Factoring Adult Learners’ Generational Mix in Translator Education

This study assesses the incidence of androgogical principles and practices in the postgraduate Translator Training programme of the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) in Cameroon. It posits that teaching that engages androgogical principles and practices are more germane to professional postgraduate Translator Training programmes that educate and service adult students. As a relatively uncharted area in Translation Studies, the paper seeks to assess students and faculty’s attitudes towards the principles and practices of adult education and the difficulties encountered in their effective implementation. The aim of the study is to recommend androgogicallyoriented translation teaching methods as a more effective alternative to effete pedagogical approaches. The subjects for this study comprised a convenience sample of 41 trainee translators and 08 translator trainers of ASTI. Three data collection methods were used: an affective survey questionnaire, classroom observation, and a literature review component, which provided empirical data on the principles and practices of andragogy and pedagogy. The study demonstrates that knowledge of adult learners goes beyond the most commonly studied demographic variables of age and gender, and uncovers new variables that influence learning and student satisfaction in Translator Training.


Introduction
In many countries of the world today, particularly in developing countries, the need to modernize higher education is a major strategy for addressing prevalent skills shortages, high unemployment rates, and poverty.In this vein, The World Bank (2003) opines that educators today have the task of developing lifelong learners who can thrive in a global knowledge economy, that is, learners who have the capability to effectively learn and apply new skills.The literature on higher education asserts that, "educational practices, invented when higher education served only a few, are increasingly disconnected from the need of contemporary students" (AAC&U, 2002, p.viii).Bernhardt (2012) describes the effect of this paradigm shift in terms of universities' response: The response of universities to such developments has been, for example, the creation of new subjects, curricula, teaching and learning technologies … as well as a fundamental shift of the organizational structure towards corporate bureaucracies.(p.20)In Cameroon, the ongoing challenge of transforming the country to an emergent nation by 2035 has witnessed an increasing drive towards professionalization in higher education across programmes in all tertiary institutions.This is the leitmotif of the Bachelors, Masters, and PhD (B.M. P.) reforms introduced in 2006 in Cameroon, which apply competency and skills-based approaches and best practice models.In this vein, quality assurance in higher education is no longer assessed only in terms of the input of the teaching staff, but students are now called upon to assume complementary responsibilities for their personal progress and commitment.In other words, they are now involved in the creation and maintenance of an effective overall teaching and learning environment.
Conversely, the number of students 25 years of age and above enrolled in higher education has been escalating over the past 30 years.It seems that higher education has not adequately been preparing for this growth.According to the Lumina Foundation (2007), more than 30 percent of students in higher institutions are adult learners but many aspects of the higher education system are not designed with these students in mind.In effect, adult students often have many responsibilities beyond those of young students, such as full time employment, marriage, children, and huge financial commitments.These numerous responsibilities place an additional burden on their ability to enroll in higher institutions of learning, and more especially to persist to the completion of their studies.
The postgraduate adult environment of the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) of the University of Buea was a glaring example.The teaching of all recommended best practice translator-specific and generic employability skills within the two regular years of the MA in Translation programme using the traditional mode of teaching has turned out to be a difficult task.Hence, the effete pedagogic teaching approaches used by most translator trainers in ASTI are no longer congruent with the B.M.P. strategy based on learner-centered teaching methods, which aim to develop students' capacity to create their own understandings and insights through participation, negotiation, and autonomous learning.In this backdrop, andragogy (the use of the principles and practices of adult education) offers a more effective alternative to traditional conceptions of pedagogy.This view corroborates McAuliffe et al (2000), who opine that adult teaching and learning theories can be a possible panacea in higher educational environments.The researcher felt an urgent need to investigate translator trainers' instructional orientations, to find out if they are andragogic (learnercentered) or pedagogic, (educator-centered), in a bid to posit measures that could help translator trainers' to tailor their teaching to the national B.M.P. paradigm shift for greater outcomes in higher education.
The problem of poor performances in translator training in ASTI for close to a decade now was ascribed to the demotivating use of traditional pedagogic approaches in an essentially adult learning postgraduate environment.In order to address the problem, this study raised the following research questions: Do adult students have unique learning experiences and needs, which should be factored in the teaching process and learning environment?To what levels do translator trainers in ASTI understand and practice andragogical principles?How should postgraduate translator training institutions like ASTI educate and service their adult learners?The main objective of this paper is to determine if ASTI is serving the needs of its adult postgraduate translation students.

Literature Review
The study draws insights from the literature on androgogy and self-directed learning as reflected in the B.M.P. system and imbedded in its competence-based approaches, which offer new ways of teaching and learning that critically engage students in rich learning environments for skills development and professionalization.

Teaching and Learning in the BMP
The B.M.P. reforms in Cameroon inspired by the Bologna Declaration ( 2003), implement student-centered, outcomebased and transparent higher educational programmes based on three sequential cycles: the Bachelor, the Master and the Doctorate.These reforms put an added strain on all tertiary institutions in Cameroon to adopt the teaching of subjectspecific and generic skills, which incorporate learning outcomes in syllabi that are relevant to students' employment.
One major highlight of the BMP is the focus of considerable interest on learner autonomy as a necessary condition for effective learning.Students are expected to take greater control over the content and methods of learning.Hence, effective teaching, supervision, assessment, and planning have to be predicated on an extensive understanding of learners and the new professional approaches of teaching in higher education.It is in this vein, that McWilliam (2007) talking on building cultures of creativity in higher education, opines that: If higher education is to play a key role in capacity building for graduates' professional workforce futures, then a pedagogy of induction into disciplinary knowledge needs radical reworking into a pedagogy in which teachers and students work as co-creators and co-assemblers.(p.2).
Henceforth, the evaluation of teaching and learning in higher education has become a priority of quality assurance.In this new system, outcomes of the learning process have to meet the aims of the programme, as well as the needs and expectations of students and society, while ensuring employment, personal development and citizenship.These new student-centered programmes require a general change of mindset from the outmoded 'input-based' and 'staff-centered 'approaches of the pre-reform era, when much emphasis was still placed on the individual interests of academic staff or on the existing organizational set-up of studies.
Paradoxically, since the implementation of the reforms in higher education, traditional pedagogical methods of teaching are still prevalent in the university classroom (Forrest & Peterson, 2006).Fry et al, (2009) lament that most teachers of higher education only know how they learned or learn best, but do not necessarily consider how their students learn and whether the way they teach is predicated on enabling learning to happen.(p.3).As Omotoso (1981) points out: 'knowing what to teach is only half the problem, knowing how to teach it, is equally very important.However, the process of how involves a study of whom to teach and the best approach to reaching his mind."(p.2).In effect, the relationship between subject matter, that is, what is to be taught, and teaching methodology, that is, how it is to be taught has remained the one pervasive and persistent problem in higher education today (Alex Gitterman, 2004, p. 95).

The Androgogy versus Pedagogy Conundrum in Higher Education.
Two models exist in educational research to describe how individuals learn: andragogy and pedagogy.The word 'Pedagogy' is drawn from the Greek word 'paid', meaning "child," and 'agogus' meaning "leader of," which makes pedagogy the art and science of teaching children (Conner, 2004;Knowles, 1980).It actually refers to children and the notion of 'filling their heads while they move towards maturity.' Dewey (1945) refers to this teacher-centered approach as "one of imposition from above and from outside.Learning here means acquisition of what is already incorporated in books and in the heads of the elders."(p.4).
While pedagogy is referred to as teacher-focused education, andragogy is considered as a learner-focused education (Conner, 2004).Andragogy, is derived from the Greek root -agogus-meaning "leading" and "Andra" which means the word adult, and makes andragogy the art and science of teaching/leading adults (Knowles, 1980, p. 43).As Kerwin (1975) points out, the "role of the andragogical educator is that of a procedural guide, facilitator of learning, and learning consultant rather than a director of learning and a transmitter of knowledge.' (p. 14).Similar to the B.M.P. spirit, andragogy addresses a transactional process design, that spells out the "scientific fundamentals of the activities of learners and teachers in planning, realizing, evaluating, and correcting adult learning" (Zmeyov, 1998, p. 106).
IJCLTS 4(3):59-72, 2016 61 Studying andragogy in the context of higher education is vital since adult learners are the fastest growing student segment in higher education (Bowden & Merritt, 1995).The idea that adults learn differently when compared to younger students has been well documented in the literature.This contrast between children and adult learners is due in part to the impact of the naturally occurring human maturation process and experiences associated with adulthood.These processes are significant enough to challenge the long-held pedagogical paradigm and its practice in the university classroom like in ASTI, where equity, fairness, and empowerment are not a significant part of organizational learning and change process.As Clawson (2006) puts it, "If teaching is about helping others learn, then we as teachers ought to understand the learning process of adults, people who, like us, have spent many years in schools, many years in society, and in some cases, many years working in Business."(p.23).

