The development of an innovative mobile application “TransMap” for enhancing student engagement and learning translation in real-life contexts

Traditionally, teachers tend to use made-up examples or textbook examples to teach translation concepts and methods such as literal translation and free translation. However, this teaching method has been criticized for giving learners a false idea of the use of language and the translation methods used in the real world. In recent years, Translation Studies scholars have been calling for using real-life examples as well as adopting innovative and interactive ways to teach translation because translators trained in conventional approaches can no longer satisfy the new demands brought by the rapid development of information technology and globalization. In addition, ways to help translation learners to bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and real-world practice are of paramount importance in order to foster learning inside and outside classrooms.

To answer the call for using real-life examples and adopting innovative and interactive approaches to translation education, this project aims to develop an innovative mobile application called TransMap that can not only foster the learning of translation anytime, anywhere in real-life contexts but also facilitate peer learning.

This project benefits translation educators and researchers as it will provide empirical data in implementing one of the first mobile apps used for teaching and learning in translation classrooms and forster the development of mobile-assisted learning in Translation Studies. In addition, students at EdUHK and beyond can use "TransMap" in the long run to facilitate translation learning.