The role of translation in undergraduate medical English instruction

Abstract

For most of its history of undergraduate medical English instruction at Belgrade University, translation was a major part of teaching and assessment. Educational reforms in the early 21st century resulted in a shift towards content-based instruction with the focus on reading comprehension and less translation. The paper analyses the new role of translation in the reformed Serbian curriculum. A brief history of Medical English instruction is outlined. The role of lexicon and the level of discourse within the teaching of English translation in the Serbian curriculum are explored. Some suggestions for the improvement of medical English translation in the Serbian curriculum are offered. It has been shown that translation is a valuable skill to be mastered. Translation exercises allow instructors to recognize language-related comprehension problems. Furthermore, teaching translation is important in that future medical professionals are able to recognize different medical genres and structural differences between English and Serbian.