Translator Training in Higher Education : Pedagogy, Practice, Research and Educational Technology: BA programs (Translation Majors) in the Gulf Count...

Translator Training in Higher Education : Pedagogy, Practice, Research and Educational Technology: BA programs (Translation Majors) in the Gulf Count...: Few months ago, and as part of my ongoing PhD research enquiry, I was surveying the universities which deliver degrees, diplomas or certi...

BA programs (Translation Majors) in the Gulf Countries

Few months ago, and as part of my ongoing PhD research enquiry, I was surveying the universities which deliver degrees, diplomas or certificates in Translation (and languages) in the Arab world. I was checking their websites and see : 1) if they have a course outline displaying the objectives, types of activities and assessment methods designed by faculty (or the institution ) to that specific course in translation (or interpreting); 2) if they have them, I went to examine these elements (objectives, activities and assessment methods) to check if there is an alignment between them or not (in other words: if faculty or any stakeholder involved in this course design is/are consciously and aware of the various dimensions and implications of these designed elements). Above all, implications on students learning outcomes ( I mean meaningful and significant learning outcomes, such as applying what they learnt and creating something out of it on their own).

First round of this informal survey led us to conclude that :

• Apart from very scarce universities/colleges in the Gulf countries, most of Translation or English and Translation departments have no anounced Course Outlines on their websites at all (Check Atari ( 2012); Buhmaid (1995)) on that matter. We believe, and for the sake of enhancing quality teaching/learning in the program, to display CLEAR and FUNCTIONAL/DOABLE course outlines that will give an idea about the type of teaching philosophy/approach adopted in that specific education context for translator training and weather teaching is teacher or student centred. This is an important criteria nowadays in Higher Education. Translation is a very mutifaceted discipline and it makes sense to design appropriate domain specific pedagogies to be taught and learnt.

• The contents of the surveyed translation programs seem to be geared more and more into teaching( rather than training or coaching). It is OK to teach first and second year translation students lecture based contents, but not the third year or finalists.This could be a case in the Arab World, but here in Canada soon after semester 2, students engage in the real world of translation and receive a mix of teaching at the university and training at their place of internship. Context may decide the type of pedagogical  planning we need to decide on .

•  I also noticed the amount of theory taught in the contents of these programs. This will not be helpful in the case of training future translation professionals. There is a lack of real world factor in those programs ( I hardly saw courses on ''Research methods and Documentation for translators'', '' terminology extraction '' , ''language technologies'', '' revision", '' courses on professional aspects of translation'', '' project management for translators''........................etc. It is high time to renovate the contents.

• As per the pedagogical part, I am not sure yet weather the teachers (faculty) base their classroom intervention on educational approaches/models specific to translator training/ translation teaching at all ( like socio-constructivism (Kiraly, 2000, 2003), constructivism) or active pedagogies to organise practical translation work like the Problem Based Approach PBL (Cormier, 2007), or the Project Based Approach (Gouadec, 2007; Kiraly 2003, 2012).

Due to space limits, I will limit my preliminary remarks on the above four points. Perhaps I can leave the remaining points to be discussed in another post.

Minutes from the Conference I attended this week on Translation ( Practice, teaching and theory).

Between the 6th and 10th Mai 2013, Laval University (Quebec) hosted the 82nd round of the Acfas Conference (Reuniting all french speaking universities in the world). I delivered my communication on enhancing educational technology in translator training to improve teaching and learning outcomes.

It was a great experience for me. I totally enjoyed being amongst most of the members of my community/peers. We exchanged ideas and debated issues in relation to the field of translation studies, technologies for translators, translator industry and translator education and training. Further, I came to know and network with many colleagues ( professors and PhD students) here in Canada. It was great to get to know them in person instead of only reading their articles in international magazines on Translation.

This event had boosted my confidence (especially in giving conferences in french :)) ) and contextualised my progress and was also a self -evaluation test to improve my ongoing learning curve and pathway. In this conference, many issues were raised and here the ones that attracted my attention :

• It is not enough to be proficient in your subject field (only), but also on how to vehicle and monitor other types of knowledge : Pedagogy/Andragogy as well as knowledge of how to use technology in your teaching ( Given the fact we are in a knowledge based society)

• Virtual and Distance learning in translation programme : a trend of the future.

