'Feedback must be a two-way exchange': a qualitative study of how translation students perceive feedback

Abstract

In this article we are interested in one of the possible modalities of feedback generated in the training of future translators at university level: the written corrective feedback (WCF) offered by teachers on students' translations. More specifically, using data obtained from two focus groups and a questionnaire, we have explored the perceptions of translation students regarding the features and usefulness of the feedback they received during their degree programme. The results show that students perceive WCF as a unidirectional transmission of information and not as a dialogical learning cycle, as the most current approaches to feedback postulate. They also call for feedback that is precise, informative, orientating and adjusted to student needs. At the same time, they believe that feedback should offer corrections without adopting a reproving tone; it should include explanations about errors in the translation; it should point to where the work successfully fulfils learning goals; and it should incorporate suggestions for improvement that can be applied in future translation tasks. The descriptive findings presented here bear on current teaching practices in the translation classroom and point to possible areas where such practices might be improved to enhance the development by students of translation competencies.