82031 - Specialized Translation from Italian into English (CL1)

Learning outcomes

The student - knows the strategies, techniques, traditional and state-of-the-art tools and methods used in specialized translation tasks - is able to apply them to the translation of technical and scientific texts from different genres and text types, from Italian into English, meeting specific translation briefs and respecting the communicative functions of the source texts - 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 guides the graduate student to a level of higher-quality translation, focusing on the specific translation and revision of Italian texts taken from the corporate, academic, legal and small business fields.

The aim of the course is to allow students to deal with texts in any specialistic field and to produce translations in English that an expert reader will evaluate as being accurate and authentic; students will be asked to apply the knowledge acquired during their undergraduate courses (linguistic, practical and translation notions) when translating and revising texts.

Special attention will be paid to the key steps of translation practice in the specialized field:

identification and analysis of context, genre and discourse features of the source text, the collection of reliable reference documents, selection of relevant terminology and developing ad-hoc translation resources.

Particular importance will also be placed on speed of translation.

Course duration: 40 hours

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.
Mossop, B. 2007. Revising and Editing for Translators (2 ed.). Manchester: St. Jerome.
Scarpa, F. 2008. La Traduzione Specializzata (2 ed.). Milano: Hoepli.
Tosi, A. (ed.) 2013. The EU multilingual translation in an ecology of language perspective. International Journal of Applied Linguistics (Special Edition), 23:1.
Zanettin, F. 2012. Translation driven-corpora: corpus resources for descriptive and applied translation studies. Manchester: St. Jerome.

Teaching methods

Lessons began in the classroom in Forlì and have continued on the IOL distance teaching platform (given the covid-2019 prevention decrees imposed during the semester).

 

Classroom tools:

Networked PCs with Internet access, CAT and corpus tools, online dictionaries, and language search-engine software. Teaching support materials (texts, slides, relevant links etc.) are made available on the AlmaDL-AMS Campus platform (Moodle).

Attendance at 70% of lessons is required.

Assessment methods

Assessment methods*

*The following program has been modified to reflect the new conditions and exam delivery processes introduced in connection with covid-2019 prevention measures:

Students will be evaluated on whether they have acquired specialized translation techniques and are able to manage terminology and complex contents. Course evaluation includes a mock mid-term test and a final written exam devised to simulate the authentic work conditions of a free-lance translator in a specialized field.

The final grade for the IT>EN component will be calculated as follows, on a scale of 30 maximum points:

Final exam - 70-100% of the final grade for this component.

The translation of a specialized text of about 250 words, similar to those analyzed during lessons in terms of topic and text typology.  The exam will last 2 hours. Students may use the instruments at their disposal during lessons, as well as the resources they have created or procured during the course. The use of dictionaries, glossaries and documents available on the Internet are furthermore permitted during the final exam.

The text of the final exam for this IT>EN component will be delivered over and collected via the MOODLE platform, using the 'Compito' function:  https://moodle.sslmit.unibo.it

A UniBo-approved proctoring program will also be associated with the aforesaid; students' faces will be visualized during the exam. Further details will be provided during lessons. Students who do not have a webcam are advised to contact the instructor for alternative arrangements. 

 It is also possible to request assistance with strengthening one's internet line before the final exam; please contact Prof. Raffaella Tonin for this.

Non-attending students should please immediately contact Catherine Farwell directly, by e-mail, to receive more precise details.

 

A mid-term mock test/evaluation will be offered. Students may choose to accept the result of this midterm test for 30% of their course grade, or choose their final exam mark (100%) for this component. If the instructor is uncertain between two marks, students’ homework will constitute the deciding factor.

Characteristics of the mid-term mock translation: a specialized text of about 200 words, to be translated in 75 minutes. The passage will be similar to those analyzed during lessons in terms of topic and text typology. Students may use the instruments at their disposal during lessons, as well as the resources they have created or procured up to that point in the course. The use of dictionaries, glossaries and documents available on the Internet are furthermore permitted during the mid-term test.

Students’ final mark for the overall Specialized Translation Course is the average of the following two grades: their final mark for the ‘Specialized Translation component from English into Italian’ (50%) and their final mark for the ‘Specialized Translation component from Italian into English’ (50%).

Teaching tools

In the DitLab in Forlì:

Networked PCs with Internet access, CAT programs and corpus analysis programs, online dictionaries, terminological search tools, a video projector for the instructor's presentations.  Teaching materials (slides, worksheets, translation materials) are available through the Moodle e-learning page and - (after covid measures) - the IOL learning platform.

 

 

Office hours

See the website of Catherine Farwell