The Adult Learners' Characteristics
Andragogy is an attempt to build a theory of adult learning anchored in the characteristics of adult learners (Smith, 2002).Knowles, (1980) pointed out that: "a person is an adult to the extent that the individual perceives himself or herself to be essentially responsible for his or her own life."(p.24).He also adds: "a person is adult to the extent that the individual is performing social roles typically assigned by our culture to those it considers to be adults -the role of worker, spouse, parent, responsible citizen, soldier, and the like."(p.24).Forrest and Peterson (2006) further stated "adults are those individuals who have taken on adult roles in society, whether they are the 16-year-old mother or the 87-year-old retiree."(p.114).These scholars believe that the need for a set age is not necessary.
Knowles' andragogical "learning theory" is summarized and reviewed in terms of its assumptions, principles and recommended practices which include: the learner, the learner's experience, readiness to learn, orientation to learning, and motivation to learning as presented below.Adults need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it.

The learner's self concept
Dependent on the teacher.Adults want to be viewed as capable of self-direction but are not sure how to do that in a classroom setting.

Role of experience
Learner's experience is of little importance.
Adults have a larger quantity of experiences and a difference in quality of experiences.

Readiness to learn
Learners become ready to learn what the school requires them to learn if they want to pass.
Adults are ready to learn things they need to know or to be able to do in order to cope effectively with their real-life situations.

Orientation to learning
Subject-centered: acquiring subject-matter content.
Adults are life task centered/problem centered.

Motivation
Motivated to learn by extrinsic motivators-grades, teacher's approval/disapproval, parental pressure Adults respond to extrinsic motivators such as promotions, salary increases but the stronger motivators are intrinsic-increased self-esteem, quality of life, and job promotion These underlying principles and practices have severally been examined empirically.Survey data has been used in the field to demonstrate the degree of affectivity, in particular, satisfaction in the learning environment, learning preferences, or learning orientation.
One of the first empirical studies by Cross (1981) provided a framework for considering how adults learn through her Characteristics of the Adult Learners (CAL) model.This model identified two classes of variables: personal characteristics and situational characteristics.The personal characteristics included aging, life stages, and developmental stages.Situational characteristics included part-time or full-time learning, and voluntary or compulsory learning.Findings established by Martell's seminal study compared the effectiveness of a lecture-based, pedagogical teaching philosophy to a discussion-based, andragogical teaching philosophy in adult bible fellowships (ABFs) at The Chapel in Akron, Ohio.Findings suggested that students learned more with andragogical principles, enjoyed the andragogical teaching methods, believed the lessons were more memorable, and practiced the new knowledge in their everyday lives.The students were also reported to be more confident about their learning.

