Translation and Localisation Studies MA

This module will help you understand the key differences between traditional translation and localisation. We'll introduce you to localisation tools and their use in a variety of contexts, such as academic, practical and business.

Computer-assisted translation is an area of extreme growth and it’s vital that translators and interpreters have a good understanding of the tools available to them. This module will introduce you to the key concepts, terms and components, such as, term base, translation memory and translation editor in practice-based workshops.

In this module you will participate in real-life localisation projects, to learn advanced IT skills, translation technology, marketing strategies, business execution and language service administration.

The Targeted Translation Project is the culmination of your MA studies, allowing you to demonstrate the knowledge and skills you've gained, students usually find this piece of work hugely rewarding.

For this project you will select, research and write up a topic of your choice from the field of translation studies. Your course director and other members of the teaching staff will be on hand to help you choose your subject and provide advice where needed.

It's usually between 12,000-15,000 words and the format can be any of the following:

• an extended translation (3,000 words) presented with a commentary (6,000-7,000 words)
• a comparison of existing translations (12,000-15,000 words)
• an analysis of the role of translation in a particular culture/country (12,000-15,000 words)
• a research project (12-15000 words).

This module will enable you to combine translation theory and practice through workshops to maximise skills development. Workshops are based on translation of different text types where relevant critical and genre-specific approaches are introduced. This module will prepare you for life as a language professional and/or translation practitioner.

Build a critical and reflective approach to your translation practice by understanding the varying theories that have been prominent in the Western world. You will study the history of translation, potentially including comparative literature, and different translation and transfer models across a range of genres.

You’ll have the opportunity to examine a number of case studies for each theory of translation, in a variety of different languages. But don’t worry, proficiency in these languages is not a prerequisite, as we will focus on translation dynamics.

This module is worth 20 credits.

This module will introduce you to the translation practices for three of the most common types of text: informative (such as news reports), expressive (such as poetry/drama) and operative (such adverts). You will build on the translation theories explored within other modules and have the opportunity to apply them within your own practice.

You’ll learn through lectures and language-specific workshops. Lectures will present various approaches to translation and within the workshops you’ll put your learning into practice by translating texts and discussing why you’ve chosen a particular method.

All our workshop leaders are specialists in their languages(s) and most have experience of working as a translator.

You will be assessed through one piece of summative coursework where you’ll translate three texts, each with an accompanying commentary.

Accessibility is an important consideration in audiovisual translation and this module will introduce you to the key practices involved. You’ll focus on the theory and practice(s) of different aspects of audiovisual translation, with the main focus being on subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing and audio description.

You will also examine linguistic, technical, and cultural specificities of audiovisual translation in detail. The module will be delivered in a series of weekly two-hour seminars.

This module explores how the relationships between the modern Western colonial empires and their former colonies or nations with which they established relationships, are reflected in twentieth-century short stories in French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic.

Attention will be paid to the evolution of the short story form during the twentieth century, and to the engagement of these stories with cultures subject to or subjugated by the European colonial powers or the cultures of these powers themselves.

This module looks at literature of the period ‘around’ the French Revolution (1789-94), including the run-up to it and the political, cultural and literary battle over revolutionary ideas and threats that followed. The focus will be on two ‘canonical’ texts of German ‘revolutionary’ literature - J. W. Goethe’s novel Die Leiden des jungen Werther and Friedrich Schiller’s play Die Räuber - and their reception and adaptations in Britain between 1779 and 1800. One English poem from the post-revolution context, equally ‘canonical’, that attacks efforts to suppress reform in Britain: P. B. Shelley’s Mask of Anarchy will also be included, taking into account its place in Shelley’s work and its reception in Germany.

Through this topic of ‘revolution’ two key areas of comparative literature studies will be explored: transnational literature and the dynamics of cultural transfer and literary circulation.

Further develop your English language skills focussing on areas which are important for language professionals:

• lexis, structure and functions
• receptive and productive skills
• textual aspects
• situational constraints, pragmatics and register
• relevant cultural background
• sources of information and guidance for the solution of difficulties related to applied concerns

Further develop your English language skills focussing on aspects related to the English language in semi-specialised contexts:

• lexis, structure and functions
• receptive and productive skills
• textual aspects
• situational constraints, pragmatics and register
• relevant cultural background
• sources of information and guidance for the solution of difficulties related to applied concerns