Translation competence between industry and academia in Saudi Arabia: job descriptions vs students’ perceptions

ABSTRACT

Given the constant changes in the translation job market, translator training (TT) programmes need ongoing adaptation to continue training students to meet market requirements. This study aimed to explore the extent to which undergraduates of Arabic/English TT programmes in Saudi Arabia (SA) perceive their ability to help students acquire knowledge and skills related to translation (sub)competences required in the Saudi translation market. To this end, two empirical studies were designed using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach. The first analysed 91 translation-related job descriptions published in SA during 2020 to identify the knowledge and skills required in the market. The second analysed the perceptions of final-year students of the Saudi undergraduate Arabic/English TT programmes regarding the extent to which their programmes helped them acquire these skills. The findings indicate the need to explore why students perceived programmes as ‘not effective enough’, as well as the need to propose ways to develop them. This study will contribute to improving Saudi undergraduate TT programmes to provide highly qualified, competent translators to satisfy current Saudi translation market demands.

KEYWORDS:

• translation competence
• translation market demands
• translation job descriptions
• mixed methods approach
• Saudi context

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Christian Olalla Soler for his helpful comments on some parts of the manuscript which considerably improved it. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editor for their insightful feedback. I acknowledge any shortcomings that remain as my own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).