Industrie de la langue et formation des traducteurs spécialisés
Authors: Calvi Silvia 
Published: September 2023

Language Industry: The Training of Specialised Translators

In an increasingly globalised and interconnected world, thanks to the development of new technologies, the language industry and, in particular, the translation sector, are becoming more and more important, implying a significant change in the training of future translators. This article aims at analysing translators’ needs and the training possibilities offered in this sector with a focus on university training. More specifically, this study is composed of three main sections. After a brief introduction to the current study (§1), the first section deals with the presentation of the socio-cultural environment (§2) in which translators and interpreters work today, with a focus on the European context. Influenced by the recommendations of the European Union about multilingualism and plurilingualism and by the increasing globalisation, the work of translators and interpreters has become essential for social, cultural as well as commercial relations. Focusing on the Italian context, some associations of reference for professionals in the translation sector are also mentioned, for instance Associazione Nazionale Italiana Traduttori e Interpreti (ANITI), Associazione Italiana Traduttori e Interpreti (AITI), Associazione di traduttori e interpreti (TradInfo), Associazione Italiana Traduttori e Interpreti Giudiziari (ASSITIG), Associazione Internazionale Interpreti di Conferenza in Italia (AIIC Italia) and Associazione Nazionale Interpreti di Conferenza Professionisti (ASSOINTERPRETI). The presence of these associations proves that this profession is very challenging, both for the translators/interpreters themselves and for their clients. The second section describes translators’/interpreters’ real needs in terms of necessary skills to be acquired (§3). In order to give an overview of these skills, the expert group EMT (European Master’s in Translation, 2017) conceived a document classifying them in six domains:

o translation service competence: the interpersonal dimension (e.g. negotiating with clients and planning the translation process) and the production dimension (e.g. translation strategies and revision skills); o linguistic competence: syntactic, grammatical and morphological knowledge of the L1 and the L2; o intercultural competence: both the sociolinguistic dimension as well as the textual dimension; o information retrieval competence: terminology searching and analysis of the sources; o thematic competence related to the field of specialisation; o technological competence.

Among them, those with the greatest influence on the work of translators are technological and terminological skills. In particular, in the field of technology, the impact of artificial intelligence on the translation process will be observed (§3.1), while for terminological skills the article focuses on how terminological accuracy constitutes a very strong comparative advantage in the domain of specialized translation (§3.2). Furthermore, the role of the Associazione italiana per la terminologia (Ass.I. Term) is described in order to show the interconnection between studies and researches in terminology and translation. The last section (§4) presents a case study describing some innovative training activities organised by OTPL – Osservatorio di terminologie e politiche linguistiche of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan – to demonstrate how university training can respond to the professional world’s needs. Some activities will be described: three projects on artificial intelligence and translation organised between April 2021 and May 2022 in collaboration with Master’s degree students of languages (L’uso della traduzione automatica nella comunicazione multilingue, La qualità della traduzione automatica: un’analisi dei testi del dominio della moda sostenibile, La traduzione automatica e la terminologia nel dominio del cambiamento climatico e dell´ambiente. Un´analisi FR – IT), the project Terminology Without Borders, in collaboration with IATE/Termcoord, Directorate-General for Translation /European Commission. Moreover, a specialised course for the training of translators and terminologists will be introduced with a focus on the project work that each participant has to present. In conclusion, this study underlines the importance to give translators and interpreters a professional training both in terms of theoretical and practical knowledge.