B6489 - Translation between English and Spanish

Learning outcomes

Students need advanced command in both English and Spanish, to be able to comprehend and produce complex written and oral texts. They should excel in information extraction, text editing, and revision for both languages, utilizing general digital tools (not CAT tools). The course targets improvements in text production and succeeding in managing and carrying out a semester-long, individual translation project.

Course contents

Students considering enrollment in this course should:

— have a strong command of both English and Spanish (reading and writing at CEFR B2 or higher). Language level may be tested when doubtful.

— be able to understand, analyze, and coherently draft complex texts across genres, including multimodal texts.

— be proficient in strategies, techniques, and standard office applications for information retrieval, editing, composing, and revision.

The course focuses on freelance translation through class assignments and homework. Throughout the semester, students work on two types of translation activities running in parallel:

1. weekly text production tasks translated from English into Spanish, involving different registers and varieties of language, cycling through four exercise types (see below).

2. a semester-long scientific translation project translated from Spanish into English.

For the semester-long project, students will translate from Spanish into English a recent, untranslated quantitative research article from a social science journal. The aim is not to train scientific translation as a specialized niche, but to address recurrent challenges commonly found in scientific texts that also occur across many other genres. Students will be assigned the source text and will complete the full translation individually. Using any tool that processes or translates more than one word at a time is a serious breach of ethics in this course, because it is a hands-on workshop focused on improving human translation skills.

One class session per week is dedicated to the semester project, during which students work on their translations while the instructor provides in-class supervision and targeted feedback. Students are also expected to spend at least two hours per week working independently on the project to ensure timely submission. The midterm consists of two graded in-class tasks falling in week five: one from the semester translation session and one from the weekly exercise session, most likely on different days of the same week. Dates and further details will be provided on Virtuale at the start of the semester.

Alongside the semester project, students will complete two full cycles of in-class weekly exercises on texts of approximately 400 words. Each cycle includes the following four tasks:

A. Translation furthering: students receive a source text whose first half has been translated by an LLM and they need to revise the translation and complete the second half in class.

B. News transediting: students choose contents of at least four source texts and merge them into a new target text adapted to the conventions and constraints of the publication context.

C. Infographic translation into plain text: students render the informational content of a visual infographic as a coherent written text in the target language with no graphic support.

D. Song lyrics, translation to be sung: students translate song lyrics while preserving singability, respecting the rhythmic and melodic constraints of the original.

Readings/Bibliography

Boxman, Raymond & Edith Boxman. 2017. Communicating science. A practical guide for engineers and physical scientists. World Scientific.

Byrne, Jody. 2006. Technical translation. Usability strategies for translating technical documentation. Springer.

Byrne, Jody. 2012. Scientific and technical translation explained. St Jerome/Routledge.

Departamento de Lengua Española. 2010. Manual de revisión. Comisión Europea.

Jiménez Crespo, Miguel Ángel. 2024. Localization in Translation. London: Routledge.

Jiménez Jiménez, Antonio F. 2021. Introducción a la traducción: inglés < > español. 2nd ed. Routledge.

López Guix, Juan Gabriel & Jacqueline Minett Wilkinson. 2021. Manual de traducción inglés-castellano. Gedisa.

Lunn, Patricia V. & Ernest J. Lunsford. 2021. En otras palabras: Perfeccionamiento del español por medio de la traducción. 3rd ed. Georgetown University Press.

Martínez de Sousa, José. 2008. Diccionario de usos y dudas del español actual. 4a ed., corregida y aumentada. Ediciones Trea.

Martínez de Sousa, José. 2012. Manual de estilo de la lengua española (MELE 5). 5a ed., revisada y ampliada. Ediciones Trea.

Martínez de Sousa, José. 2014. Ortografía y ortotipografía del español actual. 3a ed., corregida. Ediciones Trea.

Mitchell, James Brian Alexander & Anca Irina Florescu-Mitchell. 2022. A practical guide to scientific and technical translation: Publishing, style and terminology. World Scientific.

Mugüerza Pecker, Pablo. 2012. Manual de traducción inglés-español de protocolos de ensayos clínicos. Fundación Dr Antonio Esteve.

National Academy of Sciences. 2017. Communicating science effectively: A research agenda. The National Academies Press.

Olohan, Maeve. 2016. Scientific and technical translation. Routledge.

Penet, J.C. 2024. Working as a professional translator. Routledge.

Rothwell, Andrew, Joss Moorkens, María Fernández Parra, Joanna Drugan & Frank Austermuehl. 2023. Translation tools and technologies. Routledge.

Russell, Nicholas. 2009. Communicating science. Cambridge University Press.

Sánchez Cárdenas, Beatriz & Clara Inés López Rodríguez. 2020. Retos de la traducción científico-técnica profesional. Teoría, metodología y recursos. Comares.

Valdeón García, Roberto A. 2022. Interdisciplinary approaches to journalistic translation @ Journalism 23(7), 1397–1410. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849221074531

Walker, Callum. 2023. Translation project management. Routledge.

Teaching methods

Due to the didactic methods and activities in this course, attending it requires that students complete before, in e-learning mode, Modules 1 and 2 of the program on safety training in the workplace. More information, here.

This course is designed as a workshop, requiring active participation in at least 80% of all sessions. Formative assessment is strongly recommended. Students will work on their article projects weekly throughout the semester, both in and out of class. Text-production exercises will be conducted in class once a week. All class sessions from both streams are interactive, and students are expected to raise questions about doubts and difficulties. General issues raised in class will be discussed on the spot for up to half an hour, whenever possible.

Assessment methods

Please read and note

1. Disabilities. 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. 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.

2. Exam dates. Students need to plan their trips taking into account class schedule and official exam dates, which will not be changed to accommodate personal choices. Travel plans, including already purchased tickets, are not considered a valid reason for rescheduling or requesting an early exam. This applies without exception.

3. Language command. This course requires a minimum CEFR B2 level in both English and Spanish at the beginning of the semester. Students with insufficient proficiency in either language are unlikely to meet the course's formative goals.

4. Artificial intelligence. Use of any tool that processes or translates more than one word at a time is strictly forbidden in all work for this course, because it is a hands-on workshop focused on improving human translation skills. Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action.

5. Assessment options. Students may opt for formative (class grades) or summative assessment (exam only, 100%). Students who choose summative assessment will take the exam on the official date and at the official venue determined by the DIT. Regarding exam dates, see point 2 above: no exceptions are made under any circumstances, and students are expected to have read and understood that provision before enrolling.

Students opting for formative assessment must meet the following requirements:

1. choose that option from the beginning of the semester

2. attend at least 80% of the course sessions

3. carry out and turn in at least 80% of all class exercises in due time

Students who meet the above requirements will not need to take the official exam on the first call but will instead sit for an in-class midterm and a final class test. The course grade will be the weighted average of the following components:

— midterm translation into English, 20%

— midterm translation into Spanish, 20%

— final class translation test into English, 20%

— final class translation test into Spanish, 20%

— overall assessment of semester translation, 10%

— class participation, 10%

All class and homework assignments are voluntary for students choosing summative assessment. Students opting for formative assessment must complete all assigned tasks: selective submission is not permitted. Deadlines cannot be moved or negotiated. Timely submission is part of the work's quality. One of the course goals is learning how to plan a long project and keep that plan under control.

Coursework grades apply only to the first call and only when no exam is taken. From the second call onward, assessment is based exclusively on a 100% final exam.

Teaching tools

Lessons will take place in a classroom equipped with computer support and Internet connection.

Office hours

See the website of Ricardo Munoz Martin