Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

The language industry has undergone substantial change for the last couple of decades. The increasingly rapid automation of the industry, for instance, is changing production models and working conditions (both good and bad) while creating new roles and new workflows that alter the very nature of the T&I professions. This causes new social, professional and economic challenges for the many and diverse actors involved across the industry. As an industry that both shapes society and is shaped by society, some of the changes raise important ethical questions that need considering, too.

This module will make use of the latest research in the field of "Translator Studies" (Chesterman, 2009), and more specifically "Language Industry Studies" (Angelone et al., 2021), as well as practitioners’ insights, to introduce students to the key trends, processes, challenges and opportunities in today's language industry. It will take a non country-specific approach to the trends, challenges and opportunities that students are likely to encounter when embarking upon a career in the industry after graduating. The overall aim of the module is therefore to equip students with the necessary knowledge of the industry, as well as the required critical and analytical skills, to be able "read" the language industry effectively throughout their careers, i.e. to be able to research, position themselves in and thrive in this rapidly-changing industry.

More specifically, the module aims to prepare students to become more effective and reflective language industry professionals. In this module, students will learn:

• about the professional characteristics of language service provision, including key specialist areas;
• about the professional ethics and principles behind work in the language industry;
• career-starting and career-management skills for the language industry;
• about existing empirical research in Language Industry Studies and how engaging with it can help shape their own professional development.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module’s sessions will focus on key themes that will help introduce students to the latest empirical research into the Language Industry as well as practitioners’ insights. The module will take a non country-specific approach to some of the following themes (depending on staff availability) and will encourage students to explore local specificities as suits their own needs for professional development:
•The language industry: professions, professional networks and professionalism
•Key process of T&I as service provision (project management, client management and QA)
•The Language industry, society and me (T&I as interpersonal and intercultural action; ideology, identity and politics in/of the language industry; ethics and EDI (inclusion) in the industry)
•Automation of the language industry and sustainability (impact of automation on agency; resilience and wellbeing)
•Mind the Gap? From T&I Education to Language Industry (skills and competences to thrive in the language industry; marketing yourself in the language industry)
•Practitioners’ Insights into the Language Industry

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Students should gain knowledge or a deeper awareness of some or all of the following;

• Professionalism and ethics in the language industry;
• Career/professional structures in the language industry, professional organisations and networks;
• The practicalities of the language industry as service provision (e.g. processes in place to achieve "quality" in the industry; project and client management);
• How translators/interpreters operate in an interpersonal, social and political context and the impact this has on the language industry;
•The direction of travel in the language industry regarding the automation of work, and the implication this has on T&I professionals 'sense of agency & for the sustainability of translation and interpreting as professions;
•The key skills and competencies required of professionals entering the language industry, and how these are changing as a result of the growing complexity of the industry (e.g. need to develop adaptive expertise as well as specific expertise);
• Other topical key issues in the language industry.

Students should also develop in-depth specialist knowledge of at least one of the above areas covered in the module.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students should have the skills to enable them to:

• Operate successfully as a professional in the language industry according to the values and principles of T&I professionalism;
• Read the language industry (current trends and direction of travel) both globally and locally so they can embark on a successful career in the langue industry upon graduation, wherever this may be;
• Create the necessary networks that will allow them to thrive in the language industry in a sustainable way (i.e. both professional and support networks);
• Develop an effective communication/marketing strategy that will allow them to initiate and maintain effective relationships with clients (both direct clients and/or agencies);
• Take on a leadership role in the language industry (e.g. manage a translation/interpreting team).

Students should also be able to:

• Situate their own concepts and practices within a set of professional norms
• Reflect critically on their own and others’ T&I practice in the light of course input
• Make a positive contribution to tomorrow's language industry by helping ensure it remains ethical and sustainable.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Live lectures + online Lecture materials (guided student tasks + discussion-board activities) on Canvas will enable students to engage with the required knowledge-base. The combination of lectures and workshops enables students to get a combination of lecturer input, mini practical tasks and discussion, thus building up their knowledge and professional expertise.
This module has a one online lecture as the blended learning mode of teaching allows students to reflect in their own time, to complete collaborative activities and to revisit some of the lecture materials for new tasks (translation project management). Evaluation from previous years showed that a majority of students appreciated the online elements as part of the module contact hours. The blended learning mode of teaching showed to be very effective as it allowed students time to reflect in their own time. Lectures on topics such as Translation Project Management work best online as they allow students to take part in reflective peer-exercises and to come back to these resources throughout the year.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essay test the students’ knowledge of relevant input, and allows them to do in-depth research in a specialist area demonstrate in-depth understanding of a specific area of the language industry.
The MCQ ensures allows students to demonstrate that they have engaged with and developed an understanding of all the content of the lecture materials on SML8023.

General Notes

N/A