Translating Chinese Legal Documents

This subject is not offered in 2015.

Time commitment totals 170 hours.

Admission to the Master of Translation program.

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Students will be given a guided introduction to a variety of legal documents, including the Chinese constitution, criminal law, tax legislation, contracts, and communiqués. Special attention will be devoted to the cultural and linguistic nuances of certain key terms in PRC legislation. The style of Chinese legal documents will be analysed, as will issues in the legal interpretation of such documents and professional presentation to Anglophone clients or employers.

On completion of this subject, students will:

• improve their skills in comprehension and interpretation of legal language in Chinese;
• gain knowledge of some issues of contemporary Chinese legal policy and law reform;
• acquire skills to extract information from complex specialized materials written in Chinese, and render them accurately into English;
• be able to present specialized technical information in a correct professional format;
• be equipped with skills to translate Chinese legal documents.

One written assignment, 2,000 words, 35% (due week 6), a 1-hour in-class test, 500 words, 15%, (week 10) and a final translation project of 2, 500 words, 50% (week 12).

Materials prepared by the Asia Institute.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Bilingualism: Translation entails the highest possible degree of written competence in English and Chinese, with an acute capacity for metalinguistic awareness, and a preparedness to continually improve
• Intercultural understanding: Translation requires the practitioner to be deeply engaged with two cultures and to understand how to mediate between them on behalf of people who do not share both cultures. In this particular subject, students should command the ability in understanding social and economic contexts of Chinese legal system.
• Decision making: Translators are creative decision makers who need to draw on multiple sources of data to form judgments that are seldom clear-cut, and who are prepared to defend their decisions and to revise them when necessary.