Andragogical Teaching Models
In addition to the six core principles of andragogy described above, Knowles (1984) identified seven elements that are critical in creating training or instructional experiences that are tailored to adult learner characteristics.(p.14-18).These are climate setting, mutual planning, diagnosis of learning needs, formulation of learning objectives, learning plan design, learning plan execution, and evaluation.According to the scholar, when these principles are applied in the classroom, an impact on both the faculty member's method of facilitation, the delivery of the instruction, and the classroom environment would be more patent.
For Mezirow (2000), curricula, instructional methods, materials, assessment, faculty, and staff development should address both learners' objectives and the goals of adult education.In this vein, the educator should assist learners in defining their learning needs, objectives, planning of their learning programme, and evaluation of their progress.
According to this scholar, andragogy is about helping adults elaborate, create and transform their meaning schemes (beliefs, feelings, interpretations, decisions) through reflection on their content, on the process by which they are learned, and their premises (social context, history, and consequences).
From the above discussions, it is clear that adults learn differently from younger students.As Zemke and Zemke (1995) emphasize: "adults can be ordered into a classroom and prodded into seats, but they cannot be forced to learn.On the contrary, adults who see a need or have a desire to know something new are quite resourceful."(p.49).Bendixen-Noe (1998) has rightly opined that faculty who work with older students perceive them as more motivated, pragmatic, selfdirected, goal oriented, competent, and their "best" students as they responded, reacted, provided opinions, and participated in the process of education.

Methodology
This case study survey uses a convenience sample of forty-one (41) advanced trainee translators and eight (8) translator trainers of the MA programme in translation at the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) of the University of Buea in Cameroon.Three data collection methods were used: an opinion survey questionnaire, classroom observation, and a literature review component.
The literature review provided empirical data on the principles and practices of andragogy and pedagogy, as well as the nature of its educational orientation.It drew mostly from peer-reviewed journals, non-peer reviewed journals, and books on andragogy.The translator trainer questionnaire instrument consisted of 90 questions designed and validated to measure the andragogical orientation of adult educators.It incorporated six attitudinal dimensions of a teacher's role as follows: (1) the purpose of education, (2) the nature of learners, (3) characteristics of learning experiences, (4) management of learning experience, (5) evaluation, and ( 6) the relationship of the translator trainer to trainees and also among trainees.The andragogical practices that the students indicated a preference for as well as teachers' instructional orientations were explored further in the classroom observations.
The study employs three data analytical techniques including factor analysis, hierarchical multiple regression, and descriptive analysis.A frequency distribution was conducted on each survey item with the results compiled and reported on each item.The key descriptive terms used for this research are andragogy, adult learners, trainee translators, and adult students.

Results and Analyses
Survey instruments were designed to provide answers to the three (3) research questions of this study.

The Students' Questionnaire
The adult students' notion instrument addresses the first research question in this study.
Do adult students have unique learning experiences, and needs which should be factored in the teaching process and learning environment?The instrument comprised of some 45-survey items, which elicited student responses to the seven core principles of andragogy (see table 1 above).Descriptive statistics of the adult students' profiles and the seven adult students' characteristic variables are presented in this first section.

Adult Students' Profiles
A self-report voluntary demographic profile was included in the affective questionnaire.The demographic characteristics of the students who participated in the research are displayed in Table 2 below.The results on Table 2 bring out the androgogical characteristics of 41 adult students: they play the roles of workers, spouses, and parents, etc (see section 2.3 above).The majority (68.2%) of these students is more than 26 years old and has had over 10 years of working experience.Twenty-six (63.4%) students are independent and responsible for their own lives.Their main motivation for studies is to advance their careers.

Trainee Translators' Learning Characteristics
Statistics on learning characteristics were elicited with a likert scale using multiple response, and Table 3 shows only the students' levels of agreement (agree and strongly agree), disagreement (disagree and strongly disagree), and indecision with the androgogical principles and practices.Data in Table 3 reveal that the majority of students (91.6%) are positively aligned to all androgogical principles and practices.Adult learners are self-directed students anxious to demonstrate that they can take responsibility for themselves in the learning process.Adult learners' motivation is internal: seeking for increased self-esteem, recognition, a better quality of life, and greater self-confidence.Adult learners, express the need to be shown respect, expect to be treated as equals based upon their experience and understanding.

Translator Trainers' Questionnaire
The teachers' notion instrument comprised of some 90-survey items, solicited teachers' responses to two educational orientations: pedagogy or androgogy.Descriptive statistics of the educational orientation factor analysis addresses the second research question in this study.

