OF-407 Domain-specific translation: technical and IT texts

The course is connected to the following study programs

• Translation and Professional Communication, Master's programme

Teaching language

Norwegian, English, other languages used for translation

Course contents

The students will gain knowledge and skills vital to producing professional translations of technical or IT texts. The term "technical" is used broadly to encompass academic/scientific texts and texts belonging to very strict technical genres, like reports, user manuals, product information, etc. The course focuses on research-based knowledge of technical writing and translation, and the students are expected to practically apply this to their editing and translation tasks. Different language resources (like corpora, term banks, standards) and digital solutions for translating, post-editing and working with terminology will be critically assessed and used for practical tasks.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge

After completing the course, the student will have in-depth knowledge about

• the main characteristics of technical writing and and translation ("scientific and technical writing and translation") used in professional communication.

• the main similarities and differences between the two languages the student works with, pertaining to technical writing and technical texts.

• the main language resources and digital tools that are used by professional translators and writers of technical texts.

• the main issues and methods used to research professional communication in technical texts.

 

Skills

After completing the course, the student will be able to

• critically assess and edit technical and IT texts written and translated by others (incl. machine translated texts).

• critically assess, select and use different language resources and digital tools while writing or translating technical and IT texts.

• translate different kinds of complicated technical and IT texts between languages in the language pair that the student works with.

Examination requirements

Students must hand in and pass five written assignments, where four are individual submissions and one is a group assignment. This will be specified in Canvas.

Teaching methods

Teaching consists of seminars and working with texts while receiving tutor guidance. In the seminars, the students will study and discuss course reading and real-life examples linked to the texts and working with texts will be the foundation for student discussions. In addition to this, students will complete and hand in multiple translation and editing assignments, both individually and in groups. The seminars will also consist of textual analysis.

Estimated workload: 270 hours.

Evaluation

The person responsible for the course decides, in cooperation with student representative, the form of student evaluation and whether the course is to have a midway or end of course evaluation in accordance with the quality system for education, chapter 4.1.

Admission for external candidates

None

Offered as Single Standing Module

Yes, if there are places available.

Admission Requirement if given as Single Standing Module

Same admission requirements apply as for the master's programme in Translation and Professional Communication.

Assessment methods and criteria

Individual portfolio exam containing a selection of the students’ own work handed in during the course. The portfolio will consist of three of the texts, all weighted equally. Detailed information about the portfolio will be given in Canvas. Grade A to F.