APG5875 - Introduction to interpreting and translation studies - 2017

Introductory core unit of the MA in Interpreting and Translation Studies (ITS). The language of instruction will be English, the seminar will allow both formal lectures and practical workshops. The unit will cover the theoretical disciplines which inform the recently emerged interdisciplinary fields of ITS; the history of interpreting and translation, and ITS (comparative linguistics, pragmatic and semiotic approaches); the various linguistic, cultural, social and other contextual factors involved in interpreting and translation work; the relevance of interpreting and translation theory to interpreting and translation practice; the basic theoretical principles of interpreting and translation; and interpreting and translation terminology

On completion of the unit, students will:

1. Be able to identify and discuss significant historical developments in interpreting and translation studies,
2. Have learnt a metalanguage for articulating different paradigms in translation studies (structuralism, hermeneutics, semiotic, post-modernism, deconstruction),
3. Have acquired the ability to recognize interpreting and translation studies as an 'inter-discipline',
4. Be able to conceptualise the three dimensions of equivalence: hermeneutics (Humboldt, Schleiermacher, Koschmieder (tertium comparationis)); cognition (Kintsch, Kumaul, Rumelhart (prototypes and schemata)); pragmatics (Austin, Searle, Levinson (illocution and perlocution));
5. Be able to discuss in depth at least two translation theoretical paradigms and their historical embeddedness, including the applicability of this predominantly European theoretical framework to non-European languages.

Within semester assessment: 75% + Exam: 25%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Leah Gerber

Applied linguistics

Interpreting and translation

Teaching world Englishes for international communication

Translation

APG4813