Are textual mediation activities effective in the training of translators? Insights from an empirical study

According to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages, when mediating, speakers need to apply a series of strategies such as condensation, reformulation, and translation to transmit the content of a text. Differences between trained translators and learners are quite frequent. The pedagogical challenge that arises here can be addressed by using textual mediation activities to help students define a ‘skopos’ and to avoid interferences from the source text. In this study, we compared the results of 15 translation and 15 mediation activities carried out by two groups of university students (L1 Spanish, L2 German) in an economic translation course. Results showed that linguistic mistakes decreased in some cases in the mediation activity, as students were able to detach themselves from the original structures with greater confidence. The pedagogical implications of these results may help open a new pathway in the design and application of activities and courses in the initial stages of translation training in higher education.