George Payton served in East Africa leading a single-language project before moving into translation consulting. He has consulted for translation projects throughout eastern and southern Africa. He has also been involved in training mother tongue translators, translation facilitators and consultants. Currently George teaches linguistics and Bible translation courses at the SIL program at Biola University.
A Comparison of Translation Consultants and Translation Facilitators
Abstract
The translation facilitator role is an important part of the translation process that merits more discussion. The aim of this paper is to discuss how translation facilitators contribute to Bible translation as compared with the work of national translators and translation consultants. The paper starts by discussing the activities that translators do on a regular basis, and the skills they need in order to do those activities. Most translators benefit from regular input from people skilled in Bible translation, who can mentor translators and help them improve their skills. Who is in the best position to mentor translators, the translation consultant or the translation facilitator? The paper then lays out the work that consultants specialize in. It presents their main responsibilities in the translation process. Additionally, the paper touches on secondary contributions consultants make. It also discusses the skills and training consultants should have. The paper then looks at the role of the translation facilitator, including their typical duties, what training one needs to have, and the skills needed to fill this position. This section of the paper includes the types of people who are well suited to fill the role of translation facilitator. The final section of this paper compares the roles of consultant and facilitator, in an effort to understand the areas where the two roles overlap, and where each one makes a unique contribution to the translation teams they work with.