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WAN HU

EDUCATION,
TRANSL ATION AND
GLOBAL MARKET
PRESSURES
CU
RR
IC
UL
UM
DE
SI
GN
IN
CH
IN
A
AN
D
TH
E
UK
Education, Translation
and Global Market Pressures
Wan Hu

Education, Translation
and Global Market
Pressures
Curriculum Design in China and the UK
Wan Hu
School of Foreign Studies
CUFE
Beijing, China

ISBN 978-981-10-8206-1 ISBN 978-981-10-8207-8 (eBook)


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8207-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018930741

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover credit: Jenny Vong

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature


The registered company is Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
To Maike Oergel
An inspiring supervisor and a lady with my lifelong admiration
Preface

Setting the Scene


The process of globalisation and the intensified international exchanges
in the political, economic and cultural sectors have facilitated the growth
of the translation industry worldwide (Tang and Gentzler 2008). This
indicates that far more qualified professional translators are needed to
ensure the quality of translations and to help the translation profession
to meet the challenges posed by the expanding multilingual environment
(EMT 2010). Over the last decades, we have also seen an enormous
increase in translation programmes around the globe in response to the
expansion of the translation industry, including in the UK and China.
‘Such programmes are largely delivered by universities, and increasingly
at postgraduate level’ (Schäffner 2012, p. 37). In this context, ques-
tions such as what constitutes reasonable curriculum design, appropri-
ate teaching methods and techniques, and realistic criteria for assessment
are taken into consideration by the course designers, with the purpose of
designing a well-thought-out system to educate high calibre translators.
Moreover, the neo-liberal political and economic reform, which has
taken place in the last two decades of the 20th century, has had a pro-
found influence on today’s political, economic, cultural and social sys-
tems. Higher Education (HE), as an essential part of the educational
system, cannot be immune to neo-liberal ideals. In short, neo-liberalism
and globalisation have brought about a new relationship between the
government, the HE sector and the market.

vii
viii    Preface

Defining the Theme ‘Tension Between Education


and Theory’

The global climate of economic neo-liberalism demands that education


is economically, professionally and socially useful beyond developing an
individual’s personal knowledge and growth. This, however, brings a
tension between education and training, as well as between its different
facets: theory and practice, and research and product. By education, we
mean academic/liberal arts/whole person/criticality education, which
is idea-based. Training, on the other hand, refers to professional train-
ing, which is mainly achieved through hands-on skills competence, as
opposed to abstract knowledge. Secondly, theory is an abstraction of
reality, and refers to ‘universal’ systems which formulate particulars or
disparate data. Practice is the practical activity of translation, and also
helps to more easily describe the ‘object’ of translation. Research investi-
gates data to formulate theory, and theory results from research. Product
here refers to the outputs or impacts which are generated by research.
This is a thematic thread running through the whole book. Potentially
the ‘tension’ is a general question facing Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs), and influences the way they teach, and the purpose of research.
In our own field, the delivery of pertinent translation programmes has
also faced tensions from both academia and the professional world.

The Aims of the Book


This book is located in the ‘Applied’ branch of Translation Studies, with
a particular focus on the analysis of the current curricula for Master’s
programmes in Translation (English and Chinese) in China and the
UK. The analysis uses case studies to examine how the translation pro-
grammes have responded to the tension between academic and profes-
sion, and how theoretical units and practical units are balanced in their
curriculum content.
My key questions are: how has the impact on the market affected the
translation programmes in both countries, and how have the six pro-
grammes investigated in this book responded to the tension between
education and training, or between theory and practice in the context of
neo-liberal economic globalisation? Answering the questions will provide
policymakers and course designers with illuminating examples for cur-
riculum development of translation programmes, and this is one of the
major contributions the book intends to make.
Preface    ix

The Originality of the Book and Wider Implications


This book distinguishes itself as the first and only study to date that
seeks to provide both cross-national (UK and China) and cross-disci-
plinary (neo-liberalism, studies in higher education, translation ­studies)
perspectives in analysing the curricula of translation programmes
which contribute to the development of knowledge in an important
area of translation studies; it also has some ramifications on educational
study. This is the first holistic and comprehensive study to explore the
relationship between educational content and professional needs in cur-
ricula and translation programme design in two different contexts. The
market-driven transformation of the HE sectors and the responses given
by the translation programmes are also integrated in this study for the
first time.
This book has wider implications for students, policymakers and
course designers of translation programmes in the UK, China and other
regions in the world. Firstly, the book outlines different competencies
required by the market and provides readers with adequate examples of
how translation programmes are delivered. In this sense, this book could
be ‘used’ to help potential students to differentiate between translation
programmes and select according to their own interests. This book has
also provided course designers with a reference framework for the design
and development of their own programmes. They may consider how
they can fit their translation programmes into a global world. If course
designers understand the global context, they will understand more of
what is needed. In view of the above, the research shown in this book
could provide universities that want to establish or optimise translation
programmes with illuminating examples.

The Structure of the Book


This book is organised as follows. The introduction presents the back-
ground, defines the key terms and introduces the aims, originality and
wider implications of the book. Chapter 1, as the foundation of the
whole argument, prepares for the in-depth discussions in the following
chapters. To be more specific, Chapter 1 initially introduces the changing
roles of universities in the context of neo-liberal economic globalisation.
One direct influence of these neo-liberal ideals on universities is that
they have to make their courses more professional in order to meet the
demands of the market, employers and students. Therefore, Chapter 1
x    Preface

proposes the question of balancing academic and professional pedagogies


in university-based degree courses for all the subjects in general, and for
translation programmes in particular. The recognition and development
of Translation Studies as an independent academic discipline in both the
West and China are also introduced in Chapter 1. Finally, this chapter
discusses how the present analysis can be conducted with the help of a
case study.
In Chapter 2, the existing literature about curriculum design and
translation teaching is critically reviewed. Furthermore, due to the fact
that the translation programmes in both the UK and China share the aim
of preparing their students to become qualified professional translators,
it is of paramount significance to identify what the demands and needs
of the translation profession are. This chapter therefore analyses the mar-
ket standards from Europe, the UK and China, which can represent the
regional, national or even international industry needs. These standards,
in turn, can become references for the curriculum development of trans-
lation programmes at universities.
Chapters 3 and 4, using six postgraduate translation programmes
(three each for China and the UK) as case studies, focus on investigating
how the translation courses are presented within different national tradi-
tions in teaching and learning from the perspective of course aims and
module content in the UK and China. The key issue, namely the rela-
tion between educational content and market needs is fully embedded
in the analysis of the curricula, and the translation market needs outlined
in Chapter 2 are used as indicators to match the module content of the
programmes in both countries.
The crux of this book is Chapter 5, which recaps on the contextual
issues proposed in Chapter 1 and uses the findings from Chapters 3 and
4 to make in-depth comparisons. More specifically, Chapter 5 provides a
thorough discussion of the impacts of neo-liberalism on the HE systems
in the UK and China, and also contrasts the analysis by placing both
contexts within a ‘global system’. This chapter also argues the direct
result of the market forces: the tension between education and train-
ing in universities, and how this tension is interrelated with Translation
Studies. The final section of Chapter 5, from the aspects of course aims,
module content, ethos of teaching and education resources, compares
how differently the six translation programmes in the UK and China
have reflected the ‘tension’ and have responded to market forces.
Preface    xi

Finally, the concluding remarks review the main research findings


in this book and provide readers with possible directions for future
research.

