Intercultural competence in a translator training program : exploring students' self-assessment and perceptions

Abstract EN

The concept of culture in translator training needs to be considered to educate students on translating across cultures.

This can be reflected in the content of the translator training program, either through specific courses designed for this purpose or connoted in practical translation courses.

This study aimed to explore students' self-assessment of their intercultural competence (IC) and their perceptions of it.

First, it introduced the definition and components of IC based on the literature.

Second, it investigated an academic translation program as a case study using two questionnaires, designed on Promoting Intercultural Competence in Translators project's (PICT) (2012a) identification of IC, to identify students' IC and their perceptions of its significance.

The results indicated a good level of students' IC as well as good perceptions of the significance of IC.

In addition, the results are consistent with the results of PICT (2012a).

This implies that the courses in the case study program in this study were sufficient to develop IC among students and emphasized the significance of IC to students.

Also, the study offers tools which can be used by other researchers to self-assess the IC of students in different programs.