Translator Training in the European Higher Education Area Curriculum Design for the Bologna Process. A Case Study

Abstract

All across Europe, universities are currently engaged in a process of curricular reform to meet the requirements of the Bologna Declaration (1999) and, in doing so, create the European Higher Education Area by 2010. As part of this reform process, European higher education institutions aim to adopt easily comparable curricular structures, establish a common system of credit transfer; promote student mobility and develop shared quality assurance methodologies. This paper examines a number of pedagogical principles inspired by the Bologna agenda, including the growing pervasiveness of student-centred methodologies that encourage active learning and rely on new channels for trainer-trainee interaction. It is argued that this new pedagogical trend runs parallel to recent developments in translator training, such as social constructivism (Kiraly 2000) or task-based learning (Hurtado 1999, Gonzalez Davies 2004), which also revolve around the student as the centre of the learning process. The paper then focuses on a pilot adaptation experience within the Spanish higher education system: the reform of the translation degree programme at Universidad Europea de Madrid. This account begins by placing the chosen case study within the wider context of legislative reform in Spain; it then moves on to outline the steps taken to ensure that the reformed curriculum meets the institutional requirements, as well as the rationale for the proposed distribution of curricular contents within the new degree structure. The advantages of using digital portfolios as instructional tools underpinning the implementation of key principles in the Bologna reform process are also examined.