Article published In: The Development of Professional Competence
Edited by Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow, Birgitta Englund Dimitrova and Séverine Hubscher-Davidson
[Translation and Interpreting Studies 9:1] 2014
► pp. 150–164
Fostering self-reflection in translation students
The value of guided commentaries
Published online: 7 July 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.9.1.08nor
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.9.1.08nor
The objective of this paper is to examine students’ understanding of the processes involved in translation if they are asked to write self-reflections on the strategies and procedures that they have employed and to submit these with their translations. The material analyzed in this study comprises retrospective, guided commentaries submitted during two terms by a group of undergraduate students studying translation. The results indicate that commentaries can foster heightened self-awareness of several aspects of the process, such as initial reading and revision. It is argued that the design of instructions for commentaries, including their variation and built-in progression, is of great importance for process-oriented translation teaching and deserves further experimental study.
References (16)
Angelone, Erik. 2013. “The Impact of Process Protocol Self-analysis on Errors in the Translation Product.” Translation and Interpreting Studies 8 (2): 253–271.
Biggs, John Burville. 1999. Teaching for Quality Learning at University. What the Student Does. Philadelphia: Society for Research into Higher Education.
Fernández, Francesc, and Patrick Zabalbeascoa. 2012. “Correlating Trainees’ Translating Performance with the Quality of their Metacognitive Self-evaluation.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 20 (4): 463–478.
Fox, Olivia. 2000. “The Use of Translation Diaries in a Process-Oriented Translation Teaching Methodology.” In Developing Translation Competence, ed. by Christina Schäffner, and Beverly Adab, 115–130. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Garcia Álvarez, Ana Maria. 2008. “Der translatorische Kommentar als Evaluationsmodell der studentischen Übersetzungsprozesse.” Lebende Sprachen 11: 26–32.
Gile, Daniel. 2004. “Integrated Problem and Decision Reporting as a Translator Training Tool.” Journal of Specialised Translation 21: 2–20.
Hansen, Gyde. 2006. “Retrospection Methods in Translator Training and Translation Research.” Journal of Specialised Translation 51: 2–41.
Holz-Mänttäri, Justa. 1984. Translatorisches Handeln. Theorie und Methode. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.
Jakobsen, Arnt Lykke, and Lasse Schou. 1999. “Translog Documentation, version 1.0.” In Probing the Process in Translation: Methods and Results, ed. by Gyde Hansen, 1–36. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Kiraly, Don. 2000. A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education. Empowerment from Theory to Practice. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Kujamäki, Pekka. 2010. “Auf der Suche nach treffenden Worten. Bildschirmvideos als Mittel zur Analyse von studentischen Übersetzungsleistungen.” In Infinite Kontrastive Hypothesen. Beiträge des Festsymposiums zum 60. Geburtstag von Irma Hyvärinen, ed. by Leena Kolehmainen, Hartmut E.H. Lenk, and Annikki Liimatainen, 141–164. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Kußmaul, Paul. 1995. Training the Translator. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Massey, Gary, and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow. 2011. “Commenting on Translation: Implications for Translator Training.” Journal of Specialised Translation 161: 26–41.
Neubert, Albrecht. 1984. “Textbound Translation Teaching.” In Die Theorie des Übersetzens und ihr Aufschlußwert für die Übersetzungs- und Dolmetschdidaktik, ed. by Wolfgang Wilss, and Gisela Thome, 61–70. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
Ottosson, Meta. 1997. “Att översätta – en konst och ett hantverk.” In Något att orda om, ed. by Lars Erik Blomqvist, and Mats Löfgren, 15–29. Stockholm: Norstedts.
Pym, Anthony. 2009. “Using Process Studies in Translator Training: Self-discovery through Lousy Experiments.” In Methodology, Technology and Innovation in Translation Process Research. A Tribute to Arnt Lykke Jakobsen, ed. by Inger Mees, Fabio Alves, and Susanne Göpferich, 135–156. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Cited by (9)
Cited by nine other publications
Chen, Guangjiao & Xiangling Wang
Burn, Jo Anna
Gebbia, Chiara Astrid
Alfuraih, Reem F.
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M.
Li, Xiangdong
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
