Internship insight out : exploring translation students’ perspectives on experience and learning gains

Contemporary translator education promotes professionalisation with a view to preparing students to enter, and effectively function in, the LSP market. Thus, it is essential to ensure that modes of instruction which are being used towards that end, including simulated translation bureaus, team translation projects and internships, are truly effective. With that in mind, this paper inspects internship as a learning mode which allegedly most closely mimics professional reality to find out how its student-perceived nature and learning outcomes match the related assumptions and expectations. The results of the interview-based research presented here reveal students’ perspectives on internship, as reported by a convenience sample comprising graduates of an EMT programme. The research scope covers selected aspects of internship, including venue, student roles and tasks, workspace, job-related regulations, supervision, feedback, learning gains and students’ perceptions of the relation between internship and non-internship learning modes, as exemplified by team translation projects. Finally, conclusions are offered for consideration while designing internships integrated into translator education at academic level.