Course

In London

Price on request

Description

  • Type

    Course

  • Location

    London

  • Duration

    1 Year

  • Start date

    Different dates available

This course responds to the increasing need in a globalised, interconnected world for highly qualified translators who can navigate different genres of text and negotiate the language needs of diverse audiences and industries. "Without translation, we would be living in provinces bordering on silence" - George Steiner Based in a truly global city, Goldsmiths’ location makes it the perfect place to study translation. You will study the theory and practice of translation, giving you the expertise to compete for work as a professional translator. Study in a department with expertise across linguistics, creative writing, and literary studies, with the option to tailor your studies and explore areas in other departments relevant to your own interests. You will also have the opportunity to engage in and apply for translation work experience opportunities with a range of external organisations.

Facilities

Location

Start date

London
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New Cross, SE14 6NW

Start date

Different dates availableEnrolment now open

About this course

You should have a minimum of 2:1 (or equivalent) in a subject relevant to the programme or relevant equivalent experience. You will also need to provide a personal statement (in English) in which you describe: why you are applying to the MA in Translation and what you hope to achieve if successful. your native or near-native fluency in at least one other language in addition to English. You should describe: any translations you may have undertaken and the purpose and context in which you undertook these; any experience you have of reading,

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Subjects

  • Tourism Hospitality
  • Contemporary Literature
  • Media
  • Communication Training
  • Industry
  • Project
  • Global
  • Marketing
  • Hospitality
  • Tourism and Hospitality
  • Cross Cultural
  • Interpreting
  • Advanced English
  • English Language
  • Translation
  • Entrepreneurship
  • IT
  • English
  • Tourism
  • Comparative Literature

Course programme

What you'll study Core modules

Core modules on the MA in Translation cover both the theory and practice of translation. These are taught in seminar-based and tutorial small-group sessions and may include an individually supervised practice project.

Students undertaking the translation work placement module will work directly with an external organisation to provide a range of translation and other language services and gain first-hand experience of translation in a professional setting.

You also undertake a dissertation in which you will either reflect critically on one aspect of the theory and/or practice of translation, or focus on the practice of translation in the form of a concrete translation project.

Your choice of core modules will depend on your pathway choice,. Core modules from other translation pathways may also be taken as optional modules, subject to availability and eligibility.

Core modules Module title Credits. Translation theory and practice Translation theory and practice 30 credits

This module introduces students to key academic debates within the field of Translation Studies and addresses a range of topical issues relating to the professional practice of translation through the illuminating framework of twentieth and twenty-first century translation theory.

Touching on a range of currents of contemporary concern within the field, and placing these within their respective historical contexts, this module introduces students to broad theoretical questions that influence and impact upon the practice of the translator, including issues of loyalty, duty and faithfulness to the text-for-translation and to the audience of translation, translator ethics and the political positionality of the translator as an intercultural communicator and mediator.

30 credits. Translation for the cultural tourism, hospitality and cultural heritage sectors Translation for the cultural tourism, hospitality and cultural heritage sectors 30 credits

This module focuses on preparing students to become freelance or in-house translators within the contexts of cultural tourism, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage.

It addresses key challenges for professional translators within these specialist domains of the translation employment market, from understanding the nature of freelance work and in-house translation work in museums, galleries and other cultural organisations; interpretation for heritage destinations and museums; to matching sensitively the skills and expertise of the specialist tourism translator with the demands of translating diverse texts and text types, within the contexts of cultural tourism, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage and in the context of changing needs and expectations on the part of museums, galleries and other cultural organisation clients.

30 credits. Becoming a translator Becoming a translator 30 credits

This module will prepare you for working as a freelance or in-house translator in the global translation and language service industry.

Through workshops and lectures, you will develop the following skills:

  • an understanding of the nature of freelance work and self-employment
  • how to meet the needs of translation agency and in-house translation employers
  • how to identify, evaluate and implement business and marketing strategies for different translators and text types
  • how to establish client relationships
  • bidding and competing for work and navigating the commissioning process
  • project and time management
  • how to use computer-aided translation, machine translation and online tools for translators
  • how to edit, revise and proof your work.
  • 30 credits. Translation dissertation Translation dissertation 60 credits

    The dissertation module offers students a choice between developing an extended critical argument in the form of an essay or undertaking a practical interlingual translation project and associated research-based critical essay in which the challenges and opportunities of translation are discussed and rooted in relevant debates in the academic field.

    The module combines interactive seminars led by tutors with research, training and development workshops facilitated by external academic researchers in Translation Studies and translation industry representatives including freelance and in-house translators as well as employers of translators such as translation agencies. These sessions are also complemented by one-to-one support meetings with dissertation supervisors.

    60 credits. Advanced English-Chinese translation and interpreting Advanced English-Chinese translation and interpreting 30 credits

    This module is co-taught by the Goldsmiths Confucius Institute and the Department of English and Comparative Literature and focuses on producing written translations of a wide range of texts and text types and covers translation across a broad variety of professional domains, from scientific, academic, business and technical texts written in English, to journalism, finance, advertising and marketing, media, literary fiction, poetry, theatre and other creative industries.

    Alongside this, and with the help of Chinese and English native speakers, students will also develop consecutive and bilateral/liaison interpreting skills for facilitating communication between monolingual speakers of English and Chinese across a range of business, diplomatic, government, community, health and criminal justice contexts.

    30 credits. Optional Modules

    In addition, you are able to choose from a range of optional modules, which allows you to explore your interests and to gain specialist knowledge relating to your future career plans. This could include modules from within the Department of English and Comparative Literature, or from other departments such as the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship , Media and Communications.

    While not all of these modules may be available every year, and new ones may be introduced, the following modules are particularly relevant as optional choices for translation students:

    English and Comparative Literature

    English and Comparative Literature Module title Credits. Between Languages: Multilingualism and Translation in Contemporary Literature Between Languages: Multilingualism and Translation in Contemporary Literature 30 credits

    In a world increasingly dominated by globalisation and migration, the relationship between language and borders has become more complicated and, in many ways, more consequential than ever.

    It is a key feature of contemporary literature to respond to these processes, as writers embed questions of language in the very practice of their writing. Their linguistic and formal innovations register new multilingual realities, bring different cultural and linguistic forms into dialogue, challenge alignments of language and nation, and address the possibilities and limits of translation in a globalised world.

    This module will allow students to explore the implications of these forces and processes for our understanding of literature from the mid-twentieth century to the present.

    Literary texts from a range of geographic, cultural and political contexts will be read alongside critical and theoretical debates at the intersection of several disciplinary perspectives: postcolonial studies, transnational studies, comparative literature, world literature and translation studies.

    30 credits. Language & Ideology in Written Discourse Language & Ideology in Written Discourse 30 credits

    This module aims to introduce students to contemporary approaches and frameworks of analysis of written texts. The module explores the analytic techniques and principles of written discourse analysis and gives students space to apply these techniques to a wide selection of texts (texts from the contemporary media, advertisements, textbooks, political and administrative texts, texts in translation, etc.). The module leads students to a discussion of how linguistic analysis can illuminate wider social issues, for example issues of power and ideology, issues of representation and identity. Students acquire knowledge of different levels of linguistic analysis, and learn to examine written texts at the micro-level, and to link the micro to the macro. The use of a variety of texts is intended to lead students to debates about language use and social issues in different areas of human activity: media representation, translation, education, etc.

    30 credits. Core Issues in English Language & Linguistics Core Issues in English Language & Linguistics 30 credits

    This module , one of the two core units for the MA in Sociocultural Linguistics, will introduce you to the main areas of study within modern linguistics, including theoretical and methodological aspects. The module aims to make clear the wider aims of linguistic research, as well as to enable you to apply theoretical notions to specific datasets and develop your own skills of linguistic analysis.

    Topics include introduction to phonetics and phonology (speech sounds), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (word and sentence meaning) and pragmatics (the use and interpretation of meaning) as well basic issues and facts of language change and language variation.

    30 credits. English in a Multilingual World English in a Multilingual World 30 credits

    The overall aim of this module is to explore the development of the English language, its variation and change, in relation to linguistic and social issues of language contact and multilingualism. Students will have the opportunity to study the spread of English and the rise to its current status as a global language, discuss the establishment of (English) language standards and (standard) varieties world-wide, the emergence of English as a Lingua Franca and other language contact phenomena. The focus will be on the challenges and opportunities open to multilingual societies and to consider the impact of English in multilingual settings. An understanding of Global Englishes and aspects of multilingualism gives students the necessary conceptual and theoretical tools to understand English practices in a multilingual world and to conduct their own research within an area they find of interest.

    30 credits. Intercultural Discourse & Communication Intercultural Discourse & Communication 30 credits

    The module introduces students to a range of empirical studies and debates in a cross-disciplinary field that has become known as intercultural or cross-cultural communication. One of the questions researchers ask in this field is if speaking styles vary from culture to culture. For example, do some groups of speakers accept and encourage more overlap and simultaneous talk than others, or do understandings of directness and politeness vary culturally. Students will study inter/cross-cultural communication in everyday interaction but also in institutional settings, examining talk in business and educational settings such as the multilingual/multi-ethnic classroom. The module also explores the relevance of cultural stereotypes and cultural representations, for example, in media and tourism contexts.

    Throughout the module students will need to consider the term ‘culture’ critically, comparing popular definitions of ‘culture’ as homogenous and static with postmodern models that highlight the heterogeneity and fluidity of ‘culture’. Students will become familiar with a range of methodological approaches to the study of language, culture and interaction. These tend to include the ethnography of speaking, interactional sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, intercultural pragmatics and politeness theory. The module will not only ask students to study language/discourse and culture in a range of different English-speaking countries and settings, but it will also invite students to consider a variety of ‘other’ linguistic and cultural contexts.

    30 credits. Language in its Sociocultural Context Language in its Sociocultural Context 30 credits

    This module combines a sociolinguistic with a discourse analytic approach in order to explore the socio-cultural contextualisation of language and meaning from two angles: language use and language representation. This dual focus will be evident throughout the module; topics such as language and gender, language and ethnicity or language and the media will be examined in relation to the socio-cultural (and situational) contexts in which speakers use language as well as in relation to different representations of specific socio-cultural groups in the media and other (written) texts.

    For example, we will investigate both how women speak and how women are spoken about, and we will discuss if and how the former relates to the latter and vice-versa. Other topics that will be addressed in this module include the political correctness debate, sexist language, cross-cultural approaches to politeness, attitudes to non-standard English and the linguistic construction of identity.

    30 credits. Theories of Literature & Culture Theories of Literature & Culture 30 credits

    This core module for the pathway in ‘Modern Literary Theory’ surveys key currents in literary and cultural theory from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day. Beginning with the examination of shifting ideas and theories of the ‘literary’ in the module of the discipline’s development, it goes on to explore ten key thinkers and tendencies, starting with Nietzsche. These will include Freud, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Benjamin and Adorno, Structuralism, Blanchot, Derrida, Gender and Postcolonial Theory. Although the question of the relationship of theory to literary and cultural criticism is a central one, the module will enable you to focus on theoretical concepts in their own right. You will also be asked to consider the theoretical implications of the particular formal and stylistic choices made by the thinkers covered.

    30 credits. Translation Work Experience Translation Work Experience 30 credits

    In a globalised, interconnected world, organisations operating at a local, regional, national and international level depend on skilled multilingual intercultural negotiators to facilitate communication, reach new audiences and promote good community relations.

    Students on the MA in Translation have the opportunity to apply for work placements as part of their translator training. From potential work with translation agencies and language service companies, to perhaps providing language, transcreation and intercultural communication services in private, public and third sector organisations where intercultural and interlingual transfer play a key role in global sales, communications or creative industry, these work based and self-directed learning opportunities are aimed at giving students the chance to gain experience, develop knowledge of business practice and build professional competences as a translator or language professional.

    30 credits. Becoming a translator Becoming a translator 30 credits

    This module will prepare you for working as a freelance or in-house translator in the global translation and language service industry.

    Through workshops and lectures, you will develop the following skills:

    • an understanding of the nature of freelance work and self-employment
    • how to meet the needs of translation agency and in-house translation employers
    • how to identify, evaluate and implement business and marketing strategies for different translators and text types
    • how to establish client relationships
    • bidding and competing for work and navigating the commissioning process
    • project and time management
    • how to use computer-aided translation, machine translation and online tools for translators
    • how to edit, revise and proof your work.
    • 30 credits. Translation for the cultural tourism, hospitality and cultural heritage sectors Translation for the cultural tourism, hospitality and cultural heritage sectors 30 credits

      This module focuses on preparing students to become freelance or in-house translators within the contexts of cultural tourism, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage.

      It addresses key challenges for professional translators within these specialist domains of the translation employment market, from understanding the nature of freelance work and in-house translation work in museums, galleries and other cultural organisations; interpretation for heritage destinations and museums; to matching sensitively the skills and expertise of the specialist tourism translator with the demands of translating diverse texts and text types, within the contexts of cultural tourism, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage and in the context of changing needs and expectations on the part of museums, galleries and other cultural organisation clients.

      30 credits. Advanced English-Chinese translation and interpreting Advanced English-Chinese translation and interpreting 30 credits

      This module is co-taught by the Goldsmiths Confucius Institute and the Department of English and Comparative Literature and focuses on producing written translations of a wide range of texts and text types and covers translation across a broad variety of professional domains, from scientific, academic, business and technical texts written in English, to journalism, finance, advertising and marketing, media, literary fiction, poetry, theatre and other creative industries.

      Alongside this,

MA in Translation

Price on request