TranslationBA (Hons)

Cultural Awareness

This module introduces students to the study of intercultural communication, its various aspects and their description. It also focuses on the importance and impact of cultural differences in intercultural exchanges. The module aims at providing a solid foundation in the understanding of cultural diversity. Interactive lectures, seminars and group discussions are designed to encourage student autonomy, enhance participation in class and develop the range of skills needed for effective study, self confidence and achievement. Included in these skills are oral and written communication, essay planning, summarising, note taking, referencing, researching, time management, revision, critical reading and other transferable skills.

Describing Language

This module introduces students to the study of language, its various components and their description. The module aims at providing a solid foundation in the understanding of human communication and linguistic diversity. Interactive lectures, seminars and group discussions are designed to encourage student autonomy, enhance individual participation and develop the range of skills needed for effective study, self confidence and achievement. Included in these skills are oral and written communication, summarising, note taking, researching, time management, revision, critical reading and other transferable skills.

Language Module (Arabic, French, Spanish or English)

Please check the Open Language Centre for confirmation of language level.

Language Module (Arabic, French, Spanish or English)

Please check the Open Language Centre for confirmation of language level.

Practical Resources for Translators

This module focuses on developing consultation and documentation skills crucial to work as a translator. The focus of the module is on translation as a process. Students will be exposed to the use of monolingual/bilingual dictionaries and glossaries and to a variety of other internet-based translation resources. As translation trainees, students are expected to be working actively with these resources from the beginning of the course and learn to understand the limitations that such resources present as well as the advantages they offer.

Proofreading Skills

The focus of the module is on translation as a product. Students are expected to use the research skills developed in Practical Resources for Translators (TR4054) to check the accuracy of the final product. In view of this, they will be trained to edit their own and others’ translations in terms of style, structure, content and accuracy.

The Translator and Culture

This practical module explores the relationship of the translator to culture. The module focuses on cultural concepts and culture bound language: specific aspects of culture are addressed, analysed and discussed as to what problems they might pose during the translation process into different languages. In typical areas of culture-bound language related to names, geographical references, political and educational institutions, legal systems etc., students are introduced to practical translation procedures which are used to translate such language, and the terminology relating to it. In their specific language pair sessions, students are introduced to aspects of practical translation by concentrating on those areas which are characterised by non-equivalence in relation to culture-bound items. Students are made familiar with culture-bound ‘translation problems’ as well as how to select and apply the most appropriate procedures in order to solve these problems.

The Translator and Language

This practical module explores the relationship of the translator to language. In this module, students are introduced to language as grammar and, specifically, to various grammar concepts such as gender and number, pronouns and others as well as their grammatical equivalence in the target language system. In their specific language pair sessions, students are introduced to aspects of practical translation by concentrating on those areas which are characterised by non-equivalence. The module familiarises students with grammatical ‘translation problems’, and introduces them to the most appropriate ways of transfer.

Electronic Tools for Translation

This module develops students’ knowledge of the range of electronic tools available for translation. It familiarises them with the principles and methods of Automatic/Computer/ Human-assisted translation systems and compares and evaluates these in terms of their relevance for the practice of translating. The focus is on machine translation (MT), post-editing and translation memory (TM) software (also known as Translation Environment Tools); students will work with a variety of packages and systems, both theoretically and practically, developing their skills through "hands-on" sessions, troubleshooting issues which may arise in their workflow, comparing features among tools and reflecting on both the impact these tools have on translators’ workflow and the role they play in current professional settings.

Managing Translation

In response to a growing professionalisation of the translation industry, this module offers students the opportunity to familiarise themselves with aspects of managing the translation process from the perspective of various agents in the translation workflow. It covers aspects such as types of work in the translation industry and skills and abilities required to perform them, opportunities and challenges when entering the translation market, and professional responsibility and ethical standards in various roles in the translation industry.
By providing an employability component within the translation course, this module complements linguistic and cultural knowledge of translation students develop in other modules and prepares them to become reflective and responsible professionals in the translation industry.

Practical Translation Skills

This module builds on previous knowledge acquired in TR5052 and explores what translation procedures can be used to solve issues of non equivalence occurring at various levels in a text. While reiterating the usefulness of concepts students are already familiar with, practical opportunities of applying these concepts during the translating process are offered to them. Students will be required to use appropriate meta-language to describe and discuss translation problems encountered and to explain and justify the translation procedures adopted to solve them.

Students will draw on the theory of anticipating and solving translation problems in language-specific practical sessions, where they will be translating a wide variety of text types into and out of English.

Translating Text and Culture 1

This module focuses on developing the analytical and interpretive reading and writing skills which are a necessary and integral part of the translation process. As translation trainees, students are expected to acquire advanced reading competence. In this module this is achieved through an examination of complex theoretical grammar concepts, as seen operating in a variety of written contexts. Productive skills related to students’ individual competence in written domain-specific language are also developed through practical exercises aimed at improving nuanced expression and register-dependent paraphrasing.

This module has both a theoretical and a practical nature which is reflected in the teaching structure which aims to foster transferable translation-specific skills.

Translating Text and Culture 2

This module is a follow-up of TR5054. It focuses on developing students’ awareness of the important role that cultures play in the ways we process and produce texts. The focus on text is broadened through an examination of some key concepts which affect the ways in which texts operate within the cultures and societies that produce them. Existing translations and relevant theoretical concepts will be analysed with the purpose of identifying the factors which may have an impact on the choices made by the translators.

As TR5054, this module has both a theoretical and a practical nature which is reflected in the teaching structure which aims to foster transferable translation-specific skills.

