Academia´s thoughts and graduates’ opinions of education at university degree for translators and interpreters: is there a need for revisiting both concept and practice? (original) (raw)

Academia´s thoughts and graduates' opinions of education at university degree for translators and interpreters: is there a need for revisiting both concept and practice? Abstract The reason for the present study topic is rooted in a thorny situation. On the one hand, there are centuries-long traditions and prolific research in the area of Translator and Interpreter education, both practice and research lay grounds for the stable training of the mentioned specialists. On the other hand, the third millennium has brought to smart life societies, intensive collaborations, harsh contradictions and ideological tensions into the multilingual and multicultural world. The changing and emerging contexts of interpreter and translator's professional activities challenge the current vision of the mentioned specialists' training background and skills, put on the agenda new requirements for those who are expected to act properly to respond to newly diversified societal needs. The research goal is to explore the aspects that might be subject matter for the anticipated revision of T/Is university-based education. The research methodology integrates qualitative and quantitate analysis and rests on theoretical and empirical activities. Materials for theoretical analysis involve publications on the issues under study. The research includes cluster and factor types of analysis to identify gaps between Academia, Industry, and Research regarding the quality of translating and interpreting in socially-focused settings. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to process data. The research findings allow for drafting preliminary recommendations regarding revisiting T&Is' training in the era of globalization. Key words: philosophy of education, translator and interpreter training, third millennium environments for T/Is´training Introduction The Concept of Education for translators and interpreters (further T&I) and mirroring practices were charting their path from ancient civilizations to modern society of digital knowledge. One can easily recall translation and interpretation schools that ran across the past centuries in China, Austria, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Uruguay, France and other countries, as well. The above schools accumulated local philosophy and other countries' visions of interpreter and translator education. The second half of the 20th century gave birth to international and national professional organizations of translators and interpreters, laid grounds for a common understanding of philosophical thought on T&I education principles, methods, standards for T&I' institutional training and their professional codes of ethics. Degree programs for T&I's have become common for European, American, Asian, Australian universities. Mutual recognition of university degrees in Translation and Interpreting got new impetus due to Bologna process. The UNO, European Commission, and European Parliament also contributed to disseminating promising practices and shaping core curriculum and competencies for T&I education. The institutions have launched and foster network of universities that offer respective degree courses under the core curriculum principles, shared vision of the key competencies, a common principle of T&I qualifications (EMT, 2017; EMCI, 2017; United Nations: the competitive language examination,