Beijing, China Wan Hu

Bibliography
Schäffner, C. (2012). Standardisation and benchmarking for improving translator
training. Chinese Translators Journal, 33(6), 37–45.
Tang, J., & Gentzler, E. (2008). Globalisation, networks and translation: A
Chinese perspective. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 16(3/4), 169–182.
The European Master’s in Translation. (2010). The European Master’s in
Translation (EMT) Strategy. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/depart-
ments/translation_en (Accessed: 31 July 2015).
Acknowledgements

Undertaking the research for this book was a long, challenging but
rewarding journey. I was very lucky to have many people help me to fin-
ish this book, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all
here.
First and foremost, great thanks go to Dr. Maike Oergel, who has
spent numerous hours reading, reviewing and making suggestions for
the improvement of the book. I am deeply grateful to her for sensitivity
and intelligence, and above all for genuinely guiding me to become an
academic. She has been a great supervisor in the academic world and a
role model in life.
I am deeply indebted to my six anonymous interviewees who pro-
vided me with invaluable details for the analysis of the case studies in this
book. I thank Prof. Defeng Li and Dr. Kathryn Batchelor, whose insight-
ful comments helped me refine this book.
My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Yannan Guo, Dr. Xiaohui Yuan,
Dr. Julie King and Dr. Yvonne Lee for their teaching in the early years
of my studies in the UK. I am also deeply grateful to Mr. David Bowen,
Mr. Klaus Mundt, Mr. Gareth Shaw and Ms. Ya-chun Liu. Many thanks
for their constructive discussions about the book, and for their guidance
on language and formatting issues.
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t thank the anonymous reviewer
and the excellent editorial team of Palgrave Macmillan. The reviewer’s
encouraging and insightful comments helped me regain confidence when

xiii
xiv    Acknowledgements

facing challenges in the completion of this book. The editorial team, in


my heart, is the best. They are professional, enthusiastic and kind.
I acknowledge the scholarship provided by the University of
Nottingham for the generous financial support during my undertaking
of this research project.
Last but not least, I should like to thank my parents, my husband and
my friends for their love, understanding and support.
Contents

1 Translation Studies in Higher Education Systems:


The UK and China 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Abstract and Situation: The Relationship Between
Academia and Profession 2
1.2.1 The Roles of Universities in History 2
1.2.2 The Changing Roles of Universities Under
Neoliberalism 3
1.2.3 Balancing Academic and Professional Pedagogies 7
1.2.4 Balancing Academic and Professional Pedagogies
in Translation Programmes 9
1.3 The Development of Translation Studies as a Discipline in
the West and China 15
1.3.1 Translation Studies Recognised in the Academic
Field in the West and China 15
1.3.2 An Overview of Translation Programmes in the
UK and China 19
1.4 Case Study: The Selection of Translation Programmes
in the Book 25
1.4.1 Method of the Book: Case Study 25
1.4.2 The Selection of the Case Programmes in the UK
and China 29
1.5 Summary 31
Bibliography 33

xv
xvi    Contents

2 Teaching Translation in the UK and China 41


2.1 Introduction 41
2.2 The Foundations and Principles of Curriculum Design 41
2.2.1 Definitions of Curriculum 42
2.2.2 Factors Influencing Curriculum Design 43
2.2.3 Factors Influencing Curriculum Design:
Translation Courses 50
2.2.4 Outcome-Based Curriculum: Developing
Translation Competences 52
2.3 Content-Based Curriculum: Major Approaches to Teaching
Translation 55
2.4 A Review of Research on Translation Teaching in China 59
2.5 Market Standards for Translator Training 61
2.5.1 The European Master’s in Translation (EMT) 62
2.5.2 National Occupational Standards for Translators
in the UK and China 65
2.5.3 Market Entry Requirement: Accreditation Tests of
Professional Translators 68
2.5.4 A Combined Model of Professional Standards for
Translators 73
2.6 Summary 75
Bibliography 76

3 Analysis of Current Curricula in Translation Programmes


in the UK 81
3.1 Introduction 81
3.2 Course Aims and Learning Outcomes of Case Studies
in the UK 83
3.3 Module Content of Case Studies in the UK: What, How
and Why 93
3.3.1 Credit-Based Course Structure: An Overview 93
3.3.2 Course Structure at Each Case Study: Allocation of
Modules 95
3.3.3 Specific Capabilities of Becoming a Translator:
Reflected in Module Content 100
3.4 Professionally or Theoretically Oriented Approach
to Translation Teaching 113
3.5 Summary 116
Bibliography 118
Contents    xvii

4 Analysis of Current Curricula in the Chinese MTI


Programme 121
4.1 Introduction 121
4.2 Introduction to the Postgraduate Professional Degree 122
4.2.1 Master of Translation and Interpreting in China 122
4.3 Course Aims and Objectives of the MTI Programme: From
General to Specific 123
4.3.1 Aims and Objectives of the MTI Programme
Suggested in The Official Guiding Plan 124
4.3.2 Course Aims and Objectives of the Three Case
Studies in China 125
4.4 Module Content of the MTI Programme: From General
to Specific 130
4.4.1 Modules Recommended by The Official Guiding
Plan 130
4.4.2 Course Components Explained in the Three Case
Studies 132
4.4.3 Specific Competences of Becoming a Translator:
Reflected in Module Content 139
4.4.4 Enhance Students’ Employability via Internships
and Professional Engagement 144
4.4.5 The Principle of ‘Same Aim but Divergent
Curricula’ 151
4.5 Summary 152
Bibliography 154

5 Context and Comparison of Translation Programmes in


China and the UK: Market Forces, Global Positions
and Curriculum Content 157
5.1 Introduction 157
5.2 Higher Education in the Context of Neo-liberal
Globalisation: The UK and China 158
5.2.1 The Implementation of Neo-liberal Ideals 158
5.2.2 Impacts of Neoliberalism on UK Universities 159
5.2.3 Impacts of Neoliberalism on Chinese Universities 167
5.3 The Tension Between Education and Training 174
5.4 Facing the Market: How Does the Design and Delivery of
Translation Programme Respond? 179
5.4.1 Comparison of Course Aims 180
xviii    Contents

5.4.2 Comparison of Module Content 189


5.4.3 Comparison of the Ethos of Teaching 195
5.4.4 Comparison of Education Resources 212
5.5 Summary 219
Bibliography 225

Conclusion 235

Appendices 239
Abbreviations

A (language) Native Language


AHRC Arts and Humanities Research Council
AQSIQ General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China
ATS Applied Translation Studies
B (language) Foreign Language
BFSU Beijing Foreign Studies University
BTI Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting
CAT Computer-Assisted Translation
CATTI China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters
CBT Competence-Based Training
CCTV China Central Television
CGTN China Global Television Network
CI Confucius Institute
CPC Communist Party of China
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
CSSCI Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index
DGT European Commission’s Directorate General for Translation
DipTrans Diploma in Translation
EMT The European Master’s in Translation
EU The European Union
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
FIT International Federation of Translators
FLTRP Foriegn Language Teaching and Research Publishing
GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education
GSTI Graduate School of Translation and Interpreting

xix
xx    Abbreviations

HE Higher Education
HEIs Higher Education Institutions
IO International Organisations
IP Intellectual Property
KTPs Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
LSP Language Service Providers
MATI MA in Translation and Interpreting
MATIS MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies
MATS MA in Translation Studies
MBA Master of Business Administration
MLA Master of Language Administration
MoE Ministry of Education
MPA Master of Public Administration
MTI Master of Translation and Interpreting
PACTE Process of Acquisition of Translation Competence and
Evaluation
PBL Project-based learning
RAE Research Assessment Exercise
REF Research Excellence Framework
T&I Translation and Interpreting
TAC Translators Association of China
TOT Training of Trainers
TS Translation Studies
UCL University College London
UN The United Nations
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
WEG Wanli Education Group
WTO World Trade Organisation
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Holmes’s ‘map’ of Translation Studies 16


Fig. 1.2 Holmes’s branch of ‘Applied Translation Studies’ expanded
by Munday (2012, p. 19) 16
Fig. 2.1 Factors included in environment analysis 45
Fig. 2.2 Kelly’s model of curriculum design in translation 50
Fig. 2.3 Competences for professional translators, experts
in multilingual and multimedia communication 63
Fig. 2.4 Market standards for professional translators 73
Fig. 3.1 Learning outcomes of the MATS at GB Case 3 88
Fig. 3.2 Learning outcomes at the module level of the MATI
at GB Case 1: Stage I 91
Fig. 3.3 Learning outcomes at the module level of the MATI
at GB Case 1: Stage 2 Core 92
Fig. 3.4 Learning outcomes at the module level of the MATI
at GB Case 1: Stage 2 Optional 95
Fig. 5.1 Enrolment in tertiary education in China
(unit: 1000 persons) 169

