PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATION PRACTICE I - 2021/2

Module Overview

This module introduces students to professional translation practice. Taking a holistic approach to translator education, students engage in regular, practical translation workshops in which they are encouraged to translate different types of texts and reflect critically on the principles and challenges of contemporary translation. Covering different types of professional assignments, including specialized terminology research, translation for different purposes and audiences, proofreading and editing, and post-editing machine translation, the workshops are led by practising translators and include language-specific translation practice in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Polish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish or Turkish (and other languages upon request) paired with English. All languages are subject to demand and tutor availability. Close alignment with the module ‘Principles and Challenges of Translation and Interpreting’ enables students to confront a wide range of issues, equipped with both a solid grounding in the guiding principles that underpin the discipline and the strategic competences required to engage in best practices in the profession. Alongside the taught component, students begin to compile a Professional Engagement Portfolio based on additional, extra-curricular activities undertaken independently with guidance, to be submitted at the end of the academic year (e.g. evidence and documentation of participating in workshops, talks, seminars organised beyond the Department or by other Universities; participating in workshops/ courses organised by the professional associations; any occasional part-time freelance work related to the programme).

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

FRANKENBERG-GARCIA Ana (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

n/a

Module content

• Linguistic and terminological research
• File and project management
• Revising, reviewing, proofreading
• Translation of authentic texts that reflect specific challenges and demands of language service provision, where different translation solutions are analysed with reference to the principles of Translation Studies and best practices in the industry
• Document layout, formatting and professional presentation

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

n/a

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• The ability to translate to an acceptable level of professional competence authentic texts requiring the use of specialized terminology, in compliance with target genre conventions and formatting specifications
   


• The ability to employ relevant problem-solving strategies, make informed translation decisions and justify the choices made
   


• The ability to manage time and work under strict deadlines

 

  Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:   

• Practical based assessment: a translation of approximately 500source-text words plus a methodology commentary, addressing learning outcomes 1-2 and 4-6
   


• Practical based assessment: a translation of approximately 500 source-text words plus a translation challenge commentary, addressing learning outcomes 1-6
   


• A professional engagement portfolio documenting a minimum of 6 extracurricular activities carried out during the programme, addressing learning outcome 7

 

  Formative assessment

Students will receive regular translation and translation-related tasks to practise and learn during the semester.

  Feedback

Students will receive individual feedback as they build their translation portfolios, and peer and group feedback during workshops.

Module aims

• • Prepare for professional translation tasks through a range of exercises and simulations
• • Gain an acceptable level of competence in the translation of texts requiring the use of specialized terminology, in complying with the target-language textual genre and register, and in addressing the communicative needs of different target audiences
• • Employ relevant problem-solving strategies and solutions, and knowledgeably discuss and justify translation decisions in accordance with the principles underpinning Translation Studies scholarship and best practices in the industry
• Stimulate engagement with the profession through extra-curricular activities

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Facilitate a holistic approach to knowledge and skills acquisition

• Stimulate classroom discussions on source text analysis, translation strategies and comparative target text solutions

• Develop awareness of task effort/time/limitations

• Promote best practices in the profession

• Encourage a critical approach to translation solutions

• Inspire extra-curricular professional development via Professional Engagement Portfolio

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Workshops that offer opportunities for group and whole-class discussions and tutor feedback; 

• Self-study, which consists of working on texts or participating in extra-curricular activities that may feed into the professional engagement portfolio

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: TRAM493

Other information

n/a

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.