Developing the professional competence of translation in students

Every professional competence related to the translation profession is very important. Developing one and not paying enough attention to the other can lead to unprofessionalism and, consequently, poorly performed work. There is a large number of works by scientists devoted to translation competencies. These works allow us to conclude that each competence expresses certain abilities and skills of a professional translator, which must be mastered by a translator student during the learning process.

The ability to translate legal documents is a special activity that, in addition to language skills, requires both knowledge of translation theory and practical skills. Acquired skills to transfer only the result of long training, based on the methodological system taking into account the synthetic nature of all types of verbal activities: reading to extract information, making translation decisions, the playback of the translated text or its parts, the ability to perceive simultaneously and at the same time to produce the translation, the ability to allocate attention.1

In this article, we are interested in developing the editing ability of translation students related to operational competence, and in turn getting answers to questions such as:

Vх during what period of the educational process students-translators develop the ability to edit;

• V    what exercises can strengthen the editing ability of translation students.

The first course of study is completely devoted to the study of a foreign language, that is, during this course there are no subjects that are not related to a foreign language. Students have several translation competencies, which they themselves do not even suspect, but during the first year, those may not appear, since they are not used due to the lack of need for them, since translation activities are not carried out or translation is carried out at a basic level that does not require special professional qualities. In the second year, training in translation begins and the need for professional translation competencies arises. A more complete formation of the ability to edit falls on the third and fourth courses, where two nuances must be taken into account:

• V    Psychological factor.

• V    Professional ability.

The essence of the psychological factor lies in the fact that in the second year there is a closer acquaintance of students, since in the first year they look closely to each other, seeking to find like-minded people, partners. The second course can be considered intermediate both in terms of establishing interpersonal relations between students and in terms of their professional development. If in the first year the teacher, when working on a simple text, asks the student to find his mistake, he finds it difficult to do this, because he feels insecure in his knowledge and is ashamed of his comrades. If the teacher asks him to edit the translated material of another student, then in this case the student is not able to do it for the same reasons. In the second year, students feel a little confident in correcting and editing, but the most fruitful and effective work falls on the third and fourth years, when, already having a sufficient theoretical and practical base, translation students feel half-professional, especially those students who there was an opportunity for professional activity. But it is unnecessary to forget that the teacher must develop the students' ability not only to edit, but also to edit reasonably. That is, the student must prove the reason for the replacement of this or that word. The general tendency among students is that they willingly criticize other people's translations, not finding any mistakes or shortcomings in their translation, and even when errors are found, they defend their version of the translation. More ardent translation students are even ready to enter into a discussion with the teacher. In this situation, the role of the teacher is significant, since he should not embarrass the student, put pressure on him with his authority and impose his version on him just because he is a teacher. On the contrary, he must listen to his opponent, follow the course of his thoughts, as this is necessary for tracing the process of mastering the material by the student. It can be theoretical material applied in practice. After listening to the student’s opinion, the teacher expresses his opinion, gives arguments and, if the student's train of thought is wrong, redirects it.

The positive side of the discussion between the teacher and the student can motivate additional independent work and research of the student-translator.2

It is assumed that by the end of the second year student-translators, having an initial theoretical and practical base, are ready to start professional translation in the third and fourth years, developing the necessary professional abilities with the help of various translation exercises performed in accordance with the methodology, which, according to the teacher is more effective at this stage.

One type of exercise for developing editing ability is providing translation students with text for translation. The first condition for this translation is that it must be anonymous so that students cannot recognize the handwriting of their comrades. The ideal option is text typed on a computer. Of course, a student who has recognized his friend's handwriting will find it difficult to correct his mistakes, especially if he knows that the translation will be appreciated by the teacher. The second condition implies that this method is carried out in one lesson. To this end, the teacher should select a medium-sized text based on the translation speed of his students. Then the teacher collects their translations from the students, mixes them up, and each student chooses one sheet with the translation. Then they have to edit the translation of their choice. Upon completion of this process, each student finds his translation and gives his opinion on the corrections in his translation, and the student who edited this translation must explain the reason for the corrections.

The second type of exercises is that students are provided with a text for translation. At the end of the work, the teacher shows a ready translation of the same text and invites students to jointly analyze their translation and the original translation. By discussing the discrepancies between student translations and the original translation, students can understand their mistakes, and most importantly, the reason for the mistakes they made.

It should be noted that these exercises contribute to the development of not only one competence, but several at once. If necessary, the teacher can make additional changes that can lead to the desired results.