reflective journals in translation teaching

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Reflective journals in translation teachingLi Defeng aa Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong KongPublished online: 28 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Li Defeng (1998) Reflective journals in translation teaching, Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 6:2,225-234, DOI: 10.1080/0907676X.1998.9961338

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225

REFLECTIVE JOURNALS IN TRANSLATION TEACHING

Li Defeng, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

AbstractThis article contends that the reason why theorists and teachers differ from

students in their perceptions of the role of theory in learning translation is theactual separation of theory and practice in teaching. To remedy this situation,teachers should be process-oriented in translation teaching and so shouldstudents in learning to translate. Students' internalization of theories from classand eventual development of a unified theory of their own are crucial to thesuccess of translation teaching and the growth of student translators. It is furthercontended that such process-orientedness in teaching and learning is critical tothe development of Translation Studies as an independent discipline. Reflectivejournal writing, an activity which is similar to diary keeping but stresses thewriter's reflection on the experience apart from recording what happens duringa period of time, is then detailed as a strategy to help students internalize in-class theories and develop their own theory of translation.

Literature on Translation Studies abounds in arguments for the guidance roleof translation theory for translation practice and the interdependent relationshipbetween theory and practice (Newmark 1988; Larson 1991; Vinay 1991).1 Fried-berg argues that "a translator who is not guided by a theory, a translator who isnot interested in general principles, is but an artisan" (1997: 71). Many peoplehave also written on the pedagogical values of translation theory. According toViaggio, translation theory should be taught "at the university, where thetheoretical rationale of the practical do's and don't's is to be learned" (1994:97). Gentile believes that "practice which is not informed by a theoreticalframework suffers from the idiosyncrasies of practitioners, reduces the teachingof the skills to a regurgitation of recipes and the practice to a concern for thepersonal qualities and authority of the practitioner" (1991: 344). Such ideas areshared by many other scholars of translation studies as well (for example,Delisle 1981; Gemar 1983; Larose 1985).

Despite many theorists' and translation teachers' arguments for theinclusion of translation theory in translation curriculum and the fact that trans-lation theory does figure in some syllabi, "the usefulness of such theoreticalcourses is often challenged on the grounds that they are too abstract or remotefrom actual translation practice and are therefore not useful to students" (Gile1995: 12). Students have also often complained that theory is not as useful to

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226 Li Defeng: Reflective journals in translation teaching

their practice as teachers claim. They tend to avoid theory courses and courseswith a substantial portion of theory and opt for pure practical courses.

Students' learning of translation theoryWhy are translation students and teachers so different in their perceptions of

the pragmatic and pedagogical values of translation theory? As I see it, teachersgenerally fail to convey to the students the importance of the theory intranslation practice and pedagogy. Teachers do not realize that this is a potentialproblem, and consequently, their efforts are half-wasted. Many teachers do notproperly understand learning processes and assume that a list of reasons for theinclusion of translation theory in translation teaching will convince students.

Many teachers assume that there are only three steps from teachers' presen-tation of the theories to students' automatic application of them, namely thoseshown in Figure 1.

Teacher's presentation of

translation theories

Students' translation

practice

Students' automatic

application of theories

Figure 1.An oversimplified model of students' learning and application of translation theory

However, I believe that for students to see the usefulness of translation theoryand then to automatically apply them in practice, they must first internalize

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1998. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Volume 6:2 227

theory. Students' learning consists of at least the following four steps: (a) theteacher's presentation of theories, (b) the students' reception, (c) their inter-nalization, and (d) their automatic application of translation theory.

The central step is the students' intemalization of the theory. The theoryreceived from teachers is passive knowledge and only active knowledge oftheory can help students in their practice. Research in teaching and learning hasshown that students learn best when they use new knowledge in meaningfulways (Resnik 1987; Scardamelia and Bereiter 1991; Leinhart 1992). Instruc-tional tasks that involve students in complex thinking process such as problem-solving, decision making, investigation, experimental inquiry or invention pro-vide effective ways of engaging students in the meaningful use of knowledge,and thereby promote learning (Bransford, Vye, Kinzer and Risko 1990; Marzano1992; Roth 1990). Therefore, students' intemalization of the translation theoriesfrom class calls for much more than the superficial product-oriented practice. Itis the critical thinking and sense-making of the received theories that will assistthe students in making them part of their active knowledge, which they canreadily apply.

