The status of translation education in Australia in comparison with the EU, the USA and Canada

This paper investigates the status of translation education in Australia in comparison with the EU, the USA and Canada. The research is based on a thorough analysis of the publicly available data, the extant literature and personal interviews. In recent decades, the global translation market has been growing steadily and the demand for well qualified translators is also rapidly increasing. This study makes the case that the quality of translation has strong association with the quality of translation education. We propose that the quality of translation education should be assessed using seven criteria, namely curriculum, teaching pedagogy, costs, work placement, professional certification, membership of associations, and collaboration with employers. First, the study looks into the extent to which the quality standards supporting the supply of well qualified translators exist in the EU, the USA and Canada and then we provide an overview of the quality-related issues linked to the domain of translation education in Australia. We conclude that when compared with the Australian translation students, their counterparts in Europe and North America are likely to get more support from their training institutions as these institutions are more capable in responding to the expanding market demand for translation and identifying learners’ needs and expectations appropriately. Also, a supportive policy environment relating to the translation industry has enhanced the capability of the European and North American translation education providers to consistently meet the key quality conditions. The paper recommends criteria for actions that can be taken to enhance the quality of translation education in Australia.