PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATION PRACTICE I - 2025/6

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, and proofreading and editing, the workshops enable students to engage critically with the quality of professional human translation; this will prepare students for professional translation practice, including post-editing and evaluation of machine-translation and artificial -intelligence (AI) solutions. The workshops are led by practising translators and include translation practice in language-specific and multilingual groups. The languages we regularly offer  include: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Polish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish, all paired with English. Other languages are available upon request (please ask). 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, equipping them 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. As part of the module, students begin to compile a Professional Engagement Portfolio based on additional profession-oriented activities undertaken independently with guidance; these activities are gradually documented during the academic year and then formally assessed and, for instance, typically include participation in workshops, talks and seminars organised by professional associations as well as additional training or work related to the programme.  

Module provider

Literature & 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

None

Module content

 
Indicative content includes:


* 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:

* A Professional Engagement Portfolio Documenting a Minimum of 6 Extracurricular Activities Carried Out During the Programme, (PASS/FAIL) addressing learning outcome 5

* Practical Based Assessment: a Translation of Approximately 500 Source-Text Words Plus a Methodology Commentary (40%), addressing learning outcomes 1-4

* Practical Based Assessment: a Translation of Approximately 500 Source-Text Words Plus a Translation Challenge Commentary (60%), addressing learning outcomes 1-4

 

Formative assessment

Students will receive regular translation and translation-related tasks to practice 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

• The module aims to: prepare students for professional translation tasks through a range of exercises and simulations
• provide for students the opportunity to 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

• 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.

Reading list

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

Other information

Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:

• The core part of the module involves several parallel sessions in which students perform translation tasks, according to the students’ languages. These sessions help students develop Global and Cultural competences, since these are the main skills required of professional translators, to foster communication across a globalised world, and to contribute to the interchange of knowledge and integration of diverse communities and cultures.
• The module integrates the Professional Engagement Portfolio (PEP) which prepares students to their journey towards professional life. The PEP is a major contributor to the Employability of students, based not only on the demonstration of their enlarged commitment with the professional world, but also by the connection to new professional practices, explored both in the technology workshop and in the translation practice classes.
• Practical work in the module explores the efficient use of Digital skills in research and information processing tasks, such as efficient management of monolingual and bilingual corpora. Initial exercises, updated according to the most recent industry trends, explore competences that are required for the rest of the module, the degree and the preparation for professional life as a translator.

• Students develop Resilience and Resourcefulness skills by working in challenges that reflect on technological and practice trends in the industry, incentivising students to develop an adaptive attitude. Several activities require that students autonomously identify the best sources of reliable support to their work. The workshop setting provides a supportive and safe space for students to exchange ideas and develop their skills in translation.

• The module provides foundational concepts and skills for students to prepare their professional lives with a focus on Sustainability, expressed as a stable source of revenue in a healthy language industry, but also by the use of technologies that are developed within an ecological perspective, and which have themselves sustainability considerations as platforms in a rapidly evolving technological field.

This module plays a central role in the educational experience of students of the MA programs. The module focuses on practices of professional translation, seen as a set of professional roles that enable global communication.

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 2025/6 academic year.