| Unit name | Translating in a Professional Context |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MODL30010 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Mason |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | School of Modern Languages |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will introduce final-year students to the different contexts in which professional translation takes place and the competences identified in the National Occupational Standards in Translation. Students will consider translation as both process and product and apply their knowledge by reflecting critically on their own translation practice in the co-requisite language unit(s) they are following concurrently. The unit will focus on three themes: i) the professional context(s) of translators; ii) the standards of competences expected of professional translators; iii) criteria for the evaluation of translation - exploring industry norms, alternative approaches and strategies and examining tricky concepts like equivalence.
Aims:
To familiarise students with the professional context of translation and the criteria by which the work of professional translators is accredited and evaluated, and to encourage their reflection on the theory and practice of translation in a way which complements the practical work they are undertaking in SML Language units running concurrently.
Successful students will demonstrate that they can reflect critically on the processes by which they and other students have undertaken and evaluated translation tasks; that they can articulate, both orally and in writing, theoretical positions about translation; and that they are familiar with the terminology and methodology of translation in English and in at least one modern foreign language.
One weekly seminar, mostly based on student presentations; one fortnightly group-based task conducted under supervision in an online discussion board, to supplement teaching materials derived from the MA in Translation and provided via Blackboard. Additional supervision on portfolio and essay preparation.
1 x 2000-word essay on a theoretical topic (50%); 1 assessed presentations (15%); 1 portfolio of work, to include at least three annotated translations and a glossary of translation terminology (35%).
