Functionalist approach to teaching translating manuals in German to prospective translators

Abstract

Introduction. The development of translation studies and methodology of teaching translation is characterised by shifting from textoriented to functional approach in prospective translators’ training. According to this approach translation is considered to provide successful communication aimed at achieving practical results by the participants of communication in different communicative situations. As the result translation trainers have recognized new pragmatic reasons and pay special attention to the situations the particular translation takes place at, investigating what makes certain translations more successful than others, and implement their findings into the methodology of teaching translation. Purpose. Firstly, to study the genre of Instruction Manual and Information Leaflets in both German and Ukrainian. Secondly, to present a sub-system of exercises for developing professional skills in translation Instruction Manuals and Information Leaflets from German into Ukrainian and vice versa. Results. For this purpose, the paper shows the way the functional approach can be applied to teaching translation specialized texts in German, emphasising the pragmatic equivalency and the linguistic features of the source and target texts. It considers the most important translation skills to be developed (text analysis, grammar and vocabulary, editing and proofreading skills). The set of exercises, which can be used for BA Translation Course, is provided. Conclusion. The set of exercises has been put into practice and proved the validity of the suggested methodology.

Keywords

• майбутні перекладачі
• комунікативно-функціональний підхід
• переклад текстів інструкцій