xxi
List of Tables

Table 1.1 The categorisation of Translation Studies in China 20


Table 2.1 Two models of ‘Translation Competence’ 52
Table 2.2 Six semi-specialised areas required in the DipTrans exam 53
Table 2.3 Requirements for being a qualified translator 74
Table 3.1 Aims and learning outcomes of the MATIS at GB Case 2 84
Table 3.2 Course objectives of the MATS at GB Case 3 86
Table 3.3 Course objectives of the MATI at GB Case 1 89
Table 3.4 Module content of the MATIS GB Case 2 96
Table 3.5 Module content of the MATS at GB Case 3 97
Table 3.6 Module content of the MATI at GB Case 1 99
Table 3.7 Capabilities required in university-based translation
programmes 101
Table 3.8 Competence-based curriculum map of case studies
in the UK 102
Table 4.1 Course aims suggested in The Official Guiding Plan 124
Table 4.2 Course aims of the MTI/MLA programme at CH Case 1 126
Table 4.3 Course aims of the MTI programme at CH Case 2 128
Table 4.4 Course aims of the MTI programmes at CH Case 3 129
Table 4.5 Modules recommended by The Official Guiding Plan 131
Table 4.6 Module content of the MTI programme at CH Case 1 133
Table 4.7 Module content of the MLA programme at CH Case 1 134
Table 4.8 Module content of the MTI programme at CH Case 2 136
Table 4.9 Module content of the MTI programme at CH Case 3 138
Table 4.10 Competence-based curriculum map of case studies in China 140
Table 5.1 Soft power index results in 2012 (top 5) 161
Table 5.2 The Anholt-Gfk Nation Brand Index in 2013 161

xxiii
xxiv    List of Tables

Table 5.3 Translation and interpreting courses at University M 181


Table 5.4 Staff members’ research interests at GB Case 1 199
Table 5.5 Staff members’ research interests at GB Case 2 200
Table 5.6 Staff members’ research interests at GB Case 3 201
Table 5.7 Staff expertise on the MTI programme of CH Case 2 206
Table 5.8 Staff expertise on the MTI programme of CH Case 1 208
Table 5.9 Staff expertise on the MTI programme at CH Case 3 209
CHAPTER 1

Translation Studies in Higher Education


Systems: The UK and China

1.1  Introduction
Universities have never before (in human history) been so significant
(Collini 2012). The role of universities has also been a perennial ques-
tion in the field of higher education. In defining and encapsulating the
idea of the university, Wilhelm von Humboldt at the turn of the eight-
eenth and nineteenth centuries and John Henry Newman in the mid-
nineteenth century made invaluable contributions. Humboldt’s idea of
the university, as Holford puts it, ‘is freedom of scientific research and
autonomy in teaching: for Newman, students, and their liberal educa-
tion and character information, are at the heart of the idea of the univer-
sity’ (2014, p. 13). An assumption they both shared is that the purpose
of universities should be the pursuit of knowledge for individuals. The
social role of universities was given attention, but with a greater focus on
the individual contribution to society.
In today’s world, however, ‘modern information technology is spread-
ing information more widely than ever before in history’ (Nye 2004,
p. 1). The connections among both nations and industries have been
largely increased. The commercialisation of higher education is being
pushed ahead by governments worldwide (Bok 2004). As a result, the
purpose of universities has changed in accordance with increasingly
knowledge-driven economies, indicating that knowledge is required in
order to make their contribution to society. This demands that degree
courses need to be developed with the market’s needs in mind to

© The Author(s) 2018 1


W. Hu, Education, Translation and Global Market Pressures,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8207-8_1
2 W. Hu

ensure a good match between graduates’ competence and employers’


requirements (Schäffner 2012). This has also been the case for the trans-
lation programmes in both China and the UK.
In view of the above scene-setting, this chapter will introduce the
roles of universities in history, and the changing roles of universities
in the global climate of economic neoliberalism, and will then ana-
lyse how educational content and professional needs are balanced in
degree courses and in the case of translation programmes. Moreover,
as the foundation of the whole book, this chapter will also discuss how
Translation Studies has been recognised as an academic discipline in both
the West and China, and will also introduce the selection of the research
objectives—case translation programmes—in this book.

1.2  Abstract and Situation: The Relationship Between


Academia and Profession
1.2.1   The Roles of Universities in History
In history, academia was rooted in the ‘liberal arts of the historical
trivium and quadrivium of Middle Ages’ (Kearns 2008, p. 187). The
trivium included grammar, logic and rhetoric; while the quadrivium con-
sisted of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. This scheme was
then developed by the process of Renaissance humanism in the nine-
teenth century, leading to a greater emphasis on research than teach-
ing alone (ibid.). The German educationist Wilhelm von Humboldt is
a typical representative. University education was thought to foster
research-type talent according to Humboldt (1809/1990). He also
advocated the ideal of combining instruction and research. In short, the
ideals of Humboldt formed the basis of our system of higher education.
In the twentieth century, both teaching and research were emphasised
as mass education and innovation are equally important. Humboldt’s
idea is crucial to both Western and Eastern modern university educa-
tion, and he at least suggests that there should be a link between theory
and practice. Many other scholars have also expressed opinions on the
‘roles’ of universities. Newman, for example, proposed that the ration-
ale for a university was the provision of a liberal education to contribute
to the cultivation of the mind, as education is the application of phil-
osophical rationality (Newman 1927). In other words, the perceived
1 TRANSLATION STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS … 3

role of universities in society is as educators in the humanistic tradition


(Anderman and Rogers 2012, p. 65). The essence of their activities, as
Duderstadt (2002, p. 5) argues, can be summarised as ‘critical think-
ing, moral reasoning and judgement’. This represents education as being
related to personal achievement, growth and fulfilment and the promo-
tion of education for the social good (Lambert et al. 2007, p. 526). In
short, traditionally the university has focused on the development of
individuals. It tended to produce knowledge, to educate young genera-
tions and to spread culture and values, to name but a few goals.

1.2.2   The Changing Roles of Universities Under Neoliberalism

1.2.2.1 The Introduction of Neoliberalism


In the last two decades of the twentieth century, however, there have
been dramatic changes in the nature of higher education since the arrival
of neoliberalism, which first emerged in the 1970s as a new form of
managerialism and governmentality1 (Davies and Bansel 2007; Manteaw
2008), and was built on the belief that ‘market forces will bring prosper-
ity, liberty, democracy and peace to the whole of humankind’ (Scholte
2000, p. 34). As defined by Harvey (2005, p. 2), neoliberalism is,

…a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-


being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial free-
dom and skills within an institutional framework, characterised by strong
property rights, free markets and free trade.

This specifies that the key principles of neoliberalism are ‘market dereg-
ulation, state decentralisation, and reduced state intervention into eco-
nomic affairs in general’ (Campbell and Pederson 2001, p. 1). Despite
criticism, it is acknowledged that neoliberalism has been regarded as the
reigning policy framework in contemporary globalisation (Scholte 2000,
p. 35) and still influences today’s political, economic and cultural systems.

1.2.2.2 Major Changes in the HE Sector Caused by Neoliberalism


Although neoliberalism was primarily associated with the socio-economic
domain, the scope of neoliberalism is not restricted to the economic
sector, but has also been expanded to other spheres of life (e.g. politi-
cal, cultural or ideological). The policies and practices that follow from
4 W. Hu

neoliberalism have also influenced the purpose of higher education.


According to Olssen and Peters (2005, p. 313), the predominance of
neoliberalism during the 1980s and 1990s ‘has produced a fundamen-
tal shift in the way universities and other institutions of higher educa-
tion have identified and justified their institutional existence’. To be
more precise, neoliberalism takes educational systems out of state control
and into the global marketplace (Stromquist 2002; Frake 2008), which
causes a changing relationship between universities, the government, stu-
dents, employers and the market.
The application of neoliberalism to the HE sector has three main
aspects. Firstly, the traditional view of the HE sector as primarily a pub-
lic good is transferred to the new view that the HE sector is principally
a private good (Jiang 2005). In particular, the HE sector was largely
funded by the state or public authorities, but the neo-liberal market-
driven strategy has resulted in cuts to public spending on the HE sector
by many governments (e.g. the UK, New Zealand, Australia). So univer-
sities are mainly funded by their direct beneficiaries (students themselves
and their future employers) (ibid., 2005), and they need to diversify their
revenues by building up partnerships with the business sector, which
gives rise to burgeoning relationships between universities and private
industry (Lambert et al. 2007).
Secondly, education is now defined as a tradeable service worldwide.
For example, according to a UNESCO estimate, education was a $2
trillion global ‘industry’ in 2000 (Kathleen 2006, p. 6). In this sense,
the HE sector has become a tradeable commodity in the new borderless
HE market in which the student is now the ‘consumer’ or ‘client’, and
higher education is the ‘supplier’ or ‘provider’ (Frake 2008; Jiang 2005;
Jameson et al. 2012). HE, on this account, has become commercial-
ised and commodified. Therefore, higher education nowadays has been
metaphorically described as the ‘Tesco’ model of education ‘where learn-
ing is packaged and sold to suit economic need and consumer demand’
(Foster 2002, cited in Jameson et al. 2012, p. 25), and it is more about
the development of human resources and economic prosperity (Lambert
et al. 2007, p. 526).
Thirdly, neoliberalism brings about a new institutional relationship
between the HE sector and wider society in respect of research, teaching
and learning. As regards research, many universities began to consider
the broader impacts of their research beyond academia including the
impact on the economy, society, health, the environment, policymaking
1 TRANSLATION STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS … 5