Translator Trainers' Teaching Orientation
Responses to the factors that were used to measure the educational orientations of translator trainers in ASTI based on the extant literature (see 2.2 and 2.4) are shown in Table 4 and Table 5, respectively.
The statements in Table 4 measured the pedagogical aspects of Translator trainers' educational orientation.Table 4 reflects a strongly pedagogic orientation (5.35 arithmetic mean), as against negatively pedagogy (1.52 arithmetic mean).The data reveals that, in general, the majority of translator trainers (67.0%) assume responsibility for making decisions about what will be learned, how it will be learned, and when it will be learned.These teachers, in a characteristic pedagogical manner, direct all the learning.
The next Table 5 elicited the andragogical aspects of translator trainers' educational orientation.Each statement reflects a positively andragogic orientation.Assignments by a lecturer tend to restrict students significant learning.

41
Tests prepared by students are just as effective as those prepared by lecturer.0 8

42
The goals a student sets for himself/herself are the basis of effective learning (not the lecturers goals).

43
Considering the possible effects on students, a lecturer should usually play it safe rather than take chances.

44
A lecturer who does not plan the work for a class carefully is taking advantage of the students' ignorance.

45
A lecturer's primary responsibility is helping students choose and develop their own direction for learning.

6
Total 133 153 Arithmetic mean (positively andragogy= 2.9 Arithmetic mean (negatively androgogy=3.4Arithmetic mean (no response)= 1.3 The majority (25 out of 45) of the statements have over 50 percent of the respondents disagreeing with them.This disagreement means that most translator trainers reject an andragogic perspective to their teaching because in both table 4 and 5 the results show a strong inclination to a pedagogic view of teaching.It is clear that teacher-centred methods dominate in the translation teaching practice in ASTI.
These findings were further supported by the qualitative results from classroom observation, which confirmed that teacher-centred methods dominated their trainers' teaching practice.

Classroom Observation
This section reports an empirical study of classroom observation of eight (8) teachers and examines the effects of teachers' performance with respect to the use of androgicial principles while teaching translation.In this vein, the data was organized in three broad domains of teaching practice that are linked to positive student outcomes: instructional support, interactional and emotional support, and organization support.
Classroom observation confirmed trainers' pedagogic-oriented approaches.Most translator trainers observed have their own educational objectives and orientations that are limited by their narrow perspective of translation teaching.As a result they are unable to introduce relevant activities in the lesson that offer enough guidance and adequate feedback.Teachers mainly rely on translation as a mechanical technique for conveying meaning.
The observation established that the observed teachers closely followed their translation lesson plan, and were therefore generally unprepared to react to unexpected students' problems in the classroom.As a result they encountered difficulties both in communicating with and motivating their students.Apart from that, most of the teachers were unaware of the importance of tailoring teaching techniques to address trainees' diversity conundrums and were therefore unable to provide effective student-centred lessons.Hence, they often did not succeed in involving the whole class.Their lessons: • lacked variety of techniques • did not include a variety of interaction patterns; • lacked activities aiming at freer communicative practice.This reveals that translator trainers need additional training that would help them reach all their trainees, make learning fun and enjoyable, and approach each trainee as an individual with different interests, experiences and abilities.The adoption of a flexible methodology is a challenge to most teachers.These results point to the urgent need adopting more humanistic androgogical methods that create learner-centered motivated classroom atmosphere and at the same time prioritize learner-autonomy, group work and commented translation reporting.

Discussions of Findings.
These results are discussed with reference to other findings on related topics across the globe, and how these findings are in line with other studies, or are against the findings of other studies.

