applicable, student comments were classified as exhibiting characteristics of either 1) strategic competence or 2) instrumental competence. Strategic competence is a form of procedural knowledge that involves efficacy in planning the translation process and solving problems encountered as well as selecting optimal methods for completing the translation project (PACTE group 2011: 33). Central to this competence are sound, task-relevant decision making, as well as inductive and deductive reasoning capacities. Relating things back to metacognition, strategic competence involves proficiency in uncertainty management, or “the application of conscious, deliberate strategies for overcoming comprehension, transfer, or production indecision” (Angelone 2010: 19). <?page no="153"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 147 Strategic competence is manifest in successful problem recognition, solution proposal, and solution evaluation behaviour. Problem recognition involves direct or indirect knowledge assessment. This might involve the translator being able to clearly delineate the nature of a problem in terms of a concrete textual level and a concrete locus (comprehension, transfer, or production). For example, if the translator is asked to articulate his/ her thought processes during task completion, problem recognition might transpire as follows: “I am not sure if the collocation x+y (textual level) sounds right in English in this particular context” (the locus here is production). Problem recognition can also take the form of various interface indicators, such as online information retrieval or the utilization of a CAT tool software application. Solution proposal, which tends to follow problem recognition, consists of strategy execution, often in conjunction with the generation of multiple viable solutions to the given problem. The concrete indicators of solution proposal behaviour will vary depending on the precise nature of the corresponding problem. If, for example, the problem lies at the collocation level, solution proposal indicators might include retrieving collocation options from online web concordancers or documenting multiple collocation options in the target text. Solution evaluation behaviour tends to address already-generated target text content, and corresponding indicators could take the form of revision behaviour and post hoc information retrieval for purposes of reassessment. Instrumental competence, closely related to strategic competence and also known as tools and research competence (Göpferich 2009: 21), involves the successful utilization of various documentation resources, including, but not limited to, bilingual glossaries, corpora, parallel texts, and search engines (PACTE group 2011: 33). It is important to note that the execution of instrumental competence is not restricted to forms of external support only, such as those listed above, but can also take the form of internal support (Alves 2005), with the translator tapping into his/ her extralinguistic knowledge for purposes of problem solving. The correlation between strategic competence and instrumental competence is particularly evident at this level of internal support. The PACTE group points out that translation competence in general (as opposed to at the level of various sub-competencies in a stricter sense) is primarily procedural in nature (2008: 106), with strategic sub-competence being the most important in that it creates links among other subcompetencies which are more declarative knowledge in nature (for example subject field competence and bilingual competence), thereby driving the entire translation process (2008: 106-107). If process-oriented translator training sets out to enhance the student’s awareness of how one translates in a broad sense that transcends beyond individual problems in individual texts in the context of individual tasks, both strategic and instrumental subcompetencies should be at the fore. <?page no="154"?> Erik Angelone 148 6 Documentation Indicative of Strategic and Instrumental Sub- Competencies Table 1 and Table 2 below illustrate some of the comments students made when comparing their screen recordings with those of professionals and when analysing best practices in problem solving. Table 1 focuses on what the students had to say when comparing their problems and problemsolving behaviours with those of the professionals. Table 2 focuses on what the students observed in the way of best practices as exhibited by the professionals. Each comment in both tables is classified as exhibiting either strategic or instrumental sub-competence. No. Comment Type of subcompetence 1 I translated the title of the Borkum text first and both professionals translated it last. I really struggled with the title (“Aktiv erholen”) and I think it would have been easier to translate it after translating the rest of the text and finding out what it is about. I need to learn to be more flexible and move on when I get stuck, knowing that I can come back and translate passages later. For some reason, I always try to translate in sequence from beginning to end. Neither professional really did that. Strategic 2 I noticed a strange and discouraging pattern. When I went back and made revisions, I changed things that were already correct in the first place. This often happened when I had to look something up and had many choices to choose from. I should have stuck with my gut instinct! The professional also made revisions, but didn’t constantly go back and forth with the same passage. Strategic 3 So many times when I translate, I mentally tell myself I need to go back and check on something later and then forget to do it! The professional highlighted the passages he/ she wanted to return to. I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing that! Maybe every time I pause for a lengthy period of time, I should insert some sort of a marker to know that I should take another look at the passage. Strategic 4 One of the professionals seemed to translate really fast just to have something done and then went back and made a lot of revisions. The other one Strategic <?page no="155"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 149 hardly made any revisions, but the translation took a lot longer. In the end, both strategies seemed to be successful. It’s interesting to see how professionals work differently, but equally successfully. My translator style tended to be more like the first professional and less like the second one. 5 It was interesting to see how the professional spent time reading through Wikipedia pages in English related to the islands of the North Sea and about the North Sea climate in particular before actually translating. I always tend to jump right into the translation, but reading through Wikipedia pages made sense in that the translator had a good background understanding of the content before beginning. You told us about “assistive texts”. Now I understand the difference between background texts and parallel texts and how each can be used! Instrumental 6 I was convinced that I wasn’t translating at the word level until I watched my screen recordings. I thought I was translating collocations, but sure enough, I was looking up the parts of almost each and every collocation at the one word level and that led to major problems. The professional frequently used linguee to get equivalent “chunks” for collocations and even entire phrases. This is a web resource I definitely want to try out. Another bookmark to add to my list! ” Instrumental 7 The professionals tended to look up less overall, but for those things they did check on, they used multiple resources to make sure they got things right. They tested out collocations using Google Fight, but seemed to be unsure still and then checked out the same collocation using both the Leeds Internet corpora and a comparative hit count using Google. Sure enough, the results obtained with the last two resources were different. I always tend to trust the results of the first resource I use. Now I will be more cautious and try out other bookmarked resources as well. Instrumental Table 1: “How did my problems and problem-solving behaviours vary from those of professionals? ” <?page no="156"?> Erik Angelone 150 No. Comment Type of subcompetence 8 It appeared that when the one professional got stuck, she wouldn’t immediately look things up, but would rather start brainstorming ideas and would actually type several possible solutions before going back and deciding on one of them. I liked the idea of documenting everything and then having options to choose from instead of trying to get things right from the start using a dictionary. Strategic 9 We talked about deverbalization as a strategy in the Theory course and it was interesting to see how the professional did this for the word “Aerosole”. Aerosols, the direct English equivalent, tends to be used negatively and wouldn’t work well in a travel ad for the island. The “Aerosole” are supposed to be something positive found in the air on Borkum. So the professional googled several search words that were somehow related in finding “language” to describe the air on Borkum: North Sea, air, famous, good. He/ she then decided to use “fine mist particles that cut down on pollution” to transfer what was implied be “Aeorosole” since this was repeatedly used in English language texts about North Sea islands. Dictionaries and glossaries would have not been of any help. I used aerosols in my translation and now realize the problem in doing so. Strategic 10 Google Translate seemed to work well when translating the dentist website, at least for the specific terms. It almost seems like editing MT output is easier than retrieving and translating the terms from scratch. Instrumental 11 I noticed one of the professionals retrieved and scanned a series of source language parallel texts for the island of Borkum. I never thought of retrieving parallel texts in the source language to see what multiple texts have in common in presenting a big picture of the island. This seems like a good strategy for determining what the island is all about from an advertising perspective before starting with the actual translation. Instrumental <?page no="157"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 151 12 One of the professionals started by bookmarking four parallel texts for the dentist text and pretty much found everything she was looking for in these texts terminology-wise. She hardly ever looked up things in dictionaries and therefore wasn’t constantly entering terms and trying to determine correct equivalents. I will make sure to do this as well in the future. Instrumental Table 2: “What interesting and/ or successful strategies were undertaken by the professionals? ” These two tables by no means represent a comprehensive list of all student comments, but are rather intended to give the reader an idea of how inductive learning in the areas of strategic and instrumental sub-competencies can result from a close analysis of problem-solving behaviour as embedded in screen recordings. It is interesting to note that several concepts the students previously learned about in class did not truly hit home until they were directly observed and “self-learned” via screen recording analysis. Perhaps most telling in this regard is the student who finally became cognizant of the fact that he/ she was translating at the one-word level (comment 6). As trainers, we can tell our students to avoid doing this time and time again, to no avail. However, once this student had concrete, empirical evidence that this was in fact happening, thanks to direct observation and retracing of look-up behaviours, things quickly changed. The student had to literally see things happening with his/ her own eyes to believe it, and ultimately, screenrecording analysis resulted in behavioural modification for the better. Watching screen recordings of professionals also proved to be helpful for the students in concretizing and better understanding a series of translation procedures, such as deverbalization (comment 9). In our courses, we can provide learners with a multitude of examples to illustrate various translation procedures, however, considering the fact that the utilization of translation procedures involves procedural (as opposed to declarative) knowledge, it only makes sense to introduce them from a real-world, process-oriented perspective to illustrate how a given procedure is actually executed in the context of strategic problem-solving. In the example of deverbalization mentioned in comment 9, the student witnessed first-hand how a professional encountered and recognised a problem (extended pause in screen activity triggered by the German ST term ‘Aerosole’, EN aerosols), proposed a solution (entered a string of search terms in Google that were semantically related to the lexicogrammatical environment of ‘Aerosole’ in the ST and its underlying meaning, followed by the scanning of retrieved assistive texts to get a feel for what is so special about the air on the island), and finally evaluated <?page no="158"?> Erik Angelone 152 the solution (the professional made sure there was overlap in language use in multiple texts before encoding something similar in the target text and moving on). So often, the students’ utilization of external support (particularly online dictionaries) results in trying to “force through” proposed equivalents. Here, it was certainly helpful for the student to see how the professional’s utilization of external support in the form of assistive texts (both background and parallel, and including machine translation output) was far more conducive than a dictionary look-up in transferring meaning. By comparing their screen recordings with those of professionals, students also became more cognizant of their own potentially problematic, otherwise subconscious translation habits, such as translating in a rigidly linear manner (comment 1), making unnecessary revisions resulting in errors due in large part to self-doubt (comment 2), and forgetting to go back and make changes that one intended to make (comment 3). Through comparative analysis, the student’s self-awareness is coupled with newfound procedural knowledge as shaped by the strategies demonstrated by professionals to avoid such pitfalls, such as documenting multiple viable options in the target text and returning to them later, or highlighting text passages that need a second look. Again, as trainers, we can tell our students about such strategies, but the students’ actually seeing professionals successfully execute them while engaging in the very same translation tasks in which they themselves are engaged will likely leave a stronger, lasting impression. By dint of watching professionals in action, students’ instrumental competence was fostered simply as a result of closely monitoring the constellations of resources used to solve problems. They observed professionals solving some of the same problems they themselves faced, albeit using slightly different approaches and different tools, such as background texts for pretranslation comprehension purposes (comment 5), a web-based parallel corpus for lexicogrammatical retrieval beyond the word level (comment 6), and Google Translate for retrieving field-specific terminology in the target language (comment 10). Students left the analysis session enthusiastic not only about having a new repertoire of problem-solving tools and approaches, but, more importantly, about knowing exactly how some of the tools can be optimally used. Finally, one of the most important realizations the students were able to make by analysing the problem-solving of not one, but two professionals vis-à-vis their own is the fact that there is no such thing as one exclusive, optimal way to go about translating (comment 4). In this sense, it was fortuitous that the two professionals took slightly different approaches and exhibited slightly different translator styles, yet were equally successful as far as problem-solving was concerned. Furthermore, students realised that professionals are not perfect. They face the same problems the students face, and struggle with some of the same aspects of translation with which students <?page no="159"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 153 struggle. Observing this seemed to have a humanizing effect for the students in that the professionals were ultimately regarded as peers, as opposed to untouchable experts in a league of their own. Nevertheless, the fact that students had nothing overtly negative to say about the professionals, even in situations where their problem-solving was far from optimal, still seems to suggest that in the students’ eyes, professionals are not to be questioned. To further bring them away from this mindset, perhaps it would not be a bad idea for trainers to have students watch screen recordings of professionals and comment on their weaknesses or what could be improved. Overall, the students concluded this screen recording analysis session with a new mindset: “If the problems professionals encounter are similar to the problems I encounter, there is no reason why the problem-solving I engage in should be much different from the efficacious problem-solving they engage in”. It was exactly this mindset that paved the way for successful process-oriented training in the domain of problem and problem-solving awareness. 7 Conclusion and a Brief Word on Future Directions The primary purpose of this paper was to outline and describe how students of translation can enhance their process awareness and optimize their problem solving approaches by learning inductively from professionals using screen recording as a methodology. This approach is rooted in Kiraly’s proposed process-oriented pedagogical guidelines and, more specifically, in the following three central tenets: 1) process-oriented translator training should be based on directly observable (empirical) translation behaviours, 2) autonomous, inductive learning is efficacious in fostering process awareness, and 3) best practices can be trained by having students learn from professionals engaged in real-world problem-solving. A series of empirical studies might be helpful at this stage to more closely examine learning outcomes. For example, it might be interesting to conduct a study on student patterns in problems and problem-solving before and after they watched and analysed the screen recordings of professionals. Such a study might shed light on whether or not some degree of behaviour modification (in this case, strategy optimization) results from watching. The comments collected in this study come from only six students. Ideally, a corpus of comments from many more students could be compiled and queried in discerning patterns as to what students seem to consistently pick up on (and consistently overlook) when comparing their screen recordings with those of professionals and when looking for best practices in problem solving. In any case, at this stage it is hoped that translator trainers will consider implementing screen-recording technology as a fundamental pedagogical tool at the heart of process-oriented translator training. <?page no="160"?> Erik Angelone 154 References Alves, Fabio (2005): “Bridging the Gap between Declarative and Procedural Knowledge in the Training of Translators: Meta-reflection under Scrutiny” Meta 50(4). http: / / www.erudit.org/ revue/ meta/ 2005/ v50/ n4/ 019861ar.pdf [02/ 05/ 2013] Alves, Fabio/ Tânia Liparini Campos (2009): “Translation Technology in Time: Investigating the Impact of Translation Memory Systems and Time Pressure on Types of Internal and External Support” Göpferich, Susanne/ Arnt L. Jakobsen/ Inger M. Mees, eds.: Behind the Mind: Methods, Models and Results in Translation Process Research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 191-218. Angelone, Erik (2012): “Problem Indicators in the Process and Error Mitigation in the Product: Self-reflection in Process-oriented Translator Training” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Research into the Didactics of Translation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 21-22 June 2012. Angelone, Erik (2010): “Uncertainty, Uncertainty Management and Metacognitive Problem Solving in the Translation Task” Shreve, Gregory/ Erik Angelone, eds.: Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 17-40. Dam-Jensen, Helle/ Carmen Heine (2009): “Process Research Methods and their Application in the Didactics of Text Production and Translation” trans-kom 2(1): 1-25. Dragsted, Barbara (2005): “Segmentation in Translation. Differences across Levels of Expertise and Difficulty” Target 17(1): 49-70. Gile, Daniel (2004): “Integrated Problem and Decision Reporting as a Translator Training Tool” JoSTrans 2: 2-20. Göpferich, Susanne (2009): “Towards a Model of Translation Competence and its Acquisition: The Longitudinal Study TransComp” Göpferich, Susanne/ Arnt L. Jakobsen/ Inger M. Mees, eds.: Behind the Mind: Methods, Models and Results in Translation Process Research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 11-37. Heine, Carmen (2012): “IPDR - Testing a Didactic Tool for Teaching Self-reflection in Writing and Translation” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Research into the Didactics of Translation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 21-22 June 2012. Holz-Mänttäri, Justa (1984): “Sichtbarmachung und Beurteilung translatorischer Leistungen bei der Ausbildung von Berufstranslatoren” Wilss, Wolfram/ Gisela Thome, eds.: Die Theorie des Übersetzens und ihr Aufschlußwert für die Übersetzungs- und Dolmetschdidaktik. Tübingen: Narr, 176-185. House, Juliane (2000): “Consciousness and the Strategic Use of Aids in Translation” Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja/ Riitta Jääskeläinen, eds.: Tapping and Mapping the Process of Translation: Outlooks on Empirical Research. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 149-162. Jakobsen, Arnt L. (1999): “Logging Target Text Production with Translog” Hansen, Gyde, ed.: Probing the Process in Translation: Methods and Results. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 9-20. <?page no="161"?> Watching and Learning from ‘Virtual Professionals’ 155 Kiraly, Don (1995): Pathways to Translation: Pedagogy and Process. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. Kujamäki, Pekka (2012): “Looking at the Screen. Students’ Observations on their Own Task Performance” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Research into the Didactics of Translation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 21- 22 June 2012. Kussmaul, Paul (1995): Training the Translator. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Massey, Gary (2012): “Monitoring Translation Competence: Process-oriented Techniques and Tools in Diagnostic and Formative Assessment” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Research into the Didactics of Translation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 21-22 June 2012. Massey, Gary/ Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow (2011): “Commenting on Translation: Implications for Translator Training” JoSTrans 16: 26-41. PACTE group (2003): “Building a Translation Competence Model” Alves, Fabio, ed.: Triangulating Translation: Perspectives in Process Oriented Research. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 43-66. PACTE group (2005): “Investigating Translation Competence: Conceptual and Methodological Issues” Meta 50.2: 609-619. PACTE group (2008): “First Results of a Translation Competence Experiment: Knowledge of Translation and Efficacy of the Translation Process” Kearns, John, ed.: Translator and Interpreter Training: Issues, Methods and Debates. London: Continuum, 104-126. PACTE group (2011): “Results of the Validation of the PACTE Translation Competence Model: Translation Project and Dynamic Translation Index” O’Brien, Sharon, ed.: Cognitive Explorations of Translation. London: Continuum, 30-55. Pavlović, Nataša (2009): “More Ways to Explore the Translating Mind: Collaborative Translation Protocols” Göpferich, Susanne/ Arnt L. Jakobsen/ Inger M. Mees, eds.: Behind the Mind: Methods, Models and Results in Translation Process Research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 81-105. Pym, Anthony (2009): “Using Process Studies in Translator Training: Self-discovery through Lousy Experiments” Göpferich, Susanne/ Fabio Alves/ Inger M. Mees, eds.: Methodology, Technology and Innovation in Translation Process Research. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 135-156. Way, Catherine (2008): “Systematic Assessment of Translator Competence: In Search of Achilles’ Heel” Kearns, John, ed.: Translator and Interpreter Training: Issues, Methods and Debates. London: Continuum, 88-103. <?page no="163"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 1 Introduction Translation pedagogy has for some time recognised the importance of students reflecting on decisions and actions during the translation process and the role that such reflection has in the development of translation competence. It has also recognised that evaluating translation performance can be aided by knowledge of the process through which it came about. This would seem only logical, given that programmes purporting to be relevant to professional translation practice must clearly also be directed towards improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the way translations come about, and not just the quality of final products. It has therefore become a common feature of translator training programmes to assess student performance at least partly on the basis of annotations and other forms of written commentary, with students reflecting, and providing information, on the processes by which they came to deploy their various strategies and arrived at problem-solving decisions. One of the many proponents of this method is Garcia Álvarez, who suggests that directing students to write commentaries according to a fixed set of guidelines should serve as a model for student evaluation (Garcia Álvarez 2007: 143- 150, 2008: 28-30). This, she states, would facilitate the analysis and assessment of students’ mental processes and thus, by supplementing the judgement of the product, be a more reliable means of evaluating overall student performance (Garcia Álvarez 2007: 161, 2008: 31). Based on retrospective reflection, translation commentaries are purely deductive in nature. Garcia Álvarez (2007: 141-143) argues that commentaries afford students more time for reflection and so enable them to recall strategies and decisions that would not be verbalised by inductive means. However, it may equally be claimed that deductive methods used to access student processes can have an adverse effect on the validity of the information conveyed. Quite apart from issues related to memory and retrieval, students may to some extent be inclined to falsify their reports, especially in cases where summative assessments are involved. By comparison, it has <?page no="164"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 158 been argued that inductive methods present a truer picture of what goes on in the minds of (student) translators as they make the decisions and take the actions leading to the translation product (Kujamäki 2010: 3). In fact, Garcia Álvarez herself mentions (2007: 160) that these might profitably supplement the deductive approach she advocates. Inductive methods are commonly deployed in translation process research and encompass both online techniques (i.e. those by which data are gathered concurrently during the translation process) and certain offline ones (i.e. those by which data are collected immediately after the translation process). Examples of online methods are think-aloud and dialogue commentaries, computer recordings, keystroke logging, and eye-tracking. An inductive offline method frequently used is (immediate) retrospection, either free or cue-based. An overview of the various methods in process research and their application to the teaching of both translation and writing is given by Dam-Jensen/ Heine (2009). A considerable body of translation process research grew out of a pedagogical interest in the nature and acquisition of translation competence (House 2000: 152). Indeed, a number of process researchers have themselves experimented with applying their elicitation techniques and methods directly in translator education and training. Kussmaul (1995) and House herself (2000) report on the pedagogical potential of using dialogue think-aloud methods among translation students to raise learner awareness. Similarly, Kiraly (1995: 113) suggests that “talk-aloud activities” could be recorded and used in practical translation class discussions of translation quality, strategy, and relevant social factors in order to enhance students’ awareness of their own mental processes and thus foster translator self-concept and the ability to monitor translations. Dancette (2003: 78-79) believes that think-aloud protocols can be a fruitful tool in autonomous learning, fostering and broadening students’ strategic approaches while at the same time reinforcing their awareness of translation as a creative act. Based on the written introspective reports that he requires his students to submit with their translation assignments, Gile (2004) argues that “Integrated Problem and Decision Reporting” (IPDR) increases their awareness of key components of the translation process and can help teachers identify and correct strategic and technical problems in student performance. Hansen (2006) tests and compares the relative value of IPDR against two other methods, logging student keystrokes and then replaying the recordings to elicit retrospective oral comments (R+Rp), and combining R+Rp with an immediate retrospective dialogue between the student and the observer (R+Rp+ID). She suggests that these can be deployed complementarily in both research and teaching to heighten awareness of translation processes. Alves (2005) reports on an experiment using a similar R+Rp technique together with immediate retrospection, contending that process research elicitation methods in the classroom can increase the quality of translator education by focussing on procedural aspects of transla- <?page no="165"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 159 tion competence and thereby “bridging the gap between declarative and procedural knowledge” in translator education. Dam-Jensen/ Heine (2009: 17-20) declare themselves in favour of analogous “learning-by-observation” and “learning-by-doing” approaches they have applied. Pym (2009) and Kujamäki (2010) discuss the benefits of using screen recordings of translation processes combined with retrospective commentaries in classroom training. According to Kujamäki (2010: 19-20), such methods are both effective and informative, providing a diagnostic tool for individualised feedback and promoting student “self-therapy” based on reflection and comparisons between one’s own and peer processes. In this paper, we address the opportunities and challenges of applying translation process research methods in educational settings by drawing on the results of research and pedagogical projects conducted at our institute. Building on the many valuable experiments and projects in process-oriented translation teaching conducted over the last 25 years, we consider what students can learn from observing, analysing, and evaluating translation processes, and how process-oriented techniques may be efficiently and effectively used in advising, educating, and assessing potential and current translation students as well as supporting the continuing development of professional translators. In addition, we broaden our perspective by addressing what teachers may learn about their students and themselves, and what institutions can learn about their own staff and quality needs. In doing so, we partly summarise and expand on research and findings already reported elsewhere (cf. Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011a, 2012). 2 Student and Teacher Observation Current translation competence models (e.g. Göpferich 2009; PACTE 2011) seek to outline what translation competence is and, coupled with competence acquisition models (e.g. PACTE 2000), how it may be acquired. Longitudinal process research studies such as TransComp (cf. Göpferich 2009) and our own Capturing Translation Processes project (cf. Ehrensberger-Dow/ Perrin 2009; Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2010) attempt to validate the assumptions on which these models are based. Since acquiring translation competence has obvious implications for translator education, we dedicated a small sub-project to exploring the potential for using process research techniques in translator education. Proceeding from the previous research mentioned above, this sub-project was aimed at discovering what kind of pedagogical insights may be gained from examining translation processes, and by which stakeholders - students, of course, but also teachers, curriculum designers, and the institutions that employ them. The intention was to <?page no="166"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 160 ascertain whether and how it might be beneficial to carry out further pedagogical projects in process-oriented teaching at our institute. 2.1 Method Eight students in their first semester of an MA programme in professional translation took part in the study, together with four teachers, two of whom taught English-German translation and the other two German-English. The students all studied German as a native language (L1) and English as their strongest foreign language (L2). In the first quarter of the semester, the MA students were recorded individually as they translated a short German journalistic text of about 100 words into English. They were encouraged to work at their own pace and were not expected to complete the translation in the 20 minutes available to them. The students’ keystrokes, screen movements, and eye movements were recorded on a Tobii T60 eye-tracker monitor by software running in the background of their text editor (MS Word). Although the monitor was slightly different from the computers they were used to, the user interface and resources at their disposal were familiar. Immediately after the screen and eye-tracking recordings were rendered for viewing, the students observed their own processes and were asked by an assistant to verbalise what they saw on the screen. These cue-based commentaries were recorded and transcribed to produce retrospective verbal protocols (RVPs). Three weeks later, the students were randomly assigned an anonymous process done by one of their peers, on which they provided an oral commentary without any indication from the research assistants of what they should comment on or how. They were then interviewed by the assistant and asked to compare their own processes with those of the peers. Towards the end of the semester, the students completed a second translation task with a comparable source text from English into German under the same recording conditions as before. They again produced a retrospective commentary on their processes, and in a subsequent interview answered a short questionnaire on their involvement in the study. As already stated, teachers also participated in the study. In addition to two class teachers, one other teacher of each translation direction was involved. All of them individually viewed an anonymous selection of processes in their respective version and provided oral commentaries on what they observed. After each process, the teachers took part in a semi-structured interview about what aspects of translation behaviour they had noted. Each proposition of the transcribed student retrospections (RVPs) and teacher commentaries was then coded in a recursive process until no new codes emerged. <?page no="167"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 161 2.2 Results and Discussion The commentaries produced interesting results. Regarding the range of comments made, the MA students talked about their own processes in much more differentiated terms than they did when referring to those of their peers, with 23 different codes assigned to propositions in their own commentaries as opposed to only 14 for peer commentaries. The same holds true when their comments are compared with those of the teachers, which covered 16 different codes. An overview is provided in Figure 1. As previously mentioned, the data from the coded commentaries and interviews are presented and discussed in detail in Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow (2011a). Here, we restrict ourselves to summarising the most relevant results. Students often judged the actions of peers and/ or interpreted actions as strategic (13.2% and 22% of total peer comments, respectively). They also compared their own processes to what they were viewing (7% of total peer Figure 1: Codes used for each type of comment in the MA student and teacher observation sub-project <?page no="168"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 162 comments). When they commented on the target text, almost one-third of these comments were linked to what they interpreted as strategic actions. The commentaries also showed the students to be particularly interested in observing and judging information behaviour. Their interview comments focused on the differences and similarities between their own and their peers’ procedures, and especially on improving efficiency, research techniques, resource use, workplace organisation, and source-text analysis. Concerning their participation in the study, all the students said that the observations had taught them something new and had increased their ability to reflect on their own translation processes. The teachers’ commentaries appeared to focus more on the source text and emerging target text than the students’ did (32.1% vs. 25.1% of total teacher and peer comments respectively). A number of their comments were evaluative, consisting of opinions about student actions or comparisons of students (21.2% of total teacher comments). In the interviews, the teachers commented on macro-level procedures, such as reading the source text prior to translation, on the size of translation units, on textual revision, on explicitation techniques, on aspects of information behaviour, and on the paucity of evidence of strategic approaches. The data collected in this sub-project also allow us to compare student commentaries on their own processes when translating both from English into German, their L1, and from German into English, their L2. When the comments are analysed for distinctions between translation into L1 and L2, certain other patterns emerge. When translating from their L2 into their L1, students were more likely to talk about the source text, task-based strategies, decision-making, and dissatisfaction with their own solutions and performance, and they made slightly more suggestions and comments about the process per se. When translating into their L2, they made far more comments about searches and search terms and slightly more about syntax. For a better overview of the differences in focus for the two translation tasks, the coded comments have been grouped into seven categories related to: setting, monitoring, product, research, task, decision-making, and learning (see Figure 2). 1 There is little difference between the two tasks in the focus on the setting, the students’ monitoring of their own performance, or the product. The greater focus on research behaviour in the first task is probably due to the much higher number of consultations of external sources 1 The “setting” category includes comments about the process in general, the situation, and the recording; “monitoring” includes comments about (dis)satisfaction and (un)successfulness; “product” includes comments about punctuation, lexis, syntax, style, and the target text in general; “research” includes comments about searches and search terms; “task” includes comments about the commission and the source text; “decisionmaking” includes comments about decisions, task strategy, and meta strategy; and “learning” includes comments about new techniques, suggestions, and training. <?page no="169"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 163 when the students translated into their L2 as compared to their L1 (an average of 24.8 vs. 15.9 per process). The increased focus on task in the second translation was attributable to the higher number of comments about the source text, perhaps reflecting the students’ uncertainty about their L2 comprehension even after they had finished the translation. The increased focus on decision-making and learning in the second task is somewhat more difficult to explain in terms of translation direction. It is possible that the cognitive effort of translation into the L2 leaves less available capacity for reflection about decision-making and learning, so fewer comments are made about these when students view their processes after the task. However, these MA students were accustomed to translating into their L2, and none of them mentioned anything about feeling tired or finding the task difficult. Another explanation for the relatively higher proportions of comments in these categories in the second task is that the exercise of observing their own and their peers’ processes earlier in the project had encouraged the students to reflect more on higher-level issues. A third explanation, unrelated to translation direction or process-oriented teaching, is that the students’ translation competence and awareness of strategic behaviour had increased over the course of the semester, and they were more inclined to mention it. At all events, the students appeared to have learned something new. They showed a relatively keen and differentiated awareness of their own processes and an overt tendency to compare these to those of their peers, and they seemed receptive to the actions, procedures, and strategies they Figure 2: Percentage of comments in each category by the MA students for the two translation tasks <?page no="170"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 164 had observed, especially in the second task later in the semester when they translated a text into their L1. When observing their own and their peers’ translations into their L2, they seemed to be more aware of information behaviour, presumably reflecting their information needs and insecurity in this direction. Therefore, from the student perspective, this sub-project suggested that process research techniques can and do stimulate reflection, especially self-reflection, increase procedural awareness, and support peer learning. With respect to the teachers, the comparatively strong emphasis placed on the source text and intermediate target texts in the teachers’ commentaries, together with overt statements made in the interviews about the lack of student strategies, could contain a message for our institution. Procedural awareness may be a problem for teachers themselves, suggesting that they, too, might require greater exposure to translation processes and need more specific training in applying process-oriented methods. Yet, the teachers did appear to have acquired new knowledge of the individual behaviour of students, indicating that such techniques could serve as a useful diagnostic tool to complement product-oriented teaching and assessment, as discussed in the next section. 3 Diagnostic Assessment All candidates for our MA programme in professional translation must successfully complete aptitude tests in every language pair and translation direction they intend to study, which means a minimum of three translation versions. As a direct result of the above-mentioned findings, the decision was taken to introduce a process-oriented aspect to this diagnostic assessment in order to provide candidates with feedback not only on the quality of their target text, but also on the procedural aspects of their performance. 3.1 Method Tests are written on the institute’s computers with full access to all (nonhuman! ) internet and intranet resources. The translation processes of every candidate in every examination are recorded using Camtasia Studio screen recording software. In our experience (cf. Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011a: 37-38), such readily available software is perfectly adequate to provide the low-threshold data required to gain the necessary pedagogical and diagnostic insights into translation behaviour without the need to deploy more timeconsuming and expensive techniques such as eye-tracking. For reasons of efficiency, the test translations are first marked and graded on a three-point scale of “pass”, “borderline pass”, and “fail”. Markers are told to clearly indicate problem areas, or “rich points”, in the target text and to express any insecurity they may have about having awarded the proper <?page no="171"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 165 grade. The process recordings are then analysed on the basis of the product assessment. Grades may be changed in cases where the product is deemed insufficient but where enough potential is indicated in the process recordings. All candidates are then invited to take part in voluntary individual counselling sessions at which selected aspects of the translation products and processes are discussed with at least two teachers present. The process recordings are prepared in advance by the teachers, who, wherever possible, focus on representative negative and positive aspects of the individual behaviours observed. Candidates are encouraged to observe and comment on their own macroand micro-processes at every stage, while the teachers adopt the role of coaches or facilitators, suggesting alternative practices when the participants identify or indicate such a need. Since introducing a process-oriented component to product-oriented assessment and feedback in 2011, 27 candidates from two cohorts have taken part in the voluntary counselling sessions. Immediately afterwards, they were asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire on how useful they had found the experience to be. 3.2 Results and Discussion The quantitative results of this survey were overwhelmingly positive. Asked whether they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed that the feedback session had been useful, 26 candidates strongly agreed and one agreed. When the same four-point Likert scale was applied to particular aspects of the session, 21 participants strongly agreed that the discussion of the target texts had been helpful, with six agreeing. Similarly, 22 strongly agreed and five agreed that the discussion of the processes had been helpful. Finally, 16 respondents strongly agreed that it would be worthwhile to discuss process recordings in class, nine agreed and two disagreed. The quantitative results are presented in Table 1. Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree The feedback session was useful. 26 1 0 0 The discussion of the target text was helpful. 21 6 0 0 The discussion of the process was helpful. 22 5 0 0 It would be worthwhile to discuss recordings in class. 