The place of theory and practice in translation undergraduate programs

Abstract

This paper is part of an ongoing Ph.D. research mainly interested is translation teaching in undergraduate programs for translators’ education in Brazil and, more specifically, the relation between theory and practice within these programs. However, before we start analyzing the curricula of said programs, we need to expand the reflection both on translators’ education and on the university environment, in order to set a foundation for discussing the relation between theory and practice. Thus, this text aims to add a contribution to our research by presenting some discussion points about translators’ education at the higher education classrooms, also highlighting the importance of understanding that theory and practice are in an intertwined ”“ and not dichotomic ”“ relationship. One of our main goals is to present the notion that there is no practice without theory, even though the theory might be implicit (which is also called ‘beliefs’), guiding, either consciously or unconsciously, the translation choices. Therefore, it is the translators’ education courses’ role to present the translation scientific theories in a way that translation students can question their implicit theories/beliefs. Through theoretical discussion and reflexive practice, they should be able to actually understand the richness and the need to know these theories in order to become ethical, critical and skilled professionals.