Technology Competence Training of Translation Educators in the Age of Technology-and-Information Empowerment: A Chinese Perspective

Despite the consensus on the paramount importance of translation technology competence, its exact definition and constructs remain vague and inconsistent. Moreover, translation educators’ dual identity both as a translator and an educator received insufficient attention. Therefore, drawing on the previous models of translation competence, we identified and defined the constructs of translator educators’ technology competence, and proposed a three-dimensional gear-driven model, placing the Metacognition dimension as the driving gear, the Knowledge dimension and the Application dimension as the driven gears, each of which was further subdivided into three sub-dimensions. Based on the model, a survey was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the training programs in empowering translation educators with technology competence, and offer some insights for future pedagogical approaches to translation educator training. This study finds that translation educators need to possess competencies in three dimensions of Translation Technology Competence (TTC)—application, knowledge, and metacognition—in the age of technology and information. However, the training programs for translation educators in China primarily focus on the application dimension, neglecting the knowledge and metacognition dimensions, which results in insufficient teaching effectiveness. The survey indicates that while there is moderate satisfaction with the application dimension, there is a notable lack of emphasis on knowledge and metacognition, failing to adequately meet the market demand for translation professionals.