Teaching Legal Translation from Intercultural Communication Perspectives: Challenges and Proposed Recommendations

Abstract

In the international integration era, intercultural communication has become an integral part fostering the globalization process. As a means of communication intermediary within different parts of the world, translation should not only communicate the original message but also support the understanding among partners. Teaching translation from intercultural communication perspectives, therefore, has attracted the attention of educators. This current study endeavors to ascertain the challenges of teaching translation in a context of a Vietnamese law school from the perspective of intercultural communication. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven lecturers of translation to clarify their views on teaching translation during the second semester of the academic year 2023-2024. Interestingly, the result acknowledges the obstacles concerning learners’ insufficient knowledge, their neglect of culture and interculture importance, teaching materials and teaching methods. Based on such findings, several recommendations in terms of raising learners’ awareness, improving teaching content and materials as well as teaching methods were made with the hope of enhancing the teaching and learning translation process in the context of global intercultural communication.