Record and evolution of the extralinguistic subcompetence in translation students

Abstract

This research, that addresses the status and evolution of the extralinguistic subcompetence (ES) in the initial and final levels in the Bachelor’s degree in Translation, is part of the empirical study “Translation Competence: Record & Evaluation”. The study was developed in the Language School-Mexicali Campus, of the Autonomous University of Baja California, and analyzes the process-oriented translation. In the search for answers to the PACTE Group’s question: How do translators translate? (PACTE, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011), we have been analyzing how the subcompetences (that integrate their holistic model) work in the training of translators.

In order to assess the ES, we adapted a scale from the study guides established by the Colegio de Bachilleres de Baja California (Cobach, by its acronym in Spanish), regulated as a Prep School system in Mexico, by the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP). The questionnaire used encompasses a sample of knowledge with which every student must count as a requirement for admission to higher education. The importance of the study lies on the fact that it can shed some light on the real learner’s knowledge base. Then, we could contrast it with the contents of the curricula, which remain sometimes in the lag. Something that worries us is that during this Millennium (The Age of Technology) the immediatism at school is surpassing the ancient self-learning; that is the main reason for doing this research.

The results yielded by the measurement of the so-called “general world knowledge” in translation students indicate that 1) it is a knowledge that is maintained in their memory since its acquisition in the baccalaureate; 2) its evolution from the third to the seventh semester covers a range of 72.91 to 80.09/100 in their marks, which can be interpreted as a step forward from “regular” to “good”; and 3) this evolution is incremented in the fourth year of the career, where the student practices specialised translation.