An Analysis of Thai University Students’ Perceptions of the Application of Theory and Practice, the Course Content, and The Usefulness of a Translation Course

การวิเคราะห์เจตคติของนักศึกษาไทยระดับปริญญาตรีเกี่ยวกับการประยุกต์ ใช้ทฤษฎีการแปลและการปฏิบัติ เนื้อหารายวิชา กิจกรรมงานแปลและประโยชน์ที่ได้รับจากเรียนรายวิชาการแปล

Abstract

In Thailand’s higher education, translation courses seem to be one of the major compulsory courses in the language curriculum. The increasing needs for translation skills in various jobs require tertiary institutions to equip language students with sufficient knowledge and practice in translation. The study aims to investigate Thai university students’ perceptions towards applying the theory and practice, translation tasks and activities, and the usefulness of a translation course in the English as Foreign Language (EFL) context. An online questionnaire was administered to the sophomore Business English major students at a public university in southern Thailand. Forty-nine students who were enrolled in the Thai-English translation course completed and returned the survey. Close-ended data were quantitatively analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, means, and standard deviation. Open-ended data were qualitatively coded. The quantitative and qualitative findings revealed that the majority of respondents had highly positive attitudes towards the integration of translation theory and practice in the Thai-English Translation course. In addition, the findings revealed that the respondents perceived the benefits of the course’s content, translation tasks, and activities at different levels and they preferred studying: 1) translation strategies and solutions, 2) news translation, and 3) error analysis and solutions, respectively. Overall, they perceived the Thai-English translation course was very useful for their professional and academic aspirations. In addition, students reported that the most useful aspect of the course was the improvement of their translation skills, English language skills, and ability to apply theory to practice. Based on the findings, implications for translation pedagogy and recommendations for further studies are also discussed.