Error analysis and product assessment are increasingly viewed as reductive procedures in
translation pedagogy. In the current paper, a case is made for ‘rehabilitating’ error
analysis, especially in advanced L2 translation teaching. Attention is drawn to its usefulness
in creating a group profile for L2 translation trainees, particularly as regards the
scope it offers for showing how aspects of linguistic transfer frequently considered marginal,
when taken individually, are, on the contrary, significant if viewed cumulatively.
In the course of the article it is suggested that error analysis can be used dynamically to
show that apparently sporadic and ‘low level’ aspects of transfer are among the most frequent
problems, and that they consistently interlock with ‘higher-level’ textual and contextual
(if not cultural) considerations. Far from encouraging a transmissionist stance
on the part of the L1 teachers normally responsible for L2 translation courses, error
analysis can be used to empower L2 students. One way in which this can be done is
through a focus on technologies that address the issues emerging from the analysis. This
should make students increasingly independent of the intuitive, internalized knowledge
of their trainers, both in the short term and in the course of their professional careers.
