C9816 - TRADUZIONE DALL'INGLESE ALL'ITALIANO (CL1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of this Integrated Course, students will have a basic knowledge of the culture and society of English-speaking countries, of information retrieval tools, and of elementary translation techniques. They will be able to apply such knowledge to analyzing and writing texts in English and to translating non-specialized texts from English into Italian. They will also be able to improve these skills autonomously by a careful and mindful use of Artificial Intelligence tools. By the end of this module, students will be familiar with information retrieval tools and with elementary translation techniques and methods, which they will be able to apply both when analyzing source texts before translation and when writing target texts, according to the communicative function of each text and to the type of translation task. Students will be able to integrate all this when translating a wide range of non-specialized text types from English into Italian, relying on a basic level of translation skill.

Course contents

The course aims at introducing students to the practice and theory of translation processes, with particular attention to the direction English > Italian.
Students will be shown how to approach a variety of texts corresponding to a variety of translation problems. Students will be asked to discuss different strategies to be applied to every single text or problem. All texts will be analysed from different perspectives: genre, function, content and language/style.
text typologies: journalistic text, touristic text, literary text, popular science texts.

The module will especially focalize on the concept of Translation quality, therefore on the quality of Italian as a target language, according to the text function.

Readings/Bibliography

All texts to be used during the course will be always made available on the Virtuale e-learning platform,
LINK: will be made available at the beginning of classes.

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Bibliographical references that will be used during the course:

- Baker, Mona, Henry Jones, 2025. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation, London and New York: Routledge.

- Munday Jeremy, Sara Ramos Pinto, Jacob Blakesley, 2026. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and applications (6th edition), London and New York: Routledge.

- Venuti Lawrence, 2026. The Translation Studies Reader (5th edition), London and New York: Routledge.

- Dictionaries: Students can choose editions. All Learners' dictionaries and monolingual dictionaries (Italian and English) and thesaurus will be accepted.

Teaching methods

Attendance is compulsory (70% of hours need to be attended). Lessons will focus mainly on individual and collective practice. Students will be asked to discuss their ideas and difficulties as well as to turn in possible assignments that will be used for individual or collective feedback lessons.

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of a translation test. Students will have two hours to translate a text (of about 250 words) from English into Italian. The text will be similar to those analyzed during the course.
At mid-course, students will also be asked to take a mock exam which result will not be considered for the final assessment, but it will be useful for students to understand their difficulties and improve their competences.
Students will be allowed to use monolingual and bilingual dictionaries and thesauruses during the mock test and final exam (online dictionaries are allowed). Students will also be allowed to use the web for research if necessary, whereas they will not be allowed to use Machine translation platforms/programs, and it is strictly forbidden to use AI during the exam. Any violation of this rule will be considered a serious breach of academic ethics.

The ENG>ITA translation is a module of the integrated course for which students will also take an ITA>ENG translation module during the II semester.
The final grade is determined by an average of both components (Weight: 50% ENG>ITA translation, 50% ITA>ENG translation).

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.

Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) or with disabilities that can affect their ability to attend courses are invited to contact the University service for students with disabilities and SLD at the earliest opportunity -- ideally before the start of the course: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students . The University service will suggest possible adjustments to the course work and/or exam, which must then be submitted to the course leader so they can assess their feasibility, in line with the learning objectives of the course. Please note that adjustments to the exam must be requested at least two weeks in advance.

Teaching tools

Texts to be translated will be made available mainly in a digital format. During labs, teachers will be using online dictionaries as well as the Internet to do research.

Office hours

See the website of Chiara Bucaria