Translation textbooks: translation into English as a foreign language

This paper examines translation into English as a foreign language as presented in translation textbooks offering Italian and English as working languages. By translation textbook is intended a practical work on translation providing texts for practice, with commentaries and/or annotations and/or suggested versions. Following a brief overview of (i) the training of translation into English as a foreign language, (ii) the basic differences between translation into a foreign language and into a native language, and (iii) the role and status of translation textbooks, there will be a review of the main English / Italian textbooks, with a distinction between those of a more vocational and a less vocational emphasis. The main purpose of this review is to assess firstly to what degree translation into a foreign language is catered for in these works, and secondly to what degree the vocational vs. non-vocational dichotomy is actually preserved. It will be claimed that failure to clarify these aspects not only hinders students’ progress, but may lead to incomprehension between students and teachers during the process of assessment