MA Translation Studies (Arabic)
Birmingham, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
30 Aug 2024*
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
GBP 10,530 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for UK students | 7 May 2024 for international students
** for UK students full-time | £23,310 for international students full-time
Introduction
Invest your passion for languages and translation with our new practice-based, specialized MA in Translation Studies Arabic-English-Arabic.
This unique opportunity brings together our expertise in Translation Studies and Arabic, and gives you the opportunity to develop your career further, providing an ideal pathway to our Translation Studies Practice-Based PhD (On-Campus or by Distance Learning), in addition to our more traditional Translation Studies PhD. The program is available to students who are proficient in Arabic and English. The industry standard is for translators to work in the language in which they are most proficient. Accordingly, you can work from English into Arabic and/or Arabic into English.
Our specialist Arabic modules combine translation practice in the creative industries related to Arabic as well as theoretical and analytical skills. You will gain hands-on experience with the state-of-the-art technological tools currently used in the translation industry in relation to English-Arabic in particular.
As well as benefiting from our extensive academic expertise in Arabic studies, this program is designed to make you industry-ready on graduation. It is designed to cover most of the list of competencies required by professional translators published in 2022 by the European Master’s in Translation network. We work closely with translation institutions, agencies in the Arab region, freelancers, and other stakeholders to ensure that our syllabus prepares you for professional employment in the growing translator industry.
We are a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and of the Association of Programmes in Translation and Interpreting Studies, UK and Ireland. We are also part of the SDL University Partner Program, which allows us to allocate SDL Studio Freelance licenses to our students for the duration of their studies and to award a free license to the top two students studying translation technology each academic year for use after they graduate. Finally, we are also a member of the Association of Translation Companies, which enables us to work closely together with a number of translation companies to support the new generation of language services industry professionals.
As part of our links with industry, we offer talks from professionals and mentoring, as well as advertising internship opportunities.
The Global Language Services industry is growing at an impressive rate; two of the top five providers, SDL and RWS, are based in the United Kingdom, and there are many large- and medium-sized providers headquartered in the US, Europe, and Asia. Wherever you are based, there is no better time to enter the industry and our innovative MA is ideal for those looking to embark on or develop, careers as professional translators.
Why Study this Course?
- Specialist expertise -you will be taught by specialists in Arabic-English and English-Arabic translation, enabling you to gain extensive practice in working in both directions, under the guidance of experienced staff
- Pathway to Ph.D. study- the MA Translation Studies Arabic-English provides excellent preparation for/pathway to PhD study, in particular, our practice-based Ph.D. in Translation Studies, which is the ideal progression for students looking to continue to doctoral study in this field
- Translation studies research forum- take part in this international forum, which brings together postgraduates and scholars to engage in the latest issues relating to Translation Studies. Last year's event saw theorists and scholars in Translation Studies and Feminism come together transnationally on the ofDecolonising Translation Studies: Towards Transnational Feminism
- Access to specialist software A number of our modules incorporate training in a variety of tools and software such as translation memory tools, corpus and text analysis tools, and post-editing tools, for example SDL Trados: Memsource (We would like to thank Memsource for granting us free access to their platform through theMemsource Academic Edition); Wordfast(courtesy of Wordfast LLC and Yves Champollion); and the sketch Enginecorpus manager and text analysis
- Practical preparation for careers in translation places great emphasis on getting you ready to hit the ground running in a career in translation, whether you want an in-house or freelance role. We will support you in developing your professional profile to help you secure employment straight after your MA
- Facilities- you will develop a sophisticated knowledge of how computer-aided translation tools work through access to the facilities available within the Department of Modern Languages. Having this understanding will allow you to specialise and engage with complex material allowing you to stand out when embarking on your professional career.
- Employability graduates pursue careers as in-house translators or project managers, set up their own translation companies as freelancers, and specialize in a variety of domains, from legal to literary translation. Recent students have secured competitive internships at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the European Union Directorate-General for Translation in Brussels, and SDL Trados in the UK.
