Strategies for Teaching Video Game Localization in Translator Training

   This article is devoted to the possibilities of using video game localization in teaching translation activities in higher education. The relevance of the problem is due to the fact that currently video games are not only a way to spend leisure time, but also a kind of didactic material.

   The purpose of the work is to determine the requirements for the content of courses on video game localization and to propose strategies for teaching this type of activity when training translators in the higher education system.

   The article analyzes various scientific approaches to understanding the essence of video games, defines the differences between the terms “translation” and “localization” in the context of video games, and proposes its own definition of localization. The study also outlines the basics of teaching translation activities, the concept of translation competence and its role, which made it possible to develop the idea of the possibility of using video games in teaching translation. To assess the prospects for training a translator-localizer in higher education, the method of pedagogical analysis and the method of pedagogical modeling were used. The educational programs for teaching video game localization and their curricula based on Russian and foreign higher education institutions were used as research material. A total of 4 courses were analyzed (2 Russian, 1 Spanish and 1 Argentine). As a result of the study, the authors of the article identified the need to involve professional translators in localization work, the discrepancy between modern educational programs and the demand in the localization market, and also proposed strategic recommendations that can be used when creating courses on video game localization in the domestic higher education system. This work not only contributes to the study of video games as a linguistic phenomenon, but also represents a new look at the problem of teaching translation in higher education institutions to students of both the Linguistics and Translation Studies programs as part of their basic educational program.

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