Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the relationship between translation programs and translation market through examine to which extent translation programs at Yemeni universities match translation market demands, exploring the aspects of weakness in translation programs for fulfilling translation market demands and identifying the main reasons behind such weakness. The sample of the study consisted of three undergraduate programs of translation in three Yemeni universities; Yemenia University, Sana'a University and the University of Science and Technology. Data collection tools involved three sets of questionnaires administered to three groups of participants, eighty two in total. The first group consisted of sixty students, twenty students from each university. The data collected from this group was in relation to the first objective of the present study, i.e. to investigate the areas of weakness in translation programs from students' points of view. The second group included ten full time instructors working in translation programs in the three universities. The data collected from this group was pertaining to the second objective of this study, i.e. to examine the main reasons behind weaknesses of translation programs. The third group involved twelve translators working for different translation offices in Sana'a. The data collected from this group was in relation to the third objective of this study, i.e. to point out to which extent translation programs at Yemeni universities match translation market demands. The study followed the quantitative and qualitative analytic approach for data analysis. The data collected from the participants was counted and listed in tables by using Likert five-point scale staring from ‘Strongly Agree’ as the ultimate positive response, to ‘Strongly Disagree’ as the ultimate negative response. The frequency of responses occurrence was calculated and displayed in the form of numbers and percentages. Then, content analysis of responses was followed to analyze the collected data in conjunction with some statistical processes by using the SPSS. The results revealed that there is a gap between the qualities of translation programs graduates and translation market demands. This gap was attributed, according to the driven conclusions, to some factors such as unspecialized instructors, teaching methods, imbalance between theory and practice, graduates' linguistic and cultural incompetency in English, discouraging condition of translation market. The study concludes with some recommendations for translation programs and instructors.
الكلمات المفتاحية: Translation Market Demands