Future translatorsʼ views on translation theory: a qualitative approach

ABSTRACT

The practical orientation of undergraduate translation and interpreting degrees in Spain means that less importance is given to theoretical modules, and it is often thought that students doubt the usefulness of these modules and are therefore reluctant to take them. Previous empirical researchhas shown that students are not as averse to theory as is often assumed; in fact, according to these studies, students rate its contribution to their training quite positively. In order to take a further step in the study of students’ views on translation theory, the present study adds a qualitative perspective to (in)validate the results obtained in previous research and explore them in greater depth. Students’ answers to open questions are analysed using Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software to assess how translation theory contributes to their training and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the translation theory module at Jaume I University (Castellón, Spain). Our findings show that fitting translation theory into the training and education of translators is a complex task and they also reveal that cognitive restructuring is needed to help students overcome their tendency to associate theory with complex, dense, difficult-to-grasp and, ultimately, useless concepts.

KEYWORDS:

• Translation theory
• students’ views
• qualitative analysis
• translators’ and interpreters’ training
• Spanish undergraduate translation programmes

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Teoría y didáctica de la traducción (Jaume I University).

2. See Ordóñez-López and Agost (2014), and Agost and Ordóñez López (2015).

3. For an extensive review of this issue see Leal (2011) and Di Mango (2018).

4. In accordance with common practice in countries like the UK, the term module is used to refer to a distinct unit relating to a single subject that forms part of a degree programme.

5. The number of contact hours per credit at Spanish universities varies between 7.5 and 10.

6. Data obtained from the web pages of the 24 Spanish universities that offered undergraduate study programmes on translation in 2020.

7. For a more detailed description of the questionnaire, see Ordóñez-López and Agost (2014) and Agost and Ordóñez López (2015).

8. Although the questionnaires are the main data source in this study, other sources, such as students’ contributions to discussions about academic articles, talks and interviews with translators, are used to corroborate our findings.

9. C coefficient: it is calculated based on approaches taken from quantitative content analysis and is only significant when a considerable volume of data is analysed. It can vary between 0 (no co-occurring codes) and 1 (indicates two co-occurring codes where they are used). It is calculated as follows: c = n12/(n1 + n2) – n12; n12 = frequency of co-occurrence of the two codes c1 and c2, where n1 and n2 are their frequencies of co-occurrence.