The effect of students' knowledge about ideology of translation on their translation qualitative assessment of a screen script

Abstract

This paper aims to compare the Stagecoach screen script, written by Dudley Nichols and Ben Hecht, (1939) with its Persian translation by Vandad Alvandipour (2009), based on three constraints_ discoursal constraints, textual constraints and generic constraints_proposed by Ian Hatim and Basil Mason (1990) as the components of semiotic dimension of a text and as a method of ideological evaluation of translation. After the comparison, a test was designed in a multiple choice format and was given to two groups of M.A translation studies students (21 students in each group) to check their knowledge on ideology in translation studies. The survey was conducted giving one group a treatment (the application of three constraints in a text to give students a viewpoint on how to apply ideological components in a text) before the second test was given to both groups. The second test aimed at evaluating the student's ability in applying their knowledge for assessing the translation of a screen script. The result shows that although students had average level of knowledge about the subject (according to the result of the first test), they were unaware of the applicability of these constraints (according to the result of the second test). These findings encourage the increasing integration of applied courses into the translation curricula, as translation students only enjoy pure theoretical translation courses. © 2013 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.