Translation Process and Procedures

This module explores text typology and specific aspects of Source Text analysis. The module focuses on the translation stages and the mechanisms underlying these stages. It introduces students to techniques for a successful source text analysis which will help them to anticipate translation problems. Students will be familiarised with the relevance of extra and intra-textual features of the source text to the translation process. They will be required to use appropriate meta-language to describe and discuss various anticipated translation problems in a variety of source texts and source forms.

Language Module (Arabic, French, Spanish or English)

Please check the Open Language Centre for confirmation of language level.

Language Module (Arabic, French, Spanish or English)

Please check the Open Language Centre for confirmation of language level.

Researching the Translator's Professional Environment

This module provides students with the experience of planning and bringing to fruition a piece of research work on the translators’ professional environment.
The module offers a range of workshops and professional talks to enhance students’ industry knowledge and further develop their research skills. The research will include, for example, the client-translator relationship, areas of specialisation, associations supporting translators in source and target language as well as continuous professional development and working for agencies. It will support future employability and reflective practice, as students will have the opportunity to assimilate the knowledge they gained in the work placement through research and independent study. For this, the assessment will take the form of a reflective account where students will have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have gained further industry knowledge.

The Translator and Specialisation

In this module, students are exposed to the specific requirements for the translation of texts belonging to specialist areas (e.g. medicine, law, multimedia areas such as television programmes, video games, comics) and the literary field such as the translation of children literature. Students are introduced to the characteristics of texts from these specialist domains and are familiarised with types, terminology, stylistic features, structure and the possible constraints imposed by the medium. The module therefore focuses on two main domains encompassing specialist areas and fields:
1. Technical/Applied Domains
2. Multimedia/Literary Domains

Theoretical Aspects of Translation

This module is a generic, non language-specific module which builds on students’ knowledge of the main theoretical trends and approaches in translation, allowing them to reflect critically. It facilitates students’ grasp of the main translation theories, and addresses the role of theory in shaping translation practice with a focus on the latest research available in the discipline. Throughout, students are requested to evaluate different translation theories and reflect critically on how these theories support the translator. Seminar discussion and regular, formative student presentations will address questions such as: Are all theories useful for all kinds of translation? What aspects of translation do specific theories address? How does translation theory influence the translation product? In which context do the theories operate?

Translation Project

This module allows students to show their analytical skills as well as their practical translating competence by completing an extended translation and writing a commentary on it. They will be expected to know how to find a text of appropriate level of specialisation and length for the purposes of translation into the relevant target language. Students are shown how and where to search for appropriate source texts in terms of difficulty, length and degree of specialisation, how to work independently on their chosen text, the production of a commentary as well as their translation, under the guidance of their language-specific supervisor. Students are expected to use feedback they receive to improve and develop their project. Students will at all times be expected to demonstrate the ability to work independently, seek advice from appropriate sources (supervisor, peers, colleagues, etc) and make constructive use of feedback. They are also expected to translate the text to a professional standard of accuracy, identify and make use of appropriate research, apply searching and documentation strategies and use appropriate translation tools. Students will analyse the text in the light of the knowledge they have accumulated in previous years while studying other modules such as TR5052 and TR5053 and write a commentary that goes beyond mere descriptiveness, showing their analytical and strategic competence at pre-translation stage. Students are finally expected to give due importance to post-translation analysis.

Work Placement

This is a work based learning module that offers an introduction to real-life translation situations in the setting of a Language Service Provider (LSP). The module builds on prior learning gained from academic studies and other relevant experience. It aims to enhance the student's understanding of the sector through applying their knowledge to practical work based situations. Students will have the opportunity to recognise the benefits of work experience by developing soft skills of interest to employers and extend their translation-related skills. The module aims to develop employability skills and competences by exploring career options and networking opportunities with future employers.

Students are required to undertake a minimum of 105 hours, equivalent to 15 full working days (based on 7 working hours per day). The minimum hours can be completed full-time or part-time during the summer after completion of level 5 modules, or over the autumn semester at level 6.
The responsibility for finding a suitable placement lies with the student, but support is available to find and apply for suitable opportunities not only through the module leader but also via the GSBL Placements and Employability Unit and University Careers service.
The module leader will assess the suitability of the proposed placement and approve as appropriate.

Detailed guidance on the module requirements and the assessment will be provided during the workshops and via WebLearn.

Interpreting Skills

This module will expand students’ skills in cross-linguistic and intercultural mediation by introducing them to essential interpreting skills, required in selected professional contexts. It will cover generic sessions on the nature of various types of interpreting and modes of delivery which are widely used in professional situations in a business setting. The module will aim at developing students’ skills for liaison interpreting, to facilitate dialogue and discussions between speakers who cannot speak each other’s language.
The generic sessions will be followed by practical sessions providing students with ample opportunities to acquire and develop relevant skills including memorising, note taking and communication.

Language Module (Arabic, French, Spanish or English)

Please check the Open Language Centre for confirmation of language level.

Language Module (Arabic, French, Spanish or English)

Please check the Open Language Centre for confirmation of language level.

Translation Dissertation

This module allows students to build on – and expand – the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired throughout their degree and, more specifically, in the module TR6052. It focuses on enhancing students’ capacity to reflect upon both theoretical and practical aspects of specialised translation by developing a dissertation in which they will examine and critically discuss wider issues in research specific to a specialist translation domain of their own choice.
Apart from consolidating their theoretical background, this module also aims at developing students’ research skills, self and time management, independent and team work, decision making and communication skills.