- Links with an industry host a series of talks on the Translation Profession', which bring in speakers with a range of expertise in the translation industry - employers, freelancers, publishers, and representatives of national and international organizations - and where students can gain further insight into the profession. These links with industry allow us to provide mentoring and advertise internship opportunities
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Scholarships to cover fees and/or maintenance costs may be available. To discover whether you are eligible for any award across the University, and to start your funding application, please visit the University's Postgraduate Funding Database.
International students can often gain funding through overseas research scholarships, Commonwealth scholarships, or their home government.
Postgraduate Loans
Government-backed master loans are available to help UK and EU students to finance their studies. For those starting courses after 1 August 2020, loans are available of up to £11,836 for Masters students in all subject areas. Criteria, eligibility, repayment, and application information are available on the UK government website.
Curriculum
Core Modules
You will study four core modules:
Theoretical and Analytical Skills
The module introduces the most significant translation theories and their application to translation practice. It focuses on the conceptual tools required for the analysis of the source text prior to translation and the key theoretical approaches and strategies to carrying out a translation. It also examines the importance of pragmatic, socio-cultural, and ethical considerations in informing translation decisions.
Creative Translation
The module introduces ways of translating with a creative eye and with attention to the ‘originality’ in the target language. It provides practical skills on how creative and technical industries operate, in relation to translation in both source and target languages and how to navigate cultural differences without compromising quality, with audience and market requirements in mind. It expands to using technology in creative ways providing students with hands-on experience in creative/cultural industries. The module introduces the different ways of creative and artistic translation as well as the various challenges that are specific to Arabic, as a non-European language. Creative Translation is a practice-based module on the creative and cultural industry, which includes the practical side of for example, literary genres and multimedia modes, advertising, tourism, and films.
Translation Technology
This module is designed to provide students with hands-on experience of a range of technologies applied to the study and practice of translation. Students will learn how to use the tools most commonly required by employers, such as translation memory and terminology management tools, and critically assess the technological requirements for different translation projects. They will also gain a sophisticated understanding of how translation tools work and how they have impacted translation, both as a discipline and as a practice.
Specialized Translation (Arabic)
This module provides you with further training in Arabic-English translation. The module focuses on the translation of texts for a specialized audience from areas such as business, law, and science, as well as on the translation of creative texts from areas such as literature, advertising, and tourism. You will examine key concepts and challenges associated with each text type and be introduced to the following tools: desktop publishing, corpora, editing and quality assurance tools, and HTML handling.
Optional Modules
You will also choose two optional modules from a range that may include:
Multimodal Translation
This innovative module will highlight the roles translators play in promoting access to audiovisual content via services and activities such as audio description, captioning, and fan subtitling. You will study monomodal and multimodal text types and authentic contexts in which they are routinely translated/meditated, such as in the arts and heritage sector and publishing. Via case studies, you will be encouraged to evaluate the current provision of descriptive and subtitling services and the policies underpinning them and to understand the constraints involved in responding to the needs of diverse audiences. You will discover the creative and educational potential of multimodal translation via a discussion of innovation within its fields.
Professional Development (Translation/Interpreting)
Our Translation Studies program is designed around the revised list of competencies in which professional translators should be trained, issued in 2017 by the European Master’s in Translation network. The aim of this module is to place emphasis on your professional development, in the spirit of EMT competence #26: Continuously self-evaluate, update, and develop competencies. Taught sessions will deepen your understanding of the translation industry, support you in understanding how to market yourself, set your rates, interact with clients, and so on. It will also afford you space to ‘self-evaluate’ and ‘update and develop’ your competencies in ways that you deem appropriate, depending on your future career plans. The portfolio-based assessment will allow you to showcase any activities undertaken in preparation for your working lives (e.g. undertaking freelance commissions, work experience placements or study visits, learning how to use a piece of software/technology, setting up your online presence, learning business skills such as profit-and-loss accounting, attending talks or ad hoc training on- or off-campus).
Contemporary Translation Theory
This module considers the problems faced by translators from a theoretical point of view. It examines current theoretical thinking in the field of Translation Studies, including cultural theories, sociological theories, and political approaches, among others. The module emphasizes the role and position of translation (and translators) in processes of identity construction, language/cultural planning, and in the spread of political and religious ideologies.
