An Overview of Undergraduate Translator-Training Curricula in Turkey: What We Teach to Future Translators

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of curricula in translator-training programs at the undergraduate level in Turkey. Translation competence models are used as a framework in this study to categorize curricular components in training programs. Each course in a program is placed under a category of competence in view of the dominant learning outcome it sets out to achieve. What is actually taught in the classroom may not always be concordant with the written curriculum. The written curriculum, however, provides a point of departure to describe what has been taught in translator-training programs. The findings suggest that undergraduate translator-training programs today include components that assumedly respond to each and every area of competence, with greater emphasis on foreign-language and translation skills. Yet, inclusion does not always mean integration of competences into the curriculum. There is a need to conduct surveys and interviews with trainers, learners and graduates to investigate the integration of competences.