16 9 2 0 Table 1: Quantitative results of the MA diagnostic assessment survey (n = 27) <?page no="172"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 166 The candidates could also comment freely on the sessions and on the potential use of recordings in class. Eighteen comments stressed the advantages of showing process recordings in classroom interactions, five of which referred specifically to avoiding procedural errors, two to critical self-analysis and self-reflection, three to establishing good practices and/ or correcting bad practices (one of which focussed specifically on information retrieval processes), two to improving strategic efficiency, one to enhancing step-by-step translation procedures, and one to making students more secure in arriving at decisions. Three participants focussed on the benefit of using recordings to support the formative and summative assessment of student performances, one of whom explicitly foregrounded the ability to trace decision-making processes behind the target text. One respondent echoed Dancette (2003) by pointing to the added value of using one’s own recordings as an autonomous learning tool, while another explicitly foregrounded the potential for tracking the individual development of competence. Two candidates stated that they estimated one to two process-oriented sessions a semester to be sufficient to support their learning. Four comments also mentioned certain caveats, with two candidates referring to the time factor, one to infrastructural constraints and one to the importance of anonymising all processes made available to peers. The overall response to the diagnostic assessment and counselling sessions shown by the quantitative and qualitative data has encouraged us to continue using this method. Informal feedback from the staff involved in advising and coaching the candidates, and particularly from teachers instructing some of the successful candidates in first semester translation courses, has been equally favourable, with the latter suggesting that those who had taken part in the feedback session displayed a greater willingness to discuss strategic and procedural aspects of translation performance in class than other students did. In line with our commitment to involving all stakeholders in our pedagogical and research projects, we intend to follow this up by designing surveys and conducting controlled retrospection-based studies to collect more reliable empirical data from students and teachers on the learning effect of the counselling sessions, which can be triangulated with data from the standard quality assurance measures regularly implemented at our institute. The candidates’ detailed comments on the use of process recordings in teaching are enlightening and perceptive, suggesting that the technique is sufficiently accessible and congruent with participants’ conceptions of translation competence acquisition for them to identify (with) its purpose. The comments tend to support many of the findings of the MA student and teacher observation project reported above, especially those concerning procedural awareness, strategic actions, efficiency, and self-reflection, and thus to confirm Dam-Jensen/ Heine’s (2009: 17) contention that “typically, stu- <?page no="173"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 167 dents are very interested in their own actions and benefit from observing and retracing performances”. They also point to particular opportunities and challenges for translator education, such as temporal and infrastructural constraints or applications in formative and even summative assessment. 4 Teaching Projects As part of the quality management system in place at our institute, all teachers are obliged to attend regular in-service training. The outcomes of the above projects prompted our institute to organise professional development workshops designed to disseminate the results reported above and explore realistic, workable ways of integrating products and processes in the assessment and training of student translators. Teachers, supported by research staff, were encouraged to incorporate small-scale process-oriented components into their translation courses, although they were given no extra hours or funding to do so. The only additional resource made available was the research assistants’ time, making it imperative that these components were designed and implemented as efficiently as possible. Two such follow-up projects, all of which took place in BA translation courses, are presented in this section. 2 The first took place in a first-level German-English class with 20 participants in their first year of studies, all of whom were native speakers of German translating into their L2. The second was with a fourth-level German-English translation class, comprising nine L1 German speakers in their final year of studies translating into their L2. For both groups, the process-oriented approach was the same, though the source texts and assignments differed. 4.1 Method Students on the first-level course were asked to translate a narrative passage of 294 words from Urs Widmer’s “Die gestohlene Schöpfung”. The fourthlevel students were assigned a 390-word NZZ 3 article about US-European relations to translate for the newspaper’s English website. The process-based lesson plan was first explained to the students, who then worked together in pairs. As one student translated on a computer with screen recording software, the other observed and, on the basis of a questionnaire (see Appendix A), made notes on his/ her peer’s actions. Partway through the lesson, the students were told to switch roles and continue working on the translation. Afterwards, they watched the whole recording 2 We would like to thank Carol Dunkel and Andrea Hunziker Heeb for their help in the projects reported here. 3 The NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) is a quality German-language Swiss newspaper. <?page no="174"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 168 and commented on their own process to their peers. They were also asked to note any reflections on watching their own process on the back of the questionnaire. This process-based teaching was done in a double lesson with the firstlevel students, since they had never used the screen recording software before and had to become familiar with it. They translated for about 15 minutes each and, after watching their processes in the second hour of this double lesson, then came together with the rest of the group and talked about the experience. A research assistant was present to help the students with the software, to encourage them to comment on their processes, and to participate in the discussion. Only a single lesson was available for the fourth-level students, so they translated for about 10 minutes each before observing their processes. The research assistant was present, but there was no time for a general discussion and the students were asked to complete the translation for homework. 4.2 Results and Discussion The observation of peer processes rendered the following results for the first-level students: in all 20 commentaries, the type of resources used was noted, though in the open comments only six referred to actual search behaviour and strategies (those of the peer or, by comparison, the student’s own). In 15 commentaries, markers of insecurity (e.g. placeholders, highlighting, or variants) were observed, and in seven cases the peer’s actions were related to the student’s own in the open comments section. Most of the commentaries (i.e. 17 out of 20) mentioned the handling of source text sentence structures, though only one student overtly commented on this by comparing the peer’s approach to her own. Five students commented on the efficiency of the observed processes and three expressly mentioned meta strategies. One person recorded no observations of the peer process other than the number of times a particular bilingual online resource was used. Although four of the first-level students wrote that it was not useful to watch their own process, all four of them stated that observing the peer processes had been a positive experience. The remaining 16 first-year students seemed to have got something out of watching themselves at work: the comments ranged from learning new techniques to recognising their own weaknesses (see Appendix B). The process-oriented lesson seemed to have been quite successful, as indicated by the students’ written comments and the feedback from the participating teacher and research assistant. The results with the fourth-level students were much less convincing and proved to be a valuable lesson for the staff involved. Four of the nine students did not write any reflections on their own process, and three of those that did were rather negative about being observed (see Appendix B). There <?page no="175"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 169 were few open comments about the peer processes, but those tended to be comparisons of the peers with the student’s own process (e.g. “I’m less focused and efficient” or “I don’t search for so many parallel texts at the beginning”), so the peer observations may have nevertheless provided some opportunity for learning. The disappointing results with the fourth-level students may have been because, in contrast to the first-level students, this group had already observed their own processes in the context of the institute’s longitudinal study, so the experience was not novel. However, this supposedly processoriented lesson probably suffered most from inadequate planning and too little time. The fourth-level students would have easily recognised that the source text could not be translated properly in the time available and were probably only going through the motions. Again, because of time constraints, there was no chance to discuss the experience with the teacher and the research assistant, which would presumably have been more beneficial to these advanced students. Finally, the students were left with a productoriented task (i.e. to complete the translation for homework) that had no relation to the peer process of the lesson. For the teachers and the institute, the experience with the fourth-level students represents an object lesson on what to avoid in process-oriented teaching. 5 Process Orientation in Translator Education: Opportunities and Challenges The results and experiences discussed in sections two to four above indicate certain potentials and pitfalls of applying process-oriented methods in translation teaching. This section focuses on some of the major opportunities and challenges such techniques present. 5.1 Acquiring Translation Competence and Expertise According to the PACTE model mentioned above, translation competence is acquired by a process not only of developing sub-competences and accumulating new knowledge, but above all of restructuring existing knowledge (PACTE 2000: 103-104). As Göpferich/ Jääskeläinen (2009: 176) and Göpferich (2009: 23-24) point out, the PACTE group’s description of translation competence development is supported by findings from expertise research, which among other things shows experts not only to possess a higher degree of domain-specific knowledge than non-experts, but also to restructure and reintegrate that declarative and procedural knowledge as they acquire more. Shreve (2006: 35) claims that experts exhibit greater domain-specific problem awareness than non-experts. They seem to be able to encode and store larger and more integrated cognitive units, developing conceptual representations <?page no="176"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 170 differently from novices, which allow them to retrieve task-relevant information and knowledge to solve problems more efficiently and effectively (Shreve 2006: 31,37). They appear to achieve this largely through a combination of proceduralisation (i.e. converting declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge, leading to less effortful processing and increased automaticity) and metacognition, which enables them to plan, control, and evaluate their problem-solving (Shreve 2006: 35-36; Göpferich/ Jääskeläinen 2009: 176- 177; Göpferich 2009: 23-24). Translation expertise emerges over a considerable period of time under conditions of deliberate practice involving well-defined tasks, appropriate levels of difficulty, informative feedback, and opportunities for repetition and correction (Shreve 2006: 28-29; Jääskeläinen 2010: 217). If such feedback is lacking, which is frequently the case for translation professionals, then the translator needs to be “capable of significant self-directed metacognitive activity related to performance assessment” (Shreve 2006: 33). Metacognition presumably increases as expertise increases and can be learned and taught to promote performance (Shreve 2006: 38) and to foster learner and professional autonomy (Bergen 2009: 247). Central to the learning process, Bergen (2009: 238-239) argues, is “cognitive conflict”, since this seems to be a necessary condition for triggering and accelerating conceptual change and thus knowledge acquisition, restructuring, and reintegration. He stresses the primacy of training students in metacognitive strategies, both by using the “essential tool” of learning journals to encourage self-reflection and by designing pairwork and peer-learning tasks to create cognitive conflict (Bergen 2009: 246-248). 5.2 Teaching Students how to Gain Translation Competence As Jääskeläinen (2010: 223) rightly indicates, not all translation students can be expected to become experts and, given the “ten-year-rule” for acquiring expertise (Jääskeläinen 2010: 217, Shreve 2006: 29), the timescale alone prevents training programmes from turning out fully-fledged expert graduates. However, students can be equipped with foundations of declarative and procedural knowledge upon which they can continue to learn and develop autonomously after graduation. It is our belief that supplementing traditionally product-oriented teaching with well-executed process-oriented methods can make a significant contribution to attaining that goal. As both previous studies and our projects suggest, looking at and commenting on recordings of translation processes appear to provide opportunities for learning. As students observe their own and others’ practices, their (self-)reflection is stimulated (metacognition), and they are inclined to compare, contrast (cognitive conflict), and judge the actions they see (performance assessment and evaluation). They seem able to identify at least some <?page no="177"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 171 strategic decisions and procedural patterns in the processes they are viewing, and they exhibit awareness of problems, task relevance, and efficiency. Although more research will be needed to confirm such a hypothesis, there are indications that the degree to which they do these things depends on their level of training, translation direction, and prior exposure to processoriented methods. This would obviously influence the design and extent of process-oriented tasking at different levels of education and training, posing challenges for curriculum and syllabus design. Simpler techniques (e.g. pair workplace observation or teacher-guided viewings of student and professional processes), more scaffolding (e.g. teacher input, questionnaires, and learning journal templates), clearly structured feedback, and more contact time would have to be deployed in lower-level courses, potentially with distinctions being made between translation into L1 and L2. As students gain experience, there could and should be a progressive shift towards more open, student-centred forms of observation, description, and evaluation (e.g. unguided viewings of screen recordings with retrospective commentaries and semi-structured peer interviews) in the context of independent-study assignments and collaborative peer-learning scenarios. Of course, the same discretion exercised in product-based teaching should apply to process-oriented tasks, for instance by preserving the anonymity of students where this is warranted. As some of the student comments mentioned in section 3 and our own experience with the fourth-level BA class (section 4) demonstrate, time constraints are an issue to contend with. To maximise efficiency, the use of resources should be planned carefully and enough time allowed for task completion, discussion, reflection, and feedback. This has ramifications for timetabling, with longer contact sessions preferably replacing the traditional weekly two-hour slots normally associated with translation classes at our institute, and for the structured combination of contactand independentstudy tasks. Individual feedback by teachers and peers can, of course, be time-consuming - the counselling sessions described in section 3 lasted 45 minutes each, with each teacher spending an additional 45 minutes per twohour process to prepare the material for each candidate. However, there is no need for processes in the classroom or in independent-study assignments to be so long, or for the whole process to be analysed. As discussed in Massey/ Ehrenberger-Dow (2011a: 38), it would be quite feasible for teachers to combine one or a selection of short process recordings, projected onto a classroom screen, with product-oriented discussions and evaluations; indeed, such a technique is already being used in a variety of courses at our institute. Teachers could also devise independent study assignments in which students review recordings of one another’s processes, another method we have successfully applied. The time devoted to the preparation, analysis, and assessment of processes depends on a number of factors, including <?page no="178"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 172 infrastructure, resources, students’ proficiency, and group size, but need not exceed that spent on wholly product-oriented methods. Finally, as two of the MA candidates themselves suggested (see section 3.2 above), just one or two process-oriented sessions each semester may suffice to provide tangible learning benefits. While infrastructure presents another potential problem, it is possible to obtain good screen recording software free of charge 4 , and provided that sufficient storage space is available on servers, the large files which process recordings produce can easily be made accessible for both classroom and distributed independent learning. If the necessary IT infrastructure is not available, then other forms of eliciting and recording process data might still be used, such as retrospection from memory cued by the source text, questionnaires, interviews, or the other methods mentioned in the review of previous studies at the beginning of this paper. 5.3 Assessing Process-oriented Learning The diagnostic assessment described in section 3 provides candidates and teachers with the means to identify procedural strengths and weaknesses in various aspects of translation behaviour at the macroand micro-level. It allows participants to be profiled in ways that product-based analyses alone cannot achieve, with obvious benefits for teachers, institutions, and the candidates themselves. Yet, as some of the candidates’ comments indicate, it also raises expectations and issues about using process data in formative and summative assessment. To our knowledge, there is little mention in translation pedagogy literature of process-oriented metrics for formative assessment or summative assessment. Among the former is a contribution by Koby/ Baer (2005: 33), who propose adapting the product-based, criteria-referenced ATA error marking scale to track student progress in what they call “process-oriented classroom evaluation”. In other words, student performance is still judged on the quality of a portfolio of (intermediate) products, though the authors do stress the need for students to assess their own progress and to accompany assignments with a translation log outlining their decision-making processes (Koby/ Baer 2005: 35-36). Similarly, Orlando (2012) presents an adaptation of a product-oriented translation assessment grid containing a scale for grading an “integrated translator’s diary”, modelled closely on Gile’s IPDR concept (2004), which students have to complete for a number of translation assignments. Because of the number and range of potential performance predictors in translation processes (phasing, problem-solving, revision, disturbances, etc.), 4 E.g. BB FlashBack Express, available at http: / / www.bbsoftware.co.uk/ [10/ 05/ 2013] <?page no="179"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 173 summative criteria-referenced assessment still needs to be validated. However, the results of our projects and the findings of expertise research show formative process-oriented self-, peer-, and teacher-based assessment to be both realistic and desirable. While we still face the concrete challenges of elaborating, testing, and refining the necessary instruments, we are working towards a triangulation of good practice-referenced evaluation by teachers, peers, and the students themselves, with peer and self-assessment based on the principles and types of method described by Johnson/ Johnson (2004) and discussed briefly by Kiraly (2000: 152-163) in the context of translation. 5.4 Developing Learner Autonomy and Professional Expertise Some years ago, Kiraly (2005: 1099-1100) pointed to the competence gap that existed between the needs of the translation services market and the level of competence translation graduates acquire. The gap may be closed, Kiraly argues, by involving students in authentic, collaborative translation projects for which they bear full responsibility for the entire assignment, empowering them to become “proactive agents of their own learning”, which will lead to “autonomy and expertise” (Kiraly 2005: 1104). Eight years on, that gap persists. The conclusions of a recent language industry forum organised by the European Commission’s Directorate- General for Translation (DGT) 5 call for the closer integration of universities, industry, and associations, increased student exposure to professional practices, including revision, more student awareness of real-life time, productivity, and efficiency constraints as well as greater student ability to reflect on their work, monitor their own performances, and learn from feedback when this is available. A similar plea is made by Biel, who considers the implications of the EN 15038: 2006 translation service standard for training and concludes that more should be done to educate “translation service providers rather than translators” and to promote lifelong learning and continuous professional development (Biel 2011: 72). The process research carried out at our institute attempts to bridge the gap between professional practice and training by investigating professional translation at the workplace. These findings feed into the design and development of the curricula of our BA, MA, and professional development programmes (cf. Massey/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011b; Hofer/ Ehrensberger-Dow 2011), where process research techniques are being increasingly deployed in both teaching and assessment. In line with Kiraly (1995, 2000, 2005) we suggest that, by integrating the research process-oriented teaching described in 5 LIND-WEB: 1st Forum of the Language Industry Web Platform. Share, Cooperate, Grow, Brussels, 24 May 2012. The forum report and conclusions are available at http: / / ec.europa.eu/ dgs/ translation/ programmes/ languageindustry/ platform/ index_ en.htm [10/ 05/ 2013] <?page no="180"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 174 this paper into situated, collaborative translation education, a powerful form of learning can be created to lay the foundations of professional competence, responsibility, and accountability. Preparations are now underway to operationalise concepts of combining collaborative and process-oriented teaching at our institute, with the major goal of achieving learner autonomy and thus empowering our graduates to seek out the deliberate practice they need to acquire translation expertise. 