and culture. In terms of teaching and learning, despite debate, the idea
of embedding employability into the curriculum has been recognised in
most universities. With market and global forces, the HE sector is now
required to supply suitably skilled graduates to the workplace. Therefore,
the strategy of enhancing the skills of students in order to meet employ-
ers’ recruitment requirements has now been put on the agenda (Hills
et al. 2003, p. 211; Rodríguez de Céspedes 2017).
According to Lambert et al. (2007, p. 526), the commercialisation
and marketisation of education is a ‘global’ phenomenon, albeit the
effects may be displayed in different ways due to different national edu-
cational systems. The HE sectors in both the UK and China,2 the two
subjects of this study, have also been affected by this global economic
development in recent years.
The period since the introduction of neo-liberal values has witnessed
numerous changes to UK universities, including the expansion of higher
education as well as the strengthening of the higher education market
in a global context (Krause 2009). These changes come from many
directions. Firstly, ‘an opening up of the student recruitment market
is spiced by a sense of consumerism among those who will pay higher
fees (or strictly, higher graduate contributions)’ (Greenaway and Rudd
2014, p. 1). Secondly, students request that greater employability skills
be taught in academic classroom hours (Atkins 1999; Boden and Nedeva
2010; Jameson et al. 2012), which poses tensions between academia
and profession, and between theoretical teaching of content and the
skills needed in the market in many degree programmes. Thirdly and
most importantly, in order to maintain the UK HE sector as a byword
for excellence in the global market, the HE-Business engagement3 is
much enhanced nowadays. This engagement can be explained as a bilat-
eral relationship between the HE sector and the private sector includ-
ing business and industry. Within this partnership, HE providers serve
as sources of graduate talent, academic expertise, international reach and
technology, while companies have the capacity to absorb innovation,
to support business growth, trade and inward investment (Rudd 2013;
Greenaway and Rudd 2014). This HE-Business interface belongs to the
wider method of ‘knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs)’, which refers
to a range of activities usually directed at producing practical outcomes,
often stemming from research (Schofield 2011, p. 5). In the UK, knowl-
edge transfer is a growing tendency with regard to the research and
impact mission among most universities. This process could mutually
6 W. Hu

benefit both universities and the business sector in many ways,4 but the
notion is still controversial among some academics, and it may be too
naïve to expect academics fully and suddenly to accept business engage-
ment and innovation due to the longer established research-intensive sys-
tem, and it could be more difficult for academics working in the Arts
and Humanities to build up partnerships with industry and to generate
enough impact on the wider society than for their colleagues in the facul-
ties of science and engineering. In view of all these changes, universities
in the UK are becoming practical in terms of knowledge and technology
transfer, and economic development and global forces. They are increas-
ingly considered as an instrument to boost economic growth via creating
and applying new knowledge.
Since its integration into the world economy, the Chinese govern-
ment has also emphasised the importance of knowledge in enhancing
its economic development and ability to compete in the global econ-
omy. Despite the fact that each country might adopt different national
policies, similar developments and challenges can be found in China in
that the HE sector has also experienced pressures from neo-liberal glo-
balisation. In this sense, policy arrangements should be implemented
along market lines, and educational reforms are required to be in line
with those in economic sectors to establish close links between educa-
tion and the market. This has been the most prominent orientation
(Yang 2012). The social and economic impacts of universities are also
reinforced by government, specifying that the optimised higher educa-
tion structure needs to meet national and regional socio-economic devel-
opment needs. These themes have formed the milieu for the reform
of China’s higher education sector since the 1980s (Jiang 2005; Mok
2009; Yang 2012). As such, a series of reforms and strategies have been
adopted in its HE system in response to market forces. Firstly, in order
to create more opportunities for access to universities, China has wit-
nessed the expansion of higher education in both student numbers and
in the number of Chinese universities since the late 1990s. This indicates
that a massification of the HE sector in China has been implemented.
Another change in Chinese society is the introduction and adoption
of a decentralisation policy, which replaces the former ‘centralised’ and
‘state-dominated model’5 and gives more authority to local governments
in terms of allocating resources, financing higher education, and man-
aging personnel and salaries in universities (Mok 2001, 2009; Mok and
Ngok 2001); while the Ministry of Education (MoE) acts as coordinator
1 TRANSLATION STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS … 7

and mediator. In addition, Chinese HE has also been affected by the


‘strong tide of marketization and privatisation’ (Mok 2009, p. 290),
such as the promotion of private universities run by enterprises, indi-
viduals, public organisations, or even Sino-foreign partnerships (Jiang
2005; Hou et al. 2011). Furthermore, professional degree courses have
also been established and developed in China since the 1990s in order to
meet professional requirements in pertinent industries, and then to nur-
ture more application-oriented talents so as to compete with other coun-
tries in the global competitive market.
Viewed from the above discussion, although the UK and China fol-
low different strategies in their HE sectors in response to neo-liberal
ideals due to different educational paradigms and ideas, the massifica-
tion and commercialisation of the HE sector is a common issue for both
countries. This trend urges the HE sector to take ‘key, core, transferable
and employability skills into the heart of students’ learning experience’
(Atkins 1999, p. 267). The following section then addresses the balance
of academic (abstract concepts) and professional (transferrable skills) cur-
riculum content in general, and in Translation Studies in particular.

1.2.3   Balancing Academic and Professional Pedagogies


The relationship between professional demands and the ‘classical human-
ist traditions’ of academia has always been a hot topic (Kearns 2008,
p. 184). ‘Ideally, there should be a match between the learning out-
comes of the students and the employment market into which they pro-
ceed after graduation. However, a majority of graduates from the target
degrees go into jobs in which their degree knowledge base would appear
to be of little benefit’ (Hills et al. 2003, p. 222). This indicates that there
are still tensions between what employers and students need and what
universities are producing (Atkins 1999). More specifically, employers in
the current labour market may prefer to recruit people who have com-
petent job-specific skills and can be responsible for tasks and projects as
soon as they get hired. This means that the disciplinary knowledge or
abstract theory taught in the universities cannot always equip their grad-
uates with skills needed in the workplace.
More recently, neo-liberal principles have posed several challenges to
the orientation of degree programmes and teaching content in univer-
sities. An increasing expectation, therefore, is that the education which
universities offer should directly provide graduates with skillsets which
8 W. Hu

