Translation Work Placement as a Bridge Between AVT Scholars and Practitioners – a Case Study
Jerneja Umer Kljun, PhD
Department of Translation Studies, University of Ljubljana
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6163-3870
In Slovenia, several practitioners, service providers (i. e. the Association of Slovenian film and TV Translators, RTV Slovenija national broadcaster, the Slovenian Cinematheque, the Slovene Society of Language Editors and Proofreaders), and scholars (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana) have already successfully joined forces, establishing the guidelines for subtitling (DSFTP 2020). The paper examines how Translation Work Placement programmes led by the Department of Translation studies at the Faculty of Arts (University of Ljubljana), where subtitling is taught at MA level, can further support the subtitling community in Slovenia by fostering a sustained collaboration between scholars and audiovisual translation practitioners.
Translation Work Placement is a compulsory component of the MA curriculum at the Department of translation studies and while partnership between academia and prospective employers is instrumental in raising awareness of MA-level trainee translators on workplace requirements (Hirci 2023: 914), it also provides fertile ground for joint research. The aim of the paper is to explore this opportunity by taking a closer look at the Translation Work Placement at the national broadcasting network RTV Slovenija, while gaining insight from a systematic analysis of the subtitles produced by the trainees at the early stage of their placement along with the revisions and feedback provided by their assigned work placement mentors.
This presentation will inform the work of both practitioners and scholars by implementing the notion of collaborative reseach practices set forth by Silvester and Tuominen (2021).
Keywords: translation work placement, AVT, AVT revision, practitioner-scholar collaboration, joint research
Bibliography
DSFTP (2020) Guidelines for Subtitling in Slovenia. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-t_ydFEvoMrgKXyk0l5cLptev97qinng/view Accessed on 28th November 2025.
Hirci, Nataša (2023) Translation Work Placement in Slovenia: a key to successful transition to professional workplace settings?, Perspectives, 31:5, 900-918, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2022.2055482
Silvester, Hannah, and Tuominen, Tiina (2021) Collaboration Between Subtitling Academics and Practitioners: A Proposal for SubComm. Journal of Audiovisual Translation, 4(3),108–125. https://doi.org/10.47476/jat.v4i3.2021.188
Jerneja Umer Kljun is a translator, translation teacher and researcher exploring the fields of Translation Studies, Sociolinguistics and Digital Humanities. She teaches Italian-Slovene translation and several language courses at the Department of Translation Studies (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana) as well as at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana. She has authored several scientific articles and a monograph on code-switching and language attitudes. As a practitioner, she specializes in AVT and in the translation of literary, scientific and historical texts.