6 Conclusion As the studies and projects presented in this paper demonstrate, a number of methods used to investigate translation processes in laboratory-based and workplace research projects can be exploited in translation pedagogy to encourage reflection and to complement traditional teaching techniques and product assessments. A simple method such as examining low-threshold screen recordings of variable duration allows students and teachers to reconstruct the process between intermediate and final solutions, thus gaining insights into multiple aspects of translation behaviour. The transparency this affords facilitates individual counselling and coaching more than traditional evaluations of translation products can, since many of the considerations in reaching translation solutions can be observed and do not just have to be assumed. Supplementing screen recordings with cue-based retrospective verbalisations seems to promote (self-)reflection and an increased awareness of problems, procedures, decision-making strategies, task relevance, and work efficiency; and it appears to stimulate (self-)evaluation. Learning about one’s own and others’ practices in this way harbours certain challenges. Alongside time, infrastructure, resources, group size, and student proficiency, these include developing adequate forms and measures of assessment and convincingly combining process-oriented tasks with authentic translation projects. But such methods also have the clear potential to be enlightening and empowering, offering considerable opportunities to foster learner autonomy and to provide a solid basis for developing professional expertise. References Alves, Fabio (2005): “Bridging the Gap between Declarative and Procedural Knowledge in the Training of Translators: Meta-reflection under Scrutiny” Meta 50(4). http: / / www.erudit.org/ revue/ meta/ 2005/ v50/ n4/ 019861ar.pdf [02/ 05/ 2013] Bergen, David (2009): “The Role of Metacognition and Cognitive Conflict in the Development of Translation Competence” Across Languages and Cultures 10(2): 231-250. <?page no="181"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 175 Biel, Lucja (2011): “Training Translators or Translation Service Providers? EN 15038: 2006 Standard of Translation Services and its Training Implications” The Journal of Specialised Translation 16: 61-76. Dam-Jensen, Helle/ Carmen Heine (2009): “Process Research Methods and their Application in the Didactics of Text Production and Translation. Shedding Light on the Use of Research Methods in the University Classroom” Trans-kom Journal of Translation and Technical Communication Research, 2(1): 1-25. Dancette, Jeanne (2003): “Le Protocole de Verbalisation: Un Outil d’Autoformation en Traduction”. Maréchal, Geneviève/ Louise Brunette/ Zélie Guével/ Valentine Egan, eds.: La Formation à la Traduction Professionnelle. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 65-82. Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen/ Daniel Perrin (2009): “Capturing Translation Processes to Access Metalinguistic Awareness” Across Languages and Cultures 10(2): 275-288. EN 15038 (2006): Translation services - Service Requirements. Brussels: European Committee for Standardization. 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Massey, Gary/ Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow (2011b): “Investigating Information Literacy: A Growing Priority in Translation Studies” Across Languages and Cultures 12(2): 193-211. Massey, Gary/ Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow (2012): “Evaluating the Process: Implications for Curriculum Development” Zybatow, Lew/ Alena Petrova/ Michael Ustaszewski, eds.: Translation Studies: Interdisciplinary Issues in Theory and Didactics. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 95-100. Orlando, Marc (2012): “Training of Professional Translators in Australia: Processoriented and Product-oriented Evaluation Approaches” Hubscher-Davidson, Severine/ Michael Borodo, eds.: Global Trends in Translator and Interpreter Training. London: Continuum, 197-216. PACTE (2000): “Acquiring Translation Competence: Hypotheses and Methodological Problems in a Research Project” Beeby, Allison/ Doris Ensinger/ Marisa Presas, eds.: Investigating Translation. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: Benjamins, 99-106. <?page no="183"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 177 PACTE (2011): “Results of the Validation of the PACTE Translation Competence Model. Translation Problems and Translation Competence” Alvstad, Cecilia/ Adelina Hild/ Elisabet Tiselius, eds.: Methods and Strategies of Process Research. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: Benjamins, 317-343. Pym, Anthony (2009): “Using Process Studies in Translator Training: Self-discovery through Lousy Experiments” Mees, Inger M./ Fabio Alves/ Susanne Göpferich, eds.: Methodology, Technology and Innovation in Translation Process Research: A Tribute to Arnt Lykke Jakobsen. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 135-156. Shreve, Gregory M. (2006): “The Deliberate Practice: Translation and Expertise” Journal of Translation Studies 9(1): 27-42. <?page no="184"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 178 Appendix A Questionnaire used in process-oriented teaching projects <?page no="185"?> Evaluating Translation Processes: Opportunities and Challenges 179 Appendix B BA students’ reflections on own process Pseudonyms First-level students (italics indicate negative comments about the experience) Agnes I am quite slow translating. Andrea Interesting to see how the other works, because the processes were very similar. Wasn’t useful to see my process. Cathy The dictionary is used quite often. I was nervous (from the people watching). I would have started process differently [if I had been first]. Chris Sometimes I wasn’t sure which resource to use when but then I got the tip to use Oxford References, which I will definitely use next time. 10 minutes is too short. A very interesting lesson, especially the discussion about process. Darcy Realised how much time translating takes; seemed incredibly slow. Don I go too fast - should check some words more carefully! It’s a good way to analyse thoughts. There are longer-term benefits. Jerry Interesting to use Camtasia but would divide class into small groups so everyone can write more; more time would have been better. Good, helpful tips from the coaches. John I realise which bits make me waste more time Katie It’s interesting to see how the other person handled the translation. I’m not sure if Camtasia would help; don’t think I would watch the whole process again. Kit I organise my workplace first. I often write the first word that comes to mind and then check it with Pons/ Langenscheidt, etc. Linus It’s interesting to see how much time we actually spend just thinking about how to translate something or how to tackle a problem. It would have been better to do the exercise on our own computers. Mark I should use a monolingual dictionary more and should use more reputable online sources for fixed sayings and idioms. It’s useful to use placeholders so I can move on Micky A first-time experience but I found it easy to concentrate and translate naturally. I learned that my peer uses completely different dictionaries; will look at these more closely although I am happy with Pons Moira I’m quicker if I just write down my ideas without looking up too many words. <?page no="186"?> Gary Massey & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow 180 Nancy I already knew what my weaknesses and mistakes were, so Camtasia [screen recording software] didn’t help much. I found it useful to observe the other person; it showed me what I think is good about my strategies. Ruth It was interesting to watch the process but it didn’t really help me to get to know new methods or how I could improve my strategies. I enjoyed observing other person. Sally I saw what I could have done better, like using more high register words; usually I just translate the text and write down other variants and choose the best one Stan My translation process is very fast compared to others. I tend to be satisfied with words that sound right but weren’t. I tend not to think a lot about the process, just do it and wait to see what happens. Ted I think this lesson was very useful. Tessa I only used one translation source. Pseudonyms Fourth-level students (italics indicate negative comments about the experience) Dave A lot of confirmation in dictionaries and parallel texts. If I have difficulties finding the right word, I often look up synonyms in a German dict. I should work more efficiently. Deb I work rather slowly in comparison to one but not the other peer. Easily distracted and feel observed by Camtasia. Find it difficult to break away from the ST and find idiomatic solutions for the TT. Dorothy - Linda - Maria - Nancy Less focused and target-oriented than the others; start searching before I know what I’m looking for. Felt really observed. Sue I think I’m too slow, since I do a lot of research in many dictionaries. I should search for parallel texts rather than stick to the words. I should be more confident about what I write and not check every word in the dictionary. Susan - Trish Nervous because watched. Need warm-up to get into text, so first 15 minutes don’t reflect process. Didn’t have own dictionaries. <?page no="187"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona The Importance of Feedback in Fine-tuning Syllabus Design in Specialised Translation Classes - A Case Study 1 Introduction In 1999, the Bologna Process brought with it the winds of change in universities throughout Europe. With its emphasis on employability and the development of the competences and soft skills necessary for graduates’ successful incorporation into the professional workplace, attention came to focus on each individual’s learning process. ‘Goals’, ‘general and specific competences’, ‘skills’, ‘learning outcomes’, ‘feedback’, ‘performance’, ‘assessment’, ‘self-assessment’, ‘evaluation’ became the buzz words of the European Higher Education Area and the corner-stones of its ‘life-long learning’ project 1 today. Since 2001, the final-year Specialised Inverse Translation course (Spanish to English) in the Translation and Interpreting degree of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has been preparing students for the professional workplace. The original syllabus, designed for the course in 2001 (Appendix 1) and aimed at developing the competences and skills required by professional translators 2 has hardly changed. But it has changed, in particular with regard to the way in which formative and summative assessment is done. 1 http: / / www.ehea.info/ article-details.aspx? ArticleId=14 [08/ 08/ 2012]. 2 “The current webpage ‘EU-DG Translation - Translator profile’ gives an idea of the qualities and skills required to work as a translator in the European Union and describes the thematic and translation skills required in terms of ‘familiarity with economics, financial affairs, legal matters, technical or scientific fields’; ‘a capacity to understand texts in the source language and to render them correctly in the target language, using a style and register appropriate to the purpose of the text, a capacity to research topics and terminology quickly and effectively - in both the source language and target languages, a capacity to master computer-assisted translation and terminology tools, as well as standard office-automation software’”. (http: / / ec.europa.eu/ dgs/ translation/ workwithus/ staff/ profile/ index_en.htm [03/ 08/ 2012]) <?page no="188"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 182 Research over the years has shown the importance of regular, timely, ongoing feedback during the learning process if students’ performance is to be improved. Little, as far as we know, has been published on performance feedback at teacher level in order to determine how well teachers’ actions work in terms of accomplishing their goals. This paper describes the effects of the use of a questionnaire devised to obtain feedback from students on identified course objectives, competences, and individual performance goals over time. The feedback obtained also served to institute strategic changes which resulted in greater student satisfaction and higher levels of motivation. 2 Syllabus design 2.1 Aims The aim of the syllabus, initially designed for the Specialised Inverse Translation class, was two-fold: i) to satisfy the demands of the professional workplace, and, ii) to satisfy the demands of the university concerning accountability. Satisfying the demands of the workplace involved: i) training students in how to translate texts from different specialist fields into a language that was not their L1 language; ii) training them to become proficient in their use of information and communication technologies (ICTs); iii) developing those soft skills required by employers (ability to work in multilingual, multicultural teams; ability to negotiate differences; ability to think critically; make appropriate decisions, etc.); and iv) providing students with a preview of the professional translator’s working conditions by demanding real-life rehearsal translation service provision tasks involving the translation of authentic texts presented ready to publish by a set day and time, together with an invoice, glossary, and ad hoc corpus. Satisfying the demands of accountability involved providing tangible evidence and assessment of students’ attainment of course objectives during and at the end of their learning process. Table 1 shows the competences selected as course objectives, and indicators of those competences used as assessment criteria for the different tasks set during the course and at final assessment. 3 3 The theoretical foundation for the competences selected may be found in Fox (1997); PACTE (2000). <?page no="189"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 183 Course objectives Indicators of competences selected as course objectives and used as assessment criteria Tasks designed for final assessment of students’ attainment level of course objectives 1. Translation competence Strategic competence: ability to satisfy client expectations (fulfil the translation brief) as well as reader expectations (textual conventions and communicative function) ability to make appropriate decisions to ensure expectations are fulfilled Pragmatic (communicative) competence ability to understand/ fulfil the communicative function of a text Extralinguistic competence ability to recognise, and correctly interpret, extra-linguistic references ability to comprehend/ produce a text making appropriate and effective use of field-specific terminology Grammatical competence ability to produce a meaningful, grammatically correct written text Textual competence ability to differentiate between, and to produce, texts of different types (genre, discourse) ability to produce texts that conform to the conventions of text, genre, coherence and cohesion, tone and register in the English language Term Project PowerPoint presentation Term Project questionnaire 2. Instrumental competence ability to use appropriate documentation resources ability to use translation technologies Term Project PowerPoint presentation <?page no="190"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 184 3. Interpersonal skills ability to work in a group ability to design and manage project work ability to solve unforeseen problems, situations, demands Term Project questionnaire 4. Intercultural skills ability to work in a multicultural environment ability to recognise cultural differences ability to solve communication problems between cultures ability to deal with difficult situations as a result of cultural differences Term Project questionnaire 5. Learner autonomy ability to obtain data and documentation for the purposes of translation ability to manage data ability to organise and plan project work ability to design and manage project work ability to solve problems ability to think critically PowerPoint presentation Term Project questionnaire Table 1: Competences, indicators and tasks established for the course 2.2 Course Content Course content was designed to develop the competences established at the outset. During two two-hour sessions, over a period of one semester, students were required to complete a series of tasks that included: a Diagnostic Test; a series of real-life rehearsal translation service provision tasks (translation of several authentic 4 1,000-word texts, and a large-scale 10,000-15,000 word Translation Project); a PowerPoint presentation; and a Term Project questionnaire. 4 Authentic materials, for our purposes, are materials published for native speakers of Spanish and used in class in their original form and design. The materials used were once real-life translation briefs and they were not changed in any way. <?page no="191"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 185 2.2.1 Diagnostic Test In order to determine the degree to which students had developed the knowledge and different skills required during their previous three years of study (in language, documentation, translation, translation technologies, desk-top publishing), we asked students to translate a text from a specialist field (legal, medical, financial, or technical) in their own time and submit it for assessment within a period of one week. The source text in question was to be downloaded from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’s virtual learning environment (Campus Virtual), translated, and uploaded to the same digital platform by a set date and time after which no further translations would be accepted. This use of the Campus Virtual served to familiarise students with the real-life working conditions of professional translators whereby texts are sent to translators on-line, to be translated and returned by a set deadline, often with no face-to-face contact between client and translator. 2.2.2 Translations One to four texts (1,000 words approx.), from different specialist areas of interest to the translation market, were translated during each semester in preparation for the students’ large-scale Term Project (10,000-15,000 words). Depending on the semester (see Table 2), these translations were carried out individually or in groups of 5, 6, or 7 students 5 selected in alphabetical order from the class list. In the case of translations carried out by a group of students, no specific roles were assigned to the members of a group: they were responsible for organising, planning, managing and executing the translations themselves. The texts selected anticipated different types of translation problems specific to the specialist field to which the extended translation belonged, and feedback given to students about their translations was designed to improve their critical thinking and decision-making skills. 2.2.3 Exercises in Documentation and ICTs Hands-on exercises in data mining and the construction of ad hoc corpora were designed to develop students’ instrumental competence. On-line documentary resources of all kinds were used which ranged from dictionaries, glossaries, thesauri, text repositories, to concordancers, as well as software such as web downloaders, text converters, corpus analysers, translation memories, web editors, image editors, etc. 5 Taking advantage of the large number of international students in class, groups were made up of native Spanish speakers and international exchange students whose L1 language was not necessarily Spanish. <?page no="192"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 186 2.2.4 Term Project At the end of the semester, students were required, in their assigned groups, to complete the translation of an extended text (10-15,000 words). The texts selected were extracts from authentic translation service provision tasks originally completed by one of the teachers. The aim of the Term Project was to assess the degree to which students had attained the various course objectives. It was also designed to mirror professional practice in small or medium-sized translation agencies where translators often have to work on a large-scale specialised text in a team, together with other translators they do not know and with whom they may well have little or no face-to-face contact. Students were thus responsible for managing the project amongst themselves (distributing the workload, assuming roles and responsibilities, etc.). Their translations of the Term Project were to be uploaded to the Campus Virtual, ready for publication, with a glossary, ad hoc corpus, and invoice, in time to meet the deadline established. The specialist area from which the Term Project was taken varied from semester to semester. 2.2.5 PowerPoint Presentation Upon completion of their Term Projects, each group of students was required to give a PowerPoint presentation in class, showing the process they followed in solving three different types of translation problems encountered during the translation of the Project. Groups were required to provide screenshots of the documentation process, and comment on the decisions made that led to their final solution. The aim of the presentation was to encourage students to reflect on their own translation process and to enable teachers to assess their use of documentary resources, their critical-thinking, and their decision-making skills. 2.2.6 Term Project Questionnaire After completing their Term Project and their PowerPoint presentation, students were required to complete a Term Project questionnaire (Appendix 2). This questionnaire was designed to elicit the information teachers required concerning students’ ability to: coordinate, plan, and manage project work (Question 1); work in multilingual, multicultural groups (Question 2); think critically about the translation process and the problem-solving, decision-making skills involved (Question 4); and assess their own achievements and perceived attainment of course objectives (Questions 5 and 7). Information was also obtained on the documentary resources that students found most useful for their specialised translation tasks (Question 3). Questions 6 and 8 required students’ to give their evaluation of the course content and teaching methodologies used, together with any suggestions they had for improvements in translation pedagogy, if these were felt to be necessary. <?page no="193"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 187 This information was of particular importance for teacher performance management. To ensure that feedback was obtained, completion of the questionnaire was individual, compulsory (10% of the students’ final mark), and confidential. Presented in digital format, it was uploaded to the Campus Virtual when completed. Data obtained from individuals in each group was triangulated with that obtained from fellow members of the group to assess effective coordination, planning and management. 2.3 Teaching Methodology Since Specialised Inverse Translation is a compulsory subject within the Translation and Interpreting degree at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 6 , about sixty students enrol each semester. A blended learning programme - combining distance learning with face-to-face contact in conventional classroom situations - is always implemented. At the beginning of each semester, the enrolled students are divided into two groups, each meeting for two hours, once a week, in a multimedia classroom for hands-on experience in data-mining and the use of ICTs. On one other day per week, they meet for two hours in a conventional classroom to discuss solutions to translation problems encountered in each of the texts they have translated in preparation for their Term Project. Training in ICTs is carried out by a native Spanish-speaking expert with in-depth knowledge of the English language and culture. This teacher’s profile is particularly useful when dealing with the kinds of documentation problems and data-mining that students experience when translating different texts during their course. Similarly, the profile of the teacher responsible for the translation ‘workshops’ (an experienced native English-speaking professional translator with in-depth knowledge of the Spanish language and culture) is most appropriate as she is able to make students aware of the different types of translation problems encountered in specialised translation and how they could be solved. 7 Close coordination between the two teachers, both experts in their own field, the provision of authentic translation service provision tasks, and the 6 The number of students is expected to drop in the EHEA-compatible Translation degree as the subject will no longer be compulsory. 7 The two teachers in question, Rodríguez-Inés and Fox, have been working together and co-teaching for over a decade and have published extensively in their areas of expertise (Fox 1996, 1997, 2000; Fox et al. 2007; Rodríguez-Inés 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, forthcoming; Rodríguez-Inés/ Fox 2006). Pokorn (2009) draws attention to the advantages of having two teachers involved in the teaching of inverse translation, each an expert in their field, with in-depth knowledge of the language and culture of the language pair under study. <?page no="194"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 188 use of the Universitat Autònoma’s digital platform Campus Virtual as a precursor to ‘real world’ professional practice, has done much to optimise students’ training for the professional workplace. 3 Term Project Questionnaire The questions in the Term Project questionnaire, administered at the end of each semester after students had completed their Term Project, were designed to provide feedback for teachers on performance management. As regards expectations concerning students’ reactions to the questionnaire, these were none other than to find the means of improving the syllabus if necessary, within the context of the set course objectives. As such, the questionnaire has proved to be a most important element in fine-tuning the Specialised Inverse Translation syllabus. Both students and teachers are currently in agreement that overall motivation and satisfaction have increased as a result of the improvements made. The ultimate success of the questionnaire devised, and improved over time 8 , must be attributed to the fact that it is descriptive, compulsory, individual, and confidential. It provides students with the means of thinking critically about their performance as a translator, either individually or as a member of a group of translators; expressing agreement or discontent with different aspects of course content and teaching methodology; and providing a personal contribution in the form of suggested improvements in translation pedagogy. It provides teachers with valuable performance feedback. 3.1 Data Obtained from Questionnaires 2001-2010 From 2001, when the Term Project questionnaire was first administered, until Semester 1 2010, it was found that students’ answers to Questions 1 and 2 repeatedly evidenced problems of management and organisation of group work and interpersonal problems within groups. This was due either to lack of commitment on the part of some group members; over-zealous leadership on the part of others; or simply because some members felt uncomfortable having to work with others they had never worked with before. Aside from personal problems within the groups, problems with management and organisation of group work were largely attributed to incompatible timetables and work schedules, which were a source of constant friction. Despite the availability of on-line communication, most groups were unable to find effective alternatives to face-to-face contact with other members of their groups in the form of meetings in the faculty. Only recent- 8 The number of questions has been reduced from 15 to 8 because some questions elicited information already given in answer to earlier questions. <?page no="195"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 189 ly have students realised the usefulness of group forums, file hosting and sharing services (such as Google Docs and Dropbox) for solving communication problems between group members. As a result of the difficulties they experienced in their group work, many students expressed a clear preference for individual over group work despite the fact that they knew that the ability to work in a group was one of the competences required by the profession. 3.2 Fine-tuning the Specialised Inverse Translation Syllabus In answer to students’ comments and suggestions, changes were made to the weighting given to individual and group translations almost every semester. Professional aspects of the translator’s workplace were also introduced (invoicing, desk-top publishing, etc.). Teachers’ insistence on students’ completing a group Term Project, however, continued. Table 2 shows the different combinations of individual and group translations put into effect each semester from 2001 to 2010 as a result of feedback obtained from students in relation to the topics dealt with in their translations, the number of translations required, the organisation of group work, assessment procedures, etc. 2001-02 2 translations from different specialist fields (legal, financial) by individual students + Term Project (web page for a veterinary practice), in groups 2002-03 2 translations from different specialist fields (legal, financial) by individual students + Term Project (web page for a veterinary practice), in groups 2003-04 2 extended translations, in groups (medical research article + web page for a veterinary practice) 2003-04 3 translations from different specialist fields (medical, veterinary, legal), by individual students 2005-06 4 translations from different specialist fields (medical, legal, financial, technical) by individual students + Term Project (7page booklet on mortgages), in groups 2006-07 4 translations from different specialist fields (medical, legal, financial, technical) by individual students + Term Project (22page publication on assisted reproduction + figures), in groups 2007-08 4 translations from different specialist fields (medical, legal, financial, technical) by individual students + Term Project (47page publication on thyroid diseases) <?page no="196"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 190 2008-09 1 medical translation by individual students + Term Project (30page chapter from a textbook on Pumps + tables and figures) 2009-10 1 translation by individual students + Term Project (80-page publication on doctors’ health) 2009-10 1 medical translation by individual students + Term Project (web page for the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona East Asian Studies Program) 2010-11 1 medical translation by individual students + Term Project (webpage for the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Faculty of Translation and Interpreting) Table 2: Translations and Term Projects undertaken 2001-2010 Over time, the number of texts from different specialist areas translated by individual students was varied between 1 and 4. Similarly, the number of texts to be translated by groups of students was also varied. When students’ answers indicated that the workload involved (individual translation of four texts from different specialist areas plus completing an extended Term Project in groups, all within the space of one semester) was excessive, an alternative was sought. To reduce the workload involved, the decision was made to simplify and reduce the subject areas of the texts to be translated to that of the Term Project. Extracts from the extended Term Project text were used to preview different types of translation problems found in the text. However, students expressed boredom and demotivation at having to deal with the same topic for the duration of a whole semester. At the end of the first semester of the 2010-11 academic year, a possible solution was found for the management and organisation of group work problem that had persisted over 12 semesters. Suggested changes in translation pedagogy effectively solved the problem of trying to strike a balance for students between individual and group translations, as well as putting an end to the interpersonal and communication problems experienced by students while undertaking large-scale group translations. The suggestion made by a student was as follows: “I would consider the real situation of the translators and would ask the students to organise a group with 3 people and each one have a different function in the translation group. In the next group the function of each student will change and the members of the group also could change and so on. The objective would be <?page no="197"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 191 that each student could practice in different situations and with different classmates”. 9 Taking up this student’s suggestion, and bearing in mind feedback obtained from students in other semesters, the large-scale Term Project translation was eliminated in preference for three shorter, more varied, ‘real world’ assignments from different specialist areas of interest. Students were divided into smaller groups and given roles which would change with each translation in order to give students experience in different roles. Table 3 shows the way in which specialised inverse translation tasks are now organised: 2010-11 Sem. 2 Three 1,000-word texts from different specialist fields (medical, financial, legal) translated in groups, with pre-established roles changing in rotation with each new text 2011-12 Sems. 1 & 2 Table 3: Current organisation of specialised inverse translation tasks Thus, whilst continuing to insist on students completing real-life rehearsal translation service provision tasks, instead of translating a series of different texts prior to undertaking an extended text for translation at the end of the semester, students were asked to translate only 3 texts (1,000 words approx.) from different specialist areas (medical, financial, legal, etc.). Instead of being divided into groups of five, six, or seven, students were organised, in alphabetical order, into groups of three; and roles - those of documentalist, translator, proof-reader - were assigned by the teacher to each member of the group. The role that each student played changed in rotation with each new text. As always, students were required to present their translations ready for publication with a glossary, ad hoc corpus, and invoice. Table 4 shows a sample chart provided for each group. Group Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Mary Jones Documentalist Translator Proof-reader Suu Kee Proof-reader Documentalist Translator María Pérez Translator Proof-reader Documentalist Table 4: Sample chart of role distribution within a group 9 We would like to thank our final-year student Ivonildes Barbosa (2010-2011) for her suggestions. <?page no="198"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 192 Documentalists were required to build an ad hoc corpus and glossary to be used by the translator who would translate the text, fulfilling the translation brief, and then pass the translated text on to the proof-reader who would use the Windows tracking system to revise the text and issue an invoice. The final version of the translated text was assessed and the group given an overall mark for the translation. 10 The accompanying invoice, glossary, and corpus were also assessed. At the end of the semester, instead of giving a PowerPoint presentation as a group, as had hitherto been the practice, each individual student was required to give a PowerPoint presentation, in class, describing how s/ he had solved a translation problem encountered in any one of the translations undertaken in his/ her role as documentalist, translator, or proof-reader. 3.3 Data from Questionnaires since 2010 Feedback obtained from students’ Term Project questionnaires since instituting the changes in the course syllabus has been highly positive. Not only are students satisfied with the fact that they have translated a range of texts of interest, but in so doing they have learnt about different documentary resources for different specialist fields. They have also built glossaries and ad hoc corpora that will be of use in the future for those who wish to work as professional translators. In particular, students stressed the fact that they had learnt how to go about translating in a professional manner and had learnt something about what to expect in the professional workplace. Answers in the questionnaire to questions eliciting self-assessment showed that students believed that they had developed their criticalthinking and decision-making skills; developed translation, documentation, and proof-reading skills in different specialist fields; and learnt how to detect and solve translation problems specific to those fields. In particular they valued the experience of revising texts as a separate activity within the translation process. 11 A further advantage they found was that in smaller groups they felt more responsibility towards other group members and had worked more closely with them. They pointed out that, working so closely together, they had been able to identify each one’s strong points and what they could do best. 10 It should be noted that as far as assessment was concerned, an overall mark was given for the final product (as a client would do) but for the purposes of accountability evidence was obtained of each student’s competence at translating (final product prior to revision), documenting (quality of his/ her glossary and ad hoc corpus), and revising (results of using the tracking system). Final marks for each individual were adjusted after cross-referencing data on his/ her performance in all three areas. 11 Wimmer (2011) found that only 23% of inverse students ever revised their texts. <?page no="199"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 193 As far as their interpersonal skills were concerned, they had learnt to be considerate of each others’ opinions; how to reach and accept consensus; and how to be critical diplomatically. They had learnt how to defend their solutions without offending whilst at the same time learning to accept alternative solutions to theirs. The interpersonal problems of large-scale project organisation and management were eliminated; commitment and motivation increased. 4 Conclusions As a result of fine-tuning the Specialised Inverse Translation syllabus, as suggested by a student in her Term Project questionnaire 2010-2011, feedback from students has been highly positive. The new syllabus has proved to be more interesting and more motivating for students for all the reasons cited in Section 3.3. The problem of lack of commitment evidenced in earlier questionnaires in some members of larger groups working on translation service provision tasks (2001-2010) was resolved as students fulfilling their roles as translator, documentalist, or proof-reader became aware of their interdependence as a group if a quality translation was to be obtained. Feedback is thus strongly recommended, not just for improving students’ performance during the learning process, but also as a means of improving teachers’ own performance. Teachers may be responsible for managing students’ performances, but students can also help teachers manage their performance in terms of achieving goals by providing them with useful feedback. In our case, the means of obtaining the feedback which was so beneficial for students and teachers alike was the use of our Term Project questionnaire. Without student-teacher cooperation in the form of useful feedback at all levels, such positive results as those obtained in the Specialised Inverse translation class would not have been possible. References European Higher Education Area: http: / / www.ehea.info/ article-details.aspx? Article Id=14 [08/ 08/ 2012]. European Union Translator Profile: http: / / ec.europa.eu/ dgs/ translations/ workwith us/ staff/ profile/ index_en.htm [03/ 08/ 2012]. Fox, Olivia (1996): “Critical Linguistics in Translation Studies: The Training of Critical Readers” II Actes del I Congrés Internacional Sobre Traducció. Barcelona: Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, 551-556. <?page no="200"?> Olivia Fox & Patricia Rodríguez-Inés 194 Fox, Olivia (1997): “Cross-cultural Transfer in Inverse Translation - A Case Study” Thelen, Marcel, ed.: Translation and Meaning. Maastricht: Hogeschule Press, 324-332. Fox, Olivia (2000): “The Use of Translation Diaries in a Process-oriented Translation Teaching Methodology” Schaeffner, Christina/ Beverly Adabs, eds.: Developing Translation Competence. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 115-130. Fox, Olivia/ Claude Mestreit/ Jaume Solà, eds. (2007): Activitats per a desenvolupar competències en la formació del traductor. Barcelona: Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. PACTE (2000): “Acquiring Translation Competence: Hypotheses and Methodological Problems in a Research Project” Beeby, Allison/ Doris Ensinger/ Marisa Presas, eds.: Investigating Translation. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 99-106. Pokorn, Nike K. (2009): “Natives or Non-natives? That is the Question... Teachers of Translation into Language B”. The Interpreter and Language Trainer 3.2 (2009): 189-208. Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia (2009): “Evaluating the Process and not just the Product when Using Corpora in Translator Education” Beeby, Allison/ Patricia Rodríguez- Inés/ Pilar Sánchez-Gijón, eds.: Corpus Use and Translating: Corpus Use for Learning to Translate and Learning Corpus Use to Translate (Benjamins Translation Library 82). Amsterdam: Benjamins, 129-149. Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia (2010): “Electronic Corpora and other ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Tools: An Integrated Approach to Translation Teaching” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 4.2 (2010): 251-282. Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia (2012): “Assessing Competence in Using Electronic Corpora in Translator Training” Hubscher-Davidson, Séverine/ Michal Borodo, eds.: Global Trends in Translator and Interpreter Training: Mediation and Culture. London: Continuum, 96-126. Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia (2013): “Electronic Target-language Specialised Corpora in Translator Education: Building and Searching Strategies” Babel 59.1. Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia (forthcoming): “Using Corpora for Awareness-raising Purposes in Translation, Especially into a Foreign Language (Spanish-English)” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia/ Olivia Fox (2006): “AVISO: Cambio de Aula... y de Metodología y de Trabajo. Enseñanza de la Traducción e Interpretación”. Accessible technologies in Translating and Interpreting [CD-ROM]. Vic: Universitat de Vic. Wimmer, Stefanie (2011): El Proceso de la Traducción Especializada Inversa: Modelo, Validación Empírica y Aplicación Didàctica. Unpublished PhD thesis. Departament de Traducció i d’Interpretació, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. http: / / www.tdx.cat/ handle/ 10803/ 42307 [02/ 05/ 2013]. <?page no="201"?> The Importance of Feedback in Fine-Tuning Translation Syllabus Design 195 Appendix 1 Excerpt from the Specialised Inverse Translation Course syllabus as in 2001- 02. DEGREE: Translation and Interpreting ACADEMIC YEAR: 2001-2002 Subject: Specialised Inverse Translation (Spanish>English) OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of this translation class are to: develop the skills necessary for students to be able to successfully translate specialised texts into a language that is not their own, and to develop an effective and efficient approach to translation practice using the different translation tools at their disposal. The skills that will be developed include critical reading (to effectively process source texts in Spanish and revise/ edit target texts in English); effective documentation (parallel texts, electronic data bases, translation tools etc.); competent writing (of appropriate, meaningful, grammatically correct, wellpunctuated texts); and effective decision-making when solving problems specific to the cross-cultural transfer of texts”. COURSE CONTENT: Course content will focus on topics from specialist fields such as medicine, the legal profession, economy, engineering, etc. ASSESSMENT: Students may choose to be assessed on coursework (the successful completion of regular assignments given throughout the semester) or on the basis of a final examination. Coursework: 100%. ALL assignments given must be completed and handed in on the dates and at the times specified. Final examination: 100% Assessment via final examination is designed to test the skills required to successfully translate a text from a specialist field and will involve the compiling and use of an ad hoc corpus, the use of corpus analysis tools and other on-line resources. <?page no="203"?> Don Kiraly University of Mainz/ Germersheim Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon: Thinking Outside the Box(es) in Translator Education 1 Introduction In what might be considered the first major study on translation competence, Hanna Risku (1998) brought a unique and consistently relativist (nonpositivist) viewpoint to the discussion on the cognitive processes involved in translation. As she writes at the beginning of her monograph: Neither theory nor empirical research nor both together will allow us to discover the truth about translation processes [...] Whether the data we collect come from situations, experiences, research results, written source and target texts, observed behaviours or verbal statements, they must be interpreted, and they will reflect just a part, a few aspects of the objects of our inquiry. This applies as well to the investigation of cognitive processes, which we must identify as preconditions for interpreted behaviour and as the products of modelled brain functions. Hence, I do not understand science as a “collection of knowledge about reality” - separate from activities involving the “design and control of reality […] - instead I see it as a constructive part of human societies. (1998: 18) 1 Risku goes on to present a treatise on translation competence that sets the stage for a post-modern approach to the study of the cognitive skills used in translation. In line with her relativist, constructivist epistemology, Risku eschews the use of quantitative research methods and the reductionist identification and study of translational sub-competences that in the meantime have become the mainstays of empirical research on cognitive translation processes from a positivist perspective. Her approach is also unique in that it is consistently informed by second-generation cognitive science. This approach does not view the mind as if it were a largely mechanical, computerlike machine located within the brain, but it instead emphasizes complexity: 1 All quotes originally in German or Spanish have been translated here into English by D. Kiraly. <?page no="204"?> Don Kiraly 198 the situated, embodied and emergent nature of human cognition - and hence the translator’s competence in action. In a more recent publication, Risku (2010) has further elaborated on her post-modern perspective on cognition, translation processes and research methodology, which I believe offers a viable alternative to the dominant reductionist positivist paradigm in translation process research. In this chapter, my focus is on the latest developments in my own emerging post-modern approach to translator education, which I have been developing over the past decade (Kiraly 2000, 2005, 2006). In this discussion, I will be representing an understanding of epistemology, cognitive translation processes and research methods that parallels Risku’s, but - due to space limitations - without making the numerous references to her work that would be in order. At various places in her work, Risku mentions that one of her goals is to contribute to understanding how translation competence can be acquired. While she does suggest the need for authentic or at least simulated translation project work in translator education, she does not elaborate a specific pedagogical methodology. In the following, I will attempt to explore the extension of our shared views of the nature of translator competence based on a relativist epistemology to the contiguous domain of translation competence acquisition. 