96565 - COGNITIVE TRANSLATOLOGY

Learning outcomes

The student understands the basic concepts involved in the study of human mind, meaning, language, and communication; s/he is able to evaluate research projects and digital applications from the perspective of cognitive ergonomics and human-computer interaction; s/he is able to apply the acquired knowledge to develop empirical research plans for quasi-replications.

Course contents

The aim of the course is to introduce students to some key theories and concepts of Translation Studies. These will be chosen for their relevance to the practical courses students will attend during the degree and to introduce students to translation studies as an academic subject and research practice – so as to prepare them for when they have to write a dissertation.

Readings/Bibliography

For each topic discussed in class students will be provided with relevent reading material via the online Moodle platform, as well as the slides used during the lesson.

Teaching methods

The lessons will be in lecture format but with a lot of space devoted to discussion, both of the concepts tackled in the lessons and of the reading material provided.

The course will be conducted in English. In accordance with the degree programme requirements, students must attend at least 70% of lessons.

Assessment methods

For the final assessment, students will be asked to write a short essay on a topic they have chosen themselves, using the reading material supplied by the course leader.

The essay will be written at home.

The purpose of the exam is to test the students’ capacity to discuss translation appropriately and effectively from a theoretical point of view, using the concepts addressed during the course. The essays will be evaluated on the basis of their content, not their formal characteristics.

Grading scale for the Exam

29-30L: The candidate possesses an in-depth knowledge of the topic, an outstanding ability to apply theoretical concepts, a high level of argumentative clarity, as well as excellent analytical skills, and a well-developed ability to synthesize and establish interdisciplinary connections.

27–28: The candidate possesses an in-depth knowledge of the topic, a sound ability to apply theoretical concepts, good analytical skills, clear argumentative clarity and an ability to synthesize.

24-26: The candidate possesses a fair knowledge of the topic, a reasonable ability to apply theoretical concepts correctly and present ideas clearly.

21-23: The candidate possesses an adequate, but not in-depth, knowledge of the topic, a partial ability to apply theoretical concepts, and acceptable presentation skills.

18-20: The candidate possesses a barely adequate and only superficial knowledge of topic, limited presentation skills, and only an inconsistent ability to apply theoretical concepts.

< 18: Fail. The candidate possesses an inadequate knowledge of the topic, makes significant errors in applying theoretical concepts, and shows weak presentation skills.

Teaching tools

• The readings supplied each week by the course leader.
• An introduction to the use of the online research tools made avaiable by the university.
• An introduction to the use of reference management tools such as Zotero.

Office hours

See the website of Christopher Rundle