•  Seeking to innovate in curriculum and courses design (new types of contents needed)

• Multilingualism is very important as well as translating into the non-mother tongue (L2)

• Stressing the social mission of the university in training translators in Higher Education : educating socially functionning citizens that could use their abilities all along their life and not only to convert words and structures.

• Role of the Translator vis-a-vis technology: the need to emphasise the agency of the translator as a decision maker in the industry and not only a word engineer.

In brief these are the major points that were raised and discussed in the two days session I attended.

Regards

Fouad

أدوار المعلم في ظل التعليم الإلكتروني

 Teaching in a Technology based environment

Faculty role remains important........

Article extracted from  AL-SHARQ AL AWSAT newspaper  

أدوار المعلم/الأستاذ في ظل التعليم الإلكتروني

 

قد يتبادر إلى ذهن من يقرأ عنوان الموضوع أننا بإدخال تقنية الحاسب والتعليم الإلكتروني نلغي دور المعلم في العملية التربوية التعليمية. فالتعليم الإلكتروني لا يعني إلغاء دور المعلم بل يصبح دوره أكثر أهمية وأكثر صعوبة فهو شخص مبدع ذو كفاءة عالية يدير العملية التعليمية باقتدار ويعمل على تحقيق طموحات التقدم والتقنية. لقد أصبحت مهنة المعلم مزيجـًا من مهام القائد ومدير المشروع البحثي والناقد والموجه .

لا يعني التعلم الإلكتروني إلغاء دور المعلم بل يصبح دوره أكثر أهمية وأكثر صعوبة، حيث يصبح شخص مبدع ذو كفاءة عالية يدير العملية التعليمية باقتدار ويعمل على تحقيق طموحات التقدم والتقنية.

ويمكن ذكر الأدوار التي يقوم بها المعلم في نظم التعليم الإلكتروني كما جاء في بعض الأدبيات:

ما لاشك فيه أن دور المعلم سوف يبقى للأبد وسوف يصبح أكثر صعوبة من السابق, فالتعلم الإلكتروني لا يعني تصفح الإنترنت بطريقة مفتوحة ولكن بطريقة محددة وبتوجيه لاستخدام المعلومات الإلكترونية، وهذا يعتبر من أهم أدوار المعلم. ولكي يصبح دور المعلم مهماً في توجيه طلابه الوجهة الصحيحة للاستفادة القصوى من التكنولوجيا عليه أن يقوم بالأدوار التالية:

1ـ ميسر للعمليات : Process Facilitator

إن الدور الأكبر للمعلم من خلال نظم تقديم المقررات التعليمية عبر الإنترنت هو التحقق من حدوث بعض العمليات التربوية المستهدفة في أثناء ممارسة الطلاب لنشاطهم وتفاعلهم مع بعضهم البعض، فالمعلم في نظم التعلم الإلكتروني ليس ملقنًا للمعلومات بل هو ميسر للعملية التعليمية Educational Facilitator، حيث يقدم الإرشادات ويتيح للمتعلمين اكتشاف مواد التعلم بأنفسهم دون أن يتدخل في مسار تعلمهم.

2ـ مبسط للمحتوى: Content Facilitator

للمعلم دور معرفي, ولكن طبيعة هذا الدور المعرفي تختلف عما كانت عليه في الماضي, بحيث يكون التركيز على إكساب الطالب المعارف والحقائق والمفاهيم المناسبة للتدفق المعرفي المستمر للعلم, وما يرتبط من هذه المعارف من مهارات عملية وقيم واتجاهات بحيث تمكنهم من التعامل الصحيح مع هذا التدفق المعرفي والتقنيات المرتبطة به, لأن هذا يعين هؤلاء الطلاب على فهم الحاضر بتفصيلاته, وتصور المستقبل باتجاهاته والمشاركة في صناعته, وبذلك يتم إكساب الطلاب ثقافة معلوماتية تمكنهم من التعايش في مجتمع المعلوماتية الذي هو مجتمع المستقبل.

3ـ باحث Researcher :

لا يكفي قيام المعلم باتخاذ قرارات, بل عليه تقويم جهده أيضاً, والبحث الإجرائي وسيلة تحقق هذه الغاية, كما أنه يتيح الفرصة للمعلم لاكتساب المعرفة والمهارة في طرق البحث ومنهجيته, ويكون على دراية بالاختيارات واحتمالات التغيير, كما يكسبه الرؤية التأملية والناقدة لأدائه, ولعملية التدريس في كليتها.