Students do not accept indiscriminately all theory from class. In fact, theywill only embrace what makes sense to them as future translators. In the wayillustrated in Figure 2, shown overleaf, students may possibly develop their ownunderstanding of translation. Conscious criticism of practice and deliberate ex-trapolation of theory from practice will promote students' understanding. Afusion between theory and practice through assignments will lead students toconceptualize and theorize about their own translation and translating. A theoryabsorbed in such an intemalization process will become their own theory, whichthey can apply in practice as professional translators.

I believe that students' critical and reflective thinking can be promoted bymeans of reflective journal writing, a strategy that I have adopted from languageteacher education. In the remainder of this article, I would like to explain what itis, how to use it in teaching translation, its advantages and what teachers shouldbe cautious about in using this strategy.

Reflective journal writingSince the early 1980s, reflective journal writing has been widely used in lan-

guage teaching and teacher education as a powerful device to promote students'

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Theories presented in class

by the teacher

Students' reception of the

theories in class

Students intemalization of

translation theories

Students accepting someof the Theories from

class

Students modifying theoriesand/or possibly developing

theory of their own

Students teasing outsome of the theories fron

class

Students' unified theory of

translation

Students' automaticapplication of the unified

theory in practice

Figure 2. Model of students' intemalization of translation theories

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1998. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Volume 6: 2 229

thinking and learning (Marzano 1992; Wang 1996). A reflective journal is a

diary recording what happens during a period of time. But it differs from an

ordinary diary in requiring the journal writer's reflective and critical views on

the experience. Thus journal keeping comprises two steps. In the first one, the

journal writer records events; in the second one, she steps back and reflects

critically about them. It is the latter step which contributes to translation

teaching and learning, and thus the student translators' growth.

I introduced reflective journals in teaching Commercial Translation at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong.2 This is a practical course in which students

must complete one translation assignment per lecture. As I was aware of

students' difficulty in connecting theory with practice, journal keeping was

introduced. At the beginning of the course, students were told to write a reflec-

tive journal for every translation exercise. The journal was handed in with the

practical assignment. I explained the reasons for and purposes of journal writing

and how it would be assessed. I gave students some guiding questions which

could be expanded on. These questions fell into four groups:

I. Comments about the session preceeding the exercise/. What did you learn in the last session?2. What questions do you still have about the topic discussed in the last

session?

II. The thinking and decision-making process of translating1. How did you plan this translation?2. What difficulties did you have in the translation? How did you solve them?3. How did you choose between several options?4. How did you revise the translation? What changes did you make and why?

III. The act of translating in light of translation theories/. What strategies/techniques did you use for this translation? Please

exemplify.2. Discuss the difficulties and gains in the light of the theory that you have

learned.

IV. Summary of the activity3. What did you learn from translating this piece?4. What questions do you still have related to this assignment?5. Did you like your translation?6. Is there anything else that you think worth recording about this translation

activity?

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The first questions are meant to have the students briefly review the theoriesfrom the lecture and possible questions about the topic discussed. The secondgroup focuses on students' attention to the process of translating the assignment.The third group probes the critical reflection and highlights the practice in thelight of theory. The fourth group of questions summarizes the activity. Asjournal writing is new to my students, they were provided with a description of areflective journal, its purpose, the guidelines and its use in translating at thebeginning of the course.

The advantages of reflective journal writingThe first advantage of reflective journal writing is that it draws students'

attention to the process of translation. When students are given a translationassignment, most simply produce a translation without using what they havelearned, submit it, and then await the teacher's judgement and assessment of thetranslation. Their concern is to produce a so-called 'equivalent translation',without knowing why they have translated the way they did. Like manyteachers, students are product-oriented. By asking them to write a reflectivejournal on the translation assignment, they are required to focus on the processof translating. They are asked not only to express in the target language but,more importantly, to consider the ways in which they translate, structure thetranslation, make the choices, as well as the gains and losses in every decisionthey make. They are encouraged to consciously meditate on what they did and tojudge the appropriateness of choices and changes in their translations and toassess their quality. Thus the development of their problem-solving anddecision-making abilities is the focus of the activity (Wilss 1996).

The second advantage is that students experience how theory learned in classcan inform their decision making in translation. As a result, they can internalizetheory, taking in what they consider meaningful and useful, develop their ownideas about translation and finally combine them into an organic whole oftranslation theory which they can apply in subsequent translation activities.

Considering the fact that Translation Studies is still young, and there arecontroversies over most fundamental issues in this field, it is all the moreimportant to give student translators the possibility of critically absorbing theoryand of developing their own theory of translation. After all, they are tomorrow'stranslators and possibly translation theorists. Their awareness of problem-solving and decision-making is essential to the future of Translation Studies.

