The training of translators and interpreters in the 21st - century : at the crossroads of practice, research and pedagogy

The objective of the present work – undertaken as thesis by publications – is to look at the gap between practice and research in T&I Studies and at the way this gap could be bridged. In particular, the focus is the way practice and research can inform each other in the education and training of future translators and interpreters, with the aim of training future professionals both as practitioners and researchers in an educational environment that would marry both vocational and academic elements. Relations and synergies between professional T&I practice in different contexts, T&I research and T&I curriculum design in the 21st-century are investigated. An attempt is made to define the existing divide between practice and research in T&I as well as its origins, and to identify ways of crossing this divide. Suggestions are made concerning ways of undertaking research and of gaining new insights into T&I Studies from professional practice and experience, as well as designing new didactic tools for T&I education and training following different pedagogical approaches. The role of practisearchers in the field is explored and it is suggested that promoting the training of T&I students as practisearchers would help to fill the current gap between practitioners, researchers and T&I educators. The publications presented provide concrete examples of how the different facets of the field can inform each other in a cyclical manner and how to give more prominence to T&I practitioners who wish to turn their practical and professional observations into research that recognises experiential attributes. Outcomes and findings stemming from the publications are discussed in relation to the contribution of the work to the T&I research field, and recommendations on the recognition of the status of practisearchers and on the need to train T&I trainers and educators as teachers are made. Finally, practice-informed research models applied in other disciplines are presented and discussed. They represent promising approaches that should be embraced by the T&I community of practitioners who wish to see more experiential and practical knowledge turned into T&I research and training outputs.