The 4th International Competition for Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) and Technical Communication, the highest level of its kind in China, was held at Peking University (PKU), aiming at promoting CAT technology and technical documents written in English.
Two students from the SFL—a Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) postgraduate Xi Jixin and an undergraduate Liu Xiaojuan made their way into the 40 finalists from a competitor pool of more than 600. Associate Prof. Li Bin accompanied and guided the two contestants through the final when the 40 contestants were randomly divided into 8 groups with 5 members in each. Each group was required to virtually run a small-scaled language service corporation to complete the project of creating and translating a bilingual user guide to a website. Upon completion, each group presented their technical document and project management, and answered questions raised by the judges from Peking University, language service corporations and foreign companies. Liu Xiaojuan’s group earned the Second Prize, with positive comments from the judges like “providing an accurate analysis on the target users”, “showing different methods of terminology extraction in translation” and “proving a test with high usability”. Xi Jixin’s group, winning the Third prize, won the recognition from the judges due to their creative application of a news conference as the form of defense. In addition, for its outstanding organization, SWJTU earned “the Best Organization Prize”.
The Graduate School and the Dean’s Office of SWJTU strongly supported SFL students’ taking part in this proper competition, showing a university-level and school-level insight into the discipline construction of Translation and Interpreting Program. In the information era, translation has undergone profound changes, from an individual action to a language service industry. Accordingly, colleges and universities have to transform their talent cultivation mode. SFL is among the first in Sichuan Province to introduce translation technology and information to translation education. With project management and terminology management applied in the curriculum design and translation practice, the SFL Translation Department has been exploring its own way in talent cultivation.