Abstract
The relationship between theory and practice is a particularly pertinent one for newly-emerging academic subject fields such as Translation Studies and Terminology Studies, as translation and terminology/terminography/specialised lexicography are activities originally rooted in practice over millennia. In this chapter a number of issues related to this relationship are addressed in the context of advanced specialised translation programmes (postgraduate or year 5). Starting from a consideration of how ‘theory’ as a concept can be variously interpreted by students and practitioners alike, the goals of courses in terminology management for translation purposes are reviewed in order to identify the potential contribution of terminological theory. In this, it is argued that certain aspects of theory can help to inform decisions of practice and that the crucial question may be one of pedagogical presentation rather than ‘does theory matter?’