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Initiation to translation B-A (English-Catalan)

Code: 101432 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500249 Translation and Interpreting FB 1

Contact

Name:
Judit Fontcuberta Famadas
Email:
judit.fontcuberta@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Students must be able to:

-       Produce general texts in Spanish that are clear, well structured and linguistically correct.

-        Understand general texts with a clear structure in English.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of this subject is to provide an introduction to the basic methodological principles that govern the practice of professional translation and to the fundamental contrasting aspects of the language combination.

On successfully completing this subject, students will be able to:

- Demonstrate knowledge of the basic methodological principles governing translation, basic professional and instrumental aspects, and basic problems of contrastivity between English and Spanish.

- Solve basic translation problems in texts from non-specialised genres in standard language.


Competences

  • Learning in a strategic, independent and continuous manner.
  • Mastering the main methodological principles of translation. 
  • Mastering the professional aspects of translation.
  • Producing written texts in language A in order to translate.
  • Solving translation problems of non-specialised texts.
  • Understanding written texts in a foreign language in order to translate.
  • Using documentation resources in order to translate.
  • Using technological resources in order to translate.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying lexical, morphosyntactic, textual, rhetorical and linguistic variation related knowledge: Applying graphic, lexical, morphosyntactic and textual related knowledge.
  2. Applying the documentation resources in order to solve translation problems: Applying the documentation resources in order to translate non-specialised written texts in standard dialect.
  3. Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of written texts of several fields: Comprehending the communicative purpose and sense of non-specialised written texts in standard dialect.
  4. Formulating the appropriate informative needs in order to translate: Formulating the appropriate informative needs in order to translate non-specialised texts in standard dialect.
  5. Identifying the existing (digital and analogue) information sources in order to translate: Identifying the existing (digital and analogue) information sources in order to translate non-specialised written texts in standard dialect.
  6. Identifying the specific translation problems of non-specialised texts: Identifying the basic translation problems of non-specialised texts in standard dialect.
  7. Identifying the textual and dynamic nature of the translation equivalence: Identifying the textual and dynamic nature of the translation equivalence.
  8. Identifying the translation as an act of communication that is addressed to a recipient: Identifying the translation as an act of communication that is addressed to a recipient.
  9. Implementing strategies in order to understand written texts from different fields: Implementing strategies in order to understand non-specialised written texts in standard dialect.
  10. Learning in a strategic, independent and continuous manner: Formulating a plan of action in order to learn.
  11. Solving interferences between the working languages: Solving interferences between the working languages.
  12. Students must demonstrate they know the functioning of the translation labour market: Students must demonstrate they know the basic questions related to the translation labour market (occupational area, rights and duties of the translator).
  13. Students must demonstrate they know the technological resources needed to translate: Students must demonstrate they know the basic technological resources needed to edit non-specialised written texts in standard dialect.
  14. Using the appropriate strategies and techniques in order to solve translation problems: Using the fundamental strategies and techniques in order to solve basic translation problems of non-specialised texts in standard dialect.

Content

- Basic methodological principles governing the practice of translation. Fundamental problems, techniques and strategies in the translation of texts in standard language.

- Solution of contrast-related difficulties: differences in typographical, lexical, morphosyntactic and textual  conventions.

- Basic aspects of the labour market and professional translation: areas of employment, rights and duties of the translator.

- Use of basic technological and documentation tools for the translation of non-specialised texts in standard language: monolingual and general bilingual dictionaries, grammars, style manuals, general search engines, basic technological resources for the optimisation of text editing and correction; basic management of folders and files.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Translation problems 6 0.24 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
Translation problems 12 0.48 2, 9, 10, 3, 11
Translation tasks and projects 34.5 1.38 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
Type: Supervised      
Online debates 11 0.44 12, 7, 8
Self-assessment 4 0.16 10
Type: Autonomous      
Documentation 6 0.24 2, 4, 5
Knowledge development 3 0.12 10
Preparation of exercises and problems 10 0.4 9, 10, 3, 4, 11
Preparation of translations and assignments 56 2.24 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14

The work students carry out mainly consists of:

 

 Exercises

-       Translation tasks

-       Translation projects

-       Debates (in class or online)

-       Individual/group presentations in class

-       Written assignments

-       Exams

Directed activities: carried out according to a set timetable and in the presence of a lecturer.

