UDTRASTU - BA Translation

The teaching and learning strategies implemented in the BA Translation course are very diverse and comprehensive and aim at maximising the students’ experience of Higher Education both at subject-specific level and at the more general educational level.

A mix of theoretical and practical modules ensure that all students are stimulated and offered the opportunities of acquiring knowledge and skills in preparation for the translation industry demands and requirements in terms of employability.

Theoretical modules inform future professional translators as to what choices of translation methods and procedures as well as soft skills are available to be put into practice in real work situations.

The theoretical knowledge acquired is put into practice in students’ language-specific modules when they are given the opportunities to develop specific competencies through varied translation activities that they partake in individually, in pairs and in groups. These practical translation activities are student-led and the feedback is both student and tutor-led.

Practical translation work is done regularly in-class and also as homework and followed by peer and tutor feedback given orally and in writing. Translation activities and best practice are discussed face-to-face and also via WebLearn’s discussion tool.

The programme of this vocational course is achieved via lectures, seminar sessions, workshops, individual and group tutorials, case studies, IT lab sessions, placement, supervision sessions and online synchronous tutorial sessions.

The BA Translation course achieves cohesiveness via a series of core modules that allow building on previous knowledge and experience accumulated by students throughout their 3 years of university studies. Students’ acquisition and consolidation of knowledge and skills is also achieved via independent, autonomous study (both self-directed and tutor-directed) from the onset at level 4 and all the way through to level 6. Various activities are made accessible to students in all modules via WebLearn and thus form part and parcel of the learning process.

A number of designate modules is also made available to students who have reached their exit level in their 1^st foreign language, i.e native or near-native level of language competence. These designate modules can be a further foreign language at the appropriate level. Language testing will be carried out prior to registering for such a choice module and appropriate advice will be given to students.

Blended learning forms the basis of all the course’s modules, irrespective of their nature or level.

From the onset of their studies, students are requested to engage meaningfully and regularly with their learning process, to critically reflect on it and use appropriate remedial strategies to solve any individual study skill or/and subject-specific problem that may arise in the course of their university studies. Personal Development Planning is a regular activity that students are requested to engage with in order to progress successfully and overcome the challenges posed by learning at university level (See section 13).

Students’ learning is supported by a well resourced section of the language and translation library. A growing number of electronic copies of essential works are being made accessible to our students.

IT and language labs are available to students in the various university sites. Some of these labs also give students access to technical translation software taught in the course.

The BA Translation course also includes enhancement weeks every term when all year student cohorts will experience various activities such as visits to the European Union’s Directorate General of Translation, visits from careers advisers and guest speakers from professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Linguists and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, to name but a few. Such opportunities will be ideal to foster a strong sense of belonging and identity in relation to the course.

Year 4 and 5 will have their enhancement weeks in teaching weeks 10, 20 and 31 while year 6 students will have two enhancement weeks in teaching weeks 20 and 31 as they will be on compulsory work placement in the autumn term of their last year of studies. These enhancement weeks will also be used for face-to-face feedback and tutorials, as appropriate for each module.

The BA Translation course aims at providing translation trainees with the complete gamut of hard and soft skills necessary for a successful career as an in-house or self-employed translator. The course provides a sound basis for students to acquire all the necessary knowledge and transferable skills required by language service providers such as translation agencies, multinational companies and various other institutions such as the EU, to name but a few.

The course offers students the opportunity to raise their language and cultural awareness, to acquire practical skills in anticipating, identifying, describing translation problems of various kinds and finding appropriate solutions to these in their specific language pair and in various text types and domains.

The students are trained to work with generalist texts as well as semi-specialist texts pertaining to technical fields such as IT, medicine, law, Business, Media and also multimedia fields such as comics, subtitling, children literature, theatre. The course tackles translation of both technical and literary texts of various genres, focussing on their characteristics as well as the strategies available to solve potential translation problems encountered.

All key aspects of translation-related work are addressed in the curriculum, and include various theories and approaches used in translation studies, informed and supported by up-to-date research led in language area studies, practical translation activities, the translator’s professional environment, ethics in translation, employability issues and how they are managed, use of translation software, code of conduct and also an introduction to interpreting skills.

Throughout the course, students are given the opportunity to solve various problems directly related to the translation subject area, including time management and organisational skills, autonomous learning, interpersonal skills, editing and proof-reading skills, self-evaluation, personal responsibility, decision making and many more. These skills ensure that on successful completion of their studies, our translation trainees become fully fledged professional translators, ready to embrace the world of work in the translation industry.

This course also enables our graduates to continue with their postgraduate studies in translation, in interpreting or any other language related discipline.

