THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING TRANSLATION: STUDENT OPINION SURVEY

The topic of translation teaching and learning is particularly important for teachers involved in translator training who have to convey the competencies required by the current translation services market. In Lithuania, the topic of translation teaching and learning has not received enough attention so far. There is an evident lack of research which would present contemporary translation teaching methods based on the application of technologies, explore the student needs and possibilities of increasing translation practice and feedback. This research aimed to find out students’ opinion about (1) the use of Hypal tool (Obrusnik & Thomas, 2015) in translator training and (2) their evaluation of translation tasks performed using this tool. The study involved 11 graduate students of Applied English Linguistics programme at Vytautas Magnus University. The questionnaire method was used and qualitative and quantitative analysis of students’ responses was carried out. Students agree that the use of Hypal can enhance translation teaching and learning. The possibility for each student to see individual mistakes, their types and explanations and translation solutions is seen as especially useful. Translation tasks performed in Hypal’s environment are also evaluated positively as they allow the students to better understand cross-cultural, register and stylistic peculiarities of different genres. Students offer to increase the number of tasks, to translate a greater variety of genres and would like to individually choose the type or length of the text according to the needs. In general, it can be stated that the application of Hypal tool in translator training may help the teacher to organize independent student learning in a more efficient way, to increase the number and diversity of practical assignments and provide students with efficient feedback on their translations. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2335-2027.7.9