WITTA Emerges in Guangzhou and Holds the First Congress

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From November 18 to 20, the inaugural meeting of the World Interpreter and Translator Training Association (WITTA) and International Seminar on Translation Education were held in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). The meeting was held by GDUFS, co-hosted by City University of Hong Kong, University of Macao, Foreign Language in China and The Interpreter and Translator Trainerand sponsored by Higher Education Press, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Global Tone Communication Technology Co., Ltd., UTH International, Love Future Career Planning Company, Guangzhou Language Education Technology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Lingo Sail. Famous academics in translation education from inbound and outbound gathered at GDUFS, discussing how to promote the in-depth development of translation education all over the world via the broad platform of WITTA.

Translator associations and translation education institutions in China sent congratulation message on the founding of WITTA. Prof. Anthony Pym, former President of European Society for Translation Studies, and Huang Youyi, Executive Vice President of Translators Association of China and Chairman of China National Committee for Translation and Interpreting Education attended the meeting and gave their congratulatory speeches. Dr. Henry Liu, President of International Federation of Translators, and Dr. Liese Katschinka, President of European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association also delivered their congratulations by videos and letters. In addition, over a hundred experts and scholars in translation education from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Russia, the United States, Singapore, Swiss, Germany, Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan participated in the celebration and witnessed the establishment of WITTA.

The opening ceremony of WITTA

At the opening ceremony, President of WITTA Prof. Li Defeng pointed out this association is a strategic alliance of international translation and interpreting organizations including CIUTI, International Federation of Translators and Translators Association of China. As Li said, WITTA is an important supplement to these organizations and it develops with unique positioning and purposes: as a platform for government, industry, and academia collaboration in translation education, WITTA aims at integrating the resources in language policy-making departments, translation education organizations, translator organizations, language service companies, journals of translation, research institutes and other organizations related to translation education, to help member organizations improve their capabilities of training translators and interpreters and to promote the development of and innovation in global translation education as well as translators and interpreters training.

At the meeting, the board of directors also passed the multilingual versions of the WITTA Charter and formed a panel of strategic consultants including Prof. Dorothy Kelly, Chief Editor of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, Prof. Arnt Lykke Jakobsen, President of European Society for Translation Studies, Prof. Hannelore Lee-Jahnke, Lifetime Honorary President of CIUTI, Dr. Henry Liu, President of International Federation of Translators, Prof. Anthony Pym, former President of European Society for Translation Studies, Prof. Luc van Doorslaer, Vice-President of European Society for Translation Studies, Huang Youyi, Vice-President of the standing committee of Translation Association of China, Prof. Zhong Weihe, President of GDUFS, Prof. Martin Forstner, former Secretary-General of CIUTI, Prof. Douglas Robinson from Hong Kong Baptist University, Prof. Wang Hongzhi from Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prof. Chai Mingjiong from Shanghai International Studies University.

The inaugural meeting of board of directors of WITTA

Besides, the board of directors identified the founding organizations of WITTA: University College London, University of Westminster, University of Durham, University of Leeds, University of Essex, University of Ottawa, Lomonosov Moscow State University, University of Melbourne, Macquarie University, Nanyang Technological University, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Macao, City University of Macao, Macao Polytechnic Institute, Fujen Catholic University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing Language and Culture University, University of International Business and Economics, Xi'an International Studies University, Heilongjiang University, Nanjing Normal University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Jilin Huaqiao Foreign Languages Institute, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Global Tone Communication Technology Co., Ltd., UTH International, Higher Education Press, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Guangzhou Language Education Technology Co., Ltd., The Translator and Interpreter Trainer, Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies, China Translators Journal, Foreign Language Research, Foreign Language in China and Computer-assisted Foreign Language Education.

Pictures of the guests at the meeting

Prof. Zhong Weihe, President of GDUFS, Prof. Anthony Pym, former President of European Society for Translation Studies, and Prof. Douglas Robinson from Hong Kong Baptist University were the keynote speakers of the meeting. Prof. Hannelore Lee-Jahnke, Lifetime Honorary President of CIUTI, Prof. Nikolay Garbovskiy from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Prof. Bao Chuanyun from Monterey Institute of International Studies, Prof. Mark Shuttleworth from University College London, Prof. Zhu Chunshen from City University of Hong Kong, Prof. Martin Forstner, Secretary-General of CIUTI, Prof. Helena Hong Gao from Nanyang Technological University, Prof. Li Defeng from Macao University also addressed the meeting. Under the seminar were several parallel forums where participants disclosed their latest research outcomes about issues including reflection on translation education research, new methodologies in translation education research, modern technologies and translation education, language service and translation education, competence test and assessment for translators and interpreters, and cultivating critical and creative thinking in translation education. The seminar also had under it a special forum on university-enterprise cooperation in translation education at which invited representative companies engaging in translation and language service probed the possibilities of innovation in translation education collaboratively made by industries and universities.

As announced in the meeting, the closing ceremony of the meeting would be held in the afternoon of November 20, and the Second Congress of WITTA would be hosted at the University of Westminster in 2018.