وهذا التوجه للبحث الإجرائي يعتبر من أفضل فرص النمو المهني المنظمة والمنهجية, فالتدريس عبر الشبكات لا يخلو من مشكلات, وبالتالي عندما يسعى المعلم تلقائياً لبحث المشكلة, بغية الوقوف على أسبابها ونتائجها متبعًا المنهجية العلمية في دراستها, فإن ذلك يعود بالنفع عليه أولاً, وعلى عملية التعليم برمتها, التي تتطلب تطويراً مستمراً, نتيجة التطور المستمر للظروف المحيطة بها.

5ـ تكنولوجي: Technologist

مع التطورات التي شهدها مجال التكنولوجيا, فإن الدور التقليدي للمعلم يجب أن ينتهي أو يتغير, فهناك وفرة في المعلومات, ودور المعلم في ظل هذه الوفرة هو مساعدة المتعلمين على الإبحار في محيط المعلومات, لاختيار الأنسب, والتحليل الناقد, وتضمينه في رؤيتهم وإدراكهم للعالم من حولهم.

والتكنولوجيا تسهم في تغيير الطرق التي يتدرب من خلالها المعلمون, وكذلك طرق تعليم الطلاب, والمطلوب عمله هو القيام بدور فاعل من جانب القائمين على إعداد المعلم لإحداث هذا التغير.

6ـ مصمم للخبرات التعليمية:

للمعلم دور أساسي في تصميم الخبرات التعليمية والنشاطات التربوية، والإشراف على بعضها بما يتناسب مع خبراته وميوله واهتماماته، فهذه الأنشطة مكملة لما يكتسبه الطالب داخل قاعات الدراسات الصفية أو الافتراضية، سواء أكانت أنشطة ثقافية أم رياضية أم اجتماعية إلى غير ذلك من الأنشطة التربوية، وعلى المعلم أن يسهم بدور إيجابي في الإشراف على بعض تلك النشاطات.

7ـ مدير للعملية التعليمية:

في التعليم التقليدي يمارس المعلم دوره في ضبط نظام الصف والإمساك بزمام الأمور في كل ما يحدث داخل الصف، أما في نظم التعلم الإلكتروني فالمعلم مديرا للعملية التعليمية بأكملها، حيث يحدد أعداد الملتحقين بالمقررات الشبكية، ومواعيد اللقاءات الافتراضية على الشبكة، وأساليب عرض المحتوى، وطرق التقويم وغيره من عناصر العملية التعليمية.

والمعلم الذي يقوم بدوره القيادي في الفصول الافتراضية يجعل منها خلية عمل بفاعلية واقتدار، سواء كان ذلك على المستوى الفردي أو الجماعي، فيكرس اهتمامات الطلاب لتحقيق الأهداف المنشودة، ويأخذ بيدهم طيلة الوقت للعمل الجاد المثمر.

8ـ ناصح ومستشار:

من أهم الأدوار التي يقوم بها المعلم هو تقديم النصح والمشورة للمتعلمين، وعليه أن يكون ذا صلة دائمة و مستمرة ومتجددة مع كل جديد في مجال تخصصه، وفي طرائق تدريسه وما يطرأ على مجتمعه من مستجدات، فعليه أن يظل طالباً للعلم ما استطاع، مطلعاً على كل ما يدور في مجتمعه المحلي والعالمي من مستحدثات، حتى يستطيع أن يلبي احتياجات طلبته واستفساراتهم المختلفة، ويقدم لهم المشورة فيما يصعب عليهم، ويأخذ بيدهم إلى نور العلم والمعرفة.

منقول من جريدة الشرق الأوسط

https://sites.google.com/site/modernteachingstrategies/the-roles-of-the-teacher-in-e-learning

Learn how to process your translation and revision work critically and constructively

My new upcoming online training course (short course) ....!
To be facilitated on Proz.com.

Here is the course description:

Description

Experienced translators may do their translations intuitively and quickly than a novice or student translator. However, it is not often that translators may find the appropriate jargon and words to use to justify their choices or write conscious and justified comments in their revised or translated assignments? A professional (translator or reviser) may be asked by client or colleagues at work to do so. Hence, it seems a valid point to add the critical thinking issue to translator competence. Besides, having that ability may enhance professional status and earn you respect since you become a thinker as well as negotiator and text engineer. This course will take you to that stage and guide you through to think critically when you process your translation, do post-editing or revision work.

Learning objectives

At the end of this course students/participants will be able to :

• Identify and judge critically the text typologies in English and Arabic and problems that may arise in the
translation process due to conventions of those texts and other contextual factors in both languages;
• Write in the proper genre and style of the text you translator into;
• Justify your choices in translating the text (for yourself and for others if you were asked to). Your choice remains
relative, since nothing is absolute in the real world. This means that there are always many answers to the
same problem...
• Revise consciously and constructively the translations or assignments you have been given based on insights
from both theory and practice.

The link to the course/workshop..

http://www.proz.com/translator-training/course/2929-learn_how_to_process_your_translation_and_revision_work_critically_and_constructively

Focus on developing the human capacities and competencies in a translation programme

''The Human factor''  in a Translation program

Focus on the developing human capacities and competencies in a translation program

Is enhancing translation linguistic and  skills enough for a quality based translation curriculum?

What employers want from a graduate translator?

A recent research study carried out here in Canada (Université de Montreal) by Echeverri (2008), highlighted that translation companies or government organisations employing - under the internship scheme- translation students are very satisfied with the linguistic and other text based skills, but luck critical aptitudes, reflection as well as interpersonal abilities.

So, if we want to take these results and we try to review our programs, what elements should we improve?

From our research findings we noticed that most of the time attention is given to the ' objects' (contents, curriculum, courses) but not the ' human factor' (Faculty, students). For instance, there is ample literature that begs for the need to set a faculty development and training scheme(Echeverri 2008, Kelly 2005, Kearns 2006) since the type of knowledge framework that is needed inside a translation classroom differ in a way form the one delivered or discussed in a language classroom. Also, understanding 'how students of translation learn and what their learning styles are' is very important. We need to find out about students' prior knowledge about translation as a profession, practise or ' art' as some would look at it. The study plan could help us in covering this latter point, provided that it is clear, explicit and accessible by students. Also, it needs to be explained in front of students to engage them and give them a road map for their learning path. University students are adults. Educating adults require certain tact from the part of the educator.

Last you cannot teach well a translation course if  you need further training on : Pedagogy, content (Translation specific content) and real world experience knowledge bases.These three poles need to be integrated in order to reflect a translation proper educational or training scenario in a Higher Education context.

So, the 'Human Factor' rather than focusing on the content or subject matter is, to my view,  of great importance to enhance quality in translator training programs.

I welcome your thoughts on that.

fouadelkarnichi@gmail.com

Sultan Qaboos Unievrsity's 10th forum on Translation : 6th and 7th April, 2013.

Accepted communication

 (Forum organized by the English and Translation Society at Sultan Qaboos University)

ABSTRACT

Innovating in translator training: A pilot course proposal on developing professional and entrepreneurial abilities for future translators

Globalization and technology had changed the translation market upside down. We notice the emergence of many working patterns due to this change; such as the phenomenon of tele- work or online freelancing and self-employment. This practice requires a combination of both academic and business competencies. Nevertheless, as far as I know, the entrepreneurial aspect of our practice is not something that is taught within university level translation units or departments in the Arab world. Only few translation programs in the west and Europe managed to embed such type of courses as workshops or ‘elective’ course (and not as a core course), despite the fact that it is the type of competencies that employers insist on in the market place.

Our recent review of many translation programs in the Arab world does not contain courses or modules that address these types of new practices. The focus is always on developping linguistic skills and other types of cognitive abilities. In this intervention, I will introduce an innovative way of how to embed such a course in a translation program and the pedagogical approach to adopt to facilitate such a course on training students to engage in online freelancing and empower them to gain these types of meta-cognitive competencies that will accompany them for a lifetime, such as the case of setting up their own business as a team of students (an agency or company) or as an individually owned business.

NB: Due to logistical reasons, I put on hold the preparation of this communication and prepare it (perhaps ) in another context/ other type of audience.

Fouad