can be applied immediately in a specific work environment (Kearns


2008, p. 188). Moreover, the participation rates in universities are higher
than ever, and the student population is more diverse. The mission of
higher education and modes of delivery have changed as well. As such,
the major drive in teaching nowadays is more contingent on professional
programmes and considers teaching effectiveness (Biggs and Tang 2011).
In order to bridge this gap and to link degree programmes to employ-
ability, one solution could be to establish degree programmes with a
vocational orientation (van der Merwe et al. 2013) or work-based learn-
ing programmes (Atkins 1999; Hills et al. 2003). In this case, course
aims, module content and teaching methods may have a clear focus that
fits employers’ needs (Boden and Nedeva 2010). The Chinese profes-
sional degree at master’s level (including the MBA programme) is such
an example. Moreover, if such professional-oriented courses were accred-
ited or recognised by business and industry (e.g. Accountancy; Banking
and Finance), professional associations may have an impact on the design
and delivery of relevant programmes in that professional bodies’ require-
ments may be integrated into the curricula so as to gain accreditation
(van der Merwe et al. 2013). Work placements may also be provided
in such courses with the aim of providing students with useful career
insights and workplace awareness by learning skills which might be useful
in the workplace.
Another method is associated with teaching content, which is now
required to meet the demands of the market and employers as well as
to satisfy students’ needs. This could be understood as the ‘employabil-
ity’ of graduates, which has become a common aim among governments
around the world and has been imposed on national higher education
systems (Yorke and Knight 2006, p. 3). Thus, employability-related skills
are advocated to be embedded into university curricula. In the context
of the HE sector, these skills in this case include two facets: transferra-
ble or generic skills, and disciplinary knowledge and understanding or
subject-related skills. Generic skills, such as communication skills, IT
skills, problem-solving skills, interpersonal skills and teamwork, allow
people to succeed in a wide range of different careers, tasks and jobs
(Training Agency 1990; Atkins 1999; González and Wagenaar 2003;
Hurtado Albir 2007). In some domains, employers tend to value generic
skills more highly than disciplinary-based understanding and skills
(e.g. social work) (Harvey et al. 1997); while in others, discipli-
nary knowledge and understanding are vital (e.g. computer science)
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
Doug. So spacecraft merely turn aside for anything that even looks
close. They don't take any chances at all," said Don Channing. "They
can't afford to."
"Suppose that the ship ducked a big shower and it went so far out of
course that they missed Mars?"
"That's out, too," laughed Channing.
"Why?"
"A standard ship of space is capable of hitting it up at about four G
all the way from Terra to Mars at major opposition and end up with
enough power and spare cathodes to continue to Venus in
quadrature. Now the velocity of the planets in their orbits is a stinking
matter of miles per second, while the top speed of a ship in even the
shortest passage runs up into four figures per second. You'd be
surprised at what velocity you can attain at one G for ten hours."
"Yes?"
"It runs to slightly less than two hundred and fifty miles per second,
during which you've covered only four million miles. In the shortest
average run from Venus to Terra at conjunction, a skimpy twenty-five
million miles, your time of travel is a matter of twenty-five hours odd,
running at the standard two G. Your velocity at turnover—or the
halfway point where the ship stops going up from Terra and starts to
go down to Venus—is a cool five hundred miles per second. So
under no condition would the ship miss its objective badly enough to
cause its complete loss. Why, this business is run so quickly that
were it not for the saving in time and money that amounts to a small
percentage at the end of each flight, the pilot could head for his
planet and approach the planet asymptotically."
"You know what you're doing, don't you?" asked the reporter.
"I think so."
"You're forcing my mind into accepting something that has never
happened before, and something that has no basis for its—"
"You mean piracy? I wonder. We've all read tales of the Jolly Roger
being painted on the side of a sleek ship of space while the pirate,
who is a fine fellow at heart though uninhibited, hails down the
cruiser carrying radium. He swipes the stuff and kisses all the
women whilst menacing the men with a gun-hand full of searing,
coruscating, violently lethal ray pistol. But that sounds fine in stories.
The trick is tougher than it sounds, Douglas. You've got to catch your
rabbit first."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that finding a ship in space to prey upon is somewhat less
difficult than juggling ten billiard balls whilst riding a horse
blindfolded. Suppose you were to turn pirate. This is what would
happen:
"You'd get the course of the treasure ship from the spaceport, fine
and good, by resorting to spies and such. You'd lie in wait out there
in the blackness of space, fixing your position by the stars and
hoping that your error in fix was less than a couple of hundred
thousand miles. The time comes. You look to your musket, sharpen
your cutlass, and see to the priming of your derringers that are thrust
into the red sash at your waist. You are right on the course, due to
your brilliant though lawless navigator who was tossed out of
astrogator's school for filching the teacher's whiskey. Then the
treasure ship zoops past at a healthy hundred miles per second and
you decide that since she is hitting it up at two G, you'd have had to
start from scratch at a heck of a lot better to catch her within the next
couple of light years."
"But suppose you took the course as laid and applied the same
acceleration? Suppose you followed on the heels of your quarry until
you were both in space? You could do it then, couldn't you?"
"Gosh," said Channing, "I never thought of that. That's the only way
a guy could pirate a ship—unless he planted his men on board and
they mutinied."
"Then it might be pirates?"
"It might be," admitted Channing. "It'd have to occur near beginning
or end, of course, though. I can't think of anything safer than being
shot at out of a gun of any kind while both crates are hitting it up at a
couple of hundred miles per second and at a distance of a few miles
apart. It would be all right if you were both running free, but at two G
acceleration, you'd have to do quite a bit of ballistic gymnastics to
score a hit."
"Or run in front of your quarry and sow a bouquet of mines."
"Except that the meteor detector would show the position of the
pirate craft in the celestial globe and the interconnecting circuits
would cause the treasure ship to veer off at a sharp angle. Shucks,
Doug, this thing has got too many angles to it. I can't begin to run it
off either way. No matter how difficult it may sound, there are still
ways and means to do it. The one thing that stands out like a sore
thumb is the fact that the Solar Queen has turned up missing. Since
no inanimate agency could cause failure, piracy is the answer."
"You're sure of that?"
"Not positive. There are things that might cause the ship to founder.
But what they are depends on too many coincidences. It's like hitting
a royal flush on the deal, or filling a full house from two pairs."
"Well, thanks, Channing. I'm heading back to Canalopsis right now.
Want to come along?"
Channing looked at Arden, who was coming from the dressing room
carrying her coat and he nodded. "The gal says yes," he grinned.
"Annoy her until I find my shoes, will you?"
Arden wrinkled her nose at Don. "I'll like that," she said to Doug.