2 Separate Sub-Competences or a Holistic Bundle? In a recent publication, Herold (2010) reviews much of the recent literature on the concept of translation competence with a view towards eventually determining an appropriate role for the competence concept in the education of translation students. While she discovers that there is a plethora of different views on what translation competence actually entails, she suggests the following (borrowed from Weinert 2001) as a basic definition, which will also be adopted in this article. Weinert says that competences are: […] the cognitive abilities and skills that individuals have or that they can learn to solve specific problems as well as the associated motivational, volitional and social dispositions and abilities needed to be able to apply solutions to problems successfully and responsibly in variable situations. (2001: 27-28) In her extensive review, Herold actually identifies a large number of related competences that have been discussed in translation studies literature and which she subsumes under four main headings: metacompetences, contentrelated competences, hermeneutic competences and translatory action <?page no="205"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 199 competences. 2 Under these headings, which she notes can involve both declarative and procedural knowledge, Herold identifies: general cognitive, problem-solving, strategic, social, critical, communicative and learning competences; special subject area, linguistic, cultural, quality-control, professional, technical content-related competences; and also transfer, research, textual and even service competences as components of the professional translator’s ‘bundle’ of competences. After listing, categorising and discussing the various concepts and terms that translation scholars have used to portray these competences, Herold concludes her article with the question that will concern us here: If we join Bernardo […] in seeing translation competence as a ‘bundle of subcompetences’,[…] from a pedagogical perspective we find ourselves faced with the key question of pedagogy in general. Do we train all of these subcompetences? And if we do, which ones in what contexts and using what methods and with what degree of intensity? Or do we train the ‘bundle’, whereby all ‘methodological interventions’ must take place simultaneously? And how can this be done? Contemporary research on translator education must seek concrete answers to this question. (Herold 2010: 240). I will take up Herold’s challenge in this article and will offer arguments in favour of adopting a pedagogical holistic-bundle focus that she suggests as one of the two main alternatives for a pedagogical approach for the development of translator competence. 3 On the Commensurability of Epistemologies and Graphic Competence Modelling While Herold’s analysis is particularly comprehensive and yields a fair amount of variability in terms of the depth and breadth of the subcompetences identified in the literature, many of the assumptions about the features of the skills, knowledge and abilities that are necessary for translators to possess in order to perform expertly and professionally can be seen to be quite similar and are often even depicted in a strikingly similar graphic manner in contemporary models of translation competence. Three of the most prominent models are shown in Figure 1 to illustrate this point: 2 It is telling that the one scholar Herold refers to who does not attempt to sub-divide translation competence into sub-competences is Hanna Risku. <?page no="206"?> Don Kiraly 200 (A) (B) (C) Figure 1: Three models of translation competence (A: EMT Expert Group 2009: 4; B: PACTE 2005: 610; C: Göpferich 2008: 155) <?page no="207"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 201 In each case, a two-dimensional geometrical illustration has been proposed to depict in a simple, readily accessible form: 1) the fact that translator competence is not one single competence, 2) the key sub-divisions in that competence, which have been identified through a qualitative empirical process of personal observation, and 3) the recognition that these sub-competences impact each other in some, as yet unspecified, ways. These are, of course, just a few of the models of translation competence proposed to date. As all three of these models purport to be related to an interest in improving translator education, it is striking that none of them suggests or reveals anything at all about the learning process. They are all static box-like representations of an ideal(ised) relationship between dispositions, abilities and skills that professional translators can be expected to possess and be able to use when translating. In and of themselves, they say nothing about how these features should or might be acquired or developed in an educational setting. I suggest that we must understand the ontologies and epistemologies behind different approaches to research and pedagogy - which naturally go hand in hand - in order to move from any of these two-dimensional models towards approaches to learning and teaching, towards, for example, either a focus on “separate sub-competences” or on a “holistic bundle”. Unfortunately, it is exceedingly rare to find any statement whatsoever regarding the respective epistemologies underlying translation process research studies 3 , so we are left to deduce these essential beliefs from the procedures researchers adopt, the assumptions they make, and the conclusions they draw. For example, the representatives of the PACTE research group Orozco/ Hurtado Albir (2002) clearly emphasize their advocacy of quantitative research techniques and the scientific method in their work on translation competence, which presumably reflects a positivist epistemology - the belief that we can obtain generalizable and objective knowledge of the world through careful observation and measurement of statistically significant samples. For its part, the EMT does not appear to advocate any particular philosophical position on the nature of knowledge or learning. And Göpferich’s (2008) epistemological position is unclear as she advocates primarily the use of quantitative procedures, but recommends that qualitative ones not be ignored either (see the discussion on positivist epistemology in the following section). In any event, all three graphic models in Figure 1 strongly resemble my own 2006 model of translator competence (Figure 2), which I saw as the professional translator’s super-competence comprising three bundles of subcompetences: social competences (SC), personal competences (PC), and 3 In fact, of all of the research reported on in Herold (2010), it is only in Risku’s monograph (1998) that I have found a statement attesting to the author’s underlying epistemology. <?page no="208"?> Don Kiraly 202 translation competence (TC) per se. And yet, this model reflects a nonpositivist, relativist ontology and epistemology and hence the belief that we cannot know the world as it is, but that we can at best come to subjective understandings of local cases and situations with the help of qualitative research techniques. Against the backdrop of my social-constructivist perspective on translator education (Kiraly 2000), this model was created on the basis of qualitative data collected during collaborative brainstorming activities involving teachers and advanced students of translation during intensive international workshops on innovation in translator education that had been held over a five-year period. Looking back on this model today, I believe it still essentially represents a cogent depiction of common assumptions among translators and translator educators regarding what translators need to know in order to function in an expert and professional manner. And yet, as attention in translation studies research is increasingly placed on the cognitive processes involved in translating and on the process of becoming an expert translator, this model, like those in Figure 1, now also appears flat and static from a pedagogical perspective. Following the expansion of my own pedagogical horizons over the past decade beyond social constructivism to encompass a post-modern ontology and epistemology, I believe that it is necessary to go beyond static two-dimensional illustrations if we hope to even begin to evoke the complexity involved in translation processes, translation Figure 2: A componential model of translator competence (based on Kiraly 2006) <?page no="209"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 203 competence and translation competence acquisition, which I will henceforth refer to as the emergence of translator competence. The concept of emergence, as I will be using it here, stems from the complexity theory, where it refers to the autopoietic that is a self-creating and self-sustaining process of becoming. 4 From this perspective, complex adaptive systems develop not through a simple or complicated (mechanical) accumulative process, but instead emerge fractally and in a self-perpetuating manner, yielding ever-greater degrees of irreducible complexity. My understanding of the concept in terms of developing translator competence is that such competence is not built up bit by bit through the accretion of knowledge, but creates itself through the translator’s embodied involvement (habitus) in actual translation experiences. The discussion will return to this concept repeatedly throughout this chapter. 4 Grappling with Positivist Research Assumptions Numerous contributions to the most recent research into translation processes and translation competence are characterized by quantitative research, albeit often combined with qualitative techniques (cf. Göpferich et al. 2009; O’Brien 2011). In most of these contributions, the constraints of the scientific method that originated in the natural sciences are in evidence at every stage of the research process: basic assumptions are identified; hypotheses are made; randomized subject samples are selected; variables are controlled; hypotheses are tested and conclusions are drawn with a view towards generalizing to a larger population beyond the sample of subjects. The claim can be made that underlying the adoption of the scientific method in the social sciences is a realist or positivist epistemology. From this perspective, researchers must assume (at least tacitly) that there is an objective reality that they can investigate directly, whether the object at hand is material, social or psychological. Here, variables are operationalized, manipulated and controlled; phenomena are measured, counted and statistically compared. This approach has been used extensively in social sciences, cognitive sciences and education for decades. However, in the past decade, with the advent of second generation cognitive science and post-modern approaches to educational and social science research (Flyvbjerg 2001), a strong relativist (e.g. non-positivist) approach has emerged to challenge the scientific method in social domains. From a relativist perspective, the scientific method can, at times, be seen to represent a fallacious reification of assumptions (like the categories of the 4 For thorough discussions of the origins and nature of complexity theory and its applications to education, cf. Doll (2008) and Davis/ Sumara (2006). <?page no="210"?> Don Kiraly 204 various sub-competence models). The relativist researcher is likely to question the very process of first reifying a set of assumptions and then applying the scientific method to experimenting with these reified concepts as if they were real in some objective, physical-world sense. The scientific method’s imperative of specifying, manipulating and controlling variables cannot help but turn the processes that are purportedly being observed into a different set altogether. From a relativist perspective, it is clear that we are not observing cognitive, social or technical translation processes per se. There are no operationalized variables and every effort is made not to control but to observe and interpret the interpretations of the subjects involved. From this perspective, it is clear that we cannot achieve generalizability from artificial situations contrived and manipulated to meet the prescribed necessary conditions of the scientific method to real-life socially-embedded situations with their exponentially greater complexity. Susanne Göpferich, one of the most prominent researchers in the domain of translation process research, has clearly acknowledged the need for qualitative research, the hallmark of a non-positivist research paradigm, while at the same time confirming what she sees as the need for primarily quantitative scientific research in this domain: Another desideratum for translation process research is to attain numbers of subjects in series of experiments that can ensure the generalizability of results in order to go beyond the stage of exploratory case studies. This would appear to be feasible through the primary use of quantitative procedures. But qualitative analysis should not be neglected either as it provides insights that cannot be gleaned through quantitative procedures. (Göpferich 2008: 254) The first sentence in this quotation illustrates just one of the assumptions that distinguishes positivist-quantitative from relativist-qualitative research: the criterion of generalizability. The claim from a positivist perspective is that we can obtain knowledge about the world as long as (among other things) statistical relevance is established on the basis of adequately large sample sizes. Such a view is incompatible with a relativist perspective in social science (including education) where researchers see themselves as dealing with an infinitely complex set of mutually-influencing factors. For example: “Educational researchers have to accept the embeddedness of educational phenomena in social life, which results in the myriad interactions that complicate our science” (Berliner 2002: 18). In any event, ‘the large-enough-n’ concern can serve to diminish the value and utility of translation process studies in two ways: qualitatively valuable findings may be ignored because the number of subjects tested appears to be too small, and, on the other hand, claims of generalizability can too easily be made despite the fact that the number of subjects is too small to be statistically relevant. For example, on the basis of the results of an experimental <?page no="211"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 205 study involving 24 language teachers and 35 professional translators, the PACTE group (2011) came to the following conclusions: We believe that the results obtained in our study show that a ‘dynamic’ concept of, and approach to, translation is a characteristic of translation competence and determines the acceptability of translations. (PACTE 2011: 50) And: […] only expertise in translation enables subjects to convert this overall dynamic approach to the translation of a specific text into a dynamic approach to translation problems in a text and acceptable solutions within a given context. (ibid.) First of all, sample size requirements for statistical relevance preclude such sweeping categorical statements of truth, discovered on the basis of such a tiny sample of what has become an enormous population of language teachers and translators. And secondly, even the scientific method only yields evidence, not truth. If the scientific method is used to study cognitive translation processes, it should be applied with rigor and caution. The same holds for qualitative research, but from this perspective, the researcher does not purport to generalize from his or her findings to a population as a whole. Instead, the objective is to achieve a better understanding of local situations and cases, which can help other researchers come to better understandings of their own local situations and cases. Let me state unequivocally at this juncture that it is definitely not my intention to suggest that quantitative research is inherently inferior to qualitative research in the field of translation studies in general or even translation process studies in particular. 5 The appropriate choice in any given case will naturally depend on the specific goals of the research. If one is investigating a specific status quo and can identify entities of interest that can be clearly differentiated from each other and that can be measured or counted and then compared statistically, then quantitative methods may well be suited for the job - without, of course, discounting the value of looking at those same phenomena qualitatively, as Göpferich (2008: 54) noted. But if we are trying to understand extremely abstract and complex processes, it may well be the case that statistical studies are simply not up to the task - or might, at best, supplement qualitative studies, rather than the other way around. In any event, the acknowledgement of researchers’ epistemological standpoints would be of tremendous help in seeking commensurability between various perspectives on crucial underlying values and beliefs. 5 Please note the discussion on the Liberal Arts Paradigm (LAP) and the Empirical Science Paradigm (ESP) in translation studies research. (Koskinen 2010) <?page no="212"?> Don Kiraly 206 5 An Alternative Post-modern Approach to Research on Translator Competence - With a Focus on Emergence Rather than Acquisition Here, I would like to introduce several multi-dimensional models that I believe invoke an emergent understanding of translator competence and which I hope will help clarify both the underlying assumptions of a complexivist perspective on becoming a translator and the value of pursuing qualitative case studies to enhance translator education in this post-modern millennium. Again, it may well be the case that quantitative studies will be able to complement and perhaps corroborate the findings of qualitative work in this domain, but my emphasis from here on will be essentially on some of the advantages of qualitative research, which avoids the potential pitfalls of taking an objectivist, God’s-eye view of human knowledge. A key understanding of post-modern approaches to education is that learning can no longer be seen as the intended result of a toss-and-catch, conduit or transmissionist process involving the transfer of knowledge from teacher to learner. Nor can it be seen as a process that occurs solely within the brains of individual students (Mercer 1992; Flannery 1992; Bredo 1994; Dunlap and Grabinger 1996; Bruffee 1995). And as Risku (2010) and Muñoz Martin (2010) have discussed in the context of translation-process research, from the perspective of contemporary cognitive science, cognition is an embodied, socially-situated and enactive process. This field of inquiry has moved away from a focus on knowledge as some sort of reified stored matter to a focus on knowing; away from the product and towards the process. From this perspective, competence is not stored away inside of craniums, it is enaction 6 dynamically embodied in authentic activity. From this viewpoint, cognitive systems or networks can be seen as selforganizing and self-perpetuating. The sub-competencies depicted in Figure 1 can at best serve as expedient reductionist labels for extremely complex relations between innumerable cognitive artefacts, for example: experiences dealing with translation problems, rules or principles heard in class or gleaned from reading theory, and intuitions - visceral impressions that 6 As explained in the glossary on the Complexity and Education website, “At the level of human identity, enactivism rejects the assumption of a core (or essential, or inner) self, arguing instead that ‘who we are’ arises in our moment-to-moment coping with the contingencies of our existences. The aphorism ‘knowing doing is being’ is often used to summarize this perspective. The term enactivism is intended to foreground the notion that identities and knowledge are not pre-existent, but enacted. Learning is thus seen in terms of exploring an ever-evolving landscape of possibility and of selecting (not necessarily consciously) those actions that are adequate to maintain one’s fitness with that landscape. Learning is a recursively elaborate (versus accumulative) process.” (http: / / www.complexityandeducation.ualberta.ca/ glossary/ g_enac.htm [10/ 05/ 2013]) <?page no="213"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 207 comprise abduction from experiences. A quantitative research agenda has a natural affinity for such reductionist models because they facilitate the reification of concepts that can then be manipulated, counted, measured and controlled much like concrete entities in the physical world. A qualitative, relativist model, on the other hand, need not be bound by reductionist thinking or by flow-charting lines and boxes. If we take any one of the sets of sub-competences from one of the two-dimensional models proposed in Figures 1 or 2, it is not difficult to envisage the kind of potential complexity that each sub-component is likely to comprise. A bi-dimensional model, with breadth and height only and no depth, cannot adequately evoke the multi-dimensionality of the embodied cognitive and interpersonal processes that converge in the handling of translation problems. The words on a page are two-dimensional, but the interaction of human minds with those signs and with each other in interpreting, contextualising and weighing the communicative value of those signs clearly takes us into a third dimension. It is embodied enaction that allows us to use language at all, and to recreate sense from two-dimensional symbols. I propose calling the instantiation of embodied translation competence a translatory moment - an instant during the translation process when an unpredictable, only partially controllable constellation of cognitive artefacts and processes, including memory traces of translational experiences, results of learning and intuitions, intersect in the mental handling of a particular translation problem. Translator competence, I believe, can be better understood in three-dimensional terms as the entire network of the myriad potential links between these memories, learning results and intuitions, along with external human and material resources and of course personal, interpersonal and psycho-corporeal dispositions. This is the network of competence that the translator can draw on while translating. In the two-dimensional models, each sub-competence appears as a simple geometrical box or segment, which reflects none of the complexity involved. I propose depicting this complexity schematically in terms of greater or lesser interlinking of more or fewer pertinent cognitive artefacts. The pioneering work in expertise studies by Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus (1980) demonstrated that (particularly in institutional learning environments), competence tends to be relatively conscious and rule-based at lower levels of proficiency, and that it becomes more intuitive and less rule-based as the learner approaches mastery of the domain at hand. On the basis of this insight and the common assumptions underlying the two-dimensional models, a three-dimensional model of proficiency (Figure 3) can be proposed for elementary translation students, where the relevant subcompetences (for example: second language, cultural, instrumental, special area, and strategic), are depicted as relatively separate, largely conscious and fairly simple networks, whereas mother-tongue competence, for example, <?page no="214"?