How does a study abroad experience contribute to the intercultural competence of student translators?

Abstract

The importance of intercultural competence as a key skill for translators has been stressed by several influential models of translation competence (e.g. PACTE 2005, EMT expert group 2009). Successful translators today are required to communicate successfully among different linguistic-cultural communities (Kiraly 2000). Translator training should therefore incorporate the development of intercultural competence. One strategy is to encourage students to take part in an Erasmus exchange programme. In some translation and interpreting programmes, this semester abroad is even mandatory. In this chapter I will report on a study using the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ-SF; van der Zee, van Oudenhoven, Ponterotto and Fietzer 2013) to gauge student translators’ level of intercultural competence before and after an Erasmus exchange programme. Within this socio-psychological approach to measuring an individual’s intercultural competence (or multicultural effectiveness as it is called in the model), five personality dimensions are identified: cultural empathy, social initiative, flexibility, open-mindedness and emotional stability. Apart from reporting on the contribution of a study abroad experience to the development of translator students’ intercultural competence, didactic implications of the findings for the teaching of translator competence will also be explored