Module 1 Introduction to Translation Studies and Lexis
Introduction to Translation Studies
This introduces key concepts in the theory and practice of translation. It concentrates on general issues that arise when a text is rendered into another language. The process and product of translation are considered in relation to social and cultural contexts. The theoretical background is exemplified by a variety of translated texts from different languages.
Lexis
What is the relationship between grammar and lexis? Recent work, particularly stemming from the Birmingham University COBUILD projects, suggests that far from being separate levels the two are inextricably interwoven. Is there a real distinction? If there is not then is it worth maintaining an artificial distinction for pedagogic purposes? Within lexis how do words relate to one another? How do lexical relations help structure text? What does it mean to say that someone ‘knows’ or has ‘learnt’ a word? Concern with lexis is now moving towards a more central position in language study. How do we react to this trend?
Module 2 Corpus Linguistics and Research Methods in Translation
Corpus Linguistics
Birmingham University has a worldwide reputation for work in Corpus Linguistics, and is the home of 450 million-word Bank of English corpus. This provides access to data which helps researchers to answer important questions about language. For example: What are the 500 most frequent words in the language? Are they the same for spoken and written English? Is the use of any largely confined to negative and interrogative clauses (as many grammars would have us believe)? The aim of this module is to help you become familiar with corpus analysis techniques so that you can carry out your own corpus research projects and/or use corpora in your day-to-day work.
Research Methods in Translation
The main aim of this module is to show you the different types of research projects that can be undertaken within the field of Translation Studies. It looks at ways of examining and comparing source and target texts, and shows how both qualitative and quantitative comparisons can provide important insights into the question of quality control in translation. The theoretical background is exemplified by a variety of translated texts from different languages.
Module 3 Functional Grammar
Understanding Text (Functional Grammar)
The module introduces the key elements of the influential linguistic theory known as Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), an approach developed since the 1960s by the British-born, Australian linguist, Michael Halliday and his colleagues. Under this approach, language is analysed as a form of social interaction, and the grammatical description of the language is formulated so as to account for its communicative functionality within particular social and cultural contexts. This will focus on how systemic linguistics can be applied to a variety of text analysis tasks relevant to different fields such as language and literacy teaching, translation studies, English for special purposes, the language of classroom interaction, media and cultural studies, and critical discourse analysis.
Module 4 Written Discourse and Translation & Discourse
Written Discourse
This considers the relationship between language, other semiotic signs and society. It introduces theories of discourse analysis and focuses on detailed textual analysis. This will enable you to develop a critical understanding of the key concepts involved in Discourse Analysis and of how language reflects, mediates or - arguably - creates our everyday reality. you are also introduced two very important developments in Discourse Studies: Critical and Multimodal Discourse Analysis. By exposing you to current approaches to interaction, you should improve your own production, both oral and written. A third objective of the course is a practical one – you are expected to do Discourse Analysis, in other words, we hope you will apply some of the theoretical input acquired to you own data.
Translation & Discourse
This considers the problems facing translators at the level of discourse when they attempt to render a text into another discourse community. It looks at features of the linguistic structure of English above the sentence to see what constraints the language presents to a translator. A range of literary and non-literary text types are examined to see what kinds of options are forced on the translator by differences between two linguistic systems.
Module 5 Sociolinguistics and Socio-translation
Sociolinguistics
This examines ways in which language varies according to social context (that is, broadly speaking, according to who is speaking / writing, to whom, where, and for what purpose) and the relationships between different language varieties. The role of English as an international language is discussed, along with the functions of different languages in societies where two or more languages are used, and relationships between cultures and languages. Connections between language and ideology, and language and gender, are explored, along with other ‘micro-level’ topics including accent, dialect, and register. Participants are encouraged to undertake comparative work related to language in the society in which they live. Socio-translation
This looks at current issues of translation and society which have developed as a result of the study of translation as cross-cultural communication. The study of translation in social practices takes into consideration the role of the translator in the transmission of identities, in shaping images of communities and in the spread of political and religious ideologies. Activities in this unit are designed to encourage you to explore the possibilities open to the translator as mediator and to encourage comparative studies in areas like: identity construction, post-colonialism, gender and sexuality, and language policy.
Module 6 Translation Project or two from
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Professional Contexts of Translation
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Second Language Acquisition
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Classroom and Spoken Discourse
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Pedagogic Grammar
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Language Teaching Methodology
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ELT Management