This volume offers a wide array of cutting-edge original research on the implementation of Foreign Language Pedagogy in translator and interpreter training, a still rather unexplored field of research in Translation Studies. It is divided in two distinct sections. The first section focuses on theoretical approaches to this topic. The chapters of this section will offer the reader valuable new knowledge and thoughts on how to update and enrich academic curricula as well as how to make use of cognitive linguistics and to implement a multicultural approach in the demanding domain of translator and interpreter training. The second practical section comprises a series of diverse methods and didactical means of Foreign Language Pedagogy which are creatively adapted to fit in language and translation/interpreting teaching for translation/interpreting trainees, aiming at fostering their translational sub-competences. The volume’s overarching aim is to clearly emphasise that foreign language teaching for translation and interpreting trainees has to be approached and structured differently than conventional language teaching in other academic disciplines. It is useful for scholars and translation/interpreting teachers who want to enrich translator/interpreter training with new interdisciplinary ideas and knowledge which will significantly assist them in enhancing the translation/interpreting competence of their students.

Topics included in this volume are centered around the politics of translator and interpreter education in higher education in the US as well as in Europe and the perceived image of elitism of these disciplines; other essays discuss the tension and disciplinary boundaries between foreign language training and translator and interpreter education. Topics dealing with specific quality control issues in the teaching of interpreting and translation, discussions of innovative approaches to research, e.g., isotopy and translation, and a review of teaching conference interpreting complete this volume.

Originating at an international forum held at the University of Vic (Spain), the twelve essays collected here attest to important changes in translation practice and the assumptions which underpin them. Leading theorists respond to the state of Translation Studies today, particularly the epistemological dilemma between theories that are empirically oriented and those that are inspired by developments in Cultural Studies. But the volume is also practical. Experienced instructors survey existing pedagogies at translator/interpreter training programs and explore new techniques that address the technological and global challenges of the new millennium. Among the topics considered are: how to use translation technology in the classroom, how to construct a syllabus for a course in audiovisual translating or in translation theory, and how to develop guidelines for a program for community interpreters or conference interpreters. The contributors all assume that translation, whether written or oral, does not occupy a neutral space. It is a cross-cultural exchange that produces far-reaching social effects. Their essays significantly advance the theoretical and practical understanding of translation along these lines.

As a research area, education in the fields of translation and interpreting has received growing attention in recent years, with the increasing professionalization of the language-mediation sector demanding ever more highly trained employees with broader repertoires. This trend is evidenced in the present collection, which addresses issues in pedagogy in a variety of translation and interpreting domains. A global range of contributors discuss teaching, evaluation, professionalization and competence as they apply to an array of educational and linguistic situations. Translator and Interpreter Training: Issues, Methods and Debates presents an in-depth consideration of the issues involved in this area of translation and interpreting studies, and will be of interest to all students and academics working and researching in the field.

The book constitutes a selection of 18 papers on foreign language pedagogy (11 papers) and translation studies (9 papers). The first part of the book is devoted to foreign language pedagogy. The articles in this part focus on issues such as English as lingua franca, foreign language teacher training, the role of individual learner differences in language learning and teaching especially with respect to strategies of language learning as well as psychological and socioaffective factors. The part focusing on translation studies comprises articles devoted to a variety of topics. It places a wide range of readings within the context of varying translation domains such as translation competence, literary translation, translation strategies, translation teaching (including strategies of dictionary use) and translator training. The combination of the above aspects intends to underline the truly interdisciplinary nature of translation.

The book presents a range of theoretical and practical approaches to the teaching of the twin professions of interpreting and translating, covering a variety of language pairs. All aspects of the training process are addressed - from detailed word-level processing to student concerns with their careers, and from the setting of examinations to the standardisation of marking. The articles show very clearly the strengths and needs, the potential and vision of interpreter and translator training as it exists in countries around the world. The experience of the authors, who are all actively engaged in training interpreters and translators, demonstrates the innovative, practical and reflective approaches which are proving invaluable in the formation of the next generation of professional translators and interpreters. While many of them are being trained in universities, they are being prepared for a life in the real world of business and politics through the use of authentic texts and tools and up-to-date methodology.