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Undergraduate translation teaching: a pedagogical perspective

On 2020, Mohammad Ahmad Thawabteh, published a new study in collaboration with the An-Najah National University Palestine in a journal of linguistics, philology and translation (Onomazein), titled: "Undergraduate translation teaching: a pedagogical perspective". The article aim:  This study has been concerned with offering tutors of undergraduate translation courses at departments of English general guidelines and advice on how to run their translation classes and benefit English majors. To that effect, five areas for proper translation teaching were emphasized to acquaint instructors of translation who are not specialised in translation and do not have any background about translation studies with the minimum basics of translation that English majors should be equipped with in undergraduate translation courses (mainly Translation I and Translation II). It would be advantageous to include the aforementioned evidence from real classroom experiences, represented in five areas, in the translation curriculum as they constitute the fulcrum of translation training. Specifically, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) some translation tutors coming from a linguistics or literature background seem to be wrong-footed; (2) the fact that student translators are slow on the uptake is clear; (3) translation curriculum seems to be ill-starred; and (4) technology is neglected. All of these may drastically affect the translations of student translators as can be seen in observing as much naturalness in translation as possible; employing literal translation; wrong use of dictionaries; lexical choice; the translation of tenses; and translation strategies, namely transliteration and explanation. To improve potential student translators’ final products, there may be a need: (1) to dose student translators with more theory of translation to hone their skills in the best way possible, a point with which Pym (2005: 3-6) agrees; (2) to adopt “rapid technological progress and make [trainees] aware that translation technology can solve an array of translation difficulties” (Thawabteh and Najjar, 2014: 49); and (3) to meticulously design syllabi of undergraduate translation courses offered to English majors at Palestinian universities.

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