The challenge of teaching translation at university level

The present paper proposes a methodological translation-oriented approach, the SITUATED TEAM TRANSLATION Approach (SiTTA), and reports on its initial application in a formal teaching/learning context. The SiTTA was tested on sixty second-year Magistrale students of Translation for Special Purposes at the University of Naples L’Orientale (UNIOR), in the academic year 2011─12. The approach is based on the integration of traditional visions on teaching translation with more contemporary, interactive and job-oriented practices of what translation skills may require and provide. The approach maintains that satisfactory results can accrue if translation teaching develops through translation tasks rather than theorizations about translation. Students need to feel they belong to a community where translation tasks, learning time, CAT tools and other translating resources pertain or can be tailored to their needs. Thus situated, individual students can work well together as a team within a flexible Vygotskian framework. Positive feedback from SiTTA-treated students suggests that this approach is a promising modality for teaching translation at the university level.