‫‪DTRA 440‬‬

‫السعودية االلكترونية‬ ‫الجامعة‬

‫الجامعة السعودية االلكترونية‬
‫‪Translation in the Workplace‬‬

‫‪26/12/2021‬‬
Module 10- Week 11

The Expert Translator

Content

• The Description of the Expert Translator.

• The Indicators of the Expert Translator’s Knowledge and Skills.

 Learning Objectives
• Upon successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

- Recognize the description of the expert translator.

- Identify the indicators of the expert translator’s knowledge and skills.

 The Description of the Expert Translator

• Around the ninth or tenth year, with daily deliberate practice, the
translator reaches the expert level. The expert is driven predominantly
by intuition and intuition is considered the main mode of operation.

• For example, things that might be problems for others are merely
routine activities for experts.
 A list of the Indicators

• A further detailed description of the expert translator knowledge and

skills is presented in the following list of indicators:

• 1- The expert translator has an excellent ability to identify historical,

geographical, social terms, and linguistic features that convey socio-
cultural impact.
• 2- The expert translator has an excellent choice of using domestication or
foreignization. Choice is related to questions of ethics, target-cultural norms,
expectations and needs of target culture readers.

• 3- The expert translator has an excellent replacement of culture-specific items

with target language items that do not have the same propositional meaning but
have a similar impact on the target reader.

• 4- The expert translator has an excellent addition of information in the form of

footnotes or glossaries to preserve original culture-specific item which might lead
to obscurity.

• 5- The expert translator has an excellent range of subject matter terminology.

• 6- The expert translator has an excellent and very broad range of vocabulary to
translate highly specialized, abstract, and complicated texts; impressive, rich in
imagery; adheres to target language norms.

• 7- There is an extreme command of grammatically complex language. Also, an

excessive range of morphological and syntactic structures in the target language
is noticeable.

• 8- There is an extreme command of mechanical conventions; expressions of finer

shades of meaning, such as feelings, emotions, and attitudes conveyed through
punctuation.
• 9- The expert translator supervises all translators’ work. In addition, there is
a complete range of cohesive devices resulting in fluent expression, ideas
clearly stated and well organized, and logical sequencing.

• 10- The expert translator knows excellently how to identify information and
documentation sources, dictionaries of all kinds, encyclopedias, parallel
texts, search engines, and data bases.

• 11- The expert translator has an exceptional knowledge of how to

effectively and rapidly use and integrate all kind of software to assist in
correction, translation, terminology, layout, and documentary research.
• 12- The expert translator has an exceptional ability to create and manage a
database and files. He/she accurately evaluates of the reliability of
documentary sources and provides advice in this domain.

• 13- The expert translator has an exceptional ability to prepare and produce
translations in different formats and for different technical media. Also,
there is a content editing that include (additions/omissions to make text
more appropriate for its target audience or more appropriate for its
medium of publication).

• 14- The expert translator excellently adapts to and learns new tools,
particularly for the translation of multimedia and audiovisual material.
• 15- Reading: there is a comprehension of extremely complicated or
abstract prose. In addition, the expert translator has a broad ability to
understand the nuances and subtleties of texts by activating all extra-
linguistic knowledge of context.

• 16- Writing: mastery of text-type conventions resulting in a

communicative text in the target culture containing the intentions of the
source text. There is a complete range of translation strategies to meet
translation brief requirements.

• 17- The expert translator has an excellent understanding of the

possibilities and limits of machine translation and computer aided
translation.
• 18- The expert translator has an exceptional ability to detect all
ambiguities and reference problems and confusion in source text. He/she
has an excellent understanding and fulfilment of the translation project
specifications.

• 19- The expert translator excellently applies organization-specific

translation style and principles by knowing them by heart. He/she has an
excellent knowledge about the organization’s business, types of clients and
their needs, and types of translation briefs.

• 20- The expert translator has an excellent understanding and fulfilment of

the translation project specifications. He/she acts as reviewer for external
projects.
21- The expert translator manages and negotiates within organization’s
relationships. He/she recruits, trains, and builds sustainable teams;
develops staff and facilitates creating relationships.

22- The expert translator collaborates with key figures and/or teams
locally and internationally. He/she builds collaborative relationships with
a range of external organizations and bodies; negotiates at national and
international level.

23- The expert translator continuously seeks ways to improve own

performance and that of less experienced translators and/or team,
department, or institution.
• 24- The expert translator has established time management skills,
advises others and acts as role model. He/she manages multiple or
complex projects to time; he/she balances constraints.

• 25- The expert translator plans, balances and responds effectively

and appropriately to change and the unexpected. He/she promotes
change and contributes to institutional change initiatives; he/she is
willing to take reputational risk.
• 26- The expert translator influences environment; he/she has long-
term strategic vision. In addition, he/she actively maintains attention
to work-life balance issues. He/she promotes an effective work-life
balance for self and team.

• 27- The expert translator has an extreme knowledge and thorough

understanding of the acts and standards related to professional
translation. There is shapes policy and procedures of professional
translation legal policy inside and outside the organization.
References
● Alowedi, N. (2015). Developing A Translator Career Path: A New
Approach to In-House Translator Development Evaluation (Doctoral
dissertation, Kent State University).
Thank You