Abstract
Recently, in the translation sector, new multifaceted profiles requiring a great domain of new technologies have emerged: localization, post-editing, and transcreation. To train future professionals, it is necessary to define the cross-curricular competencies they require. Cross-curricular competencies involve gaining cross-disciplinary skills in the teaching-learning process. However, cross-curricular competencies are often relegated to a second place. The main objective of this chapter is to explore how disruptive methodologies can be applied to studies in translation and interpreting to foster cross-curricular competencies. After defining innovation in higher education, this work outlines which are the most suitable disruptive methodologies that foster cross-curricular competencies in the undergraduate program in translation and interpreting.
TopIntroduction
Nowadays, the labour market is in constant change and evolution as a result of globalization and the development of new technologies. Consequently, new professional profiles are emerging which develop dynamic activities that demand attitudes and personality traits, in addition to specialised skills and knowledge. For this reason, higher education should not forget the emerging professional profiles and promote the cross-curricular competencies they demand.
In recent years, within the field of translation, new multifaceted professional profiles requiring a great domain of new technologies have emerged (Olvera-Lobo & Gutiérrez-Artacho, 2017). This would be the case of post-editors, responsible for revising automatically translated texts, or locators and transcreators, responsible for cultural adaptation and (re)creation of texts. These new profiles are characterised by working with interactive (Jiménez-Crespo, 2013) and multimodal texts, in which linguistic elements, images, colours, layout, animations, voice, music, etc. come into play (Rike, 2013). These are, for example, texts intended for web dissemination.
To train future professionals for these new profiles, it is necessary to define the cross-curricular competencies to be acquired by translators. The Tuning Educational Structures in Europe project (González & Wagenaar, 2003) classifies competencies as generic (cross-curricular) and specific (professional). The so-called cross-curricular competencies involve the acquisition of general and cross-disciplinary skills and abilities in the teaching-learning processes.
The current undergraduate degree’s program in Translation and Interpreting Studies in Spain contemplates a series of cross-curricular competencies such as being able to work in a team, being able to organise and to plan or develop creativity. These competencies can be acquired by students during their academic program and are also evaluable. However, training in cross-curricular competencies is often forgotten or relegated to a second place, posing a great challenge for both higher education institutions and teachers (Olvera-Lobo, Robinson, & Gutiérrez-Artacho, 2018), maybe due to the necessity to develop translation skills as a final product on a macro-level (Hansen-Schirra, Hofmann, & Nitzke, 2018). Therefore, it is necessary to recognize their importance and to promote them in different subjects through the implementation of innovative teaching methodologies. During the last years we have witnessed how disruptive methodologies have burst into the educational field.
In the field of business and technology, a disruptive innovation means improving a product or service in such a way that it entails something totally unexpected for the market and that often challenges the leading companies in an industry. Disruptive innovations generally offer simple and cheaper alternatives, attracting new customers (Christensen, Baumann, Ruggles & Sadtler, 2006). Disruptive innovations thus seek to create new markets and value networks, as well as to destabilize rival firms that dominate the existing market (Christensen, 2012; Christensen et al., 2006).
In the educational and academic fields, disruptive methodologies question the role of formal learning institutions. Cobo (2016) states that disruptive learning means to be able to rethink traditional pedagogies, to discuss what it means to be an expert, and to dimension what is really relevant to teach and share, with the constant creation of new knowledge as a central value. All this must be put into practice bearing in mind the following: 1) students are the very builders of their own learning through experience, and 2) information and communication technologies (ICTs) must be a key element in the training of students.
The main objective of this chapter is to explore how disruptive methodologies—such as project- or problem-based learning, collaborative learning, or competence-based learning, among others—can be applied to studies in Translation and Interpreting to foster the cross-curricular competencies demanded by new professional profiles.
The first specific objective is to identify and define the cross-curricular competencies demanded by new professional profiles regarding higher education in Translation and Interpreting.
The second specific objective is to propose and describe disruptive methodologies for acquiring cross-curricular competencies demanded by new professional profiles.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Curriculum: It includes the lessons and content which are taught in a specific education course or program.
Flipped Classroom: This is a methodology based in combining face-to-face interaction with instructional content delivered online and, normally, outside the classroom.
Gamification: In education, it is referred to add game dynamics, mechanics or components to a given academic course or educational content with a specific learning objective to foster students’ engagement.
Ubiquitous Learning: It is also known as u-learning and it refers to learning with mobile devices.
Disruptive Methodologies: The design of new teaching methodologies different from the traditional ones, greatly supported by information and communication technologies, encouraging students to acquire cross-curricular competencies.
Problem-Based Learning: Learning methodology which is mainly focused on the process of learning.
Project-Based Learning: Learning methodology which needs to culminate in a finished product.
Motivation: The reasons that make a certain behaviour arouse, be directed, and maintained over time.
Cooperative Learning: It is also known as collaborative learning and it refers to learning models in which all participants cooperate to achieve a result.