Translation Research vs. Interpreting Research: Perspectives from Studies on Training

The relationship between Translation Research (TR) and Interpreting Research (IR) has always been complicated. While often regarded as a subordinate branch of TR, IR has gradually gained its position as an independent discipline (cf. Pöchhacker, and Shlesinger, 2002). The debate on the convergences and divergences between TR and IR gave rise to an individual volume contributing specifically to this issue (see Schäffner, 2004). Though it is commonly agreed that TR and IR should form a partnership relation (ibid), questions still remain as to how and in which respects should the two benefit each other. The ambiguous relationship between TR and IR brought great inconvenience for the positioning of training in relevant institutions: Should translator training cover interpreter training, or should interpreter training be independent from translator training? Are there any shared grounds between translator training and interpreter training? Is interpreter training perplexed by the same or different problems as translator training? Do we investigate translator training and interpreter training differently or in the same way? These are the questions to be addressed in this paper. The present study, drawing evidence from a database composed of refereed journal articles on translator and interpreter training since the new millennium (cf. Yan, Pan, Wu & Wang, 2013), reveals the differences and common ground between studies on translator and interpreter training in respects of research themes, research methods and certain socio-geographic features. Results show that translator training and interpreter training were usually addressed separately in research; yet the two share the same framework of research interests and methods. More importantly, certain prominent research themes may distinguish one from the other. The active authors and institutions of research on translator and interpreter training seem to differ greatly as well. Findings of the study shed significant insight into the relationship between TR and IR. In addition, this study provides important information to the positioning of the teaching and practice of translation and interpreting.