Translation with digital technologies language C: French 3200-L3-1PTCCF
The aim of the course is for the students to acquire competence in translation with the help of modern digital technologies and improve their source text analysis, translation, verification and evaluation skills.
Student’s time investment:
30 class hours and 30 hours of individual preparation; in sum: 60 hours, corresponding to 2 ECTS.
If classroom learning is impossible, the workshop will be conducted with the help of distance communication tools recommended by the University.
Course content:
1. Terminology and translation work with corpora: types and functions of corpora, evaluating their usefulness, identifying collocations;
2. Terminology and translation work with online dictionaries: types and uses of online dictionaries in comparison with traditional dictionaries, a critical evaluation of search results, limits of dictionaries, searching for equivalents in the target language and their evaluation;
3. Word as a basic tool in translation: improving skills in using the programme for translation, formatting, text verification, revision and proofreading, editorial requirements;
4. Machine translation software as an important tool in the translator’s work: its functioning, uses and limitations, working with a machine-translated text, post-editing;
5. The digital text in translation: hyperlinks and tags as a problem in translation;
6. Internet as a source of parallel and analogous texts: text search, evaluation and usage;
7. 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; techniques for dealing with non-equivalent vocabulary, the problem of cultural differences – continuation;
8. Types and kinds of texts, identifying register, style and their indicators; ways of rendering them in translation – continuation;
9. The pragmatics of translation – problems specific for the subject matter, the target reader, text type and function – continuation.
Forms of work:
Source text analysis; analysis of translations, parallel and analogous texts; analysis of errors in source texts and translations; working with internet resources of various types; exercises in preparing and formatting an equivalent translation in Word; text editing and verification exercises; individual translation (at home, in class) and its discussion; exercises with online dictionaries and corpora, exercises preventing interference, exercises focusing on enhancing text cohesion and coherence; glossary work; project work (team work).
Methods of work:
Group discussion, group work, individual work, presentations, individual translation, error identification and correction, preparing glossaries, projects, etc.
Subject matter and types of texts:
Non-specialist texts on any subject, representing diverse forms and functions: for example, guidebooks, folders, websites, advertisements, press articles, leaflets, reviews, speeches, interviews, texts involving elements of specialist language.
Direction of translation:
A-C and C-A.
Credit requirements:
Presence and satisfactory performance in class (including exercises with the use of dictionaries, corpora and other internet resources, translation and verificatoin/editing tasks), systematic and timely preparation of tasks assigned for the class, satisfactory performance at mid-semester control tests and/or the final test.
The form and conditions of resits are the same as those for course credits obtained at the usual time, unless it is impossible due to organizational reasons (in such a case, the form of obtaining the course credit may change).
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student:
knowledge:
• knows the basic types of written translation, has knowledge of written translation as a process, knows and is able to recognise the roles of the translator in the act of communication (S1.1_W06, K1_W01, K1_W04, K1_W07, K1_W11, K1_W12)
• knows and understands the basics of the translator's craft, know translation strategies and techniques (in terms of various translation concepts), understand their specificity (S1.1_W08, K1_W02, K1_W04, K1_W07, K1_W11, K1_W12)
• has knowledge of information technologies and modern translation support technologies, knows the applications of computers in the work of a linguist and a translator (S1.1_W10, K1_W05, K1_W06)
• has knowledge of language corpora, including parallel corpora, understands their application in research and translation practice (S1.1_W11, K1_W06)
• knows the principles of professional ethics for translators and interpreters (S1.1_W13, K1_W09, K1_W13)
• knows the basic principles of working as a translator in various forms of entrepreneurship (freelance, translation agencies, etc.) on the domestic and international market, knows the basic principles of cooperation with institutions (publishers) (S1.1_W15, K1_W09, K1_W16)
