CHALLENGES FACED BY NOVICE TRANSLATORS AND INTERPRETERS IN MALAYSIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICES
Despite a long history of interpreting, Malaysia and many other nations are still lagging behind in the evolution of this profession. In fact, interpreting is still regarded as a low-status, semi-professional career that has not yet evolved into a completely professional career due to not fulfilling the requirements of a professional career. The study identifies the challenges and issues faced by novice translators and interpreters in Malaysia and whether these challenges affect their profession or not. The study also highlights the challenges that influence translator identity, which leads to a careful consideration of solutions that might help pave the way for the recognition of translators as respectable professionals in Malaysia. The study made use of a qualitative approach and a structured questionnaire where 27 participants were selected from 3 different institutions, namely, Management and Science University (MSU), University Sains Malaysia (USM), and University Putra Malaysia (UPM). The structured questionnaire has been used as an instrument in this study. The study finds out the main challenges faced by the novice translators and interpreters in Malaysia, including but not limited to; inadequate students' knowledge in translation and interpretation due to the lack of resources, the lack of lecturers and subject experts who hold both academic and industrial expertise in translation and interpreting in the higher education institutions in Malaysia, moreover, the lack of appreciation for the role of translator and interpreter in Malaysian society. The research concludes that a clear relationship between the level of expertise of the subject lecturer and novice translators' or interpreters’ challenges was discovered. Such detailed investigations of the relationship would be identified and discussed to provide possible starting points for advanced related studies.
translators and interpreters in Malaysia, translator challenges, practical solutions.