Edinburgh Napier University

  The study of translation is experiencing a revival and a transformation as recognition of its pedagogical value beyond the training of future translators grows. Training in translation not only enhances linguistic competence (Cook 2010) in both first and learned languages, but is also a rich means by which to explore cultural transactions and mediation between people (House 2012). This talk therefore considers translation in a wider frame of intercultural communication within and beyond the HE context at a time when the rationale for linguistic training per se is increasingly being questioned. Drawing on our experience of developing and delivering an innovative and interdisciplinary module titled ‘Intercultural Dialogue through Translation’ as well as recent research in Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication, we aim to open up discussion of the interdisciplinary potential of translation.
Starting with an overview of an undergraduate programme which combines languages and intercultural communication, we will move to reflections on this 4th-year module which considers translation as a situated and dialogical act of intercultural communication. We will present the pedagogical and assessment design based on translation and intercultural theories embedded in multilingual practice before considering the relevance of linguistically informed intercultural training for contributions on transcreation (Katan 2016) in business education. A call for heightened awareness of the potential of transcreative skills in wider interdisciplinary practice seems timely in a context where technology calls for a rethink of translation skills, and in which there is increasing demand for intercultural competences and semiotic skills in the workplace. We will discuss examples of how these competences are currently transacted by marketing and advertising agencies and possible implications for curriculum design feeding into desired graduate skills and attributes.