The article investigates two issues. First, whether the argument that teaching staff should only teach translation into their native language is valid and supported by factual evidence. Previous research on this issue is reviewed: based on the transcriptions of video recordings of the lessons conducted by 6 translation teachers (2 bilingual, 2 native, 2 non-native speakers of the TL), it is argued that each of these three groups can contribute to the teaching process in L2 translation classes. The second aim of the article is to investigate whether there is any correlation between student performances when they translate into L1 and when they translate into L2 and L3. The grades of 580 final exams consisting of translation into languages L1, L2 and L3 at an MA programme in translation were surveyed.
It has been established that on average students tend to perform slightly
better when translating into L1 than when translating into L2 or L3. However,
there is a strong correlation between the grades an individual student receives
for translation into L2 and those for translation into L1. It is therefore tentatively concluded that directionality is not the defining factor influencing graduates’ performance and the acceptability of their output.
