SJTU Holds Translation Professionals Cultivation Forum

2023/6/29 10:07:49

On June 25, the roundtable forum on "Cultivating Innovative Translation Professionals amid Industry Change" was held at the Conference Center of Wenbo Building, Minhang Campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Huang Youyi, Executive Vice President of Translators Association of China, former Deputy Director and editor-in-chief of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, and Zhou Cheng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of SJTU attended the meeting and delivered speeches.Well-known domestic experts and scholars in the field of translation, teachers and students of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU attended the meeting. The meeting was presided over by Ding Jian, Party Secretary of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU and Tao Qing,Vice Dean of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU.

Zhou Cheng said that today's forum demonstrated a positive move on the part of SJTU as a talent training unit to participate in the implementation of the national strategy. He hoped that the cultivation of innovative translation talents can help to tell Chinese stories well, spread the voice of China well, and show the real three-dimensional image of China to the world.

Huang Youyi focused on the needs of the country and the current development of translation technology, and put forward suggestions on how to do a good job in training high-end translation talents. It was considered imperative to unswervingly do a good job in basic translation training, offer pre-translation and post-translation editing courses, and train students' basic translation skills to better serve the overall situation of national development strategy. It was necessary to unswervingly do a good job of foreign translation, provide smart language tools with a strong foreign language corpus that reflected the Chinese perspective, and let the machine learn to serve mankind with the Chinese perspective.

Chang Hui reported the discipline characteristics, talent training and scientific research achievements of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU. Experts and scholars were expected to point out the direction for the training of high-quality translation talents, and all teachers and students were expected to work together to lay out plans beforehand for translation development.

Xing Yutang, vice president of Academy of Translation and Interpretation of China Foreign Languages publishing Administration, was appointed as the industry advisor of the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU. Chang Hui awarded the appointment letter. 

Tao Qing, Vice Dean of the School of Foreign Languages and director of the Translation Department, presided over the discussion session.

Zhu Yifan, deputy director of the International Affairs Division of SJTU and director of the Center for Translation and Intercultural Studies, gave a report on the training measures for innovative translation professionals. She proposed three directions for the cultivation of high-end translation talents: language data and translation technology development and application, innovative multilingual language services, translation think tanks and global governance.

During the exchange session, Huang Youyi, Executive Vice President of Translators Association of China, former Deputy Director and editor-in-chief of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration; Mr. Yu Hongliang, former Vice President of Yangzhou University; Mr. Fan Daqi, Deputy director of China Center for International Communication Development; Mr. Ren Wen, Dean of the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation at Beijing Foreign Studies University; Mr. Zhao Junfeng, Director of the Center for Translation Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies; and Luo Xuanming, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Guangxi University, Mr. Wu Yun, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages of Tongji University, Mr. Huang Changqi, an expert in English translation review of Foreign Languages Press, Mr. Xing Yutang, Vice President of the Academy of Translation and Interpretation of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, Mr. Chen Shengquan, former Director of the Translation Center of Huawei Technologies Co., LTD., and Vice President of the Translators Association of China, and other experts and scholars made speeches successively. They congratulated the School of Foreign Languages of SJTU on its excellent achievements in the fifth round of subject evaluation.

The plan for the training and development of high-end translation professionals was discussed, centering upon the current development trend of artificial intelligence, the construction of China's discourse and narrative system, the meeting of national strategic planning and needs, the overall improvement of international communication efficiency, the innovation of translation talent training, the development layout of disciplines, and the joint training of government and enterprises and public institutions, etc.

Chang Hui made a concluding speech, he said that he would carefully sort out the opinions of experts and scholars, carry out in-depth investigations and research, rely on the platform of SJTU, focus on disciplinary characteristics, streamline training direction, clear the goals to march towards, develop the translation discipline with the learning spirit of "Time and tide wait for no man", actively face the challenges of new digital technologies, and commit himself to the cultivation of innovative "language engineers".