A paradigm shift in academic translation teaching and its reflections on the localization industry in the digital age

Abstract

This paper aims at showing the advantages of a new translator training based on Kiraly’s social constructivism approach compared to a traditional transmission approach. It is already believed that the modern translator training must be conducted according to a social constructivist approach suggesting a paradigm shift in the academic translation teaching. So far historical translation theories (mostly literary) have generally overlooked needs and technology driven localization market and could not go beyond a theoretical point. Functional theories have succeeded in the practical field of translation but they must be revised with the immsense rise of communication and information technologies,which means an increasing amount of (real time) translation tasks in the field of ICT. In the light of this, the study tries to discover the underlying reasons for the acceptence of a new paradigm in the translation teaching as well as questioning the so called new paradigm in the academic translation teaching to legitimate the localization paradigm in general and evaluating this new field of translation in terms of its theoretization and its position under the Translation Studies.