This module will prepare you for applied translation practice in the language combination of your choice and in a variety of specialist areas (including literary, legal, technical and medical translation), depending on current teaching provision. Through weekly practice, you will also gain understanding of the various facets of the translation editorial process, acquire knowledge of translation notes, and will learn to reflect on your practice to become an independent problem solver in the professional and academic fields of translation.
This module is available to you if you want to study a second language, parallel to your core Applied Translation module.
The Independent Study Unit (ISU) offers students the option to replace one of their taught modules (excluding the compulsory modules) with an ISU. ISUs offer a period of directed, but independent reading in an area chosen by the student and in which the department is able to provide supervision. The module gives students the chance to determine their own area of research with their supervisors. The module is then assessed by a researched essay on the mutually-agreed topic of research.
Intercultural business communication plays a key role in the global economy and world commerce as it considers cultural differences between international business partners and clients. This interdisciplinary course examines how communication is affected by different values, attitudes and beliefs, in the context of our volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment.
The ability to effectively interact, work and develop meaningful relationships with professionals across different cultures and social groups is essential in a global workforce. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, this course will provide you with the necessary awareness, know-how and practical skills needed to become more effective at intercultural interactions. You will draw on various models to analyse your own experiences in order to develop a personal development plan to address effective interactions at work in the face of significant challenges. Studying intercultural business communication fosters an understanding of your own cultural, linguistic and communication related background. This may benefit future careers that operate within a multicultural context.
This introductory interpreting module complements the skills developed in the Translation studies elements of the MA and introduces students to the daily requirements of a professional translator/interpreter. It aims to provide students with the basic skills involved in understanding a message and conveying it orally into another language. Students will consolidate and expand their linguistic command of different fields with regards to style, register, communication requirements and technical skills. It will prepare them to deal with the specific pressure that unfolds in different interpreting situations.
This placement module enables students to gain professional experience and to reflect critically on that experience. The optional module constitutes a structured period of work-based learning.
The work placement will provide the opportunity for students to take responsibility for their learning experience in a language-related professional environment. We can assist in organising placements for students in reputable language services companies in the UK. However, the department cannot guarantee a placement will be found and students are strongly encouraged to source their own placements, subject to departmental approval, and these may be overseas.
Work placements provide an invaluable insight into the work of professional linguists, are valued highly by employers and can greatly enhance students' employability in a competitive market.
Students will be responsible for any additional costs associated with undertaking a placement, such as travel and accommodation costs.
If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement, you will be able to switch to an alternative optional module.
The practice of literary translation involves creative and critical approaches to texts in an effort to remediate works across languages, cultures and places. This module aims to introduce students to the "creative turn" in literary translation studies through critical analysis and creative practice. To do so, students will explore past and current creative writers who have used translation in their writing, or the works of translators who have reflected on translation in the form of literary essays or translation memoirs.
The aim of the module is to encourage students to develop the writing skills necessary to write quality translations in the English language, as well as to explore the creative and critical possibilities which translation can afford. Although students will be invited to experiment with creative writing via the medium of translation in the module, they will be given a choice to do a written analysis of an existing creative translation in their assessment.
