CHALLENGES IN THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TRANSLATORS AND INTERPRETERS IN CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS

Abstract

The article explores professional training for translators and interpreters in higher education institutions under contemporary conditions. It emphasises that, in the era of computerisation, university teachers of translation and interpretation should adopt a communicative-functional approach in their lessons to support the professional growth of future translators and interpreters. To apply the communicative-functional approach, we suggest using situational translation tasks, which require not only knowledge of vocabulary and grammar related to the topic but also an understanding of the context in which the linguistic expression is produced.  The author stresses that, as the translation services market undergoes significant changes, there is a necessity to develop a new type of translator and interpreter possessing a high level of digital literacy. The author emphasises that an important challenge in modern conditions is also the active utilisation of machine translation and the integration of AI (artificial intelligence) into the translation process. It is observed that post-editing generally involves editing the text after it has been translated from a foreign language by a native speaker of the target language. Thus, today, higher standards are expected regarding the proficiency level of the translator in the native language. The paper offers suggestions for potential responses to the challenges faced by contemporary university teachers of translation and interpretation. The article points out that another challenge for translation teachers is the need to teach students not only to translate but also to understand the field of translation to varying degrees. This challenge again highlights the importance of adopting a communicative-functional approach to translation. These suggestions primarily relate to teaching translation and interpretation within the English–Ukrainian language pair, though some may apply to other language combinations.