ICT for Teaching Translation and Interpretation for Masters of
Applied Linguistics
Maria Stepanova
St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University (Russian Federation)
[email protected]
Abstract
Nowadays ICT are part of every translator’s and interpreter’s work, vast majority of professionals in
this field use ICT daily. Therefore the Master of Applied Linguistics curriculum should include ICT
based elements in order to provide students with the learning experience to meet the demands and
expectations of the market. This paper demonstrates the ways ICT are used to provide better
acquisition of skills for specific language tasks of translation and interpretation and familiarization of
future translators and interpreters with specific working practices.
The course in translation and interpretation for Masters of Linguistics in St. Petersburg State
Polytechnical University is practice oriented and is aimed at developing professional skills in
accordance with the demands of the current market. This course also includes a theoretical part to
make professional translators and interpreters aware of the theoretical basis of their profession. ICT
are used in both lectures and practical training classes as well as for independent students’ work.
The following ways of using ICT in the course in translation and interpretation are suggested: (1) to
support acquisition of theoretical knowledge of the basic translation studies ideas and terms; (2) to
provide alternatives to real-life situations in the professional field by means of video; (3) to show the
best practices in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting; (4) to provide examples of translators and
interpreters’ failures to analyze; (5) to provide a high quality audio and video material for interpreting
practice; (6) to provide topical texts in different languages for translating practice; (7) to provide
modern tools to support translating and interpreting, such as CAT, online dictionaries and databases,
search engines, communication tools etc.
It is concluded that ICT integration into the curriculum enables to support every stage of the translators
and interpreters learning process, to make it more efficient and to get better results.
1. Introduction
Nowadays Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are part of every translator’s and
interpreter’s job, vast majority of professionals in this field use ICT in their work [1]. Both translators
and interpreters use computers, online dictionaries and terminology databases, computer-aided
translation tools (CAT), searching engines, different communication tools and other types of ICT in
their everyday working practice [2]. Therefore I strongly believe that the Master of Applied Linguistics
curriculum should include ICT based elements in order to provide students with the learning
experience ‘consistent with the demands and expectations of the current market’ [1]. To be prepared
for the real professional world graduates should be equipped not only with the language knowledge
and skills but with ICT-related skills and they should have some experience in using modern electronic
tools for translating and interpreting. Moreover, ICT need to be integrated into the whole training
process to make it more efficient and practice oriented.
The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the ways ICT are used in teaching the Master of Applied
Linguistics course in St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University to provide better acquisition of
theoretical knowledge and practical skills for specific language tasks of translation and interpretation
and familiarization of future translators and interpreters with specific working practices.
The course in translation and interpretation for Masters of Applied Linguistics in St. Petersburg State
Polytechnical University is practically oriented and it is aimed at developing professional skills in
accordance with the demands of the current Russian and European market. This course also includes
a theoretical part as it is believed that a professional translator and interpreter should be aware of the
theoretical basis of her or his profession. The graduates are expected to have the solid theoretical
knowledge of linguistics including translation studies, to know professional terms both in his or her
native and target languages, to have translating and interpreting skills, to have strong communication
and socialization skills and be able to work in the international community. In my opinion integrating
ICT into the curriculum helps to achieve the goal of training competent translators and interpreters.
In St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University ICT are used in both lectures and practical training
classes as well as for independent students’ work. The following ways of using ICT in the course in
translation and interpretation are applied:
1. to support acquisition of theoretical knowledge of the basic translation studies ideas and
terms;
2. to provide alternatives to real-life situations in their professional field by means of video;
3. to show the best practices in consecutive and simultaneous (conference) interpreting;
4. to provide examples of translators and interpreters’ failures (‘bad practices’) to analyze;
5. to provide a high quality audio and video material for interpreting practice;
6. to provide topical texts in different languages for translating practice;
7. to provide students with modern tools to support translating and interpreting, such as CAT,
online dictionaries and databases, search engines, communication tools etc.
2. Using ICT to support acquisition of theoretical knowledge
According to Russian traditions of translators and interpreters training the theoretical knowledge of
translation principles, concepts, professional terminology is considered to be very important. It should
support the practical skills of translating and interpreting. But it must be admitted that traditional forms
and methods of teaching translation theory, such as lectures and classes where students just listen to
the teacher, answer questions, have tests and occasionally make reports or presentations, are now
out of date and ineffective. In my view theoretical classes should be as interactive as possible. And the
best solution in this case is using ICT to support acquisition of theoretical knowledge of the basic
translation studies ideas and terms and to demonstrate the best and worst practices in order to
illustrate the theoretical points under discussion.
To help students to learn translation terms in the easiest way it is advisable to use puzzles
(crosswords). All over the world puzzles and crosswords are known as most popular intellectual
games for both children and adults. They are widely used in educational practice including teaching
languages. The experience of using crosswords in teaching translation theory demonstrates that
making and solving crosswords help to learn professional terms more efficiently. Tests in the form of
crosswords can be considered as an alternative solution to the traditional tasks as they enhance
students’ activity, improve their interest and motivation.
To make puzzles and crosswords it is advisable to use web-instruments, e.g. http://cross.highcat.org/
and http://crosswordus.com/ru/puzzlemaker for making crosswords in Russian and http://www.puzzle-
maker.com and http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/ for making crosswords in English. In my
opinion, the optimal number of terms included in a crossword is from 15 to 20. When making
terminology crosswords students can understand meanings of terms better, and solving crosswords
made by their colleagues helps them to revise and deepen their knowledge. It is also useful to make
and solve crosswords which require translating terms from one language to another. Such tasks help
to develop translation skills easily as making and solving puzzles looks more like having a fun rather
than studying.
