Screen Translation MA

Discover accessibility practices in the field of audiovisual translation, with a particular focus on audio description (AD). You'll focus on the theory and practice(s) of different aspects of AD. The linguistic, technical, and cultural specificities of AD will be examined in detail. You'll become familiar with professional tools, workflows and standards.

Because the module focusses on AD produced for members of the audience on the blindness spectrum, part of the module is also dedicated to helping you understand blindness, visual impairments, and the needs of members of the audience on the blindness spectrum. The working language will be English, and whilst you will be given the opportunity to work between languages, it should be noted that for practical purposes, the focus of the module will be largely intralingual.

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.

Gain a grounding in subtitling for D/deaf members of the audience. You'll get to grips with professional tools and professional conventions (for spotting, splitting, presentation, reading speed etc.) with a view to open up professional avenues.

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.

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).

Whether you’re interested in opening up career opportunities around the world, giving your studies a boost by gaining access to research in other languages or simply planning to travel after your studies, developing foreign language skills will help you stand out from the crowd. We offer nine languages and you can start as a beginner or at a more advanced level; Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Spanish

You may also choose from the following foreign language-related modules:

• Language and Language Learning
• Culture of Arabic Language
• Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages
• Exploring Intercultural Awareness

Find out more about learning a language alongside your studies

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
• corpus research methods for register, genre and discourse analysis.

You’ll also discover a range valuable sources of information and guidance which will benefit you throughout your career.

We’ll introduce you to a variety of different techniques and help you start building the key skills required to ​begin your exciting journey of becoming a successful interpreter. You’ll explore simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, putting your findings into practice with your classmates. We’ll also explore some of the obstacles interpreters face and teach you how to navigate around them.

Through lectures, skills-based classes and time spent practising your newly-acquired skills (using the online platform for interpreters and/or in the interpreter’s booth) you ​should see an improvement to your listening, concentration and memory skills.

By the end of the module you’ll have gained a solid ​introductory understanding of interpreting skills and will feel confident and capable when putting them into practice in the easy level interpreting tasks. ​This module could become a first step towards your further training to become a professional interpreter!