How to Educate Adult trainee Translators
From the findings, the major obstacle to the realization of the full potential of trainee translators in ASTI is the predominant use of effete pedagogic instructional methods used for teaching children instead of adult teaching methods.These findings confirm Hadley's postulations that adult students are not always given the opportunity to execute their personal growth according to what that growth specifically means to them (Hadley, 1975).As adult learners' characteristics and experiences are being minimized, they feel rejected as persons.Knowles (1980) had rightly opined that adults acquire their self-identity from their experiences and their being.In other words, they are what they have done, and they have a deep investment in its value.This is one of the major areas in which most students' demotivation and biases are most prominent in ASTI.As confirmed in Pew, (2007) and Kasworm (2012), such pre-formed biases and perceptions constitute barriers in education for most students.
This means that Translator trainers should encourage mutuality and reciprocity in translation classrooms.This view is corroborated by Galbraith (1990) who reiterates that such mutuality creates an enabling environment where: "learners and facilitators are involved in a continual process of activity, reflection upon activity, collaborative analysis of activity, new activity, further reflection, and collaborative analysis."(p.10).In effect, andragogy offers a two-way, equally dependent interaction of mutuality and reciprocity aimed at joint development.
Translator trainers who are most successful in instructing adult students are those who are: able to understand that the students may have experiences worth sharing in the classroom, able to admit being wrong in front of the students, able to provide a supportive and nurturing classroom environment, competent in delivering content in an interactive manner with the opportunity for real world application, capable of quickly making content adjustments during the course, open to questions and being questioned, open to getting feedback from the students on how the course is going, and able to operate in an environment of mutual respect and openness.
The discrepancies of real and expected learning experiences in ASTI are also due in part to institutional, programmerelated, and stakeholders' characteristics.As Shulman (1986) rightly argued "teachers must not only be capable of defining for students the accepted truths in a domain.They must also be able to explain why a particular proposition is deemed warranted, why it is worth knowing, and how it relates to other propositions."(p.9).This is both central to androgogy as it is to the translation process as a whole, which involves cognitive knowledge-base, problem-solving techniques, as well as social communication and production processes.It is clear from the above discussion that the pertinence of the all-encompassing androgogical principles in translator training is predicated on the nature of the translation profession itself (education on subject-specific, generic, and employability skills to be developed today), and the general norms governing the science of learning and teaching at the tertiary level.For instance, course contents can be approached in view of the nature of the extensive dimension of the act:: comprehension of the source text, formulation of the target text, linguistic, cultural and communicative aspects of micro textual problems, or can be comparative.The translation text assumes the role of a laboratory and a communicative event in which students discover, learn, infer, postulate and pontificate from their declarative experiences.It can be deduced that trainers' conception of the translational knowledge-base shape their practice -the kinds of questions they ask, the ideas they reinforce, and the sorts of tasks they assign.Andragogical goals are usually humanistic and dynamic, but most importantly, the learner participates in their creation and reconstruction.
The postgraduate translator training in ASTI is a unique educational environment, with its emphasis on work-based learning, mentorship and performance-based assessment, as a predominant method of training.Effective teaching here should incorporate an array of teaching strategies that support intellectual engagement, connectedness to the wider world experiences, supportive classroom environments, and recognition of difference.The best translator trainers should influence their students more in their personal, individual contacts with them than in strict classroom situations.If teaching and learning are complementary processes, if the teacher is to teach by learning and if his or her teaching is to be directed towards an individual, then he or she must know that individual.
It is on the basis of this understanding that the translator trainer should be a critical practitioner, a psycho-diagnostician, a facilitator of learning, a reflective practitioner, a situated learner within a community of practice, and an assurer of organizational quality and efficiency.
It would be worthwhile to make a collective effort to organize translator training in the future around androgical teaching and learning principles.In this vein, changes of the mindset of translator trainers' role conceptions, their beliefs about work, their knowledge of students and curriculum, as well as teaching strategies, are henceforth highly prioritized.The challenge of problem-solving delivery education should be ideally complemented with a design of faculty development initiatives, infrastructural facilities, and good student and or staff services.