Skills
• is able to use sources, dictionaries and parallel texts, adequately assessing their usefulness in searching for translation equivalents (S1.1_U03, K1_U01, K1_U02, K1_U05, K1_U09)
• is able to conduct a multifaceted analysis of the source text, identifying the most important translation issues (S1.1_U04, K1_U01, K1_U02, K1_U03, K1_U05, K1_U09)
• is able to produce a professional-quality translation of a text from a foreign language into Polish and from Polish into a foreign language (this applies to the two languages studied)
(S1.1_U05, K1_U03, K1_U05, K1_U06, K1_U08, K1_U09, K1_U10, K1_U12, K1_U13)
• knows and uses contemporary information technologies to the greatest extent possible in research work, translation and text editing (S1.1_U07)
• uses corpus data in research work, in searching for equivalents and in preparing written translations (S1.1_U09)
• has basic skills enabling them to specialise in the field of written translation and in the field of interpreting using modern translation technologies (S1.1_U11, K1_U05, K1_U10, K1_U12, K1_U13)
social competences
• is ready to plan an individual or collective translation project, defining their role according to the stage of translation (S1.1_K01, K1_K02, K1_K03)
• is ready to manage a mini-translation project – a simulation of a project in a teaching environment, under the supervision of a teacher (S1.1_K02, K1_K02)
• is able to work in a team, including working remotely and using modern translation technologies (S1.1_K03, K1_K03)
• is able to act as a mediator in intercultural communication situations, taking cultural differences into account in their work as a translator (S1.1_K06, K1_K03, K1_K04)
• performs their tasks in accordance with the professional ethics standards of a translator and good professional practice(S1.1_K07, K1_K04, K1_K07)
• is ready to think and act in an entrepreneurial manner in translation projects in which they participate as a participant or organiser, is able to negotiate with institutions conducting
translation activities, and is ready to undertake individual activities on the translation market (domestic and international) (S1.1_K08, K1_K07, K1_K08)
Assessment criteria
The detailed requirements and grading criteria are established by each teacher in the given semester.
Credit is given on basis of: grades for particular assignments; continuous assessment (on the basis of attendance, preparedness for the classes, participation in the discussions, individual translation work, 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.
The criteria of grading translation assignments:
Assessment takes into account translational, pragmatic, linguistic and formal aspects.
99% – 100 – 5!
91% – 98% – 5
86% – 90% – 4,5
76% – 85% – 4
71% – 75% – 3,5
60% – 70% – 3
below – 2 (fail).
Two absences are allowed. (If the limit is exceeded, the student should ask the teacher for compensation assignments; in accordance with the Rules of Study, if the number of absences exceeds 50%, the student fails the course). Excusable only on the basis of a doctor's note.
Bibliography
Recommended reading (texts on translation studies generally and sources focusing on the use of computer tools in translation):
Bogucki, Ł. (2009): Przekład wspomagany komputerowo. Warszawa: Wyd. Nauk. PWN.
Cronin, M. (2013): Translation in the Digital Age, London & New York: Routledge
Hejwowski, K. (ed.) (2005): Kulturowe i językowe źródła nieprzekładalności. Olecko: Wszechnica Mazurska.
Hejwowski, K. (2015): Iluzja przekładu. Przekładoznawstwo w ujęciu konstruktywnym. Katowice: Śląsk [particularly Chapter 2: „Proces tłumaczenia” and 9: „Błędy tłumaczeniowe”].
Kozłowska, Z.; Szczęsny, A. (2018): Tłumaczenie pisemne na język polski. Kompendium. Warszawa: Wyd. Nauk. PWN [particularly chapter 1: „Podstawy tłumaczenia pisemnego”].
Walczyński, M. (2013): „Editorial errors in translation: Translators’ computer skills and the implications for translators’ training”. In: Piotrowski, T.; Grabowski, Ł. (eds.) The Translator and the Computer. Wrocław: Wyd. Wyższej Szkoły Filologicznej, s. 123-138.
Piwko, Ł. (2012): Komputer w pracy tłumacza. Warszawa: Instytut Rusycystyki UW.
Somers, H. (ed.) (2003): Computers and Translation. A Translator’s Guide. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
In angle brackets there is information on where the sources
are available at UW (KH = Katedra Hungarystyki/the Department of Hungarian Studies).
The detailed reading list, including the recommended dictionaries and foreign corpora, is determined by the teacher in the given semester.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: