LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION FROM ITALIAN INTO ENGLISH AND FROM ENGLISH INTO ITALIAN

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Alphabetic division AK-LZ

Course Sheet

Course code:

L0860

Academic Year of enrolment:

2022

Year of supply:

2023/2024

Divisions:

Cognomi A-L

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in LINGUISTIC MEDIATION AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Disciplinary Sector:

English Language and Translation

Is part of:

LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION FROM ITALIAN INTO ENGLISH AND FROM ENGLISH INTO ITALIAN

Location:

PESCARA

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

BRUSASCO Paola

Cycle:

Single Annual Cycle

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

228

Prerequisites:

English Language I

Objectives

The aim of the course, designed to meet the objectives of
the undergraduate degree course in “Linguistic Mediation and
Intercultural Communication”, is to provide students with basic notions of discourse analysis, Global English, corpus linguistics, and translation. The topics covered in the language part provide an adequate background for translation and interpreting jobs in the private and public sectors, and contribute to improving the language skills of prospective linguistic and intercultural mediators in various institutions and organizations.
The translation module aims at providing students with tools and methods to analyze texts in the areas of tourism and social communication highlighting their communicative strategies and stylistic peculiarities in order to adequately translate them from Italian into English and from English into Italian. While paying attention to the communicative function(s) and genre conventions, as well as lexical, terminological, pragmatic and stylistic aspects of the source text, students will learn to select strategies that allow them to translate it with a view to its intended aim in the target culture.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge and understanding:
By the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge and understanding of
- the principles of discourse analysis
- elements and strategies that contribute to text cohesion and coherence
- linguistic varieties and textual conventions of different genres
- the spread of English through media
- the internal elements of a text and the external factors that influence its effectiveness and interpretation
- the characteristics of corpora
- the advantages and limitations of computer-aided and machine translation

Making judgments:
By the end of the course, students will know how to
- critically analyze a text
- recognize the source text type and use the target language format and conventions that best suit the corresponding – or required – text function
- adopt the most appropriate translation strategy
- assess the communicative situation and choose the degree of mediation needed
- assess the degree of postediting required by a machine-translated text.

Communicative skills:
By the end of the course, student should be able to:
- apply the principles of discourse analysis both while reading and while translating/producing a text
- compile and interrogate a corpus
- adequately translate texts in the fields of tourism and social communication from English into Italian and from Italian into English.
- edit a machine-translated text
- discuss the contents of the course with the appropriate terminology
- effectively use English in the fields of tourism and social communication, both at promotional and institutional level.

Contents

The course aims at introducing students to the fundamentals of discourse
analysis, defined as the analysis of language “beyond the sentence”, i.e. analysed in its social contexts and in particular in dialogues and interactions between speakers. The course will also focus on global English
and the media, and reflect on how the press, radio,
advertising and especially television have influenced the growth of
world English.
The use of corpora will be introduced as a resource for
increasing the students’ analytical competence and language knowledge, thereby developing communicative efficacy, linguistic awareness, and learning autonomy.
The module dedicated to translation aims to develop the linguistic and analytical tools and the translation strategies needed to effectively deal with the translation of texts in the fields of tourism and social communication.
Various types of texts with different translation problems will be used in order to discuss the best strategies. Genre and the textual function will be identified, and each text will be analysed in its lexical, syntactic and organizational aspects in preparation for passive or active translation. Technological tools will be introduced to support terminology research and stylistic analysis. Students will also learn the fundamentals to translate the texts analysed. Advantages and limitations of CAT tools and machine translation will be discussed, followed by an introduction to postediting.

