A recommendation for translator competence model in accordance with current industry needs

Translation competence is sometimes defined as translation competence and sometimes as translator competence. The person who performs the translation is considered as a translator. However, just being able to translate is not enough to become a translator. Limiting a translator to only being able to translate leads to the training of translator candidates who will have difficulties in meeting the needs of sector. Based on this idea, it is important to determine what the translator needs in the current market conditions, including the translation action. The aim of this study is to identify what the translator needs in the translation sector and to propose a comprehensive translator competence model. Since written and oral translation practices require completely different cognitive processes, it has been tried to create a model within the scope of written translation in this research. In this study, which was designed as a qualitative research, phenomenology design was applied. Translation business owners creating employment in the field were determined through the snowball technique in accordance with the purposeful sampling model. Data were collected through the interview method, which is the most preferred data collection method in the phenomenology design. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection instrument. Each interview was recorded through a voice recorder by getting the consent of the participants. The data analysis process started with the transcription of the audio recordings. Written interview records obtained were analyzed and coded one by one. The determined codes were evaluated in terms of semantics and divided into certain categories. The resulting categories were transformed into themes to provide a more comprehensive framework. As a result of the data analysis, it has been concluded that translator competence in line with current sector needs consists of 3 themes, namely 'Primary Knowledge', 'Performative Skills', and 'Professional Understanding Parameters'. The theme of 'Basic Knowledge' reveals that the translator needs 7 different types of knowledge such as mother tongue, foreign language, theoretical, field/expertise, world and culture, text, and material knowledge in order to perform the translation action. The theme of 'Performative Skills' indicated that the translator should acquire 7 kinds of skills, which are defined as strategy, research, transfer, using translation technologies, editing, post-editing, and self-evaluation, which enable the translator to practice his profession. The last theme obtained as a result of the analysis was determined as 'Professional Understanding Parameters', which functions as a complement to the other two themes. This theme consists of 10 components such as quality in translation, professional ethics, translation and translator legislation, business culture, project management, sector analysis, finance in translation, entrepreneurship, marketing, and communication. In conclusion, the translator competence model, designed in line with the needs of the translation industry, consists of 3 main themes interacting with each other and functioning simultaneously, and a total of 24 components within these 3 main themes.