The trip from Lincoln Head to Canalopsis was a fast one. Doug
drove the little flier through the thin air of Mars at a breakneck speed
and covered the twelve hundred miles in just shy of an hour. At the
spaceport, Channing found that he was not denied the entrance as
the reporter had been. He was ushered into the office of Keg
Johnson, and he and the manager of the Canalopsis Spaceport
greeted Don with a worried expression on his face.
"Still gone," said Johnson cryptically. "Like the job of locating her?"
Don shook his head with a sympathetic smile. "Like trying to find a
grain of sand on a beach—a specified grain, I mean. Wouldn't know
how to go about it."
Keg nodded. "I thought as much. That leaves her out of the picture.
Well, up to now space travel has been about as safe as spending the
evening in your easy-chair. Hello, Arden, how's married life?"
"Can't tell yet," she said with a twinkle. "I've got to find out whether I
can break him of a dozen bad habits before I'll commit myself."
"I wish you luck, Arden, although from that statement, it's Don that
needs the luck."
"We came to see if there was anything we could do about the Solar
Queen," offered Channing.
"What can anybody do?" asked Keg with spread hands. "About all
we can do is to put it down in our remembrances and turn to
tomorrow. Life goes on, you know," said Keg in a resigned tone, "and
either we keep up or we begin to live in the past. Are you going to
stay here for a day or two?"
"Was thinking about it," said Don.
"Well, suppose you register at the Terraland and meet me back here
for lunch. If anything occurs, I'll shoot you a quickie." Keg looked at
his watch and whistled. "Lordy," he said ruefully. "I didn't know how
late it was. Look, kids, I'll run you downtown myself, and we'll all
have lunch at the Terraland. How's that?"
"Sounds better," admitted Channing. "My appetite, you know."
"I know," laughed Arden. "Come on, meat-eater, and we'll peel a
calf."
It was during lunch that a messenger raced into the dining room and
handed Keg a letter. Keg read, and then swore roundly. He tossed
the letter across the table to Don and Arden.
TO THE OPERATORS OF ALL SPACELINES:
IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOUR SHIPS
NEED PROTECTION. THE ABSENCE OF THE SOLAR
QUEEN IS PROOF ENOUGH THAT YOUR EFFORTS
ARE INSUFFICIENT TO INSURE THE ARRIVAL OF A
SPACESHIP AT ITS DESTINATION.
I AM CAPABLE OF OFFERING PROTECTION AT THE
REASONABLE RATE OF ONE DOLLAR SOLARIAN FOR
EVERY GROSS TON, WITH THE RETURN OF TEN
DOLLARS SOLARIAN IF ANY SHIP FAILS TO COME
THROUGH SAFELY. I THINK THAT YOU MAY FIND IT
NECESSARY TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY INSURANCE,
SINCE WITHOUT MY PROTECTION I CANNOT BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILURES.
ALLISON (HELLION) MURDOCH.
"Why the dirty racketeer," stormed Arden. "Who is he, anyway?"
"Hellion Murdoch is a man of considerable ability as a surgeon and a
theoretical physicist," explained Don. "He was sentenced to the gas
chamber ten years ago for trying some of his theories out on human
beings without their consent. He escaped with the aid of fifteen or
twenty of his cohorts who had stolen the Hippocrates right out of the
private spaceport of the Solarian Medical Research Institute."
"And they headed for the unknown," offered Keg. "Wonder where
they've been for the last ten years?"
"I'll bet a hat that they've been in the Melapalan Jungle, using the
machine shop of the Hippocrates to fashion guns. That machine
shop was a dilly, if I remember correctly."
"It was. The whole ship was just made to be as self-sustaining as it
could be. They used to run all over the System in it, you know,
chasing bugs. But look, Don, if I were you, I'd begin worrying about
Venus Equilateral. That's where he'll hit next."
"You're right. But what are you going to do?"
"Something that will drive him right out to the relay station," said Keg
in a sorrowful tone. "Sorry, Don, but when I put an end to all space
shipping for a period of six weeks, Hellion Murdoch will be sitting in
your lap."
"He sure will," said Channing nervously. "Arden, are you willing to
run a gantlet?"
"Sure," she answered quickly. "Are you sure that there will be no
danger?"
"Reasonably sure, or I wouldn't take you with me. Unless Murdoch
has managed to build himself a couple of extra ships, we've got a
chance in three that he'll be near one of the other two big
spaceports. So we'll slide out of here unannounced and at a peculiar
time of day. We'll load up with gravanol and take it all the way to the
station at six G."
"He may have two or three ships," said Keg. "A man could cover all
the standard space shipping in three, and he might not have too bad
a time with two, especially if he were only out looking for those which
weren't paid for. But, look, I wouldn't check out of the Terraland if I
were you. Keep this under cover. Your heap is all ready to take sky
from Canalopsis Spaceport and you can leave directly."
"Hold off on your announcement as long as possible," Don asked
Keg.
Johnson smiled and nodded. "I'll give you time to get there anyway.
But I've no control over what will be done at Northern Landing or
Mojave. They may kick over the traces."
"Arden, we're moving again," laughed Don. "Keg, ship us our duds
as soon as this affair clears up." Channing scribbled a message on
the back of Murdoch's letter. "Shoot this off to Walt Franks, will you?
I won't wait for an answer, that'll take about fifty minutes, and by that
time I'll have been in space for twenty."
They paused long enough to stop at the nurse's office at the
spaceport for a heavy shot of gravanol and a thorough bracing with
wide adhesive tape. Then they made their way to the storage space
of the spaceport where they entered their small ship. Channing was
about to send the power lever home when the figure of Keg Johnson
waved him to stop.
Keg ran up to the space lock and handed in a paper.
"You're it," he said. "Good luck, Channings."
It was another message from Hellion Murdoch. It said, bluntly:
TO DONALD A. CHANNING, PH.D.:
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS:
CONSIDERABLE DIFFICULTY HAS BEEN
EXPERIENCED IN TRANSMITTING MESSAGES TO
THE INTERESTED PARTIES. I DESIRE A FREE HAND
IN TELLING ALL WHO CARE THE PARTICULARS OF
MY INSURANCE.
SINCE YOUR RELAY STATION IS IN A POSITION TO
CONTROL ALL COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE
WORLDS, I AM OFFERING YOU THE OPTION OF
EITHER SURRENDERING THE STATION TO ME, OR OF
FIGHTING ME FOR ITS POSSESSION. I AM
CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL SEE THE INTELLIGENT
COURSE; AN UNARMED STATION IN SPACE IS NO
MATCH FOR A FULLY ARMED AND EXCELLENTLY
MANNED CRUISER.
YOUR ANSWER WILL BE EXPECTED IN FIVE DAYS.
ALLISON (HELLION) MURDOCH.
Channing snarled and thrust the power lever down to the last notch.
The little ship leaped upward at five G, and was gone from sight in
less than a minute.
Arden shook her head. "What was that message you sent to
Franks?" she asked.
"I told him that there was a wild-eyed pirate on the loose, and that he
might take a stab at the station. We are coming in as soon as we can
get there and to be on the lookout for us on the landing
communications radio, and also for anything untoward in the nature
of space vessels."
"Then this is not exactly a shock," said Arden, waving the message
from Murdoch.
"Not exactly," said Channing dryly. "Now look, Arden, you go to
sleep. This'll take hours and hours, and gabbing about it will only lay
you out cold."
"I feel fine," objected Arden.
"I know, but that's the gravanol, not you. The tape will keep you
intact, and the gravanol will keep you awake without nausea. But you
can't get something for nothing, Arden, and when that gravanol
wears off, you'll spend ten times as long with one-tenth of the trouble
you might have had. So take it easy for yourself now and later you'll
be glad that you aren't worse."
The sky blackened, and Channing knew that they were free in
space. Give them another fifteen minutes and the devil himself
couldn't find them. With no flight plan scheduled and no course
posted, they might as well have been in the seventeenth dimension.
As they emerged from the thin atmosphere, there was a fleeting
flash of fire from several miles to the east, but Channing did not pay
particular attention to it. Arden looked through a telescope and
thought she saw a spaceship circling, but she could not be sure.
Whatever it was, nothing came of it.
The trip out to the station was a monotonous series of uneventful
hours, proceeding along one after the other. They dozed and slept
most of the time, eating sparingly and doing nothing that was not
absolutely necessary.
Turnabout was accomplished and then the deceleration began,
equally long and equally monotonous. It was equally inactive.
Channing tried to plan, but it failed because he could not plan
without talking and discussing the affair with his men. Too much
depended upon their co-operation. He fell into a morose, futile
feeling that made itself evident in grousing; Arden tried to cheer him,
but Don's usually bubbling spirit was doused too deep. Also, Arden
herself was none too happy, which is necessary before one can
cheer another.
Then they sighted the station and Channing's ill spirit left. A man of
action, what he hated most was the no-action business of just sitting
in a little capsule waiting for the relay station to come up out of the
sky below. Once it was sighted, Channing foresaw action, and his
grousing stopped.
They zipped past the station at a distance of ten miles, and
Channing opened the radio.
"Walt Franks! Wake up, you slumberhead."
The answer came inside of half a minute. "Hello, Don. Who's
asleep?"
"Where are you? In Joe's?"
"Joe has declared a drought for the duration," said Franks with a
laugh. "He thinks we can't think on Scotch."
"We can't. Have you seen the boys?"
"Murdoch's crew? Sure, they're circling at about five miles, running
around in the plane of the ecliptic. Keep running on the colure and
the chances are that you won't even see 'em. But, Don, they can
hear us!"
"How about the landing stage at the south end?"
"There are two of them running around the station at different heights
from north to south. The third is circling in a four-mile circle on a
plane five miles south of the station. We've picked up a few HE
shells, and I guess that, if you try to make a landing there, you'll be
shot to bits. That devil is using the meteor detector for a gun pointer."
"Walt, remember the visual loran?"
"Y'mean the one we used to find the Empress?"
"Uh-huh. Rig it without the mirrors? Get me? D'you know what I want
to do?"
"Yop. All we have to do is clear away some of the saw grass again.
Not too much, though, because it hasn't been too long since we cut it
before. I get you all right."
"Fine. How soon?"
"I'm in the beam control north, I've got a portable mike, and I walk
over to the mirror and begin to tinker with the screws. Ouch! I've
skun me a knuckle. Now look, Don, I'm going inside and crack the
passage end. I've broadcast throughout the station that it is to be
cracked, and the men are swarming all over the axis of the station
doing just that. Come—a-running!"
Channing circled the little ship high to the north and came down
toward the axis of the station. He accelerated fiercely for a portion of
the time, and then made a slambang turnabout. A pilot light on the
instrument panel gleamed, indicating that some of the plates were
strained and that the ship was leaking air. Another light lit, indicating
that the automatic pressure control was functioning, and that the
pressure was maintained, though it might not long be.
Then in deceleration, Channing fought the ship on to a die-straight
line with the open door at the north end. He fixed the long, long
passageway in the center of his sights, and prayed.
The ship hit the opening squarely, and only then did their terrific
speed become apparent. Past bulkhead after bulkhead they drove,
and a thin scream came to their ears as the atmosphere down in the
bowels of the station was compressed by the tiny ship's passage.
Doors slammed behind the ship as it passed, and air locks were
opened, permitting the station's center to fill to its normal pressure
once more.
Then the rocketing ship slowed. Channing saw a flash of green and
knew that the Martian saw grass was halfway down the three-mile
length of the station. He zipped past storerooms and rooms filled
with machinery, and then the ship scraped lightly against one of the
bulkheads.
It caromed from this bulkhead against the next, hitting it in a
quartering slice. From side to side the ship bounced, crushing the
bulkheads and tearing great slices from the flanks of the ship.
It slowed, and came to rest against a large room full of packing
cases, and was immediately swarmed over by the men of Venus
Equilateral.
They found Channing partly conscious. His nose was bleeding but
otherwise he seemed all right. Arden was completely out, though a
quick check by the station's medical staff assured Don that she
would be all right as soon as they gave her a workout. He was
leaving the center of the station when Franks came puffing up the
stairway from the next lowest level.
"Gosh," he said. "It's a real job trying to guess where you stopped.
I've been hitting every hundred feet and asking. Well, that was one
for the book."
"Yeah," groaned Don. "Come along, Walt. I want a shower. You can
give the resumé of the activities while I'm showering and trying to
soak this adhesive off. Arden, lucky girl, will be unconscious when
Doc rips it off; I never liked the way they remove tape."
"There isn't much to tell," said Franks. "But what there is, I'll tell you."

