Teaching Translation at University Level

1. Teaching Translation at University Level James Dickins Prof. of Arabic University of Leeds

2. Four contexts in Britain • Language and Literature BA: translation as a language-learning exercise • Language and Literature BA: translation as a special skill • Translation (also Translation and Interpreting) BA • Translation (also Translation and Interpreting) MA

3. Context 1: Language and Literature BA: translation as a language-learning exercise • Historical development of language teaching: 1. Grammar-translation method 2. Direct method 3. Audio-lingual method 4. Communicative method • Grammar-translation method ‘officially’ disappeared by about 1960, but still in practice used in some university courses

4. Context 2: Language and Literature BA: translation as a special skill • Some universities have only traditional Language and Literature BAs, but offer specific modules in: • (General) Translation • Specialised Translation • Interpreting • Translation theory

5. Context 3: Translation (also Translation and Interpreting) BA E.g. • Heriot-Watt University • University of Salford • University of Aston • University of Westminster • University of Surrey

6. Context 4:Translation (also Translation and Interpreting MA) E.g. • Edinburgh University • Heriot-Watt University • University of Durham • University of Leeds • University of Manchester • University of Salford • University of Aston • University of Westminster • University of Surrey

7. Context 3: Translation (also Translation and Interpreting) BA – for Arabic • University of Salford • University of Westminster

8. Context 4: Translation (also Translation and Interpreting) MA – for Arabic • University of Durham • University of Leeds • University of Salford • University of Westminster

9. Leeds MA in Applied Translation Studies (Arabic) as an example • Compulsory modules: • Computer-Assisted Translation: Semesters 1 & 2 • Methods and Approaches in Translation Studies: Semester 1 • Optional modules: • Six of the following modules (including at least 2 Specialised Translation modules) • Specialised Arabic-English Translation A. Semester 1 • Specialised English-Arabic Translation A. Semester 1 • Specialised Arabic-English Translation B. Semester 2 • Specialised English-Arabic Translation B. Semester 2 • Principles and Applications of Machine Translation. Semester 2 • Introduction to Screen Translation. Semester 2 • Corpus Linguistics for Translators. • English for Translators. Semester 1 • Introduction to Interpreting • Genres in Translation. Semester 1 • Summer • Dissertation or Extended Translations Practical (Specialised) Translation thus ‘embedded’ within overall ‘translation theory and skills’ programme.

10. Materials for practical translation modules (Arabic) • In Other Words, by Mona Baker (includes Arabic examples, but not specifically about Arabic) • English-Arabic/Arabic-English Translation: A Practical Guide, by Basil Hatim • Thinking Arabic Translation, by James Dickins, Ian Higgins, and Sandor Hervey • In-house materials

11. In Other Words, by Mona Baker: organisation • Based around equivalence: Ch. 2: Equivalence at word level Ch. 3: Equivalence above word level Ch. 4: Grammatical equivalence Ch. 5: Textual equivalence: thematic and information structures Ch. 6: Textual equivalence: cohesion Ch. 7: Pragmatic equivalence

12. English-Arabic/Arabic-English Translation: A Practical Guide, by Basil Hatim: organisation • Based around text types: Translating Legal Texts Translating Legal Texts       The Preamble       The Legal Article       Initial and Concluding Legal Articles Translating Detached Exposition The Synopsis The Summary The Abstract The Report (Person-oriented/Entity-oriented) The News Report (Non-evaluative/Evaluative) The Report (Formulaic/Executive/Personalized) Translating Argumentation The Less Involved Through-argument The More Involved Through-argument The Explicit Counter-argument The Implicit Counter-argument The Suppressed Counter-argument

13. Thinking Arabic Translation, by James Dickins, Ian Higgins, and Sandor Hervey: organisation • Based around matrices, levels and ranks Ch. 1 Preliminaries to translation as a process Ch. 2 Preliminaries to translation as a product Ch. 3 Cultural transposition Ch. 4 Compensation Ch. 5 Denotative meaning and translation issues Ch. 6 Connotative meaning and translation issues Ch. 7 Phonic/graphic and prosodic issues in translation Ch. 8 Grammatical issues in translation Ch. 9 Sentential issues in translation Ch. 10 Discourse and intertextual issues in translation Ch. 11 Metaphor Ch. 12 Language variety and translation: register, sociolect and dialect Ch. 13 Textual genre as a factor in translation Ch. 14 Translating technical texts Ch. 15 Translating constitutional texts Ch. 16 Translating consumer-oriented texts Ch. 17 Revising and editing TTs

15. Other possible types of module organisation • Subject-fields • Politics • Science • Religion • Business • Genres (used at Leeds) • Journalistic texts • General and administrative texts • Scientific and technical texts • Literary texts • Specific-problem based, e.g. • Compounds • Coordination/subordination • Sentence-length • Metaphors

16. Class organisation • Teacher-focused: • leads discussion, esp. based on his/her own TT • students contribute as asked by teacher • Student-focused • Simple individual • E.g. one student writes up their version of TT on acetate / board • Multiple individual • E.g. a number of students write up bits of their versions of TT on acetate / board • Group • E.g. students work in groups to produce versions of TT / parts of TT • Teacher- and student-focused • E.g. teacher puts up his/her TT on acetate, students put up theirs on acetate / board

17. Student class preparation • No pre-class work Advantage: spontaneity of class work Disadvantage: not much work is covered in class • Pre-class work on key elements Advantage: students deal with key issues before class Disadvantage: class work can still be slow • Full pre-class translation Advantage: students have full TT to discuss before class Disadvantage: students don’t receive any pre-class guidance on particularly difficult elements • Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation

18. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: steps • Students receive ST (previous class) • Students receive ‘key points’ questions relating to ST (previous class) • After a few days, students receive proposed answers to ‘key points’ questions (via e-mail, etc.) • Students produce full TT (for next class) • Students discuss their TTs with reference also to TT produced by teacher in class • Teacher hands out teacher TT, with translation notes (‘strategic decisions’ and ‘decisions of detail’)

19. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: Step 1 - students receive ST (previous class)

20. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: Step 2 - students receive ‘key points’ questions relating to ST (previous class)

21. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: Step 3 - students receive proposed answers to ‘key points’ questions

22. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: Step 4 - Students produce full TT (for next class) • Either: • Students bring this work with them to the class, for class discussion in comparison with TT produced by teacher • Or: • Teacher marks the work before the class, for further discussion in comparison with teacher TT in class

23. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: Step 5 - Students discuss their TTs with reference also to TT produced by teacher in class. • TT (from Tutor’s Handbook to Thinking Arabic Translation)

24. Pre-class work on key elements followed by full pre-class translation: Step 6 - teacher hands out teacher TT, with translation notes (‘strategic decisions’ and ‘decisions of detail’)

25. Step 6 – contd.

26. Thank you very much for listening!