Márta Lesznyák: A longitudinal investigation of translation trainees’ translation and post-editing competence development I
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2 Methodology
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2.1 Background to the present research – The Szeged Translation Competence research project – aims and objectives
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2.1.1 The sample

2.1.1 The sample

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The project focused on MA students of translation and interpreting at the University of Szeged. Between 2020 and 2024, every student starting translation training was asked to take part in the project anonymously. Students were allowed to refuse to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time they wanted to. They could also join in at a later stage. Students were asked to choose a pseudonym at the beginning of the study. This pseudonym had to be put on each questionnaire, test and translation prepared within the framework of the project. This way, questionnaires, tests and target texts coming from the same person could be matched. By the closure of the project, 113 students entered the study (the number of students who filled out the questionnaire about demographic and other background information), but only 106 students provided translations or post-edited texts. Table 1 shows the major characteristics of the sample, and Table 2 gives an overview of the total number of target texts collected in the study and the way they were produced.
 

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Table 1 The Major Characteristics of the Sample of the Szeged Project on Translation and Post-Editing Competence Development Project
Variable
Category
N
%
Sex
male
15
13.3
 
female
98
86.7
English is
language B
54
47.8
 
language C
59
52.5
First degree in
modern languages
106
94
 
other
7
6
Average age (years)
–
23.26
–
 
min
21
–
 
 
33
–
 

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As can be seen from Table 1, females are significantly overrepresented in the sample. Nevertheless, the ratio of males and females in the sample mirrors the proportion of the sexes in the profession, although the imbalance is definitely higher than what is reported in the international literature (CSA Research, 2017). The table also shows that most students earned their first degree in modern languages, and they are relatively young, with a mean age of 23 years. The distribution of students concerning the status of English as their working language is balanced (about half-half).
 

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Table 2 The Number of Target Texts Collected Within the Framework of the Szeged Longitudinal Translation and Post-Editing Competence Development Project
 
Bilingualism
Legal (copyright)
Total number of T texts
Total number of students
 
HT
PE
HT
PE
 
 
2020 Spring
–
–
5
5
10
10
2020 Fall (Cohort 1)
10
9
–
–
19
19
2021 Spring
–
–
13
13
26
26
2021 Fall (Cohort 2)
15
14
–
–
29
29
2022 Spring (Cohort 1)
3
3
5
7
18
18
2022 Fall (Cohort 3)
4
5
6
7
22
22
2023 Spring (Cohort 2)
7
10
3
4
24
24
2024 Spring (Cohort 3)
3
4
6
7
20
20
Total
42
45
38
43
168
106*
Note. *To avoid duplication, the total number of participating students was computed by adding student numbers in a specific cohort only once. It was the larger number that was included in the calculation.
 

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Numbers in Table 2 indicate that, unfortunately, there was some subject mortality and data loss, which led to a lower number of target texts than expected (168 texts instead of 176: 4.5% loss; 106 students instead of 113: 6.2% loss).
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