Specialised Translation

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Time commitment totals 170 hours.

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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 trained in specialised fields of English-Chinese translation in this subject. They will choose to work in two of the following specialisations: business & commerce, journalistic writing; public & government; political speeches; and literary writing. Through lectures and discussions, students will develop understanding of skills and techniques required for specialised translation. Students will complete translation assignments regularly throughout the semester and be given regular individual feedback from the coordinator using online tools. Through practical translation tasks and practice activities, students will familialise themselves with genre-specific linguistic features of the source and target languages, and develop professional translation skills in the chosen specialisation areas.

On completion of this subject students should:

• be able to autonomously improve and adapt their professional skills
• have a sound understanding of the theories underpinning the specialised areas of translation
• have a sound understanding of the range of technologies used in translation
• have native speaker competence in English or Chinese and at least near-native competence in the other language, professionally enhanced through the study of translation in selected specialised fields.
• have the ability to translate to publication quality in selected specialised genres, including managing terminology, and accessing research tools
• have high level skills at negotiating the cultural and intellectual boundaries of the English- and Chinese-speaking worlds
• develop the ability to use translation technologies to enhance productivity be able to produce high quality translations that demonstrate the integration and application of theory and technical skills

• Six translation assignments: 3 in the first field of choice; 3 in the second field of choice, 500 words each due throughout the semester (60%)
• A take-home translation test, 2000 words due during the examination period (40%)

Hurdle requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% of classes in order to pass this subject.

Materials prepared by the Asia Institute.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subjects, students will have developed the following generic skills:

• Bilingualism: Translation entails the highest possible degree of written competence in at least two languages, 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.

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.