A Comparative Evaluation of the Translation Programs at Bachelor’s Level in Iran, England and Turkey based on CIPP Model

Little is known about the quality of technical translation courses offered in English departments in Iran and even less about the efficacy of the revised BA level translation curriculum which was put into practice since 2016. Among the possible ways to evaluate such a program, the researchers adopted a comparative perspective to the courses offered at BA level in Islamic Azad University and other foreign departments, namely, Çankaya University in Turkey, Leicester University and Newcastle University in the UK. To adopt an objective perspective to the study of the potentials of these four programs, Stufflebeam’s model including Content, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) was selected mainly due to its comprehensiveness and administrative orientations. In addition, this study was conducted via implementing content analysis to qualitative data officially issued by these universities. The major findings of this study were (1) unlike other three universities, the graduate program at Islamic Azad University lacks a balance between interpretation and translation; (2) the graduate translation programs in foreign departments lean toward the students interest and needs, especially in terms of including practical English translation and interpretation courses and consider providing career-oriented courses of either interpretation or translation; (3) the foreign departments, particularly, British departments provided out-of-campus authentic translation or interpretation experience on job market. The findings of the study implied that majors revisions are needed to make the current program more compatible with prospect students’ future career path.