The following learning outcomes incorporate and depend on systematic understanding of the key aspects of the knowledge base of the BA Translation course, including a coherent and detailed knowledge of some specialist areas in depth.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

• deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the Translation discipline;

• devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Translation studies;

• describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the area of Translation, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;

• manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Translation subject;

• apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;

• critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;

• communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;

• exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;

• undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.

 deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within the
Translation discipline:

TR4001 - Language, Communication and
Culture. (level 4)
TR4002 - The Translator and Language. (level
4)
TR4003 - Practical Resources for Translators.
(level 4)
TR5002 - Translating Text and Culture. (level
5)
TR5001 - Translation Process and Procedures.

 devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and
techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Translation studies:

TR5051 - Electronic Tools for Translation.
(level 5)
TR5050 - Managing Translation. (level 5)
TR6P03 - Translation Project. (level 6)
TR6051 - Theoretical Aspects of Translation.
(level 6)

 describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or
equivalent advanced scholarship, in the area of Translation, recognising the
uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge:

 manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary
sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Translation subject:

TR6002 - Specialist Translation Domains. (level
6)
TR4001 - Language, Communication and
Culture. (level 4)
TR4002 - The Translator and Language. (level
4)
TR5002 - Translating Text and Culture. (level
5)
TR5001 - Translation Process and Procedures.
(level 5)
TR5051 - Electronic Tools for Translation.
(level 5)

 apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects:

TR4001 - Language, Communication and
Culture. (level 4)
TR5002 - Translating Text and Culture. (level
5)
TR6P03 - Translation Project. (level 6)
TR6W01 - Working in the Professional
Environment. (level 6)
OEL001 - English Language Advanced
OEL002 - English Language Proficiency

Many language programmes seek to enable students to mediate between languages by means of translation and interpretation across a wide range of media. These activities require knowledge of how language systems relate to one another and of the techniques which permit mediation between languages. Where language mediation is a significant part of the curriculum, explicit knowledge of the practice of translation

will be a key feature. (QAA, Languages, 2007 p.6)

As this translation degree course uses a wide variety of teaching and learning styles, these are reflected in the various kinds of assessment tools made use of. Among these tools, we can list oral presentations, class tests, written reports, case studies, projects, essays, practical translations, commentaries, portfolios.

Teaching and learning strategies and methods and their assessment are integrated in the course outcomes.

As the majority of our students are non-native speakers of English, we test their level of reading and writing in the language before the course begins and a result of their test score, they are programme planned in one of the following two ways:

1. They either take English for Translators 1 at level 4 and if passed, they then take English for Translators 2 at level 5,

2. or they take English for Translators 2 at level 4 and if passed, then have the option of taking a second foreign language at level 5.

The same applies to those native speakers of English for whom French or Spanish is their 1st foreign language. Their test score determines whether they will be programme planned to take that foreign language as TRFLX1 or TRFLX2 at level 4.

The course has a compulsory work placement element during the first part of level 6. Students are expected to find their own Translation Service Provider, with the support and guidance of the placement co-ordinator.

They will be expected to carry out a minimum of two months work for in-house placement or a minimum of 180 hours for freelance placement, which can be flexibly arranged in consultation with the employer, and a further estimated 108 hours working on their intermediate report (formative), log book and final report (summative), all assessment components of “Working in the Professional Environment” module.

The following modules are core-compulsory:

1. TR4001 - Language, Communication and Culture.
2. TR4002 - The Translator and Language.
3. TR4003 - Practical Resources for Translators.
4. TRFLE1 - English for Translators 1 (English native speakers are exempt).
5. TRFLX1 - Foreign Language X1 (native speakers are exempt).
6. TRFLE2 - English for Translators 2 (English native speakers are exempt).
7. TRFLX2 - Foreign Language X2 (native speakers are exempt).
8. TR5001 - Translation Process and Procedures.
9. TR5002 - Translating Text and Culture.
10. TR5E50 - Managing Translation.
11. TR5051 - Electronic Tools for Translation.
12. TR6W01 - Working in the Professional Environment.
13. TR6002 - Specialist Translation Domains.
14. TR6P03 - Translation Project.
15. TR6W01 - Interpreting Skills.
16. TR6051 - Theoretical Aspects of Translation.

The Translation BA degree is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and the Institute of Language Educational Trust (IoLET), an internationally recognised professional body that awards exemptions from Unit 1 (Written Translation of a General Text) of the Level 7 Diploma in Translation.

We are also a full member of the CIUTI (Conférence Internationale Permanente d’Instituts Universitaires de Traducteurs et Interprètes), Routes into Languages/Capital L and the National Network for Translation.

This degree prepares you for career opportunities in translation agencies, national and international governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the European Union, the United Nations, banks and multinational corporations as well as language service providers in general. Many of our graduates work as freelance translators or in an academic setting teaching foreign languages.

The course programme also provides excellent preparation for postgraduate study in specialised translation, interpreting or any other language related area.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• English GCSE grade C or Key Skills Level 2
• at least 280 UCAS points from three or more A levels or
• 320 UCAS points from a BTEC National, a Level 3 Advanced Diploma or equivalent or
• an appropriate Access certificate

We welcome applications from mature candidates without formal qualifications who have relevant experience and can show an ability to study at this level.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.