Languages for All
Languages available include French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Spanish. All these languages can be studied at beginner level and the more popular ones are also available at higher levels. Advanced modules are offered in French, German, and Spanish only. If you are interested in this option, please contact the program convenors as early as possible as you will need to register for these modules before the start of the academic year.
Translating for Business
This module aims to provide you with solid training in written translation. It will focus on translating texts for businesses and organizations, across a range of sectors (e.g. consumer goods, retail, charities, and cultural institutions), with particular emphasis on general or technical texts for a general readership (consumers, the public, non-specialist readers). Typical genres covered will be brochures, product descriptions, press releases, instructions, and web pages. You will learn key concepts and skills (client interaction, information mining, translating using appropriate strategies, use of corpora and parallel texts, and revising/editing/quality assurance) and be introduced to the following tools: general IT resources, online dictionaries, search engines, termbases, aligned texts, and corpus tools.
Final project
In addition to your taught modules, you will complete a 15,000-word project, which can take one of three forms:
- Traditional written dissertation: a substantial piece of independent research totaling 15,000 words.
- Extended translation project: you will translate a 7,500-word text of your choice, drawing on appropriate theories, methodologies, and approaches to the translation of different text types and genres, reflecting on issues such as target audience and function, and using a range of translation resources. You will also write a 7,500-word commentary on the text.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Graduates of our Translation Studies programs go on to a variety of interesting careers, from working as translators and project managers for major language service providers to running their own translation companies or staying in Birmingham to do doctoral research. According to the latest data available, 95% of Translation Studies graduates were in work and/or further study six months after graduation (DLHE 2014-2017).
The program will enable you to develop a wide range of skills and attributes which will be vital in your future career. In particular, it will give you the ability to:
- Analyse and translate samples of English and Arabic, using appropriate methods
- Retrieve information, terminology, and specialized knowledge from a range of sources, and use them in their translation practice
- Communicate effectively in written academic English and use appropriate IT skills, including a range of computer-aided translation tools
- Interact effectively in a group
- Plan work effectively, with appropriate time-management skills
- Carry out research in a selected area, both individually and in terms, and report that research appropriately
Alongside our industry-informed syllabus which has been designed with the input of a range of consultants within the translation profession, we host a series of talks, bringing speakers with a range of expertise in the translation industry - employers, freelancers, publishers, representatives of national and international organizations – to help you prepare for your future career.
Program delivery
Teaching takes place over ten weeks in the autumn term and ten weeks in the spring term, through weekly seminars.
Full-time students will take three compulsory modules in the autumn term and one compulsory module in the spring term You can find full details of the modules at the bottom of the Course Details tab. During the summer period, you will be working on your dissertation or extended translation project, and you will be assigned an appropriate supervisor according to your chosen topic.
Part-time students will take three modules in year one and three modules in year two. To cater to the needs of part-time students, we make an effort to group classes on specific days of the week. During the second term of year two, you will be working on your dissertation or extended translation project, and you will be assigned an appropriate supervisor according to your chosen topic.
Each module typically represents a total of 200 hours of study time, including preparatory reading, homework, and assignment preparation.
Learning and Teaching Methods
The course will:
- Encourage reflective practice in translation
- Develop your practical skills in the translation of English-Arabic material in different genres, adopting a ‘ hands-on approach
- Familiarise you with state-of-the-art technological tools currently used in the translation industry in relation to Arabic and with the professional environment in which translators operate, with reference to English-Arabic in particular
- Allow you to demonstrate in-depth, specialist knowledge and proficiency in skills relevant to the discipline and/or to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the most up-to-date concepts and theories of the discipline of translation studies
- Provide a specialized understanding of how English and Arabic work and how they may usefully be analyzed, with reference to their specificities and how such an analysis may be utilized by the translator
- Develop a critical understanding of the social constraints on and consequences of translation and the differing contexts of translation throughout the world
- Provide you with the opportunity to carry out extensive practical translation work with the guidance of experienced tutors to develop skills in line with current professional practice in the Arab World and globally
- Provide a practical understanding of established techniques of research and inquiry used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline, to enable students to undertake further research, either as part of their future professional careers or by enrolling for a research or practice degrees