Course Title: Ethics and Professional Issues in Translating and Interpreting

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Ethics and Professional Issues in Translating and Interpreting

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
LANG1303	RMIT University Vietnam	Undergraduate	365H Global, Urban and Social Studies	Face-to-Face	Viet3 2018, Viet3 2019, Viet3 2020, Viet1 2021, Viet3 2021, Viet2 2022, Viet1 2023, Viet2 2023, Viet1 2024, Viet2 2024, Viet1 2025

Course Coordinator: Anh T Dinh

Course Coordinator Phone: +84 8 36223669

Course Coordinator Email: anh.dinhtung@rmit.edu.vn

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

Course Description

This course, the first in Vietnam to offer a comprehensive overview of ethics in T&I, provides students with an ethical and professional framework which affects the practice of Translation & Interpretation, together with reflections on and analysis of real-life scenarios.  The course will enable students to take a reflective approach to enhance their professional practice and development in a contextualised manner and aims to provide them with the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to construct their own context-dependent ethical codes for T&I to protect both themselves and their clients in the workplace.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

In course you will develop the following program learning outcomes:  

PLO2: Critically reflect on the role of culture in communication and society and apply this knowledge in a range of cross-cultural interactions locally and globally. 

PLO5: Demonstrate creativity, critical thinking and innovation when identifying and solving problems in diverse contexts within language related fields 

PLO6: Identify, evaluate and critically analyse cultural, historical and theoretical practices which contextualise your professional practice and further study of language. 

PLO8: Critically analyse resources, evidence and personal experience to make ethical, socially and politically aware decisions related to language and intercultural interpretations and applications. 

PLO9: Effectively manage your own learning, developing skills in lifelong learning of languages and cross-cultural communication. 

 

Course Learning Outcomes 

Upon successful completion of this course you will be able to: 

CLO1: Outline the philosophical underpinnings of ethics in professional practice. 

CLO2: Examine and apply ethical frameworks of professional translating and interpreting practice. 

CLO3: Identify potential conflict situations and examine appropriate resolution strategies in relation to professional and industrial issues in the translating and interpreting profession. 

CLO4: Explain the business frameworks under which interpreting and translating professionals are required to operate. 

 

Overview of Learning Activities

You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as lectures, tutorials, seminars, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face to face, online or a mix of both. 

Classes will examine basic issues in professional ethics through some theoretical literature, but with the main focus on case studies drawn from actual professional practice in Translation & Interpretation, contextualised to the Vietnamese workplace.

Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal. 

The professional and ethical issues selected for class discussion arise out of RMIT staff collective experience as educators, practitioners and researchers. These will complement the substantial holdings of the RMIT libraries on ethical and professional issues in Translating & Interpreting.

Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes. 

Assessment Tasks: 

Assessment Task 1: Quizzes, 20% (CLO1, CLO2, and CLO3) 

Assessment Task 2: Directing class workshop, 40% (CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, and CLO4) 

Assessment Task 3: Evaluation essay and Analysis of scenario, 40% (CLO2, CLO3, CLO4) 

Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks. 

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more. 

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions.