Clearly, the combination of linguistic and technological skills can be synergistically productive. Miscommunication can undermine the synergy.
The new localization program at the University of Quebec at Hull (UQAH) acknowledges the importance of both disciplines, and embraces and promotes their synergistic potential. In a telephone interview last April, Dr. Jean Quirion, spoke with me about the program. His energy and enthusiasm were palpable.
Translation has a long and respected history in Canada and, in particular, in Quebec. In 1998, when UQAH first offered a baccalaureat in translation, the university was the new kid on the block. And as new kids do, UQAH broke from tradition in two important ways.
First, the curriculum combined translation and technical writing. Second, with information technology already a fact of professional life for translators, UQAH attempted to simulate the contemporary work environment in the classroom.
Traditionally, Quirion said, the use of computers was offered as an elective or presented in a passive demonstration conducted by the professor at the head of the class. Not so at UQAH. The translation department has created a laboratory with 36 networked computers that gives students invaluable hands-on experience with the contemporary tools of the trade.
The bac in place, the faculty "flirted" with the idea of expanding the curriculum to include localization in some more substantial way. A lack of resources, both financial and human, prevented them from realizing their projects.
Enter the federal Translation Bureau. According to Quirion, the agency was on a mission: to beef up localization training in the universities. The offer of funding and professional resources gave the faculty at UQAH the push they needed to get their program off the ground.
Quirion and his staff were excited by the opportunity see their vision become reality. The program, Quirion said, could "put the little Quebec university of Ouataouais on the map" as the first to offer localization curriculum in French.
This academic year, UQAH will offer a DESS (an advanced degree in specialized studies) in localization. The degree is comparable to a masters without the thesis requirement. If all goes as planned, an e-learning option will be available on-line for the 2001-2002 academic year.
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