Dr. Rajendra Singh represents the University of Montreal in Prof. M.B.Emeneau Centenary International Conference on South Asian Linguistics. His presentation is titled "Reflections on Contemporary Translation Theory".

       In this paper he explores the concept of Contemporary Translation Theory under the background of its meaning and techniques employed in the process. He begins with an illustration of TESOL stating its adaptation in construing language acquisition or second language learning as a field and argues upon the implications of teaching of Arabic, French, German or Swahili as a second language.

      Presenting the arguments on behalf of Translation Studies and Translation Theory, he discusses various elements like contrastive linguistics, localization, cross-cultural text adaptation and communicative competence. He asserts that in the background of the emerging field of Cognitive Sciences and in the fascination with post-modernism, translation studies seems to ignore the questions that could potentially constitute a site for its possible autonomy. He observes that TT has dissociated itself, systematically from the study of language.

      Dr. Singh analyses the questions related to translation studies through many historical examples and argues that today, TT ignores the questions that it can examine with some sense of non-borrowed authority. He states that contemporary linguistics is too abstract to endorse the total disconnection between the theory, practice, and teaching of translation that actually seems to exist.

      In conclusion, Dr. Singh's paper concludes that there is a need to conceptualize TT and to revisit and renew the old ways to enhance the process of translation.

      In the discussion that followed the session, chaired by Prof. Christian Matthiessen, Prof. Venkat Rao made a point that the development of translation theory does not seem to be helping the process of translation and there are many puzzling claims. Dr. Singh replied that it is time to return to linguistics and study of language, ignoring which any kind of translation could not exist. Dr. P. P. Giridhar asked about the autonomy of translation studies, to which Dr. Rajendra Singh replied that one is bilingual, cannot translate. He called for genuine creativity so as to aid translations to build the bridges of anthropology and sociology.