Comparative analysis of methodological programs for training translators in Russia and China
Authors:   Tomsk State University, Kraider AnastasiyaV. , Gural Svetlana K. ,   Tomsk State University, Shangwei Liu ,   Tomsk State University
Published: December 2024

The article offers a comparative analysis of professional training management for translators in China and Russia. The contents and structural organization of professional educational training programs implemented by the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Tomsk State University and the Institute of Foreign Languages at North China University of Science and Technology are considered in detail. Particular attention is paid to the content of curricula, programs of disciplines, and also the intended learning outcomes. Their qualitative and quantitative differences are examined.
The study is prompted by the strengthening of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership, which contributes to the development of integration processes in the lives of the people in both countries. This process has led to growing demand for professionally trained specialist translators with the language pair “Chinese–Russian”. The high requirements for such specialists highlight the importance of the provisions in the Professional Standard that such specialists are mediators, able to use norms of national etiquette, and familiar with “cultural and communicative features, which allow for overcoming the influence of stereotypes with representatives of different cultures”. Therefore, in the education of a specialist, whose professional activity involves real implementation of intercultural communication, training in fluent foreign language and translation skills is necessary, but these are not the only aspects of training.
The search for new pedagogical approaches to improve professional education in Russia and China, whose distinguishing features are interdisciplinary, transparency of the educational process and integration of scientific knowledge, makes it necessary to rethink the theoretical and methodological foundations of translator training.
A comparative study of the methodical preparation in the context of education system in China and Russia is of particular interest because before the Cultural Revolution in China education used to be based on the Soviet model, while at present the government, following the principle of “developing the country through science and education”, prioritizes the modernization of this sphere. Furthermore, the two countries have promoted joint cooperation in terms of professional education and exchange of teaching methods and pedagogical practices. Comparison of the methodological systems existing in the two countries in accordance with their didactic traditions, in addition to theoretical value, is of great practical importance: it can contribute to the mutual enrichment of teaching methods in the Chinese language in Russia and the Russian language in China.
The aim of the article is to identify the specific features, patterns and trends in the training of professional translators in the conditions of Chinese and Russian universities. The article focuses on the fundamental research of Russian and Chinese researchers in translation studies and foreign language teaching methods, which enables an analysis of the pedagogical traditions of the past, to systematize and generalize the existing knowledge at the present stage. The article also describes legislative regulations, professional standards, scientific-theoretical and educational-methodological resources that provide the process of training professional translators in universities in Russia and China.
The study uses systemic, comparative, synergetic and culture-based approaches to clearly identify similarities and distinctions at the level of purposes, content, methods and means of education and arrangement of translator training system in both countries.