Legal translation training and recognition of information needs or: Should the teaching of subject matter content be a thing of the past?

Abstract

This article proposes to discuss a question which was prompted by an article ‘Information and Documentation Management in the Training of Technical Translators – As opposed to Teaching Technical Science’ (Vol 2, No. 2 of this journal, 2002), by Peter Kastberg: Should the teaching of subject matter content to students of language and LSP translation be a thing of the past? Granted that specialised knowledge is necessary for the LSP translator to enable him or her to interpret and transfer a ST, this article seeks to discuss the routes towards the acquisition of this specialised knowledge and the alternative process model for information and documentation management proposed by Kastberg which is to form the basis of, in his case, the organisation of a technical translation training curriculum. As teachers involved in another type of LSP translation training, namely legal translation training, we want to consider the pros and cons of transferring this model to our field.