82030 - Specialized Translation from English into Italian

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Forli
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Specialized translation (cod. 9174)

    Also valid for Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Specialized translation (cod. 9174)

Learning outcomes

The student knows the strategies, techniques, traditional and state-of-the-art tools and methods used in specialized translation tasks; s/he is able to apply them to the translation of technical and scientific texts from different genres and text types, from English into Italian, meeting specific translation briefs and respecting the communicative functions of the source texts; s/he knows the basic techniques required for information mining, drafting, editing and revising texts, including the overall quality evaluation of the translated text.

Course contents

The course focuses on the translation and revision of English specialized texts from selected technical-scientific domains (including economic-financial and legal texts) and taken from a variety of sources within the public/institutional and private/corporate sectors. Students will be given tools to handle texts in any type of specialized domain and will learn to produce Italian translations that are accurate and authentic to the expert reader. To this end, students will be asked to apply the linguistic, pragmatic and translation competences gained during their first year of studies.

Special attention will be paid to the key (cross-sectoral) steps to be followed in specialized translation: identify and analyze the context, genre and discourse features of the source text, collect reliable reference materials, select relevant terminology and build ad-hoc translation resources (translation memories, glossaries and corpora). Students will use computer-assisted translation tools, drawing from the methodological and technical skills they have acquired in the Technologies for translation modules.

Readings/Bibliography

Balboni, P. 2000. Le microlingue scientifico-professionali. Natura e insegnamento. Torino: UTET.
Bhatia, V. 1993. Analysing genre: language use in professional settings. Harlow: Longman.
Byrne, J. 2006. Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation. Dordrecht: Springer.
Cortelazzo, M. 1994. Lingue speciali. La dimensione verticale. Padova: Unipress.
Cortese, G. (ed.) 1996. Tradurre i linguaggi settoriali. Torino: Cortina.
Cosmai, D. 2007. Tradurre per l'Unione Europea (2 ed.). Milano: Hoepli.
Gualdo, R. & Telve, S. 2011. Linguaggi specialistici dell’italiano. Roma: Carocci.
Mossop, B. 2007. Revising and Editing for Translators (2 ed.). Manchester: St. Jerome.
Musacchio, M. 1995. La traduzione della lingua dell’economia. Dall’inglese in italiano. Trieste: Lint.
Rosati, F. 2004. Anglicismi nel lessico economico e finanziario italiano. Roma: Aracne.
Scarpa, F. 2008. La Traduzione Specializzata (2 ed.). Milano: Hoepli.
Tammaro, L. 2001. Aspetti della traduzione dei testi economici: l’articolo di ricerca e il commento sulla stampa. In Monacelli, C. (ed.) Traduzione, revisione e localizzazione nel terzo millennio: da e verso l’inglese, Milano: Franco Angeli, 109-139.
Tosi, A. 2007. Un italiano per l’Europa. La traduzione come prova di vitalità. Roma: Carocci.
Tosi, A. (ed.) 2013. The EU multilingual translation in an ecology of language perspective. International Journal of Applied Linguistics (Special Edition), 23:1.
Visconti, J. 2000. La traduzione del testo giuridico. Problemi e prospettive di ricerca, Terminology and Translation. A Journal of the Language Services of the European Institutions, no. 2: 38-66.
Zanettin, F. 2012. Translation driven-corpora: corpus resources for descriptive and applied translation studies. Manchester: St. Jerome.

Teaching methods

The lessons will be run as face-to-face workshops, including theoretical introductions (by the teacher) and short presentations (by the students) to better grasp the context and goals of the text. A significant amount of class time will be devoted to correction, revision and discussion of translation options. Peer assessment will also be used for revision tasks, adding to guidance from the teacher and encouraging students’ critical thinking. A mid-term mock test will be given in the second part of the semester.

Classes are held in a computer lab – where PCs with Internet access and CAT tools are available to students – for substantial hands-on practice of translation (individually, in pairs and small groups).

Attendance of at least 70% of all scheduled class meetings is mandatory.

NB: As concerns the teaching methods of this course unit, all students must attend the online Modules 1, 2 on Health and Safety [https://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/health-and-assistance/health-and-safety/online-course-on-health-and-safety-in-study-and-internship-areas].

Assessment methods

Students will be assessed on their command of strategies and techniques for specialized translation, as well as on their ability to tackle highly technical content and terminology.

In the final written exam (marked out of 30), students will be asked to translate a specialized text of about 300 words; the topic and the genre of the text to be translated will be among those dealt with during the course. Students will be able to use CAT tools and any resources that have been collected and built during the course, as well as dictionaries, glossaries and documents available on the Internet.

The final grade for Specialized Translation will be an average of the mark obtained for Specialized Translation from English into Italian (50%) and the mark obtained for Specialized Translation from Italian into English (50%).

Grading scale

30-30L: Excellent level. The candidate possesses excellent translation skills, with a very high level of competence in the target language.

27-29: Above average level. The candidate makes only minor errors, and shows a solid command of the required skills and competences.

24–26: Generally sound level. The candidate displays a number of shortcomings, indicating a reasonable command of the required skills and competences.

21-23: Adequate level. The candidate displays significant shortcomings and only an adequate command of the required skills and competences.

18–20: Minim level. The candidate only meets the minimum level required and shows a minimal command of the required skills and competences.

< 18 Fail: The candidate does not meet the required standard and shows a wholly inadequate command of the required skills and competences.

Teaching tools

Networked PCs with Internet access, CAT and corpus query tools, online dictionaries and termbases; beamer for presentations. Support materials (texts, slides, relevant links etc.) are made available through the Moodle e-learning platform, which also provides a forum for discussion and general (remote) communication with the class.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Magistro