An affordance-based integration of sports and translation pedagogies

Abstract

While translation pedagogy traditionally emphasised technical and textual competences, contemporary research increasingly highlights strategic skills (e.g., metacognition, adaptability). Although situated learning methods (roleplays, dramatisations, simulations) are well-established, the systematic integration of sports pedagogy's affordance perception, i.e., the ability to detect and act on environmental invitations for actions, remains underexplored in the translation classroom. This theoretical position study engages in an act of inter-epistemic translation, bridging sports science and translation studies by adapting ‘game-based approaches’ (GBAs) and ‘ecological dynamics’ (ED) to translation education. Emerging from research conducted with undergraduate and postgraduate translation learners at a Hong Kong university, the paper contends that principles such as performer-environment interactions and affordance perception can augment embodied, situated learning. By aligning plausibly situated learning with structured reflection, this approach fosters acclimatisation to the extra-textual, practical aspects of translation as a profession. Ultimately, the goal is enabling educators to equip learners with a holistic adaptability needed to navigate the language services industry.