THE ROLE OF THE BASIC CURRICULUM OF THE PICT EU PROJECT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCES OF THE TRANSLATOR

Abstract

The development of the cultural and intercultural competence of the translator has long been the focus of scientific and theoretical works and methodological and practical activities of Ukraine and Europe. The European Union and the Council of Europe are broadly supportive of projects aimed at improving international dialogue, including the involvement of translators, academics and higher education leaders in the discussion and development of documents, programs, teaching and supporting materials for translation and intercultural communication. In this context, the intercultural competence of the translator needs to be broadly considered, taking into account aspects of individual and social psychology and national culture. Intercultural competence itself should not be considered separately from other competencies of a specialist, and especially not as a personal trait. The article deals with the integrative components of translator intercultural competence development in the modern educational process of training specialists based on the European Union Promoting Intercultural Competence in Translators (PICT) project. The project was intended to promote the inclusion of the development of intercultural competency of the translator module as an integrative part of a specific educational component, or as a separate educational component in the curriculum of the respective faculty. According to the program, the profile of translators is characterized as the intercultural mediators, covering three dimensions of competence: theoretical, textual and interpersonal. In this context, a comprehensive comparative analysis of the terms “cultural competence” and “intercultural competence” is presented, taking into account key aspects for their differentiation and appropriate contextual application. According to the basic program, each of the dimensions contains descriptors of intercultural competence, describing the three levels of proficiency to assess the skills learned. The methodological aspect of the development of intercultural competence of the translator is considered, namely the types of activity in practical classes and tasks that can be submitted for independent work. The problem of choosing appropriate texts that will contain elements typical of a particular culture is shown in illustrative examples. Because the framework curriculum is quite broad and covers many topics, it can be integrated into translation studies or used to design individual (practical) translation courses.