Admission requirements
A pass for introductory courses in translation from Dutch to English and English to Dutch. Alternatively, a pass for the entry tests that will be available from June 2017. This course is offered only to students who are registered for the Translation in Theory and Practice specialization.
Description
The aim of this advanced translation course is to familiarize you with the challenges that a translator faces in practice. Practice makes perfect, which is why our emphasis is on the translation of linguistically and academically sophisticated texts covering a wide range of topics—with a focus on similarities and differences between Dutch and Anglophone cultures—, text types and registers. However, we will also make a link to academic disciplines that are relevant to the translator's work such as linguistics (comparative grammar, semantics and pragmatics, lexicography and terminography), translation theory and culture studies, and ask ourselves to what extent theory helps us solve practical problems.
Course objectives
Ability to translate a linguistically and academically sophisticated, but non-specialist Dutch text into grammatically correct and stylistically appropriate English, and vice versa
Search and research skills: understanding of the relationship between relevant theoretical disciplines (e.g. translation studies, linguistics, culture studies) and the practice of translation, and the ability to apply knowledge and understanding of theory to practical problems
Ability to critically assess one's one translations and those by one's peers
Increased language proficiency in Dutch and English
Timetable
The timetable is available on the MA Linguistics website
Mode of instruction
Seminars, alternating between plenary ninety-minute translation discussion sessions and small-group 20-minute peer-review tutorials
Course Load
A brief calculation of the course load, broken down by:
Total course load: 5 EC x 28 hours= 140 hours
Preparation for seminars (literature study, translations, annotated translation, peer review sessions): 110 hours
Seminars and peer-review tutorials: 28 hours
Exam(s): 2 hours
Assessment method
Assessment
Two-hour translation test (25%)
Average mark of two annotated translations, one from English to Dutch, one from Dutch to English (50%)
Average mark of peer-reviews of the translations (25%)
Resit
There are resits for the test and the translation assignments. If the peer-review is a fail, you will be asked to peer-review a translation and to clarify your linguistic, cultural and translation-theoretical criticism in a 30-minute oral test.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Blackboard
Course materials will be distributed using Blackboard
Reading list
These texts which you will need to refer to for your translations and annotations, are not available from the University Library website and should therefore be purchased for the course:
Lemmens, M., & Parr, T. (2013). Handboek voor de Vertaler Nederlands-Engels (Praktische tips). Amsterdam: Intertaal. Or: Mackenzie, J. L. (2014). Principles and pitfalls of English grammar. Bussum: Coutinho.
Renkema, J. (2012). Schrijfwijzer. Amsterdam: Boom.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Only students from the MA Linguistics: Translation in Theory and Practice can enrol.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable
Contact
Please contact Student administration van Eyckhof for questions.