Version 12 September 2013

The EMT Translator Trainer Profile

Competences of the trainer in translation
1

Introduction

This document, produced under the auspices of the European Masters in Translation (EMT),
outlines the competences that translator trainer staff should possess or acquire throughout
their professional career.
The EMT Network is concerned with the training of highly qualified translators. In
2009, the EMT Expert Group published a list of competences for professional translators,
experts in multilingual and multimedia communication.1 These competences provide a
framework for the description and development of Masters level translation2 programmes.
They relate to competences that are to be acquired by trainee translators. There are two main
sets of participants in the teaching and learning process however: students or trainees, and
teachers or trainers. It is now time to consider training teachers/trainers.3
Very few publications deal with the different areas of competence required in order to
be a qualified translator teacher/trainer. We can mention, for example, work by Sonia Colina
(2003), Dorothy Kelly (2005, 2008), Daniel Gouadec (2002, 2007), and the project paper by
the Consortium for Training Translation Teachers (CTTT). Also of note are the needs analysis
carried out in 2009 by Gouadec, and the curriculum of the Postgraduate Diploma in
Translation and Interpreting Pedagogy (Macquarie University).
What is clear, however, is that training courses for teachers/trainers vary depending on
the needs and profiles of particular target groups, for example: language teachers, professional
translators, Translation Studies academics, full-time university lecturers, or subject-field
experts (lawyers, engineers, etc.). This means that careful attention must be paid to
institutional and local contexts.
In compliance with local legislation, translator trainers/teachers are expected to
possess an academic qualification (e.g. formal requirements depending on national
regulations), set at a minimum level of bachelors degree, and relevant professional practice
(e.g. work experience in translation or specialist domain of teaching, e.g. terminologist,
monolingual reviewer). Depending on national regulations, teacher training, either as a formal
qualification or additional, bespoke, or specialised teacher training relevant to the course(s)
taught is highly desirable. Knowledge of Translation Studies scholarship, such as textbooks,
research papers, and teaching materials in the field pertinent for any course taught, is equally
highly desirable. Any member of staff involved with training translators should have all
competences listed in the EMT reference document4. Where appropriate in terms of teaching
1

The document of the EMT Expert Group (2009) can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/
programmes/emt/key_documents/emt_competences_translators_en.pdf.
2
The definition of translation used here refers to the multiple facets and areas of operation in which translators
currently tend to operate and encompasses, without intending to be comprehensive, terminology, localization,
multilingual technical writing, and so on.
3
The use of the two terms teachers and trainers here does not imply a particular didactic approach; rather it
represents an attempt to overcome the traditional view which sees education and training as polar opposites,
a view perceived today as promoting an unhelpful dualism. We recognize the value of training as a subcomponent of a wider conception of education.
4
See Note 1 above.

roles and allowed by the local legislation, affiliation to professional associations would also
be desirable.
The following pages set out a general reference framework for competences applied to
a translator teacher/trainer staff. A translator teacher/trainer staff is to be encouraged and
should aim to acquire the competences proposed in each of the five areas (as well as meeting
the fundamental requirements specified above academic qualification and relevant
professional practice). Their universities or teaching contexts should support individuals in
acquiring these competences. This proposal, however, does not prescribe how, when or where
this should be done, because training is a continuous process (you are not at once and forever
a teacher, a translator, a Translation Studies (TS) scholar and a course designer).
2

Competences

The competences listed below are not presented in order of importance. They have each
been classified into one domain for the sake of clarity, although some competences may
be argued to belong to more than one domain. In addition, the question of their
certification remains open. One of the major objectives of the EMT Network is to promote
and ultimately to implement this set of competences.

1.

Figure 1. Competences of translator teachers/trainers.

Field Competence

Ability to perform any task assigned to the students according to the quality standards
required in professional practice, in particular, language proficiency and intercultural
competences.
Knowledge of the professional field including:
o Translation-related professions;
o Constraints of translation projects (e.g. time/budget/qualities);
o Domains of specialization in translation-related professions;
o Market requirements;

o Operating procedures and tools used in professional translation;

o TS scholarship and research relevant for the course;
o Foreseeable development of the professions.
Translation-service provision competence (see Appendix):
o Knowledge of the existing standards and specifications;
o Ability to critically analyze these standards and specifications;
o Ability to perform the tasks and sub-tasks involved in the translation-service
provision (including planning, preparing the material for translation, quality
assurance, document management, terminology management, etc.).

Interpersonal Competence

Ability to integrate into a teaching team and work as part of a team.

