External summary

Postgraduate study in the area of Translation Studies at the University of Edinburgh dates back to 1992. The programme is one of the most comprehensive and flexible Translation Studies programmes in the UK. It brings together the expertise of staff from the various language units as well as Translation Studies core staff within the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures and uses highly-qualified research-active academics as supervisors to develop students’ understanding of the subjects. It is designed in a way that will both enhance practical skills in translation and provide students with an intellectual and academic perspective on the activity of translation. Such a combination of diverse aims yields more self-reflexive and theoretically-minded translators, and more competent and pragmatic translation studies scholars who are in touch with the demands of the marketplace. The programme prepares students for both research and a career in translation; for those interested in pursuing an academic career, it offers excellent opportunities in research networking, while the programme also has established links with the translation market for those more interested in pursuing a career as in-house or freelance translators. The programme covers a variety of languages and offers the possibility of working with two language pairs.

Educational aims of programme

The programme enhances students’ practical skills in translation and provides them with an intellectual and academic perspective on the activity of translation. It aims at 

• encouraging critical thinking on language use and translation; 
• introducing the key concepts of the academic discipline of Translation Studies; 
• demonstrating how the diverse approaches to translation can be implemented through various translation strategies;
• broadening and deepening the students’ understanding of a variety of issues in relation to translation, such as gender, power relations, postcolonialism, religion, etc.;
• providing the students with confidence and competence in the practice and theory of translation;
• helping the students acquire important transferable skills, such as carrying out academic research, writing commentaries and essays, improving analytical thought, efficient use of electronic resources and doing oral presentations.

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

Graduates of this programme may be expected to have acquired:

• understanding of a wide range of creative and practical translational strategies;
• understanding of the give-and-take between translating into and out of one’s own language;
• knowledge of a coherent critical vocabulary which can be used to describe and explain translational phenomena;
• awareness of the diversity and interconnectedness of possible approaches to translation;
• awareness of how Translation Studies has evolved as a discipline;
• knowledge and understanding in particular areas of their own interest gained through the available option courses.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

Graduates of this programme will be able to:

• search for, evaluate and use information relevant to their field of study using library resources including databases;
• identify, conceptualize and define new and abstract problems and issues;
• plan and execute a significant project of research, investigation or development;
• communicate their research plans and the rationale underpinning them unambiguously to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

Graduates of this programme will be able to:

• exercise substantial autonomy and initiative in activities, including decision making on the basis of independent thought;
• be open to new ideas, methods and ways of thinking;
• be intellectually curious with that curiosity leading to professional, personal and academic goals;
• develop, maintain and sustain intellectual rigour and application.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

Graduates of this programme will be able to:

• communicate to a range of audiences with different levels of knowledge;
• communicate with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists;
• communicate orally, written, or visually demonstrating clarity and coherence;
• engage in debate demonstrating skills of active listening, critical reading and the ability to advance an argument and to develop an argument in the light of new evidence;
• seek and respond to feedback.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness

Graduates of this programme will be able to:

• plan, execute and critically evaluate a significant project of research investigation or development;
• work collaboratively while recognizing the diversity of the group, the complexity of the specific context and the complexity of the process of collaboration itself;
• transfer learning, skills and abilities from one context to another.

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

Graduates of this programme will have acquired:

• improved translational expertise;
• experience in producing publishable-quality translations of a wide variety of texts;
• experience in establishing links with professional organisations on a national and international level, such as the Institute of Translating and Interpreting (ITI) and The Society of Authors;
• familiarity with relevant databases and theoretical resources on Translation Studies as a discipline. Students are also informed about other libraries and resources available to them in Edinburgh, such as those of the National Library of Scotland, the Scottish Poetry Library, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Traverse Theatre;
• capacity to synthesise theoretical, critical and textual skills with reflective insight;
• experience in carrying out in-depth research on translation;
• critical and creative thinking on their own translation practice, as well as on that of others;
• a sound grounding in the methods and skills necessary for further research in the field as a PhD candidate.

Programme structure and features

The programme is a part-time programme that is taught over 24 months, starting in September. The programme comprises a core course on Translation Studies (first semester), a core course on discipline-specific research problems and methods (second semester), two core courses on practical translation running over two semesters, and a provision of options available within the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (SLLC). All students will attend the two core courses and one option course for each semester and attempt to complete 120 credits before they can be eligible to progress to the MSc. They then need to complete a 15,000 word dissertation over the summer period, bringing their total number of credits to 180.

Students will generally take the Translation Studies 1 core course, one option course and the Research in Translation Studies course during their first year and complete the Portfolio of Written Translation Exercises and their second option course in their second year. Work on the dissertation commences at the end of the second semester of the first year and will be completed at the end of the summer in the year. However, it is possible to be flexible, and students are able to agree on their choice of courses each year in consultation with the programme director.

All courses listed below and available options are at SCQF level 11.

In order to be awarded a Masters degree, students must have satisfied the relevant requirements for progression as detailed below, and attain an additional 60 credits by achieving a mark of at least 50% for the dissertation component. Masters candidates proceeding to dissertation, but failing to achieve an adequate standard in the dissertation (i.e. 50% or above), will be awarded the Postgraduate Diploma. In order to be awarded a diploma, students must pass at least 80 credits at SCQF level 11, and attain an average of at least 40% for the 120 credits of study examined for the diploma.

