Essentials of translation (written intercultural mediation) – language C: English, level 1 3200-L1-1PPPCA1
Essentials of translation: workshops, 30h.
Direction of translation: C–A.
Student’s time investment:
30 class hours
30hrs for individual preparation
In sum: 60hrs, which corresponds to 2 ECTS
The aim of the course is for the students to acquire basic skills in translation of non-literary but also non-specialist texts concerning the above topics.
COURSE CONTENTS:
1. Workflow and work hygiene;
2. Stages of translation, with a special focus on the production and verification of the target text;
3. Translator’s essential skills (evaluating the usefulness of information acquired, methods of working with dictionaries, encyclopaedias etc.; data search on the Internet and evaluation of data quality; application of parallel texts);
4. Techniques and strategies of translation (paraphrasing, syntactic transformations on sentence and paragraph levels, modifying word order to accommodate the theme-rheme structure, adequate means for providing cohesion;
5. Verifying collocations, using parallel and analogous texts, as well as corpora;
6. Ways of rendering various types of texts, of varied register, style and their markers – a practical approach;
7. Basic skills in the pragmatics of translation – defining the target readership and their needs with reference to a particular situation of translation;
8. Selected specific problems of Polish-English translational confrontation, e.g. non-equivalent vocabulary; proper names in languages A and in C, including the rules of transcription and transliteration; declension of foreign-language proper names in Polish; honorific forms, third-language and third-culture elements in translation.
9. Text revision and proofreading.
10. Editorial requirements.
FORMS OF WORK:
Among others: individual translation (at home or in class) and discussion on different solutions; consulting parallel or analogous texts and other resources; error identification and correction in one’s own work and in the exemplifying material provided by the teacher; exercises preventing interference, exercises focusing on enhancing text cohesion and coherence; glossary work; project work (team work).
METHODS OF WORK:
Discussion, group work, individual work, presentations, project work, etc.
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE TRANSLATED TEXTS:
political/economic/social matters, culture, geography/tourism, popular science
CREDIT REQUIREMENTS: presence and satisfactory performance in class, systematic preparation of translations assigned for the class, timely submission of translations (at least satisfactory) of all assigned texts and completing other tasks including, if required, an end-of-term translation or contribution to project work; satisfactory performance at mid-semester control tests and the final test.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE:
On completing the course the student
- knows basic terminology connected with translation;
- knows and understands ethical principles of the translator’s profession;
- is aware of basic types of translation, has a certain knowledge of translation (written intercultural mediation) as a process; knows and recognises the role of the translator in an act of communication;
- knows and understands general translation skills, knows the strategies and techniques of translation and understands their specific character;
- understands the necessity for self-education and for deepening one’s translational knowledge.
SKILLS:
- The student is able to apply his/her methodological knowledge of translation in practice, i.e. to translate on one’s own a relatively simple non-specialist text;
- is able to apply various techniques and strategies of translation;
- is capable of metatranslational reflection: is able to assess their own translation solutions as well as the ones applied by others; can appreciate manifestations of a translator’s creativity;
- can use various sources, dictionaries, parallel texts and adequately assess their suitability for locating translational equivalents;
- can determine the recipient of a translation and apply translation techniques adequate to the recipient’s needs and to the requirements of the client;
- is able to search out, analyse, assess and select authentic texts in the foreign language;
- has an advanced command of the correct usage in Polish and applies its rules in his or her translation work;
- when translating, takes intercultural differences into account;
- are able to plan their work and organize their place of work ergonomically,
- know basic keyboard shortcuts and system tools (e.g. second screen and virtual screen), and Boolean operators and hotkeys in search engines.
SOCIAL COMPETENCE:
- The student is ready to effectively identify and solve the dilemmas of interlingual communication which are caused by the asymmetries between language systems and by cultural differences;
- appreciates the importance of reasoned argumentation in solving practical difficulties (such as a translator faces in professional contexts);
- is prepared for cooperation and teamwork; assumes varied roles in a team;
- is prepared to plan a translation project, an individual or a collective one; - is ready to manage teamwork and accepts responsibility for its results;
- strives to observe ethical principles of the translation profession and the established good practices therein;
- is able to critically asses his or her own translation skills and to consult an expert in a given field when necessary,
- can effectively search for information and critically evaluate its value.
Assessment criteria
Credit is given on basis of: grades for particular assignments; continuous assessment (on basis of attendance, preparedness for the classes, participation in the discussions, individually done translation work, mid-term written tests, final test, end-of-term translation assignment). Each requirement, if assigned, must be fulfilled independently, hence their share in the final mark is not determined.
If the student does not meet the requirements for a passing grade, reassessment shall be completes using the criteria.
The criteria of grading written assignments:
99% – 100 – 5!
98% – 91% – 5
90% – 86% – 4.5
85% – 76% – 4
75% – 71% – 3.5
70% – 60% – 3
below this level – 2 (unsatisfactory – fail grade).
Two absences are allowed. (If the limit is exceeded, the student should ask the teacher for compensation assignments; if the number of absences exceeds 50%, the student fails the course in accordance with the Rules of Study).
Bibliography
As classes are workshops, there are no course books and compulsory reading.
During classes, we shall use mono- and bilingual dictionaries, encyclopaedias, parallel texts in Polish and English, corpora.
1. Belczyk, A. (2014). Poradnik tłumacza. Bielsko-Biała: Wydawnictwo dla szkoły.
2. Douglas-Kozłowska Ch., 2006, Difficult Words in Polish-English Translation, Warszawa.
3. Douglas-Kozłowska Ch., 2007, The Articles in Polish-English Translation. Warszawa.
4. Duff A., 1989, Translation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. Hejwowski, K. (2004a). Kognitywno-komunikacyjna teoria przekładu. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
6. Hejwowski, K. (2004b). Translation: A cognitive-communicative approach. Olecko: Wydawnictwo Wszechnicy Mazurskiej.
7. Huddleston, R. D., & Pullum, G. K. (2005). A student’s introduction to English grammar. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
8. Janicki, K. (1977). Elements of British and American English. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
9. Korzeniowska A., Kuhiwczak P., 1998, Successful Polish-English Translation. Tricks of the trade. Warszawa.
10. Peters, P. (2004). The Cambridge guide to English usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11. Trask, R. L. (1997). The Penguin guide to punctuation. London: Penguin Books.
12. Wojtasiewicz, O. (1957). Wstęp do teorii tłumaczenia. Warszawa: Zakład im. Ossolińskich – Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk.
We shall also use texts from various media.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: