Course unit details:
Translating for Business and Institutions 1
| Unit code | ELAN65441 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
Translating for Business and Institutions 1 introduces students to the practices, tools and techniques of translation as carried out in commercial and international organisations. This includes a focus on conceptual and terminological research and on producing documents to professional specifications. The unit also provides training in the use of translation technologies; using leading commercial software, students learn how to integrate translation memory and machine translation into their own translation practices.
This course unit concentrates on the translation and localisation of promotional material used in marketing and selling goods and services in commercial contexts. It also introduces the role of translation in the international production and communication of news.
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 languages.
This unit provides conceptual foundations and practical skills for Translating for Business and Institutions 2, which examines translation in these and other institutional settings in greater depth.
Pre/co-requisites
Available on which programme(s)? - MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies
Medium of language - English
Aims
- To give students an understanding of the role of the professional linguist in international commercial and corporate activities
- To familiarize students with aspects of professional translation practices in commercial domains
- To provide guided practice in researching, analysing and translating commercial text genres that are frequently translated
Knowledge and understanding
- Understand key aspects of cross-cultural communication in business and institutions
- Apply relevant conceptual frameworks to the study of promotional texts and corporate discourse
Intellectual skills
- Execute roles as translators and intercultural experts in commercial domains
- Conduct analyses of promotional discourse
Practical skills
- Use specialist resources and software to prepare for and complete translations
- Reflect on and analyse translation practices
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Communicate effectively with clients and others involved in the delivery of language services in commercial domains
- Work collaboratively with other students and autonomously on specific tasks
- Work under time pressure and manage tasks effectively
- Work competently with a range of software products
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- Analyse and understand promotional texts
- Written communication
- adhere to guidelines and use appropriate resources to produce written products of a professional quality.
- Other
- Reflect critically on their own practice
Assessment methods
Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit (if summative) |
|---|---|---|
1. Translation | Summative | 50% |
2. C | Summative | 50% |
Resit assessment:
- If only one assessment task has been failed, that task will be resat.
- If both tasks have been failed, Assessment 2 will be resat.
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
|---|---|
Oral individual and group feedback on in-class discussion (incl. peer feedback) | Formative |
Oral individual and group feedback on in-class tasks (incl. peer feedback) | Formative |
Oral individual and group feedback on translation and other tasks prepared for class sessions (incl. peer feedback) | Formative |
Written individual feedback on submitted assignments | Both |
Recommended reading
The following list is indicative only. A specific course reading list will be provided to students.
Benetello, Claudia (2018) ‘When Translation Is Not Enough: Transcreation as a convention-defying practice’, The Journal of Specialised Translation, 29: 28-44.
Bielsa, Esperança and Susan Bassnett (2009) Translation in Global News, London: Routledge
Sulaiman, M. Zain and Rita Wilson (eds) (2019) Translation and Tourism: Strategies for effective cross-cultural promotion, Singapore: Springer.
Torresi, Ira (2021) Translating Promotional and Advertising Texts, 2nd edition, London: Routledge.
Valdeón, Robert A. (ed.) (2022) Special issue of Journalism on journalistic translation.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 11 |
| Seminars | 8 |
| Tutorials | 3 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 128 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Maeve Olohan | Unit coordinator |
| Yu Kit Cheung | Unit coordinator |