Translation in modern-language degree courses. A focus on Transferable Generic Skills

Since the 1990s, the academic study of translation has expanded exponentially, both in terms of translator training programmes and as component of modern language curricula with a view to enhancing communicative skills. The latter phenomenon, though undoubtedly an improvement on the ostracism translation was typically subject to, is not entirely problem-free. The article will briefly touch upon a number of shortcomings identified in the specific context of Italian higher education, in particular the marked polarization between philological and vocational impulses. Special focus will be then placed on an alternative approach to the teaching of translation in modern language degrees that is assumed to overcome the mentioned dichotomy and enhance student employability and personal development. This approach envisages the teaching of communicative translation with an explicit focus on the transferable generic skills this practice provides access to. After a conceptual contextualization of these learning outcomes, the suggested model of translation pedagogy will be discussed in terms of the implications it yields as far as actual implementation is concerned. Although the problem statement refers to the specificity of the Italian context, the proposed pedagogical approach is believed to have value as well as application potential in other environments as well