Browsing by Author "Alzamil, Aeshah"

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Students’ Perception of Competences Acquired during their Undergraduate Arabic/English Translator Education VS Competences Required in the Saudi Translation Market: A Mixed Methods Approach
(2023-07-20) Alzamil, Aeshah; Olalla Soler, Christian; Rodríguez-Inés, Patricia
Due to the constant changes that occur in the translation job market, translator education programmes are in need of ongoing development and adaptation in order to continue educating students capable of meeting the new requirements of this market. Therefore, this thesis aimed to explore the extent to which the Saudi universities (King Saud University, Prince Sultan University, Effat University and Princess Nourah University) undergraduate Arabic/English translator education programmes perceive their ability to help their students acquire the sets of knowledge and skills related to the sub-competences of translator competence recently required in the Saudi translation market. To this end, two empirical studies were designed based on a convergent parallel mixed methods approach. The first study analysed 91 translation-related job descriptions published in Saudi Arabia from the beginning of 2020 to its end to identify the sets of knowledge and skills recently required in the market. The second study analysed how Saudi Arabia professional translators and translator educators perceive the requirement of such sets in the translation market of today, as well as how final-year students of the Saudi undergraduate Arabic/English translator education programmes perceive their degree of acquisition of such sets during their education. Finally, the results of the two studies were integrated and holistically interpreted to achieve the aim of this study. The study found that the students perceived that their education had helped them to a large extent to acquire a set of skills considered very relevant in today’s Saudi translation market (i.e., the ability to translate specialised texts in specific fields), while it helped them to some extent to acquire 12 sets of knowledge and skills considered very relevant in the Saudi translation market, and nine other sets considered relatively relevant in the Saudi translation market. The 12 sets were: (1) English proficiency in various aspects, (2) Modern Standard Arabic proficiency in various aspects, (3) the ability to understand different types of non-specialised standard English texts well, (4) the ability to understand different types of non-specialised Modern Standard Arabic texts well, (5) knowledge about intercultural communication problems in relation to translation between Arabic and English, (6) knowledge about Western culture, (7) knowledge about subject areas, (8) knowledge about translators’ ethics, rights and responsibilities, (9) the ability to use search techniques to find relevant information necessary to provide quality translation, (10) the ability to assess one’s own translations and revise them, (11) the ability to professionally work with clients and other translators, and (12) self-confidence. The nine sets were: (1) the ability to analyse texts and discourse, (2) knowledge about translation theories, (3) the ability to use machine translation and post edit its outcome, (4) the ability to use computer-assisted translation tools, (5) the ability to use audiovisual translation software, (6) the ability to identify translation problems and apply appropriate translation strategies to solve such problems, (7) the ability to solve language interference problems, (8) the ability to plan the translation process before starting to translate to provide an accurate translation, and (9) sharp memory and intense concentration. The students took a neutral position toward whether their education had helped them to acquire two sets of knowledge and skills considered very relevant in the Saudi translation market (i.e., knowledge about Arab culture and the ability to use information technology tools) and three other sets considered relatively relevant in the Saudi translation market (i.e., the ability to recognise a translation’s brief and determine the purpose of translation, the ability to manage translation projects and professional activity, and leadership and negotiation skills). These findings suggest the need to explore why the included programmes were perceived as not effective enough by the students regarding the acquisition of certain necessary sets of knowledge and skills in today’s Saudi translation market, as well as the need to propose ways to develop them accordingly. This thesis will contribute to the improvement of Saudi undergraduate translator education programmes so as to satisfy today’s Saudi translation market demands, hence educate competent translators that are highly qualified for the translation market in Saudi Arabia today.
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