Breaking Traditional Boundaries in Translation Pedagogy; Evaluating How Senior Lecturers Have Incorporated Digital Tools to Enhance Translation Teaching

Abstract

Digital technology has brought significant transformation in translation pedagogy, mainly in helping lecturers integrate digital tools in teaching translation courses. However, it is significant to gain insights from the experiences of the senior lecturers who are gradually accepting the integration of technology in translation pedagogy. The focus of this paper is to gain insights from Professors in translation pedagogy on their challenges in transiting from traditional teaching systems to digital technological systems, also sharing their solutions to the challenges. Through the use of both survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, data was gathered from 93 extensively experienced professors in translation. The gathered data was analyzed using thematic analysis and statistical measures. The results of the data from the interviews showed four main themes, including the theme of transition challenges, the theme of assessment and evaluation challenges, the theme of inclusion and accessibility in digital technology, and the theme of actions the professors had taken in digital technology. The professors confirmed actions such as “finding appropriate online platforms that allowed for real-time cooperation" (Professor 2), "using virtual translation technologies that enabled real-time collaboration on documents" (Professor 5), and "encouraging collaborative translation exercises in real-time Google Docs" (Professor 2)”. The data from the survey questionnaire unveiled specific ways in which digital tools have assisted the senior lecturers in teaching translation courses, including teaching materials for translation courses are now prepared more quickly due to AI technologies, and automated grading systems driven by AI have reduced assessment time and generated feedback for students' translation projects. The Professors generally accepted the impacts of technological advancements, mainly AI tools, in teaching translation and improving the general performance of the learners.