Channing was finishing the shower when Walt mentioned that it was
too bad that they hadn't started his electron gun a few weeks sooner.
Don shut off the water, fumbled for a towel, and said: "What?"
Franks repeated.
Again Channing said: "What? Are you nuts?"
"No. I've been tinkering with an idea of mine. If we had another
month to work on it, I think we might be able to clip Murdoch's ears."
"Just what are you using in this super weapon, chum?"
Franks explained.
"Mind if I put in an oar?" asked Channing.
"Not at all. So far we might be able to fry a smelt at twenty feet, or
we could cook us a steak. But I haven't been able to do a thing yet.
We had it working once, and I think we heated a meteor somewhat,
but the whole thing went blooey before we finished the test. I've
spent the last week and a half fixing the thing up again, and would
have tried it out on the next meteor, but your message brought a halt
to everything but cleaning up the mess and making ready just in
case we might think of something practical."
"I'll put in my first oar by seeing the gadget. Wait till I find my pants,
and I'll go right along."
Don inspected the installation and whistled. "Not half bad, sonny, not
half bad."
"Except that we haven't been able to make it work."
"Well, for one thing, you've been running on the wrong track. You
need more power."
"Sure," grinned Walt. "More power, he says. I don't see how we can
cram any more soup into this can. She'll melt."
"Walt, what happens in a big gun?"
"Powder burns; expanding products of combustion push—"
"Functionally, what are you trying to accomplish? Take it on the basis
of a solid shot, like they used to use back in the sailing ship days."
"Well," said Walt thoughtfully, "I'd say they were trying to heave
something large enough to do damage."
"Precisely. Qualifying that statement a little, you might say that the
projectile transmits the energy of the powder charge to its objective."
"Right," agreed Walt.
"And it is possible to transmit that energy mechanically. I think if we
reason this idea out in analogy, we might be able to do it electrically.
First, there is the method. There is nothing wrong with your idea,
functionally. Electron guns are as old as radio. They—"
The door opened and Arden entered. "Hi, fellows," she said, "What's
cooking?"
"Hi, Arden. Like marriage?" Walt asked.
"How long do people have to be married before people stop asking
that darn fool question?" asked Arden.
"O.K., how about your question?"
"I meant that. I ran into Warren, who told me that the brains were
down here tinkering on something that was either a brilliant idea or
an equally brilliant flop—he didn't know which. What goes?"
"Walt has turned Buck Rogers and is now about to invent a ray gun."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Here's where we open a psychopathic ward," said Arden sadly. "So
far, Venus Equilateral is the only community that hasn't had a village
idiot. But no longer are we unique. Seriously, Walt?"
"Sure enough," said Channing. "He's got an idea here that may work
with a little tinkering."
"Brother Edison, we salute you," said Arden. "How does it work?"
"Poorly. Punk. Lousy."
"Well, sound recording has come a long way from the tinfoil cylinder
that scratched out: 'Mary had a little lamb!' And transportation has
come along swell from the days of sliding sledges. You may have the
nucleus of an idea, Walt. But I meant its operation instead of its
efficiency."
"We have an electron gun of super size," explained Walt. "The
cathode is a big affair six feet in diameter and capable of emitting a
veritable storm of electrons. We accelerate them by means of
properly spaced anodes of the proper voltage level, and we focus
them into a nice bundle by means of electrostatic lenses—"
"Whoah, Tillie, you're talking like the venerable Buck Rogers himself.
Say that in words of one cylinder, please," chuckled Arden.
"Well, any voltage gradient between electrodes of different voltage
acts as a prism, sort of. When you have annular electrodes of the
proper size, shape, and voltage difference, they act as a lens."
"In other words, the ring-shaped electrodes are electrostatic lenses?"
"Nope. It is the space between them. With light or electrons a convex
lens will converge the light no matter which direction the light is
coming from."
"Uh-huh. I see in a sort of vague manner. Now, fellows, go on from
there. What's necessary to make this dingbat tick?"
"I want to think out loud," said Channing.
"That's nothing unusual," said Arden. "Can't we go into Joe's? You
can't think without a tablecloth, either."
"What I'm thinking is this, Walt. You've been trying to squirt electrons
like a fireman runs a hose. Walt, how long do you suppose a sixteen-
inch rifle would last if the explosives were constantly replaced and
the fire burned constantly?"
"Not long," admitted Walt.
"A gun is an overloaded machine," said Don. "Even a little one. The
life of a gun barrel is measured in seconds; totalling up the time of
transit of all the rounds from new gun to worn barrel gives a figure
expressed in seconds. Your electron gun, Walt, whether it be fish,
flesh, or fowl, must be overloaded for an instant."
"Is overload a necessary requirement?" asked Arden. "It seems to
me that you might be able to bore a sixteen-inch gun for a twenty-
two. What now, little man?"
"By the time we get something big enough to do more than knock
paint off, we'll have something bigger than a twenty-two," grinned
Channing. "I was speaking in terms of available strength versus
required punch. In the way that a girder will hold tremendous
overloads for brief instants, a gun is overloaded for milliseconds.
We'll have a problem—"
"O.K., aside from that, have you figured out why I haven't been able
to do more than warm anything larger than a house brick?"
"Sure," laughed Channing. "What happens in a multi-grid radio tube
when the suppressor grid is hanging free?"
"Charges negative and blocks the electron stream ... hey! That's it!"
"What?" asked Arden.
"Sure," said Walt. "We fire off a batch of electrons, and the first
contingent that arrives charges the affair so that the rest of the beam
sort of wriggles out of line."
"Your meteor is going to take on a charge of phenomenal negative
value, and the rest of your beam is going to be deflected away, just
as your electron lenses deflect the original beam," said Channing.
"And now another thing, old turnip. You're squirting out a lot of
electrons. That's much amperage. Your voltage—velocity—is nothing
to rave about even though it sounds high. Watts is what you want, to
corn a phrase."
"Phew," said Walt. "Corn, he says. Go on, prodigy, and make with
the explanations. I agree, we should have more voltage and less
quantity. But we're running the stuff at plenty of voltage now. Nothing
short of a Van Der Graf generator would work—and while we've got
one up on the forty-ninth level, we couldn't run a supply line down
here without reaming a fifty-foot hole through the station, and then I
don't know how we'd get that kind of voltage down here without ...
that kind of stuff staggers the imagination. You can't juggle a
hundred million volts on a wire. She'd squirt off in all directions."
"Another thing, whilst I hold it in my mind," said Channing,
thoughtfully. "You go flinging electrons off the station in basketful
after basketful, and the next bird that drops a ship on the landing
stage is going to spot-weld himself right to the south end of Venus
Equilateral. It wouldn't be long before the station would find itself
being pulled into Sol because of the electrostatic stress—if we didn't
run out of electrons first!"
"I hardly think that we'd run out—but we might have a tough time
flinging them away after a bit. Could it be that we should blow out a
fist full of protons at the same time?"
"Might make up a concentric beam and wave positive ions at the
target," said Channing. "Might help."
"But this space-charge effect. How do we get around that?"
"Same way we make the electron gun work. Fire it off at a devilish
voltage. Run your electron velocity up near the speed of light; the
electrons at that speed will acquire considerable mass, in
accordance with Lorenz's equation which shows that as the velocity
of a mass reaches the speed of light, its mass becomes infinite. With
a healthy mass built up by near-light velocities, the electrons will not
be as easy to deflect. Then, too, we can do the damage we want
before the charge can be built up that will deflect the stream. We ram
'em with a bundle of electrons moving so fast that the charging effect
can not work; before the space charge can build up to the level
required for self-nullification of our beam, the damage is done."
"And all we need is a couple of trillion volts. Two times ten to the
twelfth power. Grrr."
"I can see that you'll need a tablecloth," said Arden. "You birds can
think better over at Joe's. Come along and feed the missus, Don."
Channing surveyed the instrument again, and then said: "Might as
well, Walt. The inner man must be fed, and we can wrangle at the
same time. Argument assists the digestion—and vice versa."

