X-Raying and Recommending Translatological Content in the Curriculum of Nigerian Christian Theological Institutions

Authors

  • Chukwudinma O. Ezuoke
  • Anthony Nwanjoku

Keywords:

translation, theology, communication, language endangerment and pragmatic index

Abstract

Since the commencement of Christian theological education in Nigeria in the first half of the nineteenth century, as occasioned by the return of ex-slaves of Nigerian origin, translation studies in theological institutions in Nigeria have always been built into the study of Bible languages: Greek and Hebrew. Meanwhile, translation studies are a multidisciplinary, academic and professional field of study that requires divergent competences in its training process. This study aims at highlighting and x-raying the place (importance) of translator training content in the curricular programmes of Christian theological institutions in Nigeria. The study adopts Daniel Gile’s two-step sequential model as method whereas Eugene Nida’s Principles of Correspondence is used as theoretical framework. The research discovers that absence of translator training content in the curricular programmes of Christian theological institutions in Nigeria has led to poor pragmatic indices in the areas of illocutionary and perlocutionary effects as Nigerian Christian theologians and preachers address their audience the more in English language, the lingua franca, thereby contributing to the poor vitality of some Nigerian languages, like the Igbo language. The paper recommends a basic translation course for theological institutions in Nigeria as a panacea to communication problems between the preacher/theologian and his audience.

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Published

2022-01-27

Issue

Section

Articles