- Supervised activities: carried out under the supervision of a lecturer or tutor.

- Autonomous activities: carried out by students without supervision, requiring them to organise their own time and work (either in groups or individually).

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Group work on contrasting aspects 20 % 2 0.08 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
On-line debate on professional aspects 5% 1 0.04 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
Summary on two conferences related to translation 5% 1.5 0.06 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
Translation assessment 25% 1 0.04 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
Translation assignment 1 20% 1 0.04 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14
Translation assignment 2 25% 1 0.04 1, 2, 9, 10, 3, 12, 13, 4, 7, 6, 8, 5, 11, 14

Continuous assessment

Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing various tasks and tests.

Types of assignments:

1. Group work: group translation (2-3 students) of a text, to be submitted on the date indicated.

2. Participation in an on-line debate on labor:

The educational unit related to the labor market will be carried out in the form of debate in the Virtual Campus forum, and we will work on the translation, employment, rights and duties of the translator.
Each student must participate at least twice and the contributions must be related to one of the following points:

- What tasks can English translators translate into Catalan?You can include the tsques that would be carried out by a generalist or specialized translator;

-What companies or organizations may need the services of a translator? If you want, you can associate the type of business with a type of task.

- Translators' rights and obligations.

3. Compulsory translation 1: individual translation of an English text into Catalan.

4. Compulsory translation 2: individual translation of an English text into Catalan.

5. Exam: individual translation of a general text (approximately 250 words) from English into Catalan. Students may consult any documents they wish (dictionaries, notes, etc.). 

6. A summary of two lectures attended by the student (previously, the teacher must be consulted about which lectures are appropriateto make the summary; if not, summaries will not be considered for evaluation).

ATTENTION: All works must be delivered on the indicated dates, according to the calendar of the subject that will be published on the Virtual Campus on the first day of the course. After these dates they will not be accepted in any way, if it is not that the impossibility of adjusting to the dates has been duly justified. The calendar can be modified depending on the pace of work of the group.

Note: The information on the evaluation, the type of evaluation activity and its weight on the subject is for information purposes. These activities will be detailed on the first day of the course.

Review

The review of the various assessment activities will be agreed between the teacher and the student.

Missed/failed assessment activities

Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5.

The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for. In case of retaking, maximum grade will be 5 (Pass).

Classification as "not assessable"

In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as "not assessable" on their transcript.

Misconduct in assessment activities

Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the student involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. Assessment activities in which irregularities have occurred (e.g. plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from recovery.

Single assessment

 

This subject may be assessed under the single assessment system in accordance with the terms established in the academic regulations of the UAB and the assessment criteria of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting.

 

Students must make an online request within the period establishedby the faculty and send a copy to the lecturer responsible for the subject, for the record.

 

Single assessment will be carried out in person on one day during week 16 or 17 of the semester. The Academic Management Office will publish the exact date and time on the faculty website.

 

On the day of the single assessment, teaching staff will ask the student for identification, which should be presented as a valid identification document with a recent photograph (student card, DNI/NIE or passport).

 

Single assessment activities

Single assessment will include a minimum of three assessment activities of different typology, as stated in the evaluation guidelines.

Grade revision and resit procedures for the subject are the same as those for continual assessment. See the section above in this study guide.


Bibliography

 

1. Monolingual dictionaries in Catalan

AA.DD. Diccionari de la llengua catalana. 4a ed. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1998.

