Preparing Trainee Translators for the Job Market: Social Network Analysis of Teams at Work

Preparing Trainee Translators for the Job Market: Social Network Analysis of Teams at Work

Bryan J. Robinson, M. Dolores Olvera-Lobo
Copyright: © 2018 |Pages: 31
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-4154-7.ch006
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Abstract

Competence-based learning contrasts radically with content-focused education. Today's undergraduate programmes take a multidisciplinary approach that imbues learning with input from the professional workplace. This chapter describes possibly the first social network analysis of trainee translators participating in an intensive, randomised teamwork experience centred on project-based, cooperative learning. An online survey gathered data and perceptions of the teamwork experience and of interpersonal relations. Participants describe friendship relations, the quality of their peers' performance in professional roles, and their preferences with regard to the roles, and these are contrasted within the teams. These indicators of intra-team cohesion are compared with course-final achievement. Results indicate that the strengthening of friendship ties accompanies greater cohesion in teams and may be associated with higher achievement. This suggests that a multidisciplinary focus on teamwork competences enhances learners' professional prospects.
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Background

In this section, we will (a) contextualise the present study within the literature on the need to teach teamwork competences in Translation Studies and define the competences on which we focus; (b) outline our underlying pedagogical approach grounded in social constructivism; (c) describe the didactic tools we have employed to put this into practice; (d) outline the key elements of the Professional Approach to Translator Training that we present to our learners and indicate how we expect them to put this into practice; (e) describe the concept of friendship relations in the workplace and the potential benefits organizations see in the existence of strong friendship ties among workers; (f) describe the teamwork-related contents that we have drawn from management training and use to raise our learners’ awareness of the issues; (g) detail the weighting of assessment components; and (h) present our overall aims for the study.

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