Translation studies as academic education

Abstract

People with the same linguistic competence and background show different translation abilities and performances if subjected to different types of translation education. The paper reports on a study conducted to test this hypothesis. In the study, 20 subjects (the experimental group) were selected homogenously in terms of their general English skills, their educational background, and their familiarity with the practice of translation. They were given a pre-test so as to be evaluated on their language and translational skills, in the four domains of cognition, production, naturalness, and translation techniques. The subjects attended a course during which they became familiar with the basics of translation. A post-test (post-test 1) was administered to the subjects to check their improvement. The results showed that their performance had improved. A new test was administrated, with new (unseen) texts and the results again showed an increase in performance (post-test 2). This final test was given to a new group of subjects (control group) selected using the same criteria as the experimental group. The subjects who had taken a brief translation course (the experimental group) stood head and shoulders above the second (control) group.