A Community of Practice as a Quality-Enhancing Feature in an In-house Translation Team

Abstract

The goal of this article is to analyse the quality benefits of communities of practices (CoP) in the context of in-house translation teams. The article seeks to answer two research questions: Can CoPs develop as part of an in-house translation team and how do they affect the quality of translation on the levels of the individual translator, the in-house translation team and its mother organisation? The article presents findings from the analysis of interviews with members of an in-house translation team. The interviews are analysed from the viewpoint of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991). In the article communities of practice (CoP) are seen both as social learning environments and quality-enhancing environments for organisational knowledge manage-ment and team translation. The article posits the hypothesis that an in-house translation team that functions as a CoP creates an environment beneficial for enhanced team communication, situated life-long learning and interaction with subject matter experts. It is further hypothesised that this would result in the improved quality of translations in both the short term and the long term. The findings could be beneficial for development of in-house translation units as well as translator education in university training programmes and life-long learning.