Interpersonal Skills in the Development of Translation Competence: A Model

The current dynamic, rapidly changing labour market is influenced by the constant development of new technologies, globalisation, the changing nature of the economy, and changed demands on employees. In this context, university graduates are expected to be flexible, dynamic, and able to adapt effectively to new, rapidly changing conditions in the labour market, changes in individual job positions, and the changes and challenges that 21st-century society is undergoing. These circumstances force universities to respond to the situation as employers point to the disconnect between students’ university training and practice. According to them, students come unprepared to a contemporary working environment, their skills and knowledge not corresponding with the needs of practice. The field of study of philology is no exception in this regard. The position of the translator (in the near future) will be different, their tasks will be more diverse, and they will be required to have different competencies and skills. The translator will have to interact with other experts or participants in the translation process and will have to be a team player who is proficient in using IT. This paper focuses on the role of interpersonal skills in the development of translation competence. The first part defines key terms: knowledge, skills, and interpersonal skills; in the second one, a teaching model for specialised translation is introduced. This model also enables the monitoring of the development of interpersonal skills in the process of acquiring translation competence, while also revealing a change in the paradigm of teacher–student interaction.