A Review of Hassan Hashemi-Minabad's Amoozesh-e Tarjomeh [Learning Translation] in the Context of Translation Textbook Development in Iran

Four major criteria for evaluating a textbook include evaluation of achievements with regard to the theoretical principles in the field in question, comparison with related books, assessment in the context of the system that is intended to use the book, as well as assessment against the author's implicit or explicit presuppositions. With a view to the above criteria, this paper seeks to review Hassan Hashemi-MinabadsAmoozesh-e Tarjomeh [Learning Translation] (1394). In the first section, the theoretical foundations of developing translation textbooks are discussed. Section two briefly deals with the issue of translation textbooks in Iran. Within this context, Hashemi-Minabad's book is reviewed in the next section. As discussed in the conclusion, the major advantage of the book is that it is based on the author's experience of teaching translation in an academic context. Moreover, the formal features of the book seem to have been prepared with great care and precision. Also the translation materials are presented in a logical easy-to-difficult order. The major drawback, however, is lack of a solid translation-theoretical basis so that the learner is not given the opportunity to infer a set of systematic principles for themselves. In conclusion, the book does not meet the requirements of an academic textbook and should be rather used as a complementary material which is rich in practical examples.