Bridging the Gap between the T&I Industry and Academia: Developing a Community of Practice
Translation Studies is a relatively new area of academic studies (e.g. Snell-Hornby, 2006). This might explain why numerous studies reveal that there is often a gap between academic and professional practice in Translation Studies (Arrojo, 1998; Kelly, 2015; Kenny & Ryou, 2007). The gap between academic and professional practice prevails in many areas of Translation studies; e.g. Smith (2007) underlines the gap between traditional translation training and professional market needs; Kelly (2015) notes a gap in assessment between professional translators and trainee translators; Jiménez-Crespo (2015) highlights a gap between technology practice by professionals and technology training for trainee translators.
Developing a community of practice ensures cohesion at an individual, group and larger professional context therefore bridging the infamous gap between academia and the professional market (Eckert, 2006). In this webinar, we will explore how reflection can be used throughout the curriculum on translation postgraduate courses to create a community of practice that will outlast the course. This webinar will be based on practice on the MA in Translation (on campus and distance learning) at the University of Portsmouth as reflection plays an important role in all aspects of the course thereby developing a community of practice. Students and lecturers reflect on professional aspects of the translation industry, on group translation commentary and on academic research projects.
Bios:
Dr Sarah Berthaud
Sarah Berthaud completed a Maîtrise in English in 2002 (Université Nancy 2), a Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in 2003 (ACELS, Galway) and a Maîtrise in French as a Foreign Language in 2004 (Université de Bourgogne). She went on to complete a Masters in Advanced Language Skills in 2006 and was awarded her PhD in Language Sciences in 2012 at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). She furthered her teaching qualifications by completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 2014 and a Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 2015 (NUIG). She has developed a comprehensive teaching experience, teaching in secondary and higher level institutions. She has also worked on the private market as a translator and interpreter with English and French. She is currently pursuing research in bilingualism, language acquisition, translation and interpreting, learning and teaching, cognitive linguistics, motion event construals.
Sarah Griffin-Mason
Vice Chair of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), part-time Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Portsmouth School of Languages and Area Studies, Freelance Translator, Editor and Educator. She was taken on as a ‘pracademic’ by the University in a deliberate attempt to bridge the gap between academia and practice and to boost graduate employability.
Sarah has clocked up more than 20 years of translation and editing experience after training in-house with the Interpress Service, Montevideo, Uruguay in the 1900s and working freelance in Latin America, the UK and Europe. She has a first degree in Archaeology, she is a qualified teacher and she completed an MA in Translation Studies with distinction in 2005.
She has recently been working on development of the Professional Aspects of Translation course for the MA at the University of Portsmouth. This course content is to be further developed in the coming year as both a credit-bearing MA unit and an independent professional development module for external students and professionals via the University of Portsmouth CPD Hub for Businesses.
