Translator Training and Minority Languages

Title:
Minority Languages and Translator Training

By:
Sajjad Kianbakht
Tehran
May 2013

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. Translator training in Iran
2.1 The existing BA curriculum for English translation in Iran
2.2 A brief look on Azeri–Turkish language
3. Cultural competence and the translation market for minorities
4. Conclusion
5. References

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ABSTRACT
The relationship between minority languages and translator training programs is a very new and under-researched area of inquiry in
Translation Studies. Iran, which has many different minorities within its borders, is an ideal country in which to examine this issue. This paper focuses on the Azeri-Turkish language, one of the minority languages in
Iran for which translator training programs are not available. The paper first provides a brief overview of translator training program in Iran in general, and then examines the situation of Azeri-Turkish in this program. The contrast of these two reveals the need that spurs the development of appropriate programs, and also highlights the role that translator programs may play in the survival of lesser-used languages.
Therefore, Azeri people need to train in Azeri-Turkish language subjects rather than in Persian. They would better to educate in their own culture to act as professional translators and interpreters or cultural mediators.
KEYWORDS
Translator training, minority languages, Iran, Azeri -Turkish

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1. Introduction
In Translation Studies, the relationship between minority languages and translation is a relatively recent area of inquiry, with Michael Cronin
(1995, 1996, 2003) being the leading voice on this issue. However, even
Cronin has little to say on the relationship between minority languages and translator training programs, devoting only one paragraph to the subject in his 2003 monograph in which minority issues figure prominently. In this paragraph, Cronin briefly discusses the dearth

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