Käytäntöyhteisö laatua parantavana tekijänä in-house-käännöstiimissä

The goal of this article is to analyse the quality benefits of communities of practices (CoP) in the context of in-house translation teams. The article seeks to answer two research questions: Can CoPs develop as part of an in-house translation team and how do they affect the quality of translation on the levels of the individual translator, the in-house translation team and its mother organisation? The article presents findings from the analysis of interviews with members of an in-house translation team. The interviews are analysed from the viewpoint of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991). In the article communities of practice (CoP) are seen both as social learning environments and quality-enhancing environments for organisational knowledge management and team translation. The article posits the hypothesis that an in-house translation team that functions as a CoP creates an environment beneficial for enhanced team communication, situated life-long learning and interaction with subject matter experts. It is further hypothesised that this would result in the improved quality of translations in both the short term and the long term. The findings could be beneficial for development of in-house translation units as well as translator education in university training programmes and life-long learning.Peer reviewe

Tulevaisuuden kääntäjän habitus : T-tyypin asiantuntija

This article reports on interviews with six in-house LSP translators working in two nontranslation companies. The interview analysis employs the tools of Pierre Bourdieus’s concepts of habitus, field and capital. The interviewees’ interactions and educational needs of future translators are further explained by applying the concept of T-shaped expertise. Among the findings of this study is how these translators use interaction to build and maintain their status as translation experts. They accomplish this in relation to the subject matter experts of their companies, and their own desire to be accepted as professionals. Further analysis explains how the forms of interaction affect the quality of information the translators receive from the experts and how this in turn may affect the quality of their translations. The conclusion suggests pedagogical methods for preparing future translators for similar interaction.This article reports on interviews with six in-house LSP translators working in two nontranslation companies. The interview analysis employs the tools of Pierre Bourdieus’s concepts of habitus, field and capital. The interviewees’ interactions and educational needs of future translators are further explained by applying the concept of T-shaped expertise. Among the findings of this study is how these translators use interaction to build and maintain their status as translation experts. They accomplish this in relation to the subject matter experts of their companies, and their own desire to be accepted as professionals. Further analysis explains how the forms of interaction affect the quality of information the translators receive from the experts and how this in turn may affect the quality of their translations. The conclusion suggests pedagogical methods for preparing future translators for similar interaction.Peer reviewe

A Community of Practice as a Quality-Enhancing Feature in an In-house Translation Team:

The goal of this article is to analyse the quality benefits of communities of practices (CoP) in the context of in-house translation teams. The article seeks to answer two research questions: Can CoPs develop as part of an in-house translation team and how do they affect the quality of translation on the levels of the individual translator, the in-house translation team and its mother organisation? The article presents findings from the analysis of interviews with members of an in-house translation team. The interviews are analysed from the viewpoint of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991). In the article communities of practice (CoP) are seen both as social learning environments and quality-enhancing environments for organisational knowledge management and team translation. The article posits the hypothesis that an in-house translation team that functions as a CoP creates an environment beneficial for enhanced team communication, situated life-long learning and interaction with subject matter experts. It is further hypothesised that this would result in the improved quality of translations in both the short term and the long term. The findings could be beneficial for development of in-house translation units as well as translator education in university training programmes and life-long learning.The goal of this article is to analyse the quality benefits of communities of practices (CoP) in the context of in-house translation teams. The article seeks to answer two research questions: Can CoPs develop as part of an in-house translation team and how do they affect the quality of translation on the levels of the individual translator, the in-house translation team and its mother organisation? The article presents findings from the analysis of interviews with members of an in-house translation team. The interviews are analysed from the viewpoint of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991). In the article communities of practice (CoP) are seen both as social learning environments and quality-enhancing environments for organisational knowledge manage-ment and team translation. The article posits the hypothesis that an in-house translation team that functions as a CoP creates an environment beneficial for enhanced team communication, situated life-long learning and interaction with subject matter experts. It is further hypothesised that this would result in the improved quality of translations in both the short term and the long term. The findings could be beneficial for development of in-house translation units as well as translator education in university training programmes and life-long learning

Evaluating Students in Translating Courses - Prospects and Pitfalls

Our chapter aims to discuss and analyse various evaluation and assessment methods used in evaluating both individual translation assignments and students’ overall course performances in higher education translator training. It would appear that evaluation methods often fall into the sphere of ‘tacit knowledge’, i.e. teachers develop and apply their own evaluation tools, but these are seldom actively or publicly shared. We start by briefly discussing the impact of assessment on student learning in general, and in particular as related to translation competences. We discuss different approaches to evaluating assignments, for example grading vs not grading; forms of teacher feedback; self-evaluation and peer evaluation. In regard to assessing course performance, we discuss methods such as continuous assessment; end-of-course exams; and various combinations thereof. Throughout the paper, we include a student perspective on evaluation by citing student feedback. We conclude that while different methods can be successfully applied at various stages of translator training, all evaluation should be designed along the lines of constructive alignment.Peer reviewe

Does Fertility Respond to Financial Incentives?

There has been little empirical work evaluating the sensitivity of fertility to financial incentives at the household level. We put forward an identification strategy that relies on the fact that variation of wages induces variation in benefits and tax credits among "comparable" households. We implement this approach by estimating a discrete choice model of female participation and fertility, using individual data from the French Labor Force Survey and a fairly detailed representation of the French tax-benefit system. Our results suggest that financial incentives play a notable role in determining fertility decisions in France, both for the first and for the third child. As an example, an unconditional child benefit with a direct cost of 0.3% of GDP might raise total fertility by about 0.3 point

Computing Synthetic Controls Using Bilevel Optimization

The synthetic control method (SCM) represents a notable innovation in estimating the causal effects of policy interventions and programs in a comparative case study setting. In this paper, we demonstrate that the data-driven approach to SCM requires solving a bilevel optimization problem. We show how the original SCM problem can be solved to the global optimum through the introduction of an iterative algorithm rooted in Tykhonov regularization or Karush–Kuhn–Tucker approximations

Computing Synthetic Controls Using Bilevel Optimization

The synthetic control method (SCM) is a major innovation in the estimation of causal effects of policy interventions and programs in a comparative case study setting. In this paper, we demonstrate that the data-driven approach to SCM requires solving a bilevel optimization problem. We show how the SCM problem can be solved using iterative algorithms based on Tykhonov descent or KKT approximations