ALCOVER, Antoni M.; MOLL, Francesc de B. Diccionari català-valencià-balear. Palma de Mallorca: Moll, 1988.

COROMINES, Joan. Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: Curial, 1980.

ESPINAL I FARRÉ, M. Teresa. Diccionari de sinònims de frases fetes. Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona: Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat: València: Universitat de València, 2004.

FABRA, Pompeu. Diccionari general de la llengua catalana. 11a ed. Barcelona: Edhasa, 1980.

FRANQUESA, Manuel. Diccionari de sinònims. 6a ed. Barcelona: Pòrtic, 1991.

INSTITUT D’ESTUDIS CATALANS. Diccionari de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: 1995.

PEY, Santiago. Diccionari de sinònims i antònims. 9a ed. Barcelona Teide, 1986.

RASPALL, Joana; MARTÍ, Joan. Diccionari de locucions i frases fetes.  Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1984.

XURIGUERA, Joan Baptista. Els verbs catalans conjugats. 4a ed. Barcelona: Claret, 1977.

 

2. Monolingual Dictionaries in English

The Collins Dictionary of the English Language

The Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of current English

Webster’s Third NewInternational Dictionary. Springfield (Mass.): Merriam-Webster, 1993.

Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary

The New Oxford English Dictionary. Òxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.

The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Òxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.

CHAPMAN, Robert L. New dictionary of American Slang. Londres: McMillan, 1995.

KIRKPATRICK, Betty [ed.]. Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. Londres: Penguin, 1987.

PARTRIDGE, Eric. A Dictionary of Slang and unconventional English. Londres: Routledge, 1987.

 

 

3. Bilingual dictionaries

Diccionari anglès-català (Enciclopèdia Catalana)

Diccionari català-anglès (Enciclopèdia Catalana)

Diccionari de paranys de traducció anglès-català (Enciclopèdia Catalana)

Diccionario internacional Simon and Schuster inglés-español / español-inglés. Nova York: MacMillan, 1997.

Diccionario Collins español-inglés / English-Spanish. Barcelona: Grijalbo, 2000.

Diccionario Oxford español-inglés / inglés-español. Madrid: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Gran diccionario Larousse español-inglés / English-Spanish. Barcelona: Larousse, 2004.

AA.DD. Diccionari castellà-català. Barcelona. Enciclopèdia Catalana: 1985.

AA.DD. Diccionari català-castellà. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana: 1987.

 

4. Reference manuals

AGOST, Rosa i MONZÓ, Esther, Teoria i pràctica de la traducció general espanyol-català. Castelló: Universitas / Universitat Jaume I, 8, 2001

BADIA I MARGARIT, Antoni M. Gramàtica de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1994.

CAMPS, Oriol. Parlem del català. Barcelona: Empúries, 1994.

COROMINES, Joan. Lleures i converses d’un filòleg. Barcelona: Club editor, 1983.

FABRA, Pompeu. Converses filològiques. Barcelona: Edhasa, 1983 i 1984.

FABRA, Pompeu. Gramàtica catalana. 15a ed. Barcelona: Teide, 1991.

FERRATER, Gabriel. Sobre el llenguatge. Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1981.

JANÉ, Albert. El llenguatge. Problemes i aspectes d’avui. Barcelona: Edhasa, 1977-80. 4 vols.

LACREU, Josep. Manual d’ús de l’estàndard oral. 2a ed. València: Universitat de València, 1992.

MESTRES, Josep M.; COSTA, Joan; OLIVA, Mireia; FITÉ, Ricard. Manual d’estil. La redacció i l’edició de textos. Barcelona: Eumo, 1995.

RUAIX I VINYET, Josep. Diccionari auxiliar. Moià: J. Ruaix, 1996.

RUAIX I VINYET, Josep. Observacions crítiques i pràctiques sobre el català d’avui. Moià: J. Ruaix, 1994, vol. I.

RUAIX I VINYET, Josep. Punts conflictius del català. Barcelona: Barcanova, 1989.

