THE NATIONAL NETWORK FOR TRANSLATION Towards a Community of Practice

THE NNT The National Network for Translation is led by the University of Salford, in partnership with the Universities of:  Aston  Bath  Heriot-Watt  Portsmouth  Westminster

ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY THE NNT National shortage of first language English translators and interpreters Concentration on Western European languages in current HE translation course provision Low national profile of careers in translation Need to develop stronger cooperation between course providers and potential employers

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Wenger 2006)

Characteristics The domain The community The practice

The domain (high-level) language skills and competences

The community Interacting and sharing information

In order to achieve its aims the NNT has collaborated closely with: The Core Programme Team (LLAS & CILT) The Regional Consortia The National Network for Interpreting Aimhigher, Widening Participation and Career Services within the partner institutions Other Higher Education Institutions Employers and professional associations (e.g. ATC, ITI, CIoL, DGT) Networks of alumni

The practice Practitioners (teachers/trainers/researchers in translation) Translators and their associations Translator employers

Engaging with the future translators and interpreters Engaging with the future translators and interpreters has been an important strand of the NNT’s activities and has been part of the network’s strategy to address two key issues: the national shortage of first language English translators and interpreters;the national shortage of first language English translators and interpreters; the low national profile of careers in translation.the low national profile of careers in translation.

To engage with future translators, the NNT has: generated promotional material;generated promotional material; organised events of various types;organised events of various types; created a translation-focused website.created a translation-focused website.

Events organised by the NNT have included: information events on language learning;information events on language learning; information events on careers in translation (e.g. careers days, SWATI);information events on careers in translation (e.g. careers days, SWATI); talks by professional translators;talks by professional translators; training seminars / workshops.training seminars / workshops.

Website and resources The NNT has created a website which features: translation resources, including interactive exercises;translation resources, including interactive exercises; information about translation + required skills;information about translation + required skills; information about the translation profession;information about the translation profession; translation-related news.translation-related news.

Measuring impact on future translators The network monitors its engagement with future translators through feedback gathering: following eventsfollowing events amongst new students / trainees.amongst new students / trainees.

Engaging with the profession One task of the NNT: bring together HE providers, professional bodies and stakeholders, including employers, to develop programmes that will support economic and civic regeneration develop stronger cooperation between course providers and potential employers

Engaging with the profession Professionals (professional translators, representatives from translation and localisation companies) and from professional associations have contributed to careers days organised by universities Professionals have contributed to translation- themed workshops and other themed events Professionals contribute to programme delivery (practical translation and other modules) Companies award prizes for best graduate(s)

Cont. Presentations on NNT aims and activities at Annual General Meetings of the Association of Translation Companies Special workshops, e.g. 25 February 2009 at Aston University on topic ‘How work- ready are graduates of translation programmes?’

Work placements Building on Gateways into the Professions project - established a system for mentored work placements for postgraduate students, consistent with the National Occupational Standards in Translation (2005: Graduate Placement Handbook, accessible from NNT website) Graduate placement guidelines via NNT website

Benefits of placement Awareness of employers’ needs Industry knowledge and knowledge of business practices Development of interpersonal competencies BUT: little take-up via NNT website, companies prefer local partnerships and direct links to universities

New opportunities Recent developments at European level: EMT and OPTIMALE European Master’s in Translation (EMT) European Commission initiative (DGT) A network of university programmes offering high quality Master's level training for translators (54 programmes accepted) ensure a good match between graduates' competences and employers' requirements.

New opportunities OPTIMALE (Optimising professional translator training in a multilingual Europe) Erasmus Academic Network (70 universities + European Union of Associations of Translation Companies EUATC) Workpackages include ‘Monitoring market and societal needs and professional requirements relevant to translator training’ (WP4) and ‘Training for professional practice’ (WP5)

EMT Competence profile 1.Translation Service Provision Competence (with an Interpersonal and a Production dimension) 2.Language Competence 3.Intercultural Competence (with a Sociolinguistic and a Textual dimension) 4.Information Mining Competence 5.Thematic Competence 6.Technology Competence

Scope for enhanced cooperation Memorandum of Understanding on Traineeships between the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies (EUATC) and the European Master's in Translation (EMT) Network (signed on 24 May 2012 in Brussels)

Article 1: Scope of the MoU The EUATC and the EMT thereby express their willingness to act together with a view to facilitating the creation of traineeship schemes for students of EMT universities to be organised at translation companies established in any European country.

Article 3: Good practice for individual traineeships A traineeship agreement between parties should be defined; Professional and learning objectives of the traineeship should be defined; Knowledge, skills and competences gained during the traineeship should be documented; Traineeships should be of a reasonable duration and the trainee should not be replacing a permanent post; Adequate social insurance and remuneration of the trainee should be ensured; The rights and obligations of the trainee, the translation company providing the traineeship and, if applicable, the educational institutions, must be clear to all.

New options We can make use of information and templates in Graduate placement scheme Handbook Wider access to placements for students (beyond national borders) In addition to placements in companies: Shadowing - students spend one day in company to shadow a staff member (project manager, terminologist, …) Shadowing a freelance translator (ITI)