Translation of texts related to EU law and international law (B language) - German 3200-M2-1TUMBN
The aim of the course is to develop the skills and knowledge of techniques for translating EU and international law texts from language B/C into Polish and from Polish into language B/C.
Student’s time investment:
30 class hours;
30 hours = preparation;
Total: 60 hours, corresponding to 2 ECTS.
COURSE CONTENTS:
- specific issues in the translation of EU and international law texts (cf. SUBJECT MATTER);
- enhancing the students’ knowledge about translation strategies and translation techniques based on EU texts such as primary legislation (treaties) and secondary legislation (regulations, directives, decisions), case-law, international agreements, etc.;
- advanced issues concerning punctuation and spelling (capitalization, punctuation marks, abbreviations, dates, numbers and currencies), grammar (passive voice, nominalizations, conjunctions), style (text as genre, its macro- and micro-structure), pragmatics (defining the recipient or text function as criteria shaping the translation project and influencing the scope and contents of a possible paratext) and ethics (steps taken in the event of errors in the source text);
- working with terminology and text databases such as IATE, Eur-lex, EuroVoc;
- selecting appropriate dictionaries, resources, as well as analogical and parallel texts; knowledge of documents on editing, publishing and translating EU law and international law texts (e.g. Polish Style Guide, Interinstitutional Style Guide, Joint Practical Guide of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission for persons involved in the drafting of European Union legislation) and their priority;
- the issue of compensating and paraphrasing in specialist texts;
- terminological issues: borrowings vs. native terms, terms of art, legal and logical prerequisites;
- forming a professional approach to a simulated commission and the commissioner, in line with translation ethics.
FORMS OF WORK:
- translating texts individually, the results to be discussed in class (longer pieces);
- in-class translation tasks;
- team work with various tasks assigned (equivalence search, translation proper, editing and revision);
- project work;
- analyzing published / existing translations;
- getting familiar with term bases and other terminological resources;
- preparing domain-based glossaries;
- exercises preventing interference on various levels, including examination of one’s own errors – especially in translating into the non-native language.
If classroom learning is impossible, the workshop will be conducted with the help of distance communication tools, most probably Google Meet and others recommended by the University.
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE TRANSLATED TEXTS:
Texts and vocabulary in the native and the foreign language pertain to the following topics in the domain of EU law and international law:
- European integration,
- European Union institutions,
- European Union law,
- European Union system of justice,
- Poland in the European Union. National law vs. supranational law.
- Substantive law of the European Union. Selected aspects.
- Translating for the European Union.
- International law vs. EU law. Sources of the international law. International agreements.
- International organizations.
- International courts.
TEXT TYPES:
- documents, legal acts, judgments,
- websites,
- court trials,
- press releases of the international institutions,
- summaries of legal acts and judgments
- press texts
- enquiries and resolutions of the European Parliament, opinions of the Venice Commission, etc.
CREDIT REQUIREMENTS:
participation in in-class discussions, preparing translations as part of the homework, end-of-term translation assignment, glossary work, project, attendance (in the case of exceeding the maximum number of two absences, the student should ask the lecturer for further assignments to satisfy the credit requirements.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE:
- The student possesses the special vocabulary necessary to correctly translate a text from a specific domain and uses the vocabulary appropriately;
- the student can classify the text according to its type, is familiar with translation methods and techniques and applies them correctly;
- the student can analyze the text pertaining to a given field for its pragmatics and can properly define his or her translation project and choose the strategy.
SKILLS:
- The student can choose appropriate specialist lexicographical and textual resources and knows how to use them;
- the student recognizes idiomaticity in a text and is able to render it in the target text;
- the student can translate specialist and non-specialist texts in a given field in a correct, clear and understandable way;
- the student is able to verify and correct his/her work;
- the student is able to format the text in a required way;
- the student is able to justify the adoption of particular translation strategies and techniques.
SOCIAL COMPETENCE:
- The student understands the translator’s responsibility towards the commissioner, the author and the recipient of the target text;
- The student is familiar with the principles of professional translation ethics and applies them.
Assessment criteria
Grades for particular assignments; continuous assessment (on basis of attendance, preparedness for the class, participation in the discussions, individually done translation work, mid-term written tests, final test, end-of-term translation assignment, glossaries, terminology lists).
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!
98% – 91% – 5
90% – 86% – 4,5
85% – 76% – 4
75% – 71% – 3,5
70% – 60% – 3
below this level – 2 (unsatisfactory).
The same criteria apply to a make-up exam as to the original exam.
Bibliography
The course is taught in a workshop format, and reading assignments are not part of credit requirements.
Consulting monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, reference works, parallel texts as well as corpora, terminology and text databases in both languages is part of in-class work. CAT tools are also used.
Suggested further reading:
• Barcz J. (red.), 2006, Prawo Unii Europejskiej. Zagadnienia systemowe. Prawo materialne i polityki. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Prawo i Praktyka Gospodarcza, wyd. 3.
• Góralczyk W., Sawicki S., 2015, Prawo międzynarodowe publiczne w zarysie, Warszawa: LexisNexis, wyd. 16.
• Jabłońska-Bonca J., 2004, Wprowadzenie do prawa. Introduction to law, Warszawa: LexisNexis.
• Jopek-Bosiacka A., 2006, Przekład prawny i sądowy, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
• Malinowski A., 2010, Teksty prawne Unii Europejskiej. Opracowanie treściowe i redakcyjne oraz zasady ich publikacji, Warszawa: LexisNexis.
• Šarčević S., 1997, New Approach to Legal Translation. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
• Barcz J. (red. nauk.), Bartosiewicz A., Bereś J., Richards J., 2004, English in the European Union. EU principles, institutions and decisionmaking mechanisms. A language-learning handbook. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Prawo i Praktyka Gospodarcza.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: