Earticle

This preliminary study is the first in a series of studies aimed at improving the self-assessment of undergraduate translation and interpreting students. Self-assessment is crucial to developing self-directed learning skills and enabling formative assessment - key components of lifelong learning competence. The study looks at the consecutive interpreting performance of two cohorts: eight students (4-5 sessions) from Autumn 2023 and six students (3-4 sessions) from Spring 2024. The accuracy of the students' self-assessments was compared with the teachers' assessments. Three key findings emerged: i) the correlation between student self-assessments and instructor ratings increased progressively from week 1 to week 4; ii) high-performing students' self-assessments were more closely aligned with instructor ratings; and iii) the greatest agreement between student and instructor ratings occurred when rating accuracy. This initial study sets the stage for future research to develop better teaching methods for self-assessment in translation and interpreting education. The findings suggest several implications for teaching, which are discussed along with plans for longer-term research.

This study examines the inherent limitations of Artificial Intelligence Translation (AIT) through the lens of universal grammar and context-oriented translation theories, with particular reference to Wittgensteinian philosophy of language. Through analysis of translation errors in Russian-Korean AIT outputs, this study argues that certain limitations stem from fundamental algorithmic constraints rather than merely technical implementation challenges. While AIT systems effectively leverage vector databases to store, manage, and optimize word relationships in context, allowing for increasingly fluid translations, their operation remains fundamentally aligned with Wittgenstein's concept of language games. However, significant translation errors persist in pragmatic dimensions, including narrator intention, idiomatic expressions, nuance, and rhetorical connotations. In essence, AIT systems struggle to capture what Benveniste terms "language outside the text" - the domain of enunciation. Despite their considerable capabilities, AIT systems remain confined to text-to-text operations, unable to fully engage with the broader space of communication between narrators and auditors where idioms and significations are dynamically generated. While AIT can translate the narrative, it seems unable to grasp narration itself; it can translate utterances but not the act of enunciation - a capability that remains uniquely human.

This study addresses a gap in Translation and Interpreting (T&I) research by examining interpreter trainers’ beliefs and identities, which play a crucial role in shaping learning outcomes. Focusing on part-time interpreter trainers who also work as professional interpreters, the study explores the trainers’ conceptualizations of interpreting quality, interpreter competencies, interpreter training, and their identities as educators. Five interpreter trainers were recruited from a graduate school of interpretation and translation in Seoul, Korea, including three junior trainers with under three years of teaching experience and two senior trainers with over ten years. In-depth, semi-structured interviews examined participants’ motivations for teaching, perspectives on quality interpreting, the relationship between teaching and practice, and self-concepts as trainers. The study showed that the participants found teaching rewarding, viewing it as complementary to professional practice. Junior trainers, however, expressed challenges in providing feedback and assessment; they see themselves as learning facilitators, focused on supporting students in developing interpreting competencies. Senior trainers view their roles as mentors, offering guidance as experienced professionals. Based on these insights, the study suggests pedagogical strategies to improve interpreter training programs.

This study investigates the translation strategies applied to the vehicles within John Bunyan's 17th-century English literary classic, The Pilgrim's Progress, renowned as much for its allegorical narrative as for its literary merit. The study contrasts the translation approaches between Korean and Chinese versions. Upon review, it was found that both translations employed a literal strategy, transferring the vehicles from the source text to the target text, owing to the cultural universalities and similar thinking patterns of the East and the West. Interestingly, the translator intentionally localized the text even in the absence of cultural gaps, aiming to align with the linguistic norms and preferences of the target readers. This localization was done to enhance comprehension and acceptability, while still preserving the source text's cultural essence within the context. The findings of this study offer insights into metaphor translation strategies and the interplay between metaphor and culture. Furthermore, they shed light on the cultural universalities shared between Eastern and Western cultures, contributing to a broader understanding of translation practices and cross cultural exchange.