29736 - Translation - English (LM)

Learning outcomes

The students are expected to have a good knowledge of the main theoretical issues in the field of Translation Studies and to be able to produce effective translations of different text types.

Course contents

The course will be offered in the second semester (all semester).

Course contents:Translation Studies: Theory and Practice

The course aims at introducing the contemporary debate about Translation Studies, and at providing the students with the methodology and the tools necessary to translate different text-types. Both the theoretical approach and its practical application aim in particular at showing how translation isa linguistic and cultural operation.

The course combines a theoretical and a practical approach. Lectures will provide an overview of scholarly research on translation, with particular attention to contemporary cultural-linguistic perspectives – especially those of Anglophone scholars. Such approaches will then be tested in the translation, from English into Italian, of different text-types, specialized (e.g., in the field(s) of Sociology/ Politics/Economics / Tourism), divulgative and literary. Approaches of some scholars who study translation from a systemic functional linguistics perspective willalso be presented.

Considering aspects such as the translator's identity and ethics,his/her role and“visibility”, the inextricable link between text and context, the role of the commissioner, the purpose/function of a translation, the main types of translation and of translation strategies, the lectures will be strongly connected to the practical activity of translating, focussing on both the process of translation and the product. Methodologies will be suggested in order to solve problems arising, e.g., from cultural differences, language varieties and language for specific purposes.

Students will be asked to translate short authentic texts and to discuss the translation problems they encountered, as well as the strategies they employed.

IMPORTANT:

Since translation practice aims at producing texts that, in the publishing world/industry, require a native-speaker competence, the official course (lezioni frontali) is exclusively based on translation from English into Italian. Therefore, it is not recommended for non-native speakers of Italian, because final evalutation will focus on the Italian target text and will not make exceptions for non-proficient Italian.

Readings/Bibliography

Main course-book:

- Munday, Jeremy (2012), Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and applications, 3rd Edition,London/New York: Routledge.

The text will be available for students at the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature. It can also be ordered at Feltrinelli International in Via Zamboni 7, Bologna (or online at: www.amazon.co.uk).

Further recommended reading:

- Taylor, Christopher (1998), Language to Language, Cambridge: CUP.

- Manfredi, Marina (2008), Translating Text and Context (Functional Grammar Studies for Non-Native Speakers of English, ed. D.R. Miller), Bologna: AlmaDL, Dupress.

The texts will be available for students at the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature library. The Manfredi book willalso be at Libreria Irnerio, in via Irnerio 27, Bologna.

Further bibliographical information will be provided during the course.

The texts to be translated will be made available online and in a copy centre near the Department during the course.

Recommended Dictionaries:

(in their latest editions)

Bilingual (English/Italian):

· PICCHI, F., Grande Dizionario di Inglese – Inglese-italiano / Italiano-inglese, Milano: Hoepli.

or: · RAGAZZINI, G., Il Ragazzini: Dizionario inglese-italiano / italiano-inglese, Bologna: Zanichelli.

English:

· Concise OxfordEnglish Dictionary, Oxford: OUP.

or: · Macmillan English Dictionary, Oxford: Macmillan Publishers.

Italian:

· DEVOTO, G. - OLI, G., Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier.

or: · ZINGARELLI, N., Lo Zingarelli: Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna. Zanichelli.

Teaching methods

Active class participation is strongly recommended.

The official course (lezioni frontali) (6 hours a week, all II semester) involves the following activities:

a) Lectures;

b) Individual study of course texts;

c) Other activities including:

- the translation of short texts – both specialized and literary – in small groups or individually;

- discussion of translation problems encountered and the problem-solving strategies adopted.

All students who regularly attend the lectures will be able to access a selection of the class PPTs through an online Distribution List.

Language classes (Esercitazioni):

For the first time in a.a. 2012-13, the structure of all language courses in the LSC will include the 36 hours of language classes (esercitazioni) that were foreseen by the latest regulations but which were impossible to provide due to insufficient human resources until now. For ‘English Translation', these will be held by Dr. Sandra Ogden.

For this course, they will mostly focus on practical translation, from Italian into English, with a view to enhancing communicative language competences and to dealing with a specific translation task.

The official course (lezioni frontali) will be held in the second semester, while language classes will be offered throughout the academic year, starting from October. The first part (I semester) of language classes will aim at the acquisition of communicative language competences through different activities mainly – but not exclusively – focussing on translation; the second part (II semester) of language classes will be more strictly linked to the official course, and will aim at the production of a target text belonging to the text-types which are commonly translated (also) into the second language in the professional world. More details about specific contents will be provided at the beginning of the lessons.

Assessment methods

The final exam related to the official course (lezioni frontali) will consist of a written test and an oral test.

Its main component is a written exam, which consists of 3 sections:

a) Theory of translation

b) Practice of translation, from English into Italian, of a specialized/divulgative or literary text

c) Comment on the translation strategies employed in one's own translation - students are requested to adopt Malone's (1988) approach/terminology, which they can find in Taylor (1998) (see ‘Recommended Reading').

The oral exam (which must be taken after passing the written one) consists of a brief discussion of the student's written exam and expanding on some theoretical issues.

Detailed information about the exam will be provided online during the course.

In addition, there will also be a written exam on the language component of the course (esercitazioni), based on a text of a communicative nature to be translated from Italian into English. This written must also be passed before the final mark can be registered in almaesami. It will count for approximately 25% of the mark. All details will be given at the start of the course.

The Faculty has ruled that students who have passed the written exams are NOT allowed to take them again.

Links to further information

http://tp://www.unibo.it/docenti/marina.manfredi

Office hours

See the website of Marina Manfredi