TRN4040 - Translation 1: Discourse Analysis

Leader: Dr Marisa Cordella

Offered

Clayton First semester 2007 (Day)

Synopsis

In this unit students will develop an understanding and acquire knowledge on discourse analysis tools used in Translation Studies. The unit will provide students with the opportunity to analyse discourse features of the original text and compare and contrast them with the translated version. The unit also aims to develop the student's ability to translate texts of increasing levels of complexity and expertise in a variety of textual genres. A particular emphasis is given to ethical issues involved in translation.
The unit combines a generic, classroom-based component, in which some of the theoretical issues from the parallel core subjects are discussed, in addition to language-specific tutorials and a fieldwork component, in which students will be introduced to translation and translating in a variety of different environments. This unit includes web-based translation assignments tailored to individual target languages, involving the practical application of theoretical insights. Translation will be LOTE-English OR English-LOTE.

Objectives

On completion of the unit, students will be able to:

1. identify the problems different text genres pose for translation
2. translate a variety of document genres by applying critical insights from translation theory and methodology
3. access, translate and return Web-based documents
4. use suitable strategies to create texts in the target language
5. identify and analyse ethical issues as they relate to the interpreting and translation industry.

Assessment

Weekly assignments and exercises (Equivalent to 6000 words) : 50%
Mid-semester test (1 hour) (Equiv. to 1000 words) : 20%
Final examination (2 hours) (Equiv. to 2000 words) : 30%
Weekly exercises include translation assignments and a translation (fieldwork) journal.

Contact hours

1x 1.5 hour seminar, 1x 1.5 hour tutorial, the equivalent of 1x 1 hour interactive web-based work, and the equivalent of 40 hours of fieldwork.

Co-requisites

TRN4030