Legal Translation Education Online in Norway
摘要
Since globalization gained momentum in the late twentieth century, the demand for competent (legal) translators has increased significantly. Legal translators play a crucial role in bridging different legal cultures and systems. As a significant component of professional translation practice, legal translation has a long-standing tradition in both translation education and research within the field of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP). The key questions in the education/training of future translators include: What competences are required? How can these competences be taught effectively? And which approach is most suitable—one grounded solely in linguistics, law, or an interdisciplinary method? This chapter addresses these critical issues by providing an in-depth overview of the pedagogical approach adopted in an online master’s course on legal translation at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), launched in 2013. The course combines theoretical and practical aspects of legal translation, focusing on translations to and from Norwegian and English, French, German, and Spanish. The pedagogical model was developed as a response to a specific national context: (1) the Norwegian higher education system offers very few translator training programs and (2) to become a government-authorized translator in Norway, a certification requires candidates to have passed the National Translator Accreditation Exam (NTAE), administered by NHH on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Research. A key component of the exam involves translating a legal text, a particularly challenging task for candidates. The course is designed to support NTAE candidates, as well as translators in the Norwegian market who are not certified but may benefit from training in legal translation.