Ability to identify, adopt, apply and critically assess a code of professional ethics for
translators and for trainers.
Ability to teach students how to apply and critically assess codes of professional ethics for
translators.
Ability to establish suitable learning environments for students.
Ability to manage time and resources.
Ability to teach students time and resource management.
Ability to manage stress.
Ability to teach students how to manage stress.
Ability to take decisions and justify them.
Ability to train students in decision-making and how to prioritize.
Ability to take into account all the relevant constraints depending on the situation, and
explain them clearly (specifications, deadlines, budgets etc.).
Ability to introduce students to the relevant constraints depending on the situation
(specifications, deadlines, budgets, etc.).

Organizational Competence

Ability to understand students needs and expectations in relation to the overall

programme.
Ability to design a translator-training curriculum or an understanding of the rationale for
an existing translator-training curriculum.
Ability to articulate the learning progression assumed by the programme (e.g. as
manifested in the order in which modules are taught).
Ability to design a course syllabus or an understanding of the structure of an existing
course syllabus especially in relation to the EMT competences benchmark.
Ability to update the programme or a course in anticipation of and in response to changes
to the profession.

Instructional Competence

Ability to specify the tasks to be performed in relation to each course or module

component:
o Ability to explain the learning objectives of the subjects taught;
o Ability to break down the educational components into tasks and sub-tasks (e.g.:
terminography, document mining, quality control) drawing on the relevant
theoretical knowledge;

o Ability to encourage students to become aware of the challenges and issues

involved in the task and sub-task in the relevant field(s), e.g. drawing on the
relevant theoretical knowledge.
Ability to draw up a lesson plan by integrating TS scholarship and research relevant into
teaching:
o Ability to create a list of all the tasks relevant for a given lesson and organize them
in terms of priorities, sequences, time available and overall syllabus;
o Ability to create the course or module materials;
o Ability to create content and choose the appropriate teaching method (e.g. virtual
learning environments, seminars, tutorials, etc.).
Knowledge of the findings of translation didactics and the ability to integrate them into
training (e.g. ability to use appropriate methods for teaching and learning).
Ability to incorporate the process and outcomes of relevant TS research and scholarship.
Ability to use existing professional and specialist tools and integrate them into training.
Ability to motivate students.
Ability to encourage students to develop: precision, a focus on quality, curiosity, learning
strategies, and their ability to analyse and to summarize.
Ability to encourage students to develop a critical approach during the execution of tasks
Ability to stimulate reflective thinking (i.e. self-reflexivity).

Assessment Competence

Ability to define assessment methods and criteria to evaluate each task relevant to the
course.
Ability to assess students entry level.
Ability to assess students level of attainment (competences they have acquired and
competences they lack in relation to the EMT benchmark).
Ability to evaluate a curriculum, syllabus and lesson as a self-reflective practitioner, reassessing practices, knowledge, and competences at regular intervals.
Ability to adapt to the results of the evaluation of a curriculum, syllabus and a lesson.

References
Colina, Sonia (2003) Translation Teaching: From Research to The Classroom, New
York/San Francisco: McGraw Hill.
Consortium for Training Translation Teachers (CTTT) Project Papers, Available from:
http://isg.urv.es/cttt/cttt/research.html.
EMT Expert Group (2009) Competences for professional translators, experts in multilingual
and multimedia communication, Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/
translation/programmes/emt/key_documents/emt_competences_translators_en.pdf.
Gouadec, Daniel (1994) qualitrad.net - Projet PERFEQT.
Gouadec, Daniel (2002) Profession: traducteur, Paris: La Maison du Dictionnaire.
Gouadec, Daniel (2007) Translation as a profession, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John
Benjamins Publishing Company.
Kelly, Dorothy (2005) A Handbook for Translator Trainers: A Guide to Reflective Practice,
Manchester: St. Jerome.
Kelly, Dorothy (2008) Training the Trainers: Towards a Description of Translator Trainer
Competence and Training Needs Analysis, TTR: traduction, terminologie, redaction,
21(1): 99-125. Available from http://www.erudit.org/revue/ttr/2008/v21/n1/
029688ar.pdf.
4

Macquarie University Postgraduate Diploma in Translation and Interpreting Pedagogy,

http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/postgraduate/coursework/tip/pdtip.htm.

Appendix (see Gouadec 1994)

Translation-provision service tasks and sub-tasks:
Finding and getting business
Negotiating
Specifying the translation project
File management
Managing quality
Planning (time, finance, resources)
Choosing tools and aids
Assigning tasks
Optimizing use of resources
Quality assurance of the process
Preparing the material for translation and setting it up
Translation
Analysis
Information mining
Document management
Terminography
Transfer
Indexing
Quality control systems
Proofreading
Revision
Tests, on-line Q&A
Assessment and response to feedback