MA Translation and Interpreting Studies / Course details

Translating for Business and Institutions 2 develops students’ specialised competences and skills in translation and related practices in international business and institutional settings. It focuses on translation in the private and public sectors, covering the work of commercial language service companies as well as translation departments in international organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations.  

Students become familiar with the varied roles of language professionals: freelance translators, in-house translators, terminologists, translation project managers, translation revisers and post-editors. They draw on conceptual and reflective approaches to develop an advanced understanding of language services and to empower them as reflective professionals.  

Through practical translation and terminology work, students continue to develop their abilities to analyse and understand specialised texts and to produce content that meets professional specifications. The unit also develops students’ competences in managing translation projects and using translation technologies, notably term bases, translation memory and machine translation. 

Translation tutorials provide specific guidance to students for their translation work from any language into English or from English into any other language. Students are normally expected to translate into their first or strongest language. 

• To familiarize students with diverse aspects of professional translation practices, including translation, revision and post-editing, terminology management and translation project management
• To provide guided practice in researching, analysing and translating commercial and institutional text genres that are frequently translated
• To train students in the integration of translation technologies into translation practice
• To prepare students to write a dissertation on translating for business or institutions
• To enable students to recognize and develop their own professional and personal strengths and to enhance their employability

• Demonstrate an understanding of the language services sector, with a particular focus on students’ prospective roles within the sector
• Understand the roles played by technologies in professional translation practice
• Apply relevant conceptual frameworks to the study of corporate and institutional discourse

• Execute roles as translators and intercultural experts in commercial and institutional domains
• Conduct analyses of corporate and institutional discourse and of translation practice

• Use specialist resources and software in translation and translation management processes
• Reflect on and analyse translation practices

• Communicate effectively with clients and others involved in the delivery of language services in commercial and institutional domains
• Work collaboratively with other students and autonomously on specific tasks
• Work under time pressure and manage tasks effectively
• Work confidently and competently with a range of software products

Assessment task:

1. Terminology project - 30%

2. Translation and critical analysis - 70%

Resit assessment:

If only one assessment task has been failed, that task will be resat.  

If both assessment tasks have been failed, Assessment 2 will be resat.

Feedback method:

• Oral individual and group feedback on in-class discussion (incl. peer feedback) 
• Oral individual and group feedback on in-class tasks (incl. peer feedback) 
• Oral individual and group feedback on translation and other tasks prepared for class sessions (incl. peer feedback) 
• Written individual feedback on terminology project plan 
• Written individual feedback on submitted assignments 

The following list is indicative only. A specific course reading list will be provided to students.

Drugan, Jo (2013) Quality In Professional Translation: Assessment and Improvement, London: Bloomsbury.

Hyland, Ken (2018) Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing, London: Bloomsbury.

Mossop, Brian (2019) Revising and Editing for Translators, London: Routledge.

Olohan, Maeve (2016) Scientific and Technical Translation, London: Routledge.

Svoboda, Tomáš, Łucja Biel and Krzysztof Łoboda (eds.) (2017) Quality Aspects in Institutional Translation, Berlin: Language Science Press.

Walker, Callum (2022) Translation Project Management, London and New York: Routledge.

Yu, Danni (2021) Cross-Cultural Genre Analysis: Investigating Chinese, Italian and English CSR reports, London: Routledge.