> Don Kiraly 208 would already be far more complex and intuitive. The links between the sub-competences would be relatively few and tenuous. Translating against the backdrop of such a level of competence would tend to be less intuitive, more rule-based, less holistic and less competent (see Figure 3). Towards the expert end of the scale, our insight from Dreyfus/ Dreyfus (1980) suggests that, along with the volume of translation experience (including reflection and feedback), the complexity of the linkages throughout the system can be expected to have increased dramatically. In addition, the separate sub-competences would have merged into a highly integrated and largely intuitive super-competence. The single interlinked network of dots represents the potential bundled microcosm of intuitions and memories of experiences, and perhaps learned rules and strategies that the translator can draw upon, consciously and subconsciously to tackle the respective translation problem at hand. From such a perspective, there are no longer any neat boxes and no conveniently labelled sub-competences. In this complex threedimensional model of a translatory moment, as it might be experienced by a highly experienced translator (Figure 4), the potential links between nodes in the network are innumerable and unpredictable and the decision-making 7 Figures 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 were created by Wendy L. Fox. Figure 3: A proposed three-dimensional model of incipient translator proficiency: the interplay of sub-competences; © D. Kiraly 7 <?page no="215"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 209 processes uniquely adapted to each new translation problem. Figure 4 illustrates the kind of complexity we could expect to find in a translatory moment of an experienced translator. 6 From the Modelling of Translator Competence to the Modelling of its Emergence As we move on from translation processes and competences to the development of competence over time, we might first consider the following twodimensional model of the acquisition of translation competence that has been proposed by the PACTE group (see Figure 5). Figure 4: Instantiated competence in an expert translator’s translatory moment <?page no="216"?> Don Kiraly 210 While this model might provide quantitative researchers with convenient variables for operationalization purposes, it communicates little of the complexity that we would expect, having posited a complex model of translator competence. If we take the three-dimensional model I have proposed in Figure 3 above, and add time as the fourth dimension: we can propose an initial graphic depiction of the emergence of translator competence (Figure 6). This model purports to depict both the tremendously complex interplay of competences and their non-parallel emergence over time. Because of the unique and multifarious nature of each person’s life experience, the model would represent a unique interplay of sub-competences for each individual and at any moment in time. No specific set of sub-competences has been indicated as there is no consensus on what these sub-competences are. It might well be useful to specify sub-competences for the purpose of consciousness-raising in educational settings. But in order to do so, further efforts will have to be put into elucidating the sub-competences that have been proposed in the various models published to date. Figure 5: PACTE model of translation competence acquisition (PACTE 2000: 104) <?page no="217"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 211 The sub-competences included in the model depicted in Figure 6 appear as sub-networks of an overall competence network as depicted in Figure 3, but are viewed from the side with the added fourth dimension of time. Each Figure 6: A proposed four-dimensional model of the emergence of translator competence; © D. Kiraly <?page no="218"?> Don Kiraly 212 sub-competence appears as a vortex to suggest constant evolution, everincreasing complexity and the recursive nature of learning (Risku 1998: 37). Unlike the computer-like input-output metaphors of first-generation cognitive science models, the swirling, interactive vortices in this model represent an emergent process of progressively incorporating experience and learning into the emerging sub-systems. From this perspective, competence is an autopoietic, that is, a self-perpetuating, process. The bands winding around the vortices suggest that translators’ competence is co-determined by the translation tasks and projects they engage in and learn from, their personal and interpersonal disposition for translating, their disposition for learning, the human and material resources available and drawn upon and also the affordances of the learning environment. Instructional intervention can indeed play a role in this process, but from this viewpoint, learning is clearly the result of a complex interplay of processes and not the direct result of teaching. I have chosen not to specify the particular sub-competences in the model as there is no consensus on which ones actually exist. Positing a bilingual sub-competence, for example, is clearly problematic if one considers that a translator acquires one or more languages from birth, while other languages are likely to be learned starting in school or even later. In addition, translators’ A and B languages are ones they translate out of and into, while C languages are ones that translators normally translate out of. While one’s comprehension of a C language must be as good as that for one’s B language, written text production in a C language need not be as competent as production in the B language. Some students will come to translator education with considerable background in a special domain like law or medicine, while others will begin their study of special domains at university. Personal dispositions for learning, for abstracting from experience, for creative language use, and even for adapting to norms of translation, etc. will differ from student to student. The variability is endless and we can expect that no two competence vortices would be identical. Another reason for not labelling sub-competences in the model is that the vortices depicted can actually be considered to be fractal in nature. A fractal is a self-similar branching pattern that appears frequently in nature, for example in neural networks, the human vascular system, and the branches, roots and leaves of trees. For example, one can easily imagine translators’ A or B language sub-competences as representing self-similar collections of merging vortices over time, from the elementary level to the level of expertise. From such a perspective, the sub-competences might comprise categories of linguistic or communicative competence, which can also be imagined as largely distinct initially and merging gradually into a largely intuitive super-competence as ever-higher levels of mastery are attained. Such self- <?page no="219"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 213 similarity could surely be found for each and every sub-competence that one can envisage - making the model almost infinitely complex and recurrent. One key feature that is missing from the model as presented in Figure 6 is the interpersonal aspect. Translators interact, of course, with other translators, clients, and outside experts. Translation students interact with each other and with their teachers. Each complex multi-vortex must be juxtaposed with the community of other individual vortices that the translator interacts with while translating and while learning to translate. Each translator is extensively and perpetually embedded in an ever-changing social context. And each participant in any collaborative process of translation (and this includes all translation processes) also influences each other participant. This illustrates the epitome of emergence (see Figure 7). No longer is an individual seen as situated in a static environment: from an emergent perspective, all of the participants in a situation and in fact the environment itself emerge as a function of collaborative being-in-the-world. Some of the emergent features of this model have already been identified by the researchers carrying out quantitative scientific studies on translation processes. Göpferich (2008), for example, directly addresses the crux of the problem with reductionist studies and simplistic two-dimensional geometric competence models: Strictly speaking, there is no (translation) competence per se as our cognitive processes and hence our competences are co-determined by our working conditions and our work environment. Our constructions of sense, built upon Figure 7: Co-emergence; © D. Kiraly <?page no="220"?> Don Kiraly 214 word meanings, are dependent upon textual and situational contexts. These realisations are taken into account by the cognitive science paradigm of situated cognition as it has overcome the separation of brain, body and environment inherent in earlier paradigms of cognitive science: symbol manipulation and connectionism. This new paradigm emphasizes, in addition to situatedness, also the social nature of problem solving processes and attributes a significant role to artefacts and cooperation partners. (2008: 14). While Göpferich’s statement suggests that she is convinced of the infinitely complex nature of competence, which she also seems to understand as a process, her bi-dimensional geometrical model of competence may contribute to perpetuating an out-dated ‘inside-the-box’ (intracranial) view of cognition. I suggest that adding depth to models like the one she proposes can contribute to their utility for explaining translation processes and competence, and that adding the dimension of time is necessary if we hope to effectively model processes of translation competence acquisition, development or emergence. 7 Some Implications for Translator Education I hope to have depicted a view of the path towards becoming a competent translator as a highly complex process of socially-embedded, enactive emergence on the basis of experience. The multi-vortex model I have proposed incorporates epistemological assumptions about the ways in which translation competence emerges. And as this is a relativist model, there is of course no claim being made that it corresponds to objective truth. The model can, however, serve as a useful heuristic for researchers, teachers and learners as it can be seen to represent a post-modern starting point for a reorientation of attitudes towards learning and promoting learning. Depicting, as it does, the ‘acquisition’ of competence as a process of autopoietic emergence, it calls into question conventional didactic models in which learning is largely the result of teaching and where a teacher is understood to transmit knowledge, skills or competence to learners. By seeing cognition as embodied enaction (Varela/ Thompson/ Roche 1991), it acknowledges the need for personal, authentic experience in the learning process. And by recognizing the complex interplay of individuals - all of them self-similarly complex - in learning as a social construction process, it highlights the value of collaborative interaction in the learning process and of a reassessment of teachers’ roles in the classroom - away from distributors of knowledge and towards those of assistants, guides, facilitators and advisors. It also suggests that learners themselves must be proactive seekers of knowledge far more than passive recipients of teachers’ knowledge. Emergent processes proceed apace and not as the direct result of any single stimu- <?page no="221"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 215 lus (e.g. teaching). From this viewpoint, teaching might be relegated to a secondary, highly variable role of optimally invasive intervention. Scaffolding, facilitating and coaching can be seen as particularly appropriate roles for would-be teachers who might see themselves as partners in learning rather than distributors of knowledge. Teachers can also be seen as key agents and participants in the establishment and maintenance of conditions under which learners can perform the real work of professional translators and thereby develop the expertise of professional translators. The adoption of a view of translator competence as an emergent process is clearly an innovative step towards improving and refining collaborative, learner-centred approaches to translator education. In my view, acknowledgement of the complexity of the enacted sociocognitive activity involved in translation processes casts doubt on the appropriateness of quantitative methodology as the primary vehicle for investigating emergent translator competence. Research methods of choice are more likely to include qualitative case studies and action research with valuable research instruments including surveys, questionnaires, learning diaries and individual, as well as collaborative, think-aloud protocols. 8 An Example of a Classroom Case Study on the Emergence of Translator Competence In a currently on-going series of classroom research projects, I have begun to investigate the emergence of translator competence in classrooms in which an authentic project serves as the permanent impetus for learning and action. In each project, every effort has been made to avoid pre-defined learning objectives and contrived pedagogical tasks or exercises. Instead, the classroom serves as a workshop in which an authentic project is organized, implemented and evaluated by the team comprising the learners and their designated instructor - who in this context is more of a scaffolder and facilitator of socially constructed learning than a manipulator and controller of contrived didactic practices. Here, the classroom becomes a microcosm of authentic project work in which learners’ on-going experience within a team serves as an emergent, enactive vortex of learning. Figure 8 depicts the emergent syllabus of one of these project-based courses. 8 I call the syllabus ‘emergent’ because it was not planned out in detail by me as the instructor prior to the course in accordance with conventional pedagogical practice; instead, it emerged over the course of the semester as a function of the group’s evolving work and needs - as well as the unpredictable vicissitudes 8 This project can only be outlined here due to space limitations. For a more thorough discussion of the emergence of translator competence in this particular course, the reader is referred to Kiraly (2012). <?page no="222"?> Don Kiraly 216 inherent in authentic project work. The figure depicts my interpretation of the educational experience after the project was over. The features of the course represented here include the individuals involved: the client, the instructor functioning as the initiator of the project, a scaffolder of learning experiences and facilitator of collaborative construction. The progression through the course in terms of complexity is suggested by the terms simpleto-complicated and complex alongside the ‘mediation and interaction’ and the ‘challenges’ arrows. Without consciously intending to do so, I found myself providing considerably more scaffolding at the beginning of the course and gradually shifting to a facilitating role as the group evolved into a learning/ working team and as their competence in terms of accomplishing the task at hand emerged and matured. The course was offered in the fall semester of 2011-12 within the MA programme in translation at the Ecole supérieure des traducteurs et interprêtes of the University of Paris III. The students were all first-semester students and the course was one of two that they were all required to take in general French-English translation. The departmental curriculum specified that the objectives of these two courses were to provide the students with a solid basic level of semi-professional translator competence in the domain of general F-E translation. They would be expected to internalize the basic norms of translation, and to learn and be able to apply ESIT’s ‘interpretive theory’ to the translation of general language texts from French into English. Students would be expected to pass a final, 90-minute written translation exam at the end of the semester demonstrating their mastery of general French- English translation. It should be noted that most of the seven students enrolled in the course had had no prior training in professional translation theory or practice. One had been working for ten years as a professional translator but had no academic qualification in the field, and another had just completed the first year of a graduate programme in multimedia translation at a different university. I decided to avoid imposing generic instruction on the group from the beginning, instead offering support in response to the students’ requests for assistance as they proceeded through the semester. My intention was to allow competence to emerge, with optimally invasive instruction being just one of many factors contributing to the students’ learning. Throughout the course, I would attempt to foment the development of a micro-community of practice in the classroom, where the students would take increasing responsibility for contributing to the completion of the project and for their own learning in terms of personal competence, social competence and translation competence per se (see Figure 2). <?page no="223"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 217 The ovals containing the images of students in Figure 8 depict progression through the course. The students came to class on the first day as individuals prepared to be taught how to translate. As the designated facilitator of the students’ learning, I brought to that first class two options for our work for the semester: they could either select or have me select a range of general language texts for us to work on in class or they could tackle an authentic translation project that I had been offered the previous summer. The authentic task at hand was the translation of the scenario of a short film on the last days in the life of Marcel Proust, comprising 35 pages including stage directions and a note on the historical background of the story. I was concerned from the beginning about the skopos of our translation because I knew the film had already been produced in French and it was difficult to imagine what the text would actually be used for. My contact at the film production company responded vaguely that the entire scenario was to be translated and would serve as the basis for dubbing the film into English at a later date. I was not convinced that this made a great deal of sense, but I desisted from further inquiries knowing that whatever occurred would likely be a good learning experience for the students. In an initial brainstorming session, we discussed at length what they could expect to learn from a set of translation exercises on the one hand and Figure 8: An example of project emergence in the classroom; © D. Kiraly <?page no="224"?> Don Kiraly 218 from the completion of a real project on the other. We discussed the department’s goals for the course and then what the students would need to learn in order to meet the requirements of the customer’s brief in the event that they chose the authentic translation task. By the end of that first three-hour session (out of five that we would have by the time the completed translation would have to be submitted to the client), the group had decided to tackle the real job. At that point, we were able to begin planning our work for the semester. The students decided to take two class sessions to acquire a basic knowledge of translation theory and contemporary translation norms. They divided themselves into teams of two or three, with each team assuming responsibility for translating an initial two-page segment of the scenario by the following class session. These sample translations were to serve as a starting point for collaborative consciousness-raising about the translator’s task. Before the session was over, we had an opportunity to begin discussing both interpretive and functional translation theory. One of the results of focusing at the outset on the idea of a translation skopos was the decision by the group to have one member of the class serve as a mediator between the group and the client. Questions about register, dialect and idiolect usage arose within the group on their first reading of the scenario and, having established a mediating system, they felt immediately empowered to interact directly with the film-maker. The responses they received were rich in information and appreciation for the students’ astute questions - contributing to an emerging sense of self-confidence and strengthening the students’ awareness that they were engaged in authentic translation work. The students’ independent work over the following two weeks was relatively uneventful even though several problems did emerge. The scenario had been sent to us both as a word processing file and a portable document file and the pages were numbered differently in the two files. And although the students were instructed to work with the word processing file, some of them worked from the other one instead. So some of the passages were translated twice and others not at all. As we had set up an online forum for the group, this problem was noticed by several students in the class and was quickly resolved. But some of the students wound up having to do another section of the translation at the last minute. An important lesson was learned by all: the importance of following instructions to the letter. A more significant problem, however, arose in terms of external vicissitudes. My initial concerns about the skopos of our work proved to have been well founded. Our initial contact person was relieved of her duties at the film production company almost two weeks into our course and we were told by her successor that our task was not to translate the entire scenario with the stage instructions at all, but to subtitle the film into English! This required us to undertake extensive revisions to our working schedule and the students’ learning objectives during our second class session and to <?page no="225"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 219 begin working immediately on acquiring a different set of new skills. Suddenly they were faced with the prospect of learning the norms of subtitling and acquiring competence in using subtitling software with only four sessions of class remaining before the job was to be completed. Fortunately, the change in the brief also meant a radical reduction in the quantity of material to be translated. In any event, the group took the news in stride and we quickly revamped our schedule and our learning goals to accommodate our new assigned tasks. This was an excellent opportunity for the students to experience the kind of unforeseen circumstances that can arise during real translation assignments. It also provided them with an opportunity to grow in terms of their personal and social skills, adapting as they would have to, both individually and as a team, to the completely new situation and time constraints. We decided at that point that they would need an introduction to the norms of subtitling and how to use a subtitling programme, which would allow them to do a semi-professional job on the subtitling project. We made joint decisions on interim products and deadlines for their submission, on how to handle the revising of the subtitles in class and how to ensure the uniformity of our subtitles by preparing a glossary for the project. On those many occasions when the students wanted me to assume a dominant role in terms of teaching (translation theory, norms of subtitling, use of the subtitling software), I used my prerogative as the course organizer to shift responsibility for the group’s and each individual’s learning back to them. For example, rather than teaching them the norms of subtitling, I provided them with a number of articles on subtitling norms and had them extrapolate rules inductively from the texts. Rather than teaching them how to use the Subtitle Workshop software, I provided them with the software and had them work in pairs to learn how to use it on their own, with me providing just enough assistance for them to be able to continue when they encountered roadblocks. To prepare themselves for work on our actual project, the students subtitled a short amateur production of a short story by Maupassant, which was revised by team members and then discussed by the class as a whole during the third class session. The second half of the third session was spent having each individual begin creating the subtitles of one seventh of the project film. The group agreed that each person would complete his or her subtitles by a given date, have them proofread by their partner and upload them to the group’s shared online space. Up to this point, things had progressed much as I had expected, with students basically learning the skills albeit at their own respective pace as the course progressed. But the chain of events that occurred when these rough subtitles were to be handed in yielded some unexpected learning that I believe provides considerable support for an emergent view of translator competence development and for collaborative work on au- <?page no="226"?