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A by-product of journal keeping is that teachers can often identify students'problems with a particular topic or in specific translation assignments. Thisenables teachers to address them more efficiently.

Reflective journal writing also provides a channel for student-teacher com-munication. With dozens of students in a class, it is hard for individual studentsto ask questions. The reflective journals allow them to pose questions in theirjournal. By reading students' journals, the teacher can select typical questionsand address these in class. For individual problems, teachers can arrange ameeting with the student or respond in writing in the margins of the journal. Inmy experience, students appreciate these ways of communication. It also en-abled me to tailor the course to the students' needs.

In addition, reflective journals are also good reference points for students.They can read their journals at leisure and see what problems they have had inlearning translation and what progress they have made during the course.Reflective journal writing can also be of great help to a translator's life-longeducation and continual professional growth in the rapidly developing field oftranslation. They leam to keep up to date with the newest knowledge intranslation.

Last but not least, reflective journals also provide opportunities for students toimprove their proficiency and writing skills in their mother tongue and theirtarget language. The importance of language proficiency in both the source andtarget language and the disconcerting reality of students' inadequate mastery ofboth have been widely recognized in translation teaching. Through the continualwriting involved in journal keeping, students improve their mother tonguewriting skills, or their writing skills in the target language (English in the case ofmy students) when they write journals in the target language as most of mystudents do.

CaveatsTeachers must be careful about their handling of reflective journals as a tool

for teaching translation. First, there is an ethical consideration. Since thestudents' journals are to be read by the teacher, students must be told to writeonly what they feel comfortable about having the teacher know. Also, the teachershould refer to information from journals in such a way that the writer will notbe identified. The teacher must be factual, and take care not to make studentsfeel intimidated, which may otherwise lead to reluctance to include interesting

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and informative ideas, thoughts and experiences. The reflective journals should

focus on the academic work and should not include personal incidents.

It is important that the teacher actually reads the journals. The teacher's

response need not be limited to students' questions. The teacher can comment on

anything in the response to students' journals. This will turn the seemingly uni-

directional journal writing into an interactive experience. In addition, students

will be delighted to find that the teacher does read their journals and will

therefore be motivated to continue to write journals.

I would also suggest that teachers do not grade students' journals as long as

students hand in a reasonable entry. On the other hand, in order to make sure that

they do so and thus demonstrate awareness of the process of translating the

assignment, they can get a grade for the assignment as a whole.

Summary

In sum, I have argued that teachers' conceptions about how students learn

translation theory and the consequent inefficient assistance to students in

connecting theory with practice often makes students reject translation theory in

classwork and in practice. To correct this imbalance, I propose that emphasis

should be laid upon students' internalization of in-class translation theory and on

the development of their own theories of translation in which they will

eventually blend translation theories into one organic systematic theory which is

meaningful and ready-tc-apply for them. Reflective journal writing is one

strategy to this end for the promotion of independent thinking and for ensuring

that proper attention be given to the process of translation.

Notes1. This study was supported by a Direct Research Grant from the Chinese University ofHong Kong.2. 'Commercial Translation' is one of the five major specialized translation courses inthe BA Translation Program in the Department of Translation, Chinese University ofHong Kong. The other four are Mass Media Translation, Legal Translation, ScientificTranslation and Government and Public Administration Translation. These specializedcourses are open to all students in the department. Usually participants are second andthird year students who have already taken introductory translation courses in the firstyear. It is generally assumed at all universities in Hong Kong that students masterEnglish well enough to start learning translation and interpreting when they enter theuniversity, thought they are encouraged to take English courses from the EnglishDepartment and English Language Teaching Unit during their three year program at the

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University. In general, students have had English for at least 10 years by the time theyenter the translation program.

In this course, there are usually twenty students, who meet two times a week, for atwo-hour lecture and a 45-minute tutorial, over 14 weeks. Usually one topic in com-mercial translation will be dealt with in one lecture, which consists of presentation ofbackground knowledge on the topic, survey and examination of sample writings in thesource and target languages, discussion of related translation principles and techniquesand in-class translation practice in small groups when time permits. The students arerequired to complete one translation assignment following each lecture. The 45-minutetutorial is then devoted to students' and teacher's discussions about the assignment andstudents' sense-making of translation theory and practice.

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Friedberg, M. 1997. Literary translation in Russia: A cultural history. Pennsylvania:Pennsylvania State University Press.

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reflective journals in translation teaching

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