Admission and Unit Information - Graduate Certificate in Interpreting and Translation

Admission

Applicants must have:

  • An undergraduate degree or postgraduate qualification in any discipline
  • Native or near native proficiency in one of the following languages: Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish

Applications from Australian