The feedback culture in translator education: A comparative exploration of two distinct university translation programs.

摘要

Previous studies flagged concerns about a communication gap between translator instructors and students in undergraduate translation practice classes without elaborating on the feedback component. Borrowing the notion of feedback culture (London & Smither, 2002), expanding on Hyland and Hylands conceptualization of feedback (2006), and utilizing the reviewed literature on effective feedback, the researcher developed an analytical framework to investigate how feedback was situated, shaped, and negotiated in translator education. Feedback is situated by its sociocultural context, shaped by the delivery and focus of its content, and negotiated through the interaction and reflection of its participants. In this qualitative multi-case study, a group of advanced translation practice instructors (n=8) and their students (n=58) were selected from two different university translation programs: one in Saudi Arabia (SA-CASE) and one in the United States (US-CASE). The qualitative data, which involved observations, interviews, and document reviews, were collected, analyzed, and reported using the research three-dimensional framework. Findings revealed that participants within and across the two cases differed in their perception and, consequently, in their practice of feedback. Collective and broad verbal discussions were the norm in the SA-CASE, while individualized and points-based written corrections occurred consistently in the US-CASE. Emerging themes included a pattern of error detection and rater variability, technology-facilitated feedback, market-oriented feedback, conflicting attitudes toward peer feedback, vague understanding of self-feedback, scarcity of feedback on feedback, and varying forms of dialogue. To enhance the feedback loop, the researcher proposes a model that gives students a more interactive role in the feedback process.