1 - March - 2023

This article aims to affirm the necessity of training future translators in the use of computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools in Syrian universities. It opens with an overview of the development of computer-assisted translation technologies and their wide-ranging application in the modern translation industry, on the basis of which the need to integrate CAT tools into translator training programs becomes convincingly clear. This is followed by a discussion of certain details related to designing the pedagogical foundations within the translation department and building a teaching system that incorporates CAT software. Although this may appear overly optimistic and difficult to implement given the current circumstances, updating the educational system in Syrian universities aims at a better future through the provision of improved education. Thus, this article offers an experimental example of how to ensure that future translators are sufficiently qualified to meet market demands.

11 - October - 2017

This study investigated English sentence stress produced by Syrian undergraduates. Acoustic parameters reflecting stress production, such as fundamental frequency (F0), vowel duration and intensity, were measured from the test sentences produced by thirty participants. Participants in this study are 30 (15 male and 15 female) second-year students majoring in English at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Aleppo University. Results of acoustic measurement of participants' production were compared with those obtained from two native English speakers. Results of t-test showed that participants do use the three acoustic correlates to signal sentence stress. However, they tended to produce stress with lower F0 and shorter duration, but with almost the same intensity values as the native speakers.

27 - August - 2015

Arab learners of English as a foreign language face various difficulties that hinder their acquisition of English. They are unable to perceive differences that are not made in their native language and consequently are unable to produce them. Among these difficulties is the prosodic and rhythmic complexity of the English language, particularly stress. The present study aimed to test the participants' awareness of sentence stress and their ability to utilize it to recognise stress placement in the sentence, the meaning of the sentence depending on the placement of stress, and the contrastive meaning of the sentence according to the stressed word. Participants in this study are 30 (15 male and 15 female) second-year students majoring in English at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Aleppo University. Results showed that participants are able to recognize sentence stress along with all its semantic and discoursal implications.

27 - August - 2015

1 - March - 2004

This paper aims at reviewing some of the main approaches to translation training, discussing their pros and cons and highlighting their possible applications in the various stages of training. It needs to be said that, because of the traditional focus of scholars primarily on linguistics and translation studies, most of the approaches to translation teaching/training have been strongly influenced by more and better-developed models stemming from both study areas. This influence does not discredit the validity of traditional and existing educational systems but rather becomes a reflection of the changing trends of a world increasingly aware of the importance of designing pedagogical models for the training of future translators. Thus, this review covers the error-oriented approach, which is by far the most common approach in the translation class and closely linked to foreign language teaching (FLT). This also includes the inductive, deductive, and functional approaches; the corpus-based approach; the learner-oriented approach; and the project-based approach. Although such approaches present well-defined attitudes as to how translation should be taught, which makes teachers and theoreticians opt for one or another, they all have their pros and cons when it comes to planning a comprehensive theoretical backdrop to classroom activities for translation students and establishing a systematic translation teaching methodology. What is undeniable, however, is that all of them are valid approaches to translation training in their own way and at different learning stages. That is, students have different needs during the translation courses; thus, the teaching approach should adapt to these needs. On a practical level, the assignments submitted during the course are expected to show some kind of progress. What does this tell the teacher? Basically, it tells that he or she needs to catch up with his students’ progress and apply different methodologies at every stage of the students’ progress. The key phrase, thus, is methodological flexibility.