"Now," said Channing as the dishes were pushed aside, clearing a


space on the table. "What are we going to do?"
"That's what I've been worrying about," said Walt. "Let's list the
things that make our gun ineffective."
"That's easy. It can't dish out enough. It's too dependent upon
mobility. It's fundamentally inefficient because it runs out of
ammunition too quick, by which I mean that it is a sort of gun with
antiseptic bullets. It cures its own damage."
"Prevents," said Arden.
"All right, it acts as its own shield, electrostatically."
"About this mobility," said Walt, "I do not quite agree with that."
"You can't whirl a hunk of tube the size and weight of a good-sized
telescope around fast enough to shoot holes in a racing spaceship,"
said Channing. "Especially one that is trying to dodge. We've got to
rely upon something that can do the trick better. Your tube did all
right following a meteor that rung in a course that can be predicted,
because you can set up your meteor spotter to correct for the
mechanical lag. But in a spaceship that is trying to duck your shot,
you'll need something that works with the speed of light. And, since
we're going to be forced into something heavy and hard hitting, its
inertia will be even more so."
"Heavy and hard hitting means exactly what?"
"Cyclotron, betatron or synchrotron. One of those dinguses that
whirls nucleons around like a stone on a string until the string breaks
and sends the stone out at terrific speed. We need a velocity that
sounds like a congressional figure."
"We've got a cyclotron."
"Yeah," drawled Channing, "A wheezy old heap that cries out in
anguish every time the magnets are charged. I doubt that we could
move the thing without it falling apart. The betatron is the ticket."
"But the cyclotron gives out with a lot more soup."
"If I had to increase the output of either one, I could do it a lot quicker
with the betatron," said Channing. "In a cyclotron, the revolution of
the ions in their acceleration period is controlled by an oscillator, the
voltage output of which is impressed on the D chambers. In order to
speed up the ion stream, you'd have to do two things. One: Build a
new oscillator that will dish out more power. Two: Increase the
strength of the magnets.
"But in the betatron, the thing is run differently. The magnet is built
for A. C. and the electron gun runs off the same. As your current
starts up from zero, the electron gun squirts a bouquet of electrons
into a chamber built like a pair of angel's food cake tins set rim to
rim. The magnet's field begins to build up at the same time, and the
resulting increase in field strength accelerates the electrons and at
the same time, its increasing field keeps the little devils running in
the same orbit. Shoot it with two-hundred-cycle current, and in the
half cycle your electrons are made to run around the center a few
million times. That builds up a terrific velocity—measured in six
figures, believe it or not. Then the current begins to level off at the
top of the sine wave, and the magnet loses its increasing phase. The
electrons, still in acceleration, begin to whirl outward. The current
levels off for sure and begins to slide down—and the electrons roll
off at a tangent to their course. This stream can be collected and
used. In fact, we have a two-hundred-cycle beam of electrons at a
couple of billion volts. That, brother, ain't hay!"
"Is that enough?"
"Nope."
"Then how do you hope to increase this velocity? If it is easier to run
this up than it would be the cyclotron, how do we go about it?"
Channing smiled and began to draw diagrams on the tablecloth. Joe
looked over with a worried frown, and then shrugged his shoulders.
Diagrams or not, this was an emergency—and besides, he thought,
he needed another lesson in high powered gadgetry.
"The nice thing about this betatron," said Channing, "is the fact that it
can and does run both ends on the same supply. The current and
voltage phases are correct so that we do not require two supplies
which operate in a carefully balanced condition. The cyclotron is one
of the other kinds; though the one supply is strictly D. C., the
strength of the field must be controlled separately from the supply to
the oscillator that runs the D plates. You're sitting on a fence,
juggling knobs and stuff all the time you are bombarding with a cyc.
"Now let us inspect the supply of the betatron. It is sinusoidal. There
is the catch. There is the thing that makes it possible. That single
fact makes it easy to step the power up to terrific quantities. Since
the thing is fixed by nature so that the output is proportional—
electron gun initial velocity versus magnetic field strength—if we
increase the input voltage, the output voltage goes up without having
to resort to manipulistic gymnastics on the part of the operator."
"Go on, Professor Maxwell."
"Don't make fun of a great man's name," said Arden. "If it wasn't for
Clerk Maxwell, we'd still be yelling out of the window at one another
instead of squirting radio beams all over the Solar System."
"Then make him quit calling me Tom Swift."
"Go on, Don, Walt and I will finish this argument after we finish
Hellion Murdoch."
"May I?" asked Channing with a smile. He did not mind the
interruption; he was used to it in the first place and he had been busy
with his pencil in the second place. "Now look, Walt, what happens
when you smack a charged condenser across an inductance?"
"You generate a damped cycle of the amplitude of the charge on the
condenser, and of frequency equal to the L, C constants of the
condenser and inductance. The amplitude decays according to the
factor Q, following the equation for decrement—"
"Never mind, I've got it here on my whiteboard," smiled Channing,
pointing to the tablecloth. "You are right. And the purity of the wave?"
"Sinusoidal ... hey! That's it!" Walt jumped to his feet and went to the
telephone.
"What's 'it'?" asked Arden.
"The betatron we have runs off of a five-hundred-volt supply,"
chuckled Channing. "We can crank that up ten to one without
running into any difficulty at all. Five-hundred-volt insulation is
peanuts, and the stuff they put on wires nowadays is always good for
ten times that just because it wouldn't be economical to try to thin the
installation down so that it only protects five hundred. I'll bet a crank
that he could crank the input up to fifty thousand volts without too
much sputtering—though I wouldn't know where to lay my lunch
hooks on a fifty-thousand-volt condenser of any appreciable
capacity. Well, stepping up the rig ten to one will dish us out just shy
of a couple of thousand million volts, which, as Brother Franks says,
is not hay!"
Walt returned after a minute and said: "Warren's measuring the
inductance of the betatron magnet. He will then calculate the value
of C required to tune the thing to the right frequency and start to
achieve that capacity by mazing up whatever high-voltage
condensers we have on the station. Now, Don, let's calculate how
we're going to make the thing mobile."
"That's a horse of a different color. We'll have to use electromagnetic
deflection. From the constants of the electron stream out of our
souped-up Suzy, we'll have to compute the necessary field to deflect
such a beam. That'll be terrific, because the electrons are hitting it up
at a velocity approaching that of light—maybe a hundred and
seventy thousand miles per—and their mass will be something
fierce. That again will help to murder Murdoch; increasing mass will
help to keep the electrons from being deflected, since it takes more
to turn a heavy mass—et cetera, see Newton's laws of inertia for
complete statement. Have 'em jerk the D plates out of the cyc and
bring the magnet frame down here—to the turret, I mean—and set
'em up on the vertical. We'll use that to run the beam up and down,
we can't possibly get one hundred and eighty degree deflection, of
course, but we can run the deflection over considerable range. It
should be enough to catch a spaceship that is circling the station.
For the horizontal deflection, what have we got?"
"Nothing. But the cyc magnet is a double pole affair. We could break
the frame at the D plates and set one winding sidewise to the other
and use half on each direction."
"Sure. Have one of Warren's gang fit the busted pole pieces up with
a return-magnetic frame so that the field will be complete. He can
weld some girders on and around in an hour. That gives us complete
deflection properties up and down; left and right. We should be able
to cover a ninety-degree cone from your turret."
"That'll cover all of Murdoch's ships," said Walt.
"Too bad we haven't got some U-235 to use. I'd like to plate up one
of his ships with some positive ions of U-235 and then change the
beam to slow neutrons. That might deter him from his life of crime."
"Variations, he wants," said Arden. "You're going to impale one ship
on a beam of electrons; one ship on a beam of U-235 ions; and what
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