Extended Syllabus

The course aims at introducing students to the fundamentals of discourse
analysis, defined as the analysis of language “beyond the sentence”.
Philosophers and linguists like Austin, Grice, Halliday and Leech have
promoted the rapid development of discourse analysis concerned with
language use in social contexts, and in particular with interaction or
dialogue between speakers. The aspects of context known as field,
tenor and mode, as well as the notion of speech acts will be investigated. The course will also focus on global English and the media by reflecting on how the press, radio,
advertising, and especially television have influenced the growth of
world English. According to David Crystal, English is the dominant language in world
media and communications. For this reason, the language of the media
(the press, advertising, broadcasting, cinema and the Web) will be
examined in its linguistic and cultural peculiarities.
Corpora will be introduced as a resource for improving the
students’ analytical competence and language knowledge, expanding their vocabulary, linguistic awareness and learning autonomy. The process of compiling and
analysing corpus data will be explained by introducing some of the most
important existing English corpora.
The translation module aims to develop the linguistic, analytical and
translation competence needed to adequately translate various types of
texts in the field of tourism and social communication.
Students will work on different types of texts (e.g. tourist guides,
brochures, websites and so forth) and discuss the best translation strategies for each case. In preparation for translation – from and into English – source texts will be analysed with particular attention to lexis, syntax, information flow, function(s) and genre conventions; students will then reflect on the function the translated text is expected to have in the target culture and the strategies towards an adequate translation. Students will use some online tools, reflect on the advantages and limits of machine translation, and receive an introduction to postediting. While translation theory is not part of the course, the practice on texts will touch on some fundamental concepts.

Recommended Bibliography

Language module:
- Brian Paltridge, Discourse Analysis: An Introduction, London, Continuum,
2006 (Chapters 1, 3, 6);
- M. Grazia Busà, Introducing the Language of the News, Abingdon,
Routledge, 2004 (Ch. 2, pp. 25-36; Ch. 6, pp. 80-95);
- David Crystal, English As a Global Language, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press 2003 (Ch. 1, pp. 1-28; ch. 4: pp. 86-104);
- David Crystal, Language and the Internet, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 2004 (Chapters 2, 4, 7, 8);
- Susan Hunston, Corpora in Applied Linguistics, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 2022 (Chapters 1, 4).
Translation module:
- Gambier, Yves, van Doorslaer, Luc (eds.), Handbook of Translation Studies, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Vol. 1 (2010): Computer-aided translation, pp. 60-65; Corpora, pp. 80-86; Journalism and translation, pp. 180-184; Localization and translation, pp. 209-214. Vol 5 (2021): Museums and translation, pp. 159-164; NGOs and translation, pp. 165-170; Postediting, pp. 177-184; Tourism and translation, pp. 213-220.
- Sulaiman, M. Zain, Wilson, Rita, Translation and Tourism. Strategies for Effective Cross-Cultural Promotion, Singapore: Springer: 2019 (pp. 3-63).
- Taylor, Christopher, Language to Language. A practical and theoretical guide for Italian/English translators, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999 (Part 1: pp. 116-147; Part 2: pp. 195-210; 288-310).

Teaching Methods

The course contents will be covered through lectures, seminars and group work, complemented by PowerPoint presentations and online tools. Explanations will be integrated by activities and exercises aimed at developing analysis and writing (cohesion and coherence), oral and translation skills.
Although attendance is not compulsory, it is highly recommended; the exam will be the same for attending and non-attending students.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The written exam is comprised of multiple-choice questions on
discourse analysis, an exercise on cohesion and coherence and an
exercise on text linguistics; the translation part consists of two translations, one from English into Italian and one from Italian into English.
Multiple-choice questions/exercises on discourse analysis will get students to reflect on the importance of register, cohesion and coherence in communications in the private and public sectors. Monolingual dictionaries can be used for this section, while for the translation bilingual dictionaries are allowed.
Access to the oral exam is only possible once a student has passed all the single components of the written exam (18/30). The student who has not passed one or more of the components of the written exam, can repeat it/them in the following two exam sessions.
The oral exam, conducted in English, will test the knowledge of the topics covered in the course. In order to pass the exam, students must use specialised terminology and
effective language demonstrating their knowledge and the ability to connect topics.
Attendance of language practice sessions (lettorato) by CLA instructors is highly recommended in order to achieve the required CEFR competence level. Taking the lettorato test before the English Language II exam is also highly recommended as the result of such test will contribute to the final evaluation of the course.

Contacts/More Information

Further didactic material and worksheets will be available at the photocopy store as well as on the e-learning platform.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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