> Don Kiraly 220 thentic projects in the translation classroom. When 16 November - the due date for the rough subtitles - rolled around, I discovered that two students, Jean Michel and Grenadine, had not uploaded their work on time (and had not informed me or anyone else in the group that their work would be handed in late). These two students were the only ones who had not been participating actively in the group’s work up to that point. They had often seemed passive, absent or even querulous during classroom activities and showed little interest in the authentic project. As the group’s designated project coordinator, I sent an email to those two students, reminding them of the deadline, which had already expired. Jean Michel wrote back on the morning of 17 November saying that his work was not ready and that he would be submitting it two days later. There was no apology for the work being submitted late. Without pausing to think of the implications, I wrote back immediately, pointing out to Jean Michel the sacrosanct nature of deadlines in the translation business and also the importance of proper etiquette in dealing with clients. I told him that etiquette requires that one needs to inform clients or project coordinators in advance if work is going to be late and that an apology for late work is definitely in order. Finally, I pointed out that the project could not proceed if any one member of the team failed to meet a deadline. The whole class would be unable to proceed unless each person did his or her part. It was after the email went out that I realized that I had inadvertently reverted to a conventional teaching role - imposing my authority as the designated teacher and dictating to the student how to act. I wondered what reaction I could expect. My surprise could not have been greater when I received a long email from Jean Michel the next day, expressing sincere regret at having let the group down and for not having thought about the interpersonal ramifications of his unprofessional behaviour. Grenadine wrote back on the morning of 18 November, expressing deep regret that she had not paid proper attention to the instructions I had summarized for the group at our previous session. She had not done her subtitles at all! She went on to critique her own behaviour up to that point in the course and she admitted that she had remained largely aloof from our teamwork but that she intended to change. It was more than gratifying to note that both of these students’ behaviour changed radically for the better from that day on. They submitted the work due on 16 November within two days and they became productive, proactive members of the course starting with the very next session. The level and quality of their contributions to classroom discussions rose significantly as did their standing among the other students in the group; they began to share their knowledge willingly with other class members, and, perhaps most surprisingly, the quality of their translation work increased exponen- <?page no="227"?> Towards A View of Translator Competence as an Emergent Phenomenon 221 tially and remained outstanding through that semester and in another class they took with me the following semester. At the beginning of the fourth class session (and the sixth week of the ten we had allocated to our project), the class moved on to a new phase of their work: collaborative subtitling of segments of the film. At this point, the scaffolding component of my role in the classroom shrank radically and was replaced with a predominantly facilitating role. I made myself available to provide facilitating assistance to the groups throughout our final two class sessions and via email and our online forum for the intervening periods - but their work had become largely autonomous at this point. The students clearly had different strengths and weaknesses in all three domains of translator competence: personal, social and translation competence per se. But in the absence of an omniscient, knowledge-distributing instructor, and having clearly developed a true team spirit, the group functioned in a highly collaborative and competent manner. Peer scaffolding and socially constructed knowledge more than filled the gap left by the absence of teacher-centred instruction. The subtitling project was completed on time in mid-December and to the client’s complete satisfaction. At that point I realized the difficulty of choosing an appropriate text for the final exam that the students would be required to take individually in early January. So the remaining class session and three weeks of time for the students to work independently over the winter break were used to work on texts the students chose in a domain (sustainable tourism) that we had not dealt with at all up to that point. I provided proleptic feedback via email on two texts for each student and chose an appropriately difficult text for their final exam. All of the students passed the exam, which was marked in accordance with the School’s rigorous grading system. A passing mark on this exam demonstrates a thorough understanding and ability to apply the interpretive theory of translation and to produce a translation of a difficult general language text that meets the faculty’s joint standards for professional translation quality. No pre-test was given at the beginning of the semester, so it is impossible to establish a link between the pedagogical approach used during this course and the students’ success. Nevertheless, the students’ universal confirmation of their own extensive and multi-facetted learning during this project (gathered from a questionnaire distributed at the end of the semester), suggests that all of the students found the learning experience to be an extremely valuable one. I was hardly surprised by the positive outcomes of the course as I had been using authentic projects regularly and successfully in my classes for over a dozen years. But the extraordinary finding for me was the realization of the emergent nature of translator competence demonstrated so remarkably by the radical change in Jean Michel and Grenadine’s behaviour as members of the translation team and the attendant changes in their competence across the board: personal, social and translation competence per se. <?page no="228"?> Don Kiraly 222 This epiphany was one of the key factors that contributed to my posited emergent model of translator competence depicted in Figure 6. In terms of research findings, which I am of course examining further in additional case studies on authentic projects in the classroom, I feel that I have definitely increased my understanding of how translator competence can emerge in the course of authentic, enactive translation work and how I as facilitator can contribute to that emergence. I will leave it to the reader to decide for him or herself whether objective large-n statistical analyses of quantitative data would be necessary to confirm these findings. From my relativist perspective, I believe that further non-experimental studies in which translation students are observed as they undertake real semi-professional activities will be of far greater value in deepening my understanding of the processes involved. 9 Conclusion In this chapter, I have tried to show the importance and value of differentiating between disparate epistemological views underlying both research and teaching in the domain of translator education. I hope to have demonstrated that positivist and relativist perspectives may offer radically different pathways to understanding the nature of translator competence and to promoting the development of that competence in translation students. I have proposed thinking outside the boxes of conventional two-dimensional models of translator competence as a first step towards distinguishing between these two fundamentally different worldviews. It is also time to look to second-generation cognitive science, which I believe is closely related to relativist epistemology, as a viable avenue for exploring the nature of translator competence. Without wishing to denigrate the importance of quantitative analyses and experimental studies carried out on the basis of the scientific method, I also hope to have shown that the qualitative case study can represent a viable tool for increasing our understanding of the processes involved in the development of translator competence. 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Jakobsen/ Inger M. Mees (2009): Behind the Mind - Methods, Models and Results in Translation Process Research (Copenhagen Studies in Language 37). Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur. Herold, Susann (2010): “Ausbildung von ’Universalgenies? ’ Zum Kompetenzbegriff und zu Modellen translatorischer Kompetenz” Lebende Sprachen 2: 211-242. Kiraly, Don (2000): A Social-Constructivist Approach to Translator Education. Manchester: St. Jerome. Kiraly, Don (2005): “Situating Praxis in Translator Education” Károly, Krisztina/ Föris Ágota, eds.: New Trends in Translation Studies - Festschrift für Kinga Klaudy. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 117-138. Kiraly, Don (2006): “Beyond Social Constructivism: Complexity Theory and Translator Education” Translation and Interpreting Studies 6(1): 68-86. Kiraly, Don (2012): “Skopos Theory Goes to Paris” Risku, Hanna/ Christina Schäffner/ Jürgen Schopp, eds.: Special Issue of mTm to commemorate Hans J. Vermeer (mTm - A Translation Journal). Athens: Diavlos. Koskinen, Kaisa (2010): “What Matters to Translation Studies: On the Role of Public Translation Studies” Gile, Daniel/ Gyde Hansen/ Nike Pokorn, eds.: Why Translation Studies Matters. Amsterdam: Benjamins. <?page no="230"?> Don Kiraly 224 Mercer, Neil (1992): “Culture, Context and the Construction of Knowledge in the Classroom” Light, Paul/ George Butterworth, eds.: Context and Cognition. Ways of Learning and Knowing. Hemel Hampstead, Herfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 28-46. Muñoz Martín, Ricardo (2010): “On Paradigms and Cognitive Translatology” Shreve, Gregory M./ Erik Angelone, eds.: Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 169-187. O’Brien, Sharon (2011): Cognitive Explorations of Translation (Continuum Studies in Translation). London: Continuum. Orozco, Mariana/ Amparo Hurtado Albir (2002): “Measuring Translation Competence Acquisition” META 47(3): 375-402. Pacte (2000): “Acquiring Translation Competence: Hypotheses and Methodological Problems of a Research Project” Beeby, Allison/ Doris Ensinger/ Marisa Presas, eds.: Investigating Translation. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: Benjamins, 99-106. PACTE (2005): “Investigating Translation Competence: Conceptual and Methodological Issues” META 50(2): 609-619. PACTE (2011): “Results of the Validation of the PACTE Translation Competence Model: Translation Project and Dynamic Translation Index” O’Brien, Sharon, ed.: Cognitive Explorations of Translation (Continuum Studies in Translation). London: Continuum, 30-56. Risku, Hanna (1998): Translatorische Kompetenz. Tübingen: Stauffenburg. Risku, Hanna (2010): “A Cognitive Scientific View on Technical Communication and Translation: Do Embodiment and Situatedness Really Make a Difference? ” Target 22(1): 94-111. Varela, Francisco J./ Evan Thompson/ Eleanor Rosch (1991): The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Weinert, Franz E. (2001): “Vergleichende Leistungsmessung in Schulen - Eine umstrittene Selbstverständlichkeit” Weinert, Franz E., ed.: Leistungsmessungen in Schulen. Weinheim/ Basel: Beltz, 17-31. <?page no="231"?> Short Biographies Erik Angelone eangelon@kent.edu Erik Angelone is Assistant Professor of Translation at Kent State University. He received his PhD in Translation Studies from the University of Heidelberg. His research interests include process-oriented translator training, cognitive processes in translation, and intercultural communicative competence. Dr Angelone recently co-edited a volume titled Translation and Cognition (John Benjamins 2010) with Dr Gregory Shreve. Sabine Braun s.braun@surrey.ac.uk Sabine Braun (MA, Heidelberg; Dr Phil, Tübingen) is a Reader in Translation Studies and Director of the Centre for Translation Studies at the University of Surrey. Her research interests include videoconference and remote interpreting, learning technologies, multimodality and audio description. Research projects she has led include AVIDICUS 1/ 2 on videoconferencebased interpreting in legal proceedings (EU DG Justice), and IVY Interpreting in Virtual Reality (EU Lifelong Learning Programme). She teaches Interpreting Studies and Applied Linguistics, and has developed several MA programmes in interpreting. Andrea Cnyrim cnyrima@uni-mainz.de Andrea Cnyrim is member of faculty at the German Department of Mainz University’s School of Translation, Interpreting, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies (FTSK Germersheim). She trains translators and interpreters in the specific intercultural knowledge and skills required for translation processes. Her special interests, research and publications focus on intercultural competence, conflict management, negotiation, and on communication and learning styles. Member of SIETAR Deutschland, co-editor of the SIETAR Deutschland series on Intercultural Competence and Co-operation. <?page no="232"?> Authors 226 Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow ehre@zhaw.ch Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow is Professor of Translation Studies in the Zurich University of Applied Sciences’ Institute of Translation and Interpreting and principal investigator of both the Capturing Translation Processes and the Cognitive and Physical Ergonomics of Translation research projects. Vanessa Enríquez Raído v.enriquez@auckland.ac.nz Vanessa Enríquez Raído is a Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at The University of Auckland, New Zealand. She specializes in translation technology, translator education and in the emerging field of online information literacy for translators, where she has published a monograph entitled Translation and Web Searching (2013) as well as a number of book chapters and journal articles. Olivia Fox Olivia.Fox@uab.cat Dr Olivia Fox is a senior lecturer in Translation Studies in the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. A professional translator herself, she teaches general and specialised translation between Spanish and English. Her research interests largely focus on task-based learning and the acquisition of translation competence. She is member of the PACTE research group (Process in the Acquisition of Translation Competence and Evaluation) as well as other national and international research groups in the field of translator training. Robert Gittins rgittins@bangor.ac.uk Dr Robert Gittins is a Knowledge Exploitation Manager at the School of Computer Science, Bangor University, where he works for the Research Institute of Visual Computing (RIVIC). Robert is a team member of European projects IVY and EVIVA where he has been responsible for the 3D Virtual Learning Environment platform and interactive VLE resources. He is active in The Chartered Institute for IT (British Computer Society), and a founder member and treasurer of the BCS Animation and Games Development Specialist Group. <?page no="233"?> Short Biographies 227 Susanne Hagemann hagemann@uni-mainz.de Susanne Hagemann teaches translation studies in the German Department of Mainz University’s School of Translation, Interpreting, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies (FTSK Germersheim). She has written extensively on translation. Her latest book publications are Übersetzungsränder (2012, co-edited with Julia Neu), an anthology of prefaces, afterwords, and interviews in which translators of German literature discuss their work, Translationswissenschaftliches Arbeiten (2011), a textbook on translation-studies research, and Übersetzen lernt man nicht durch Übersetzen (2011), an edition of Hans G. Hönig’s essays. Don Kiraly Don.Kiraly@gmx.de Don Kiraly has been a lecturer in translation studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz since 1984. His main research interests lie in the areas of translation pedagogy and naturalistic second language learning. His dissertation (published as Pathways to Translation in 1995) was one of the earliest studies on cognitive translation processes. His second book, A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education (2000), introduced his translator education methodology, based on collaborative, authentic project work. Gary Massey mssy@zhaw.ch Gary Massey is deputy director of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences’ Institute of Translation and Interpreting, head of its MA in Applied Linguistics, and co-investigator of the Capturing Translation Processes and Cognitive and Physical Ergonomics of Translation research projects. Julia Neu julian@uni-mainz.de Julia Neu holds a PhD in Romance Studies/ French. She has taught French - German translation practice, translation studies, and linguistics in the German Department of Mainz University’s School of Translation, Interpreting, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies (FTSK Germersheim) since 2004. Her book publications are Mündliche Fachtexte der französischen Rechtssprache (Berlin: Frank & Timme, 2011) and Übersetzungsränder: Vor- und Nachworte, Interviews und andere Texte zum Übersetzen deutschsprachiger Literatur (Berlin: SAXA, 2012; co-edited with Susanne Hagemann). <?page no="234"?> Authors 228 Éric Poirier Eric.Poirier@uqtr.ca Éric Poirier is assistant professor at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières where he teaches Translation Methodology and Specialized Professional Translation in a fully online undergraduate English-French translation program. He holds a doctorate in translation studies with a dissertation in phraseology and is a certified translator with a broad experience as a translation services provider and advisor in the North American translation industry. His research interests include translation technologies and semantic processes in translation as well as language interferences and training in translation. Panagiotis D. Ritsos p.ritsos@bangor.ac.uk Panagiotis D. Ritsos received the MEng and PhD degrees in electronic systems engineering from the University of Essex, UK in 2000 and 2006, respectively. He is currently a research officer in the School of Computer Science at Bangor University, UK. His research interests revolve around Human Computer Interaction and include Mixed Reality, Wearable Computing, Haptics, Visualization and User Experience. Jonathan C. Roberts j.c.roberts@bangor.ac.uk Dr Jonathan C. Roberts is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science, Bangor University. Chair of the Eurographics UK Chapter (2005 to 2012), chaired Eurographics 2011 conference, and IEEE VAST chair (2011/ 12). His research is in Information Visualization, big data analysis, Visual Analytics and Virtual Reality and multi-sensory interaction. Patricia Rodríguez-Inés Patricia.Rodriguez@uab.es Dr Patricia Rodríguez-Inés holds a PhD in Translation Studies, and is a lecturer at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) (Spain). Her research interests include corpus linguistics applied to translation, translation teaching and translation competence acquisition. Her PhD thesis, entitled ‘Using electronic corpora in translation teaching’, won a national prize in 2009. She teaches specialised translation between English and Spanish at the UAB. She is member of the PACTE research group <?page no="235"?> Short Biographies 229 (Process in the Acquisition of Translation Competence and Evaluation) and participates in several national and international projects. Catherine Slater c.slater@surrey.ac.uk Catherine Slater has an MA and PhD in Translation and is currently a Research Fellow at the Centre for Translation Studies, University of Surrey. She worked on the EU BACKBONE and Interpreting in Virtual Reality projects and is now part of the Surrey team on the EVIVA project, which aims to evaluate the education of interpreters and their clients through virtual learning activities. She is also a practising freelance translator working with French and English. Kelly Washbourne rwashbou@kent.edu Kelly Washbourne teaches translation at Kent State University. His works include An Anthology of Spanish American Modernismo (edited; MLA Texts and Translations, 2007) and Autoepitaph: Selected Poems of Reinaldo Arenas (forthcoming). He won a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship (2010) for his translation of Nobel Laureate Miguel Ángel Asturias’ Leyendas de Guatemala (Legends of Guatemala), and is co-editor of the series Translation Practices Explained (St. Jerome, UK). His research interests include task construction, educational theory, and the role of reading in translation. Maria Yarosh mvyarosh@gmail.com Born in Russia, where she obtained her first degree in Translation and Linguistics at the Institute of Foreign Languages (St. Petersburg), Maria Yarosh has later on lived and studied in Switzerland (University of Fribourg), England (Institute of Education, University of London) and Spain. She has recently defended her PhD on Translator intercultural competence: the concept and means to measure the competence development and the University of Deusto (Bilbao). <?page no="237"?> Revolving around the topic of innovative translator and interpreter education, this volume covers a wide range of pedagogical issues, from curriculum design to translator competence and from classroom practice to research techniques. The authors represent a number of countries. Their proposals come mainly from an interpretivist rather than an empiricist epistemological perspective, and are sure to resonate with educators around the world. While none of the authors claims to have found the holy grail of how to train translators and interpreters, their contributions all serve as fine examples of just how multi-facetted and refreshing language mediation pedagogy and research on pedagogy can be. Kiraly / Hansen-Schirra / Maksymski (eds.) Educating Language Mediators Don Kiraly Silvia Hansen-Schirra Karin Maksymski (eds.) New Prospects and Perspectives for Educating Language Mediators Translationswissenschaft Translationswissenschaft 10 10