Beyond the Ivory Tower: Rethinking translation pedagogy(XII American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series)

This collection of essays by contemporary translation scholars and trainers addresses what is a critically important, though often neglected, field within translation studies: translation pedagogy. The contributors explore some of the current influences on translator training from both inside and outside the academy, such as: trends in foreign language pedagogy, teaching methods adapted from various applied disciplines, changes in the rapidly-expanding language industry, and new technologies developed for use both in the classroom and the workplace. These various influences challenge educators to re-conceptualize the translator's craft within an increasingly specialized and computerized profession and encourage them to address changing student needs with new pedagogical initiatives. Combining theory and practice, the contributors offer discussion of pedagogical models as well as practical advice and sample lessons, making this volume a unique contribution to the field of translation pedagogy.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Translation pedagogy. The other theory (by Baer, Brian James); 2. 1. Translation as process; 3. From instruction to collaborative construction: A passing fad or the promise of a paradigm shift in translator education? (by Kiraly, Donald C.); 4. Towards an empirically-based translation pedagogy (by Colina, Sonia); 5. Think-alouds as a pedagogical tool (by Wakabayashi, Judy); 6. Teaching translation as a form of writing: Improving translator self-concept (by Gross, Alexander); 7. 2. Translation as product; 8. Learning through portfolios in the translation classroom (by Johnson, Julie E.); 9. Assessing assessment: Translator training evaluation and the needs of industry quality assessment (by Arango-Keeth, Fanny); 10. Teaching text revision in a multilingual environment (by Hine, Jr., Jonathan T.); 11. Gender, pedagogy, and literary translation: Three workshops and a suggestion (by Maier, Carol S.); 12. After [Isaac] Babel: Teaching communicative competence for translation (by Olshanskaya, Natalia); 13. 3. Translation-related technologies; 14. Towards a collaborative approach to corpus building in the translation classroom (by Bowker, Lynne); 15. Task-based instruction and the new technology: Training translators for the modern language industry (by Koby, Geoffrey S.); 16. Building a curriculum for Japanese localization translators: Revisiting translation issues in the era of new technologies (by Kosaka, Takashi); 17. Contributors; 18. Index

Review :
Touching upon many of the phenomena that currently affect translation pedagogy, this volume provides a valuable opportunity for translation educators to reconceptualize their mission. As such, it makes a significant contribution to translator education. Especially valuable in this book is the focus on translational communicative competence and the relevance of pragmatic and socio-cultural factors to translation as process and product. The analyses and arguments presented in this book bring new insights to a very important area within translation studies: translation pedagogy. I believe that this book is a useful reference and is an asset to any library. In particular, I would recommend it for teachers of translation, translation trainers, and graduate students of translation. In short, a cornucopia for anyone engaged in translator training.