De) constructing Discursive Memory: Applying Laclau and Mouffe’s Discourse Theory to Translation Teaching)

The theoretical assumptions of this study are a concoction of social constructivism in translator education (Kiraly, 2015), Laclau and Mouffe’s post-structural discourse theory (2001), discursive (de)suggestopedia (Lozanov), and intertextuality/interdiscursivity (Kristeva/Bakhtin). The researchers intend to investigate the effects of a (de)constructivist, discourse-based, inductive, bottom-up approach versus a traditional, teacher-centered, dictionary-based top-down approach on the instruction. The reaserchers will choose a qualitative action research design modelled on qualitative educational research proposed by Guba Lincoln (1989). Having taught translation courses for over 13 years, the corresponding researcher has, time and again, observed a recurring problem, e.g., the de-motivating and counterproductive results of traditional teacher-centerd translation classrooms. The perusal of the problem against the backdrop of the theoretical perspectives offered by social constructivism, discourse analysis, learner autonomy (Kumaravadivelu, 2005) outside of the translation domain brought about tentative solutions to the problem, which in turn will be implemented, observed, and analyzed. In this action research, teachers have take on the role of researchers to investigate their own teaching environments.Three seventh-semester political translation classes in Islamic Azad University of Takestan have been chosen, with most of the classes observed also being taught by the researcher. Student assistants are brought in to collect verbal data and provide students’ perspectives to help interpret the observations. Triangulation will be achieved through three different types of data: questionnaires filled out by the students, verbal data collected using tape recorders during classroom sessions, and a one-way ANNOVA after a post test, to determine the efficacy of the teaching method.