Basic Issues in Translator Training with Special Reference to Arab Universities1

Abstract

The paper will address the status quo of student translator training programs in the Arab world by looking at the practical and theoretical dimensions of translation studies as an emerging discipline. It aims to offer a set of principles and guidelines whose presence seems indispensable. First, an introductory word is said about nature of human communication, nature of translation, translation programs, translation equivalence, and context in translation. Second, an important distinction is drawn between a theory of translating and a theory of translation. While a theory of translating is essentially the output of professional experience in translation activity, any possible theory of translation is the outcome of academic training in translation studies. Thus, the former is subconscious, intuitive and naturally acquired, whereas the latter is conscious, informed and formally learned. Third, it is argued that translation activity should always be informed by a principle of relevance – the decision to render a segment (or an aspect of it) or not depends entirely on whether that segment is relevant in any given context. The skopos of any translation situation should always inform relevance-related decisions. Fourth, translation should be viewed as an act of communication, which is governed by considerations of comprehensibility and readability, rather than an act of prescription, which is informed by dogmatic and obsolete views about correctness. Fifth, translation activity is argued to involve three stages: the pre-translating, the translating and the re-translating stages. Finally, a pedagogical exercise that involves translation criticism is furnished..