In order to progress to the Masters dissertation, students must:

• attain at least 80 credits with a mark of at least 50% in each of the courses which make up these credits;
• attain an average of at least 50% for the 120 credits of study examined at the point of decision for progression;
• achieve a mark of 50% or above for their research proposal assignment, submitted as part of the Research in Translation Studies course

Students who do not fulfil these requirements will not be able to proceed to the dissertation but may be eligible for the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Translation Studies provided that they fulfil the relevant requirements as detailed above.

The MSc may be awarded with distinction when the student is awarded a mark of at least 70% for their dissertation, and when all other courses have been passed, with the credit-weighted average of the coursework marks being at least 70%.

Where only one of the dissertation mark or the coursework average is at least 70% but the other is borderline, the MSc may still be awarded with distinction. The decision whether or not to award a distinction in such cases is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners. Factors which will be taken into account in such cases will be (a) the student's credit-weighted average across the degree as a whole; (b) any special circumstances, such as illness or other adverse personal circumstances, which have been brought to the attention of the Board of Examiners.

Borderline marks are defined as marks from two percentage points below the boundary for distinction, up to the boundary itself, i.e. 68.00% to 69.99% for the dissertation and for the coursework average.

The programme corresponds to the University’s Strategic Plan in encouraging a pioneering, innovative and independent attitude to education, making a difference to the societal, cultural, environmental, health and wealth development of the Scottish, UK and global communities, and in pioneering new and emerging areas of research across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. It creates new opportunities for its students to gain an international experience as part of their Edinburgh degree, and increases student satisfaction with opportunities and support for developing their graduate attributes and employability. It promotes and recognises the value of international mobility, cross-cultural understanding and multilingualism for all of its students, and also stimulates students and staff alike to engage with the public and relevant stakeholders in industry, policy and practice as part of their research, with a focus on impacts and identifying future research requirements. The programme also works with employers, professional bodies, alumni and other stakeholders to ensure that it is responsive to need, producing graduates with socially and economically valuable attributes and expertise, and thereby makes a positive intellectual, educational, economic and cultural contribution to society.

Teaching and learning methods and strategies

Teaching and Learning strategies employed at the University of Edinburgh consist of a variety of different methods appropriate to the programme aims. The graduate attributes listed above are met through a teaching and learning framework (detailed below) which is appropriate to the level and content of the course.

Lectures

Seminars

Peer group learning

Student presentations

Guest seminars

Exercises in practical translation

Dissertation

One to one meetings with programme directors and supervisors

Alongside the university’s central library and computing facilities, the School has a number of specialist libraries within its subject areas such as the School of Scottish Archives, the European languages library, and the Language and Humanities Centre which provides language laboratories.  The Graduate School has its own computer lab at 50 George Square for the exclusive use of its postgraduate students.

The University of Edinburgh Innovative Learning Week is scheduled in Week 6 of Semester 2.  During this week ‘normal’ teaching is suspended which provides space outwith the curriculum for staff and students to explore new learning activities. Some examples of the types of activities held in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures were language taster sessions, workshops on essay writing and dissertations, a German play, a Russian folklore concert, careers sessions, poetry and drama workshops as well as various film screenings and readings. Translation Studies Graduate Programme also organises activities during this week, including a talk and Q&A session by former graduates who now work as freelance or in-house translators.

A full timetable of events that took place in February 2015 can be accessed here:

http://www.ilwevents.ed.ac.uk/

Assessment methods and strategies

Courses can be assessed by a diverse range of methods and often takes the form of formative work which provides the student with on-going feedback as well as summative assessment which is submitted for credit.  

The assessment strategy for the programme relies upon a combination of methods to meet the full range of aims and learning objectives and draw the maximum advantage from the variety of teaching methods employed. Assessment across the Translation Studies programme comprises of summative translation and commentary essays, oral presentations, research proposals with an annotated bibliography, a formative portfolio of written translation exercises, essays and lecture diaries as detailed for the range of option courses available and the dissertation.

Career opportunities

The programme in Translation Studies develops students’ critical thinking about language use and translation, enhances their awareness of a range of translation strategies, broadens and deepens their understanding of translation issues, such as gender, power relations, postcolonialism or religion, thereby giving them confidence and competence in the practice and theory of translation. Students will have also acquired important transferable skills, such as carrying out academic research, writing commentaries and essays, improving their analytical thought, using electronic resources and giving oral presentations.

The vocational component of the programme will provide graduates with opportunities to work as a translator, either on an employed basis in international organisations, translation agencies, multinational businesses, publishers (including lexicographers), educational organisations or government bodies, or by working independently on a freelance basis in Edinburgh, elsewhere in the UK, or overseas. Those interested in pursuing a career as in-house or freelance translators may be able to benefit from the department’s links with the translation market.

Graduates of Translation Studies may also find work in related careers including teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), buying and selling work for export companies, travel and tourism, teaching or lecturing in languages or translation studies.

Graduates may also wish to consider other graduate level employment not directly related to Translation Studies or languages, as approximately half of the graduate/ postgraduate jobs advertised in the UK seek applications from any academic discipline. Recent graduates from this programme have moved into housing management, art gallery work, administrative work in the Civil Service, retail management, recruitment consultancy and market research.

Alternatively, the qualification could be used to move on to further academic study by taking a PhD in Translation Studies or a related languages topic. Graduates from the last three years have moved on to PhDs in Middle Eastern Studies and Russian Studies as well as Translation Studies, with most staying at the University of Edinburgh and some studying at other UK universities.

As the options are quite broad it is important for graduates to work out their own specific skills, their career interests and motivators, and then work out how they fit into the job market so that you can demonstrate their interest and suitability to employers. For further information and resources to help with this, consult the postgraduate section of the Careers Service website at

www.ed.ac.uk/careers/postgrad.

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