A Translation MOOC for Adults Learners: Pedagogical Diagnosis and Remedial Measures

為成人學習者開設之大規模開放線上翻譯課程──教學診斷及補救措施

Despite world-wide accessibility of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in recent years, no MOOC on translation is available in Taiwan. The major reason might be the difficulty of grading massive translation assignments. However, the author raises a hypothesis that many MOOC learners are beginners and do not prepare their learning for future translation careers, so they do not need to improve translation s如lls through translation practice. To justify this hypothesis, the author developed a MOOC on Tourist Translation for adult learners and implemented it on the web for 6 months. After the closure of the program, she conducted a theory-based probe to explore if the curriculum design of translation MOOC meets its pedagogical objectives. Additionally, a questionnaire-based survey was administered to investigate adult learners' reception of the MOOC. T he findings showed that many respondents (80.7%) favored video lectures more than forum discussions (60%) because they expected to acquire sufficient knowledge from teacher-centered lectures; they found it easier to watch video lectures than to participate in forum discussions; they feared sharing incorrect information, answering difficult questions and being ridiculed. Meanwhile, more than 50% of respondents asked for online translation practice. To address the above issues, some remedial measures are proposed, including the provision of some translation exercises, learners' self-revision of translation assignments, and the instructor's positive feedback. Although this study has a small size of samples, it takes on some pedagogical significance: 1) teaching of a MOOC on translation can synthesize behaviorist (teacher-centered translation instruction) and constructionist (student-centered forum discussions) pedagogies; 2) translation exercises and theoretical information can be integrated and maintain a balance between practice and theory, 3) learners can do self-assessment based on given translation samples; and 4) the instructor can give more positive comments to boost learners' confidence.

近年來，網路平台上陸墳推出許多大規模開放線上課程，但在台灣尚未有任何翻譯相關的大規模開放線上課程，其主要原因不外是翻譯課程需要實際練習與一位教師無法應付大規模翻譯作業評量。儘管如此，作者假設翻譯初學者不需要翻譯練習，只需要學習翻譯原則與策略，故她為成人學習者製作一鬥翻譯大規模開放線上課程，並在網路上施作六個月。之後，作者進行理論探究，以了解是否該課程設計能夠達成其教學目的。此外，作者施作問卷調查，結果發現受眾者（80.7％）較喜歡觀看雙語字幕的觀光主題影片與講師傳授翻譯策略與規則的影片，其比例遠勝於參與公共論壇（60％）。根據作者的推論，參與者乃是翻譯初學者，希望能從教師授課影片學習較多的翻譯知識、觀看影片比參與論壇較簡單、他們害怕分享錯誤資訊、他們害怕自己的錯誤見解會遭人取笑、論壇的韙目太過困難，這些因素皆有可能造成許多參與者偏向被動觀看教學影片，而不是積極參與公共論壇。同時，一些學習者提出翻譯練習的要求，故我們必須正視此問題並提出解決之道。職是之故，作者提出一些補救措施，如：提供翻譯練習、建置自我修正翻譯的機制及使用正向回饋作為學習獎勵。綜而言之，儘管本研究參與者人數不多，此研究結果已呈現一些教學精義，我們可從四個面向討論之：1）大規模開放線上翻譯課程可混合行為主義（教師為中心授課）與建構主義（學生為中心之公共論壇）兩種教學法來施作；2）必須同時提供翻譯練習與教授翻譯理論，方能達成理論與實作之平衡；3）為補救教師一人無法評分太多學習者翻譯作業之缺點，要求學習者自行參考翻譯範本以修訂錯誤；4）授課者可使用正面評語來提高成人學習者修習大規模開放線上課程之信心。