Abstract
Opinions about the legitimacy of teaching theories of translation in translation classrooms have been divided: while translators and student translators tend to think that theories are not useful for their practice, most academics in Translation Studies and translation teachers stress its importance. Chesterman and Wagner’s “Can theory help translators?: a dialogue between the ivory tower and the wordface” (2002) epitomised the divide a decade ago and since then, efforts to close the gap between theory and practice have been evident in different arenas related to translation. However, empirical evidence as to the status quo of theory teaching in translation is scarce. Against this background the present paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey conducted with translation teachers in the UK and Ireland, aiming to identify the theories taught in translation classes at UK and Irish universities and the teachers’ perceptions about the teaching.
