Course Title: Context and Practice of Translation 2B (LOTE into English) Mandarin

Part B: Course Detail

Teaching Period: Term1 2007

Course Code: LANG5452

Course Title: Context and Practice of Translation 2B (LOTE into English) Mandarin

School: 365T Global Studies, Soc Sci & Plng

Campus: City Campus

Program: C6067 - Advanced Diploma of Translating and Interpreting

Course Contact : Brad Paez

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 0362

Course Contact Email:brad.paez@rmit.edu.au


Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff

Nominal Hours: 85

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

Pre-Requisites:
Context and Practice of Translation 1B (English into LOTE)

Course Description

This course aims to provide students with skills and knowledge in written transfer, the primary competency of the Professional Translator, and the ability to consistently apply relevant theoretical framework and contextual knowledge required for particular assignments.


National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria

National Element Code & Title:

VBN930 Context and Practice of Translation 2B (LOTE into English) Jananese


Learning Outcomes


On completion of this module you will be able to:

  1. Translate passages that embody a reasonable level of linguistic and conceptual difficulty from LOTE into English, exhibiting appropriate use of transfer skills and achieving acceptable meaning-based renderings.
  2. Examine in depth a range of institutional and professional contexts in which interpreting and translating take place as professional activities, and apply related concepts and vocabulary within more complex translation practice.
  3. Research Australia’s and the LOTE-speaking country’s institutional and professional contexts that arise in a substantial translation text.
  4. Collaborate in developing acceptable equivalences (in English or the LOTE as applicable) for terminology relating to these contexts.
  5. Apply a variety of techniques for translating words and terms that are difficult to transfer due to cultural factors.
  6. Provide a comprehensive rationale for each equivalence.


Details of Learning Activities

In small groups you will develop the skills and knowledge to perform complex translation tasks. In particular, the instruction will aim to assist you to:
• Undertake translation tasks from English into the LOTE, involving a range of ancillary skills as incorporated into aspects of textual analysis: context, idiom, collocation, register, stylistics, etc.
• Use monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, glossaries, thesauri and other appropriate databases used by professional translators in an appropriate manner.
• Compile monolingual and bilingual glossaries and databases in line with Australian and international professional practices.
• Develop appropriate translation techniques, such as transference, cultural equivalence, functional equivalence, transposition and ability to evaluate the merits and demerits of such techniques.
• Link translation practice to the theoretical frameworks studied in Theoretical Bases of Interpreting & Translating, and to the ethical, professional and role aspects studied in Ethics and Professional Practice of Interpreting & Translating.
• Understand and apply the meaning-based approach to translation.
• Produce highly accurate translations containing no major errors, particularly those that extend beyond the word / phrase level and lead a student into making subsequent significant errors of cause / effect, etc.
• Produce complete translations (no ‘censoring’, summarising or providing extraneous information).
• Make appropriate choice of vocabulary, particularly medium- and high-frequency vocabulary.
• Ensure correct spelling, punctuation and capitalisation, and where applicable, correct formation of script or ideographs.
• Choose appropriate register.
• Transfer lines of cohesion (causes and effects, and inter-relationships between elements) and maintain the logical order of the original argument.
• Demonstrate proficiency in grammar of both languages and general absence of systemic grammar errors that permeate the entire translation (eg in English, consistently choosing inappropriate tenses, singular/plural, articles, etc).
• Recognise and understand idioms in the source language and apply appropriate strategies to translate idioms.
• Avoid non-idiomatic language, particularly where it would impede understanding of the target text.
• Avoid collocational errors, including use of inappropriate collocations from the source language (eg when translating into English, choosing the source-language collocation ‘hard money’ in¬stead of the English word ‘coins’).
• Deal proficiently with problems at and above the word level in the source text.
• Proofread to eliminate errors such as missed words or phrases.
• Use translator’s notes appropriately (i.e. neither under-used nor over-used, and clearly identified as translator’s notes in one of the commonly accepted ways)
• Use available resources, including the Internet, to research contextual issues relevant to translation projects.


Teaching Schedule

Students will be provided with a program calendar outlining a series of weekly themes/topics that form a guide for study and practice.

Final Assessment will take place during the university’s formal examination period immediately following the end of semester.


Learning Resources

Prescribed Texts


References


Other Resources

What will I need access to for this course?

Learning materials will largely be generated by the teachers involving a range of written materials (from the press, Internet, media and government publications, etc.) as the module is specifically targeted to developing practical translation skills appropriate to NAATI professional practice. Students may need to access the following text:
Baker, M., In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation, Routledge, London, 1999.


Overview of Assessment

Three Learning Outcome tasks.


Assessment Tasks

Accreditation examination, conducted under NAATI formal examination conditions. Translate two passages out of three at a level of difficulty appropriate to the NAATI professional level from LOTE into English. (100%)


Assessment Matrix

Learning Outcome activities have been designed in accordance with specified competencies.

Course Overview: Access Course Overview