Department of Linguistics
Vision and Aims of the Translation & Interpreting Programs at Macquarie University
Vision
In this era of globalization, the demand for translation and interpreting (T&I) services is rising significantly. Consequently, the role of translators and interpreters in a broad range of sectors is more important than ever before. Against this backdrop, the postgraduate programs in translation and interpreting in the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University have been re-developed to educate future translators and interpreters to best meet the needs and challenges of the 21st century.
Our programs are designed with a particular emphasis on the following critical issues:
i. building a relationship between theory and practice, and
ii. sustainability in education.
The programs also value and embed the following pedagogical approaches and teaching practices:
i. student-centred teaching
ii. reflective learning and teaching
iii. problem-based learning and teaching
iv. collaborative learning and teaching.
Giving consideration to these issues means that our programs strive to educate the translators and interpreters of the future so that they can make a long-term contribution to a sustainable society as highly skilled professionals. Through a scaffolded curriculum, we equip our students not only with the sufficient professional expertise, knowledge and skills needed to practice as professional translators and interpreters, but also encourage them to develop life-long learning skills, professional ethics and graduate capabilities needed for efficient communication, reflective practice, creative problem solving and critical thinking.
At Macquarie University we highly value collaborative and reflective learning and teaching practices in order to provide the best professional education to our students. We believe in exposing students to a range of teaching styles and activities, and a range of teachers from professional T&I practice, language teaching and research backgrounds. We regularly reflect on our teaching through student feedback, collaboration among teachers and by drawing on a teaching action research framework. This enables teachers and students to review the strengths and weaknesses of our programs and to implement change when required to remain at the forefront of innovation in T&I education and relevant to professional practice in the 21st century.
The New Curriculum
The new T&I curriculum implemented in 2012 has been developed based on the findings of a major action research project, funded through a Macquarie University Provost’s Competitive Teaching Grant. The multi-method action research project collected data from current and former students, teachers, and other industry stakeholders through surveys, interviews and web-based desk research.
The project was significant in that it enabled us to develop an appreciation of the broader goals of the T&I industry in Australia and internationally in the 21st century, which has directly fed into our understanding of how to effectively educate T&I practitioners for sustainability. This action research project builds on a previous research project undertaken under the auspice of a Macquarie University External Collaborative Grant, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Translators and Interpreters, the Australian Sign Language Interpreters’ Association, and the Australian Federation of Deaf Societies (Slatyer & Napier: The kaleidoscope of practice: A national survey of translators and interpreters), which gave us an understanding of the industry and practice.
The project to review the curriculum provided us with the opportunity to enhance the quality of our own programs by embedding the review in an action research cycle. The project also gave us the opportunity to develop a best practice, research-embedded model for T&I education, with learning outcomes, aims and objectives targeted at meeting the needs of the T&I industry on a global scale, which have been translated to the local level.