Students’ Needs in A Course on Translation of Journalistic Texts Unraveling Sub-Disciplinary Variations

The undergraduate students who study ba in english translation studies (ets) and teaching english as a foreign language (tefl), two sub-disciplines of the english field in iran, need to pass a course on ‘translating journalistic texts. however, no needs analysis and evaluation projects have ever been conducted. the current study thus aimed to make a sub-disciplinary comparison of the ba students’ needs. to this end, a triangulated approach was adopted involving observations, interviews, checklist (behavioral and instructional management scale), and course materials evaluation and two groups of ba students, one majoring in tefl (17 students) and one in ets (18 students), and their instructors participated in the current study. the used materials in these classes were also evaluated and analyzed. the findings indicated that the tefl and ets students had various perceptions of the course because of their different needs, wants, and expectations. the dissimilar approaches were actually emanated from the fact that they were studying in two distinctive sub-disciplines. bearing this in mind, the instructors took different attitudes towards the course as it was noticeable in the given assignments, the scoring criteria, and the followed procedures. the study would be worthwhile for the instructors to hold a broad and, at the same time clear view on the similarities and differences of students’ needs in both sub-disciplines of translation and teaching. the findings may also carry some implications for course developers to pay particular attention to the specific needs of various groups of students who are required to pass the same course and to take heed of the peculiarities of the sub-disciplines. it consequently would put a heavyweight on the practitioners’ shoulders to be increasingly sensitive to any slight difference from the beginning.

Students’ Needs in a Course on Translation of Journalistic Texts Unraveling Sub-Disciplinary Variations

The undergraduate students who study BA in English Translation Studies (ETS) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), two sub-disciplines of the English field in Iran, need to pass a course on ‘translating journalistic texts. However, no needs analysis and evaluation projects have ever been conducted. The current study thus aimed to make a sub-disciplinary comparison of the BA students’ needs. To this end, a triangulated approach was adopted involving observations, interviews, checklist (Behavioral and Instructional Management Scale), and course materials evaluation and two groups of BA students, one majoring in TEFL (17 students) and one in ETS (18 students), and their instructors participated in the current study. The used materials in these classes were also evaluated and analyzed. The findings indicated that the TEFL and ETS students had various perceptions of the course because of their different needs, wants, and expectations. The dissimilar approaches were actually emanated from the fact that they were studying in two distinctive sub-disciplines. Bearing this in mind, the instructors took different attitudes towards the course as it was noticeable in the given assignments, the scoring criteria, and the followed procedures. The study would be worthwhile for the instructors to hold a broad and, at the same time clear view on the similarities and differences of students’ needs in both sub-disciplines of translation and teaching. The findings may also carry some implications for course developers to pay particular attention to the specific needs of various groups of students who are required to pass the same course and to take heed of the peculiarities of the sub-disciplines. It consequently would put a heavyweight on the practitioners’ shoulders to be increasingly sensitive to any slight difference from the beginning.