A social constructivist approach to translation education: Developing a practical model

The present study explored the ideas of the main stakeholders of translation education in Iran, i.e. learners, professionals, and teachers, to find the 21st -century skills needed by students and the market. In addition, it was directed to investigate whether and to what extent the social constructivist approach to learning can contribute to the development of these skills in undergraduate translation students. With a two-fold methodological design in two sequential x phases, it was attempted to add to the growing body of literature and the current understanding of the essential skills needed by the present-day translation graduates. In addition, how new approaches to learning might be effective in the development of these skills was also attempted to be captured. To this end, a needs assessment was first administered to a sample of primary stakeholders of translation education. Subsequently, based on the results of the needs assessment, a socio-constructivist instructional treatment was designed and implemented. Altogether, the findings confirmed that social constructivism has promising implications for learners’ development of vital soft and transferrable skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. The results provided further support for the urgent need for a paradigm shift in Iranian translation education both in terms of content and style, with more emphasis on developing soft skills in students. The results suggested courses of action for translation educators to build a professionbased translation pedagogy and foster the connection between academia and the market. Keywords: Social Constructivism, Translation Education, Undergraduate Translation Program, Needs Assessment, Instructional Approach