Some aspects of translation skills acquisition in a specialized context

Abstract

The concept of translation competence is a term covering the various skills and knowledge that a translator needs to have in order to translate functionally. It has been proposed as an umbrella term to cover the needs of translation business and is based on the technical skills, conceptual skills and interpersonal skills which a translator should have in order to choose the best way to solve transla- tion problems. In this paper a questionnaire of translation competence questions concerning student perceptions was used as an empirical data collection tool in quantitative research. The questionnaire consists of three sections each of them aiming at finding the students’ attitudes to their translation skills. The results can be used to enhance the curriculum design of the subject of English as a foreign language in which engineering students should master translation skills. A model devised for professional transla- tors is used with non-professionals students where the primary purpose of teaching translation skills is to measure and assess the acquisition of linguistic competence.