Dealing with students’ emotions: exploring trait EI theory in translator education

Abstract

Human emotions are profoundly social and this becomes particularly salient in the translation profession, where translators often need to withstand close scrutiny of their work by fellow translators, revisers, project managers, clients, etc. The emotions arising from those relationships can be remarkably diverse, from mild to intense, from negative to positive. Similar emotions arise amongst our students when we ask them to engage with authentic, project-based learning. Simulated Translation Bureaus (STBs), for instance, mimic the stresses and strains of the real workplace and therefore generate similarly strong emotions. How can we help our students manage these? Could emotional intelligence be a new dimension to introduce into translator training programmes around the world? According to Trait Emotional Intelligence theory (Trait EI), we cannot ‘enhance’ our students’ personalities, but knowing what kind of personality they have, and the behavioural dispositions they are prone to, may help them to develop coping strategies in the face of adversity. This paper explores the usefulness of Trait EI theory in translator education by applying it to students enrolled on STBs at Newcastle and Swansea universities.