Translation errors: A taxonomic approach and their contribution to translator training

Abstract

One of the issues addressed in translation teaching concerns translation errors and their contribution to translator training. Since the terms used to describe the range of translation errors lack commonly agreed distinctions or fixed points of reference, it is quite difficult to adopt a holistic approach to translation errors by simply providing a pure definition. This has a great deal to do with the tendency to consider as error any performance which falls short of the “ideal” (Pym, 1992: 2). Within this context, there has been an attempt in the present paper to approach errors in a taxonomic manner on the basis of how they actually appear in translated texts where elements of different text types are perpetually mixed. We will also briefly refer to a diverse variety of reasons that errors may be ascribed to, ranging from lack of comprehension to misuse of register, factors that may be located to a variety of levels such as language, pragmatics and cultural level. Finally, we will describe a positive approach toward translation errors and their contribution to translator training by offering to students the insights and experiences they need in order to become competent translators.