The Computer as a Tool in the Teaching of Translation

Abstract

A W R A C T Teoching studen& the skills necesaty to tmnslate from one language to anothec a tediousptvcess for both students and instructor when restricted to conventional teaching techniques, can become a dynamic learningsituation with the help of thecomputec In the system described here, the students use a woml processor to mcord their tmnslations of a passage, and the instructor, using a simple computer progmm, manipulates these tmnslations in omler to produce a tmnslation sampler which becomes the h i s of class discussion. Each student then edits his or her own tmnslation on the bask of discussion and submits for gmding a final dMt which rpfrects the insights gained mther than the initial mistakes lbslation -that is, translating texts from another language into English -has become a popular course in many foreign language departments. Yet teaching such a course using traditional methods usually praves tedious, both to the instructor and to the students. The instructor faces a grueling job cofiecting papers which may reflect problems in comprehension of the original text or problems in expressing information in grammatical and stylistically appropriate English; students become discouraged with all that red ink. And it is very difficult to find a use for class time: after all, every student has particular problems, even if all have translated the same text. If the instructor decides to discuss the translations during class time, few wish to volunteer their version, since to read one's translation aloud is perceived as exposing oneself to possible ignominy. Only a few of the more trivial kinds of errors or problems can be addressed in such a situation, in any case. 435For colleges and universities where a main-frame computer with a text editor is available for coursework, a solution is at hand; even without such access to a main-frame, there are several options which should be available to all! The instructor need not be a computer whiz, nor a program designer, especially if there is someone available to help adapt the readymade program described here The students type their translations into a computer file; the instructor runs a program which accesses all the student files and prints out a sampling of their solutions to each sentence; and each student is given a copy of this translation sampler at the beginning of the class period. Since the sample translations are anonymous, no one need feel embarrassment at criticism. The grouping of five translations of the same sentence allows comparison and contrast which promote a very lively a d productive discussion. Questions of correctness and English style are quickly disposed of, and the discussion pmceeds to the much more important and fundamental issues of equivalency: stylistic level, idiomatic and metaphorical structure, cultural divergencies, and the like. Although perhaps most ideally suited to translation courses, the methodology and p r o m described here, with minor modifications, could also be useful for other types of courses in which the students are ...