Glossary

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Translation & Interpreting - 8204

Program Summary

Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Contact: hal@unsw.edu.au

Campus: Sydney

Career: Postgraduate

Typical Duration: 2 Years

Typical UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC Per Semester: 6

Max UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC For Award: 96

Award(s):

Master of Translation and Interpreting (Specialisation)

View program information for previous years

Program Description

Please note that the Research stream will not be offered from Semester 2 2017.

The Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) is a 96 UOC program and has two streams, Professional and Research. The Professional Stream is designed to be approved by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) while the Research Stream is designed to qualify students to apply for direct entry into a higher research degree .The program aims to equip graduates with the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills to work as competent and ethical interpreters in international and domestic settings. The areas of specialisation covered in the program are legal, medical, business, community and conference interpreting. The program is staffed by leading researchers and practitioners in the field, students receive training that draws on the results of research and practical experience to ensure relevance and effectiveness. Academic content is complemented by professional practical experience where students are able to apply what was learned in class in real professional settings. The program is offered in the following language combinations, subject to student demand: English and Chinese (Mandarin), French, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish.

Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes

The Master of Translation and Interpreting aims to:

Prepare students to obtain the Professional level Interpreter NAATI accreditation
Equip students with the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills of translation and interpreting to work as competent and ethical practitioners in international and domestic settings
Develop students’ thorough understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the practice of translation and interpreting, based on the results of research, to allow them to make informed choices as professional interpreters
Develop students’ understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the process and the practice of translation and interpreting
Develop students’ ability to critically review the theoretical and research literature in the field of translation and interpreting
Develop students' ability to analytically reflect on their own practices as professional translators and interpreters
Develop students' ability to work collaboratively in a team and collaborate with colleagues
Develop students' ability to communicate efficiently in multi-cultural and multi-lingual settings
Develop students' ability to undertake an independent, original reserach project in the field of translation and interpreting
Develop students' ability to present research findings in a 10,000 word dissertation

Program-level learning outcomes

1. Advanced disciplinary knowledge and practices

An advanced understanding of the established theories and practical skills of interpreting
The developed capacity for the application of the theories and practices to a variety of interpreting settings at home and overseas

2. Enquiry-based learning

The developed capacity for planning and implementing professional projects
The developed capacity for the application of interpreting principles and practices to complex environments of legal, medical, business, community and conference interpreting
The developed capacity for the application of translation principles and practices to the translation of complex documents in specialized areas such as legal, medical, business, diplomacy and media (Professional Stream)
The developed capacity for undertaking an independent, original reserach project in the field of translation and interpreting (Research Stream)

3. Cognitive skills and critical thinking

The developed capacity for interpreting complex ideas and concepts at an abstract level
The developed capacity for the critical evaluation of new research findings in the field of interpreting
The developed capacity for analysing their own interpreting problems and issues, making informed choices as professional interpreters and justying them professionally
The developed capacity for presenting research findings in a 10,000 word dissertation (Research Stream)

4. Communication, adaptive and interactional skills

The developed capacity for interpreting complex ideas in a variety of interpreting modes (dialogue, consecutive, simultaneous) (Professional Stream)
The demonstrated development of a high level of personal autonomy and accountability in the application of interpreting knowledge and skills
The developed capacity for the applicaton of the principles of teamwork and collaboration

5. Global outlook

An understanding of cultural and linguistic differences in multicultural communication
The developed capacity for efficient communication in multicultural settings

Career Opportunities

The translation and interpreting profession offers varied opportunities for employment in the government, international organizations as well as private sectors in a number of specialized areas including media, law, medicine, business, finance and journalism.

Entry Requirements

Bachelor degree (or equivalent qualification) in any discipline with a record of academic achievement equivalent to a UNSW credit average of 65% and an advanced level of bilingual proficiency.

Credit Transfer

If you are seeking credit transfer you must submit documentary evidence of courses completed at the time of initial enrolment. UNSW Arts and Social Sciences will then determine the number of units of credit to be granted. Credit Transfer will not be granted for courses completed more than ten years previously. The maximum credit transfer for a Masters is 50% of the stream, that is, a maximum of 48 UOC credit transfer for the 96 UOC stream.

Award with Excellence

You are eligible for the award of a degree "with Excellence" if you achieve a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of at least 80 in all courses and complete at least 50% of the requirements of your award at UNSW.

Program Structure

The program consists of theoretical and practical courses that complement each other. Theoretical courses cover the theories that can be directly applied to inform and improve practice. The results of the latest research form an integral part of the content of the program's courses. The practical courses apply the learning from the theoretical courses to the development of bilingual interpreting skills. In addition to the knowledge and skills of interpreting as a discipline and as a profession, students will also learn related academic and practical skills such as critical analysis, independent research and preparation, project management, team work, and genres and public speaking - which are all related to the work of interpreters. Students will also learn about the different settings in which interpreters work, such as law, health, business and international relations. (law, health, business, diplomacy and media.) Teaching methods match the objectives of the program by combining lectures with practical tutorials and a variety of exercises where students actively participate. Students will be assessed through different tasks that target the varied skills and knowledge the courses aim to develop; these include tasks such as: simulated interpreted interactions, virtual translation projects, critical self analysis of students' own performance, research projects and theoretical papers. These include authentic translation projects, critical self analysis of students' own performance, simulated interpreted interactions, virtual translation projects, critical self analysis of students' own performance, oral presentation, portfolio development, personal language enhancement projects, critical analysis of texts, and academic essays.

The program has a strong linguistic component which underpins the theoretical basis of the process and practice of translation and interpreting. It offers distinct specialisations in legal, medical, business, community and conference interpreting as well as media and specialised translation. It also offers a wide variety of language combinations not available at other institutions. The program combines theoretical lectures delivered in English with language-specific practical tutorials where the theories learned in the lectures are applied to the practice. It also provides students with a comprehensive practicum component.

The program can be completed full-time, normally 4 semesters (24 months), or part-time. It is structured as follows:

MTI Professional Studies stream