The course concurs to the achievement of the academic goals of the BA in Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at both cultural and professional level. Students will acquire knowledge of the main translation theories and the current debate (e.g., translation and ideology, translation and globalization, translation and foreign language teaching) and refine their meaning-making process, while the practice of translation will enhance their linguistic and professional competencies. A module focuses on the recent reintroduction of translation in foreign language teaching and guides students to plan language activities for secondary school pupils.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Knowledge and understanding – Applying knowledge and understanding:
By the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge and understanding of
- the main translation theories
- the cultural debate around translation
- translation-oriented text analysis
- online resources
- issues of adaptation, functional equivalence, context-dependent rendering and humour
- the debate around the use of translation in foreign language teaching, the National Guidelines and the CEFR descriptors,
and will be able to
- analyze a text highlighting its linguistic, textual and socio-cultural properties
- translate a text without misinterpretations or L1 mistakes, using language and style that are suitable to the text type and its function
- work in group by carrying out different tasks and being in charge of various stages in the translation workflow
- plan secondary school language activities which include translation.
Making judgements:
By the end of the course, students will be able to
- identify the text type and select adequate target language text-type conventions
- adopt the most suitable translation strategy/ies
- reflect on the translation equivalents chosen
- consider the L2 class situation and the learning objective/s in order to propose a language activity that involves translation; evaluate its efficacy.
Communication skills:
By the end of the course, students will be able to
- discuss translation in its various dimensions using the relevant terminology and a CEFR level C1 language competence
- collaboratively relate to the other group members while working at a translation project
- explain and carry out a language activity involving translation.
