On the appropriation of a theoretical approach in translation studies.
What to focus on in the theoretical aspects of teaching translation? theories, models, approaches, or perspectives...or all of them? should we balance our instruction on theoretical schools/trends to allow students to choose the theoretical hub they wish to belong to or stress one aspect of the theoretical aspects of translation and let students appropriate it accordingly?
According to Gonzalez(2005), instead of privileging a theoretical school or approach in translation studies, the translator educator needs to survey in a balanced way in his or her instruction on the various existing and emerging approaches in the field to let student choose the approach he or she wishes to adopt or appropriate. In this regards, she criticized Hatim's heavy focus on the text typology as a model to adopt in undergoing translation research .
I think this is a sound approach, which is student focused rather than faculty's ( teacher's). What do you think ?
I see this is crucial for Masters students who are going to undertake their research projects. For undergraduates, it is good to highlight and discuss with them the historical development of translation theory and all its inherent concepts, especially at the method level ( strategies, techniques). A case to consider is surveying the concepts highlighted by Catford ( 1964); Nida( 1060'); Newmark( 1988); Jackobson( 1959)....then , at the end of the semester tackle the developments ( in brief) in the new field of translation studies.
The above is an illustration of a student centered approach to information dissemination. We all have our preferences and biases, but let us leave this for our research initiatives. In the classroom, let us think about the student profile and needs.
