Translation Student's Self in Translation of Islamic Texts: Its Development and Relationship with their Translation Quality

The present study tries to explore the possible selves of translator students to construct and validate the relevant questionnaire. During the first step of the study, using content analysis and theme-based categorization, the most frequently cited factors emerged from the interviews with the 20 participants included 1) Doing one’s best, 2) Developing the self, 3) Successful translator, 4) Gaining dignity in translation, 5) Danger of losing interest, 6) Approaching problems critically, 7) Becoming an effective citizen, and 8) inner satisfaction. Following this, the researchers designed the relevant questionnaire consisting of 50 items in likert scale, and a pilot study was done including two phases. Using factor analysis, the designed questionnaire was distributed to 186 students majoring in transition studies, and the validated questionnaire including 41 items was named English Translator Self Development (ETSD) including four underlying constructs: Factor one: Real Identity, Factor two: Ideal Identity, Factor three: Ought to Identity, and Factor four: Feared Identity. During the next step of the study, the researchers examined the relationship between students’ scores on ETSD and translation performance and the results revealed a moderate, positive correlation between translator students’ self-development and their performance on translation [r=–.45, n=62, p