How to Service Adult Trainee Translators
According to the proposals elicited from adult service development literature, all institutions should design flexible time frames for enrollment, registration and programs.According to the Lumina Foundation (2014), to effect positive changes in higher education, equity and excellence must be at the center of all of its efforts to reach Goal 2025.(p. 1) To attain this assurance of high-quality in translator training in ASTI, the school should align itself to the 21st century workforce and industry needs, with incentives that encourage students and the institution to increase educational attainment and close achievement gaps.Equity means recognition of the need to eliminate disparities, and widening translation training attainment gaps.ASTI should create opportunities, share resources, empower students for success, as well as focus on institutional accountability rather than students' deficits.Excellence can only be attained through offering clear, flexible and transparent pathways to students in their pursuit of translation certification credentials.This means that credits and credentials will henceforth be defined through learning and competencies rather than on time.
According to Kerka (1989), since there is little that institutions can do to change students' characteristics or their circumstances with reference to opportunities and persistence rates, efforts must be placed on the educational environment.Adult learners frequently have needs that traditional students do not have; consequently, they require different student services.In this vein, a lot of recommendations, particularly Student Support Systems have been made in the literature.The best practices models proposed by the Institute for Professional Development (1994), The Lumina Foundation (2014), Byrd (1990), Mabry andHardin (1992), andHall (in Roundtree-Wyly andLambert, 1988) are more germane to the postgraduate translator training programme of ASTI.According to these scholars, training institutions should among other things, engage in strategic relationships, partnerships, and collaborations with employers and other organizations in order to develop and improve educational opportunities for adult learners.Institutions are also urged to promote the use of prior learning assessment and to collaborate with stakeholders to help establish learning goals that fulfill skill needs and lead to career opportunities.

Recommendations arising from the Research
This study on androgogical principles and practices highlight issues that are particularly relevant to faculty development in the postgraduate translator training context of ASTI.All Translator trainers in ASTI should be exposed to andragogic principles and approaches through in-service workshops and short courses.The Quality Assurance Instrument (QAI) for ASTI should include a standard that monitors the use of these methods in teaching and learning.These should include more robust introductions, and more self-directed learning activities.Translator trainers should structure classes around work activities, and understand and exploit student experiences and motivations.
A number of programs should also target specific core competencies such as the teaching and evaluation of communication skills, professional ethics, and the use of technology in teaching and learning.More attention should be paid to the personal development of translation professionals, and educational leadership and scholarship.Organizational development and change are very urgent.There is an enormous need for translator trainers to be trained in methods of educating.Faculty development can serve as a useful instrument in the promotion of organizational change.At the individual level, content areas should include: leadership development; principles of teaching and learning (e.g., competency-based education; work-based learning; apprenticeship as a model for teaching and learning and the development of professional identity; methods of teaching and learning; assessment and evaluation; curriculum design and implementation; and knowledge discovery and translation.At the organizational level, faculty development initiatives should help to: reward and recognize translator trainers and program directors; encourage mentorship and coaching for all teachers; value and promote educational scholarship (including the scholarship of teaching); and recognize teaching excellence and educational scholarship in promotion criteria.

Conclusion
This study set out to assess the extent to which the principles and practices of adult education are applied in the postgraduate Translator training programme of ASTI.The work investigated the possible reasons why the current approaches to educational practices by translator trainers in ASTI are not congruent with the national educational strategy of imparting learner-centred teaching methods.It was postulated that the reason for this was related to the educational orientations of the translator trainers.This research, confirmed that indeed this is a significant reason since the majority of translator trainers have been shown to have a pedagogical rather than an andragogical orientation in terms of beliefs and practice.Furthermore, the study wanted to address the unique needs of adult students in a postgraduate translation program.
This study therefore provides empirical data that directly influences teaching and learning in ASTI.The goal of professionalizing academics in higher education in Cameroon is to enhance student learning.If teachers are to put students and their learning at the centre of teaching in this new paradigm shift, they must also learn to inquire into their students' learning.In other words, they should become aware of what students expect and care about, how they perceive the tasks and the learning environment, the approaches they take to learning, and how well they perform.Andragogy is demonstrably a foundational theory for student motivation in Higher Education.The challenges for translator trainers to balance the demands of teaching and of meeting the multiple and varied motivational needs of students with their generational mix in ASTI have been made more patent.The knowledge of adult learners should go beyond the most commonly studied demographic variables of age and gender and should uncover new variables that influence learning and students' satisfaction.

Table 5 .
Educational orientation factor analysis of positively andragogic behaviours