Teaching the Analysis of Translation Errors through Collaborative Work: The Case of 1st Year Master Students at the University of Mascara – Algeria

Abstract

Given the gap noted in the Algerian official syllabus of the translation unit, and though both teachers and students are aware of the importance of translation errors, no lecture is dedicated to this concept. Hence, the present investigation attempts to testify the efficiency of collaborative work in teaching translation errors to M.A. students and thereby apply the theoretical background in real situations. It aims to train students to detect and correct errors, improve the final product, and minimise the different types of errors. The paper adopts a qualitative quantitative-mixed method to scrutinise the phenomenon under investigation. Whereas the theoretical part draws on Delisle's (1999) model of translation errors, the practical part relies on data collected via questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis. The paper's data were obtained from M.A. students' documents at Mascara University (Algeria) to examine the efficiency of collaborative work as a method of teaching translation errors. The study finds out that the error rate was reduced by 24% after adopting collaborative work, including the three types of texts (general, medical, and literary). The study also concludes that collaborative work enhances three central competencies competitiveness, autonomy, and motivation; hence, they acquire certain translation maturity and critical thinking.