SOLÀ, Joan. A l’entorn de la llengua. Barcelona: Laia, 1977.

SOLA, Joan; RIGAU, Gemma [et al.]. Gramàtica del català contemporani. Barcelona: Empúries, 2002.

SOLÀ, Joan. Parlem-ne. Converses lingüístiques. Barcelona: Proa, 1998.

TELEVISIÓ DE CATALUNYA. Criteris lingüístics sobre traducció i doblatge. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1997.

TORRENT, Anna M. La llengua de la publicitat. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 1999.

VALOR, Enric. Millorem el llenguatge. València: 3 i 4, 1979, vol.II.

 

5. Gramàtiques i diccionaris de dubtes anglesos

COWIE, A.; MACKIN, R. Oxford Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Òxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

EASTWOOD, J.; MACKIN, R. A Basic English Grammar. Òxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

HUDDLESTON, R.; PULLUM, G.K. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

LEECH, G. A Communicative Grammar of English. Londres: Longman, 1990.

MCARTHUR, T.; ATKINS, B. Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs and their Idioms. Londres: Collins, 1990.

QUIRK, R.; GREENBAUM, S.; LEECH, G.; SVARTVIK, J. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Londres: Longman, 1985.

QUIRK, R.; GREENBAUM, S. A University Grammar of English. Londres: Longman, 1993.

THOMSON, A.J.; MARTINET, A.B. A Practical English Grammar. Òxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

SWAN, M. Practical English Usage. Nova York: Òxford: Oxford University Press,1995.

6. Manuals de traducció

AINAUD, Jordi; ESPUNYA, Anna; PUJOL, Dídac. Manual de traducció anglès-català. Vic : Eumo, 2003.

LÓPEZ GUIX, J. G.; MINETT, J. Manual de traducción inglés español. Barcelona: Gedisa, 1997.

NEWMARK, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. Michigan: Prentice Hall, 1988.

Orozco, Mariana, Metodología de la traducción directa del inglés al español. Materiales didácticos para la traducción general y especializada, Granada, Comares, 2012.

 

7. Sobre traducció

BACARDÍ, Montserrat; FONTCUBERTA, Joan; PARCERISAS, Francesc [eds.]. Cent anys de traducció al català (1891-1990). Antologia. Vic: Eumo Editorial, 1998.

MALLAFRÈ, Joaquim. Llengua de tribu i llengua de polis: bases d’una traducció literàriaModels_de_llengua_i_traducció_catalana... Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1991.

FONTCUBERTA, Joan. Tots els colors del camaleó. Tarragona: Arola Editors, 2008.

PARCERISAS, Francesc. Traducció, edició, ideologia: aspectes sociològics de les traduccions de la Bíblia i de l’Odissea al català. Vic: Eumo, 2009.

BACARDÍ, Montserrat; GODAYOL, Pilar.  Diccionari de la Traducció Catalana. Vic: Eumo Editorial, 2011.

 

8. Internet resources

 

Critèria: espai web de correcció de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans

http://criteria.espais.iec.cat

 

Diccionari català-valencià-balear

http://dcvb.iecat.net

 

Diccionari de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans

http://dlc.iec.cat

 

Diccionari de sinònims d'Albert Jané

http://sinonims.iec.cat

 

Enciclopèdia Catalana

http://www.enciclopedia.cat

 

One Look

http://www.onelook.com

 

Optimot

http://www14.gencat.cat/llc/AppJava/index.jsp

 

Portal lingüístic de la Corporació Catalana dels Mitjans Audiovisuals

http://esadir.cat

 

Termcat

www.termcat.net

 

Biblioteca d’Humanitats

http://blogs.uab.cat/bhtraduccio

 

ISBN

www.mcu.es/bases/spa/isbn/ISBN.html

 


Software

We will work with the most usual tools to edit documents.


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan second semester morning-mixed