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Part of
Innovation and Expansion in Translation Process Research
Edited by Isabel Lacruz and Riitta Jääskeläinen
[American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series XVIII] 2018
► pp. 37–54

Chapter 3
Are expertise and translation competence the same?

Psychological reality and the theoretical status of competence

Translation competence has long been a staple fundamental concept in translation studies. In this paper, we argue that it is perhaps time to reconsider the need for this notion, at least in cognitive translation studies, where the concept of expertise could be a robust and more enlightening substitute. We will present a review of a few pertinent disciplinary discussions of competence as we argue that it is possible to subsume the most important aspects of competence models within expertise theory. Beyond their redundancy, we also argue that most competence “models” are descriptive formal models, whose psychological reality is questionable.
Keywords: competence, expertise, functional, multicomponential, performance, problem-solving, psychological reality, translation process research
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Conceptual clarity through the reduction of competence
  • Performative competence: Isn’t this expertise?
  • An equal sign between competence and expertise
  • Psychological validity and structural reality
  • Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 1 February 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ata.18.03shr
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