As it has been stated above, ICT in translation and interpretation classroom can be successfully used
to demonstrate the best and worst practices in order to illustrate the theoretical points under
discussion. Students definitely cannot be observers in interpreting booths and see the work of
professional interpreters with their own eyes. Therefore using video can be a good solution. Nowadays
one can find a great number of video and audio materials online and this can provide an alternative to
real-life situations. Students can see videos made at international conferences, congresses,
negotiations, sport and cultural events, interviews etc. Some interpreters provide video and audio
records of their best working practices on their personal web sites, for example http://yermolovich.ru
where one can hear both speaker and interpreter.
Watching video of interpreters’ work in the classroom enables students to see the real work
environment, difficulties that interpreters face, as well as solutions of different problems suggested by
professional interpreters. At the same time one can find many videos of interpreters’ failures and
mistakes (‘bad practices’) and such materials can be used to discuss the reasons of interpreters’
mistakes and possible ways to avoid them. Using audio and video materials in the classroom makes
the process of studying translation theory more practice oriented and prepares students to the real
work.
3. Using ICT in translators training
In translators training classes ICT are mainly used to provide topical texts in different languages for
translating practice as well as to provide students with modern tools to support translating and
interpreting, such as CAT, online dictionaries, glossaries and databases, search engines,
communication tools etc.
In fact, the issue of using online translation technologies and computer-aided translation tools is a
controversial one. Many teachers object to using these technologies in translation classes and in
independent studies. They argue that it is necessary to teach students how to translate properly, using
their mind, memory, cognitive abilities and skills as well as dictionaries. Using electronic devices,
online translators and CAT, to their mind, will prevent students from developing good translation skills.
But it is an unquestionable fact that the rapid development of online translation tools, e.g. Google
Translate, has already transformed the whole world. Nowadays practically everyone involved in using
foreign languages including translators uses these tools. Thus it seems unreasonable to ban these
technologies in classroom as students will use them anyway in their practice. I recommend referring to
these tools occasionally in order to help students to make use of them in the best way possible.
For example activities with online translation instruments (Google Translate and its tools Translation,
Translated Search, Translator Toolkit and Tools and Resources) will provide the students with the
information about the possibilities of machine translation as well as its limitations. Beare argues that
such activities can help students to ‘notice similarities and differences between the mother tongue and
the target language’ [3], which is undoubtedly beneficial for the translators-to-be.
In order to teach students to see both benefits and limitations of online translation tools I ask them to
translate a text using only dictionaries. Then they translate the same text by means of Google
Translate. After that, students compare the two translations and find strong and weak points of the
target texts made by a person and computer.
According to my experience exercises based on online translation help to encourage students to use
editing skills to improve the quality of translation. Using Google Translate for this type of exercises can
help students find grammatical and lexical errors in the target texts and correct them. Special attention
should be paid to translation of specialized terms and lexical units. The analysis of ‘bad’ translations
and correction of errors has proved to be a rewarding activity. Students compare original texts and
their ‘bad’ translations, find and correct errors. Then the causes of the revealed errors are discussed in
class. The good sources of such ‘bad’ translations are target texts produced by electronic translation
tools as well as other students’ translations. Examples of bad translations and translators’ mistakes
can be also found in the Internet. There are even specialized websites, communities and blogs
collecting the negative examples of bad translations, for example Sad Translations Community
(http://community.livejournal.com/sadtranslations).
The method of translation errors analysis and correction is considered to be an important part of
translators’ training within the Master of Applied Linguistics course. It helps students to become
‘immune’ to the most common errors and make fewer mistakes in their practical work in future. It is
definitely better to learn by someone else’s mistakes than to make one’s own mistakes.
4. Using ICT in interpreters training
Using ICT in interpreters training course can help to show students the best practices in consecutive
and simultaneous (conference) interpreting as well as to provide examples of ‘bad practices’
(interpreters’ failures). The sources of these materials have been discussed above.
Online sources also provide perfect audio and video materials for developing interpreting skills. For
interpreting exercises in class it is advisable to use records instead of reading or speaking as a
teacher should listen to the students’ speech and be able to control and correct possible mistakes or
pronunciation imperfections. I recommend using such web sources as Simple English News
(http://www.simpleenglishnews.com/) or News in Easy English (http://newsineasyenglish.com/) etc. to
develop interpreting skills in early stages of interpreters training. They provide clean high quality
sounds spoken slowly and it is and ideal material for early interpreting practice. For training advanced
interpreters I use records of usual TV and radio news, politicians’ speeches, celebrities’ interviews,
conferences presentations etc. available online. It is easy to choose different regional accents, specific
pronunciations, speed of speech, quality of sounds to make the interpreting training environment as
close to the real work environment as possible.
.
5. Conclusion
Having discussed the issue of reasonability of using ICT for teaching translation and interpretation for
Masters of Applied Linguistics, I believe it is possible to state that it undoubtedly has certain benefits.
ICT integration into the curriculum enables to support every stage of the translators and interpreters
learning process, to make it more efficient and to get better results.
However it should be bear in mind that ICT-based activities cannot be used in isolation, but included
into the whole course as its integral part. They should not replace traditional activities proved to be
efficient in translators and interpreters training over the years and decades.
References
[1] Chouc, F. (2010) ICT for Translation and Interpreting: the Relevance of New Technologies for the
Training of Expert Linguists. Proceedings of the Annual Conference “ICT for Language Learning”,
rd
3 Edition.
[2] Fulford, H. & Granell-Zafra, J. (2005) Translation and Technology: a Study of UK Freelance
Translators. The Journal of Specialised Translation Issue 4 - July 2005
[3] Beare, K. How to Use Google Translate to Teach English [Online] Available:
http://esl.about.com/od/modernteachingtechniques/a/teach_english_google_translate.htm (July 7,
2014).
