SOFT SKILLS AS A REQUIREMENT OF TIME AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT IN FUTURE TRANSLATORS

Abstract

The article considers the relevance of the acquisition and development of masters’ soft skills. The objective of this article is to get acquainted with the soft skills system required by a future translator/interpreter in his or her professional activity and to highlight the opportunities for gaining and developing these skills during Master’ study programme “Translation (English)”. The theoretical analysis to determine the list of "soft skills" as important components of the competitiveness of future translators was conducted. The list of flexible skills for applicants of the second (master's) level of higher education is systematized. Based on the analysis of researchers' approaches to the classification of soft skills, the following three groups of soft skills were distinguished: social and communication skills (communication skills, interpersonal skills, group work, leadership, social intelligence, responsibility, ethics of communication); cognitive skills (critical thinking, problem-solving skills, innovative thinking, intellectual workload management, self-study skills, time management); personal qualities and components of emotional intelligence (emotional intelligence, honesty, optimism, flexibility, creativity, motivation and empathy). It should be noted that, within each category and between categories, individual skills and qualities interact. It is clear that different types of soft skills are a priority for different activities. The results of a survey of Master’ students and teachers of Alfred Nobel University, Dnipro are presented. Respondents were asked to determine the list of the most priority soft skills of competitive translation professionals and to determine the degree of their importance. An experience analysis singled out two approaches to the soft skills formation today – to teach directly by introducing separate courses within the variant component of the study programme and to combine all disciplines in with non-formal education and extracurricular activities. The training course "Fundamentals of Translation Activity" is described here, the content of which is naturally combined with the traditional subjects of the professional training cycle, and the implementation of interactive teaching methods aimed at developing "soft skills" in future translators is presented. Through the implementation of dialogical and discussion methods of training using the techniques of synectics, game teaching methods involving modeling of professional situations, joint analysis and problem solving, our results can demonstrate the ability of Master’s students to reflect on their own experience and individual characteristics necessary to develop soft skills. The findings provide a potential mechanism of the following techniques to implement the aforementioned game methods selected for training: reflection, advisory group, role rotation, support, interlocutor chair, mute assistant, replay and placement. To develop soft skills in post graduate students it is necessary to choose some facilitation methods (World Cafe, Open Space, Anti-Brainstorming, Dynamic Facilitation). Superior results could be seen for one more pedagogical technique, project work, which involves the “immersion” in the teaching material, determination of the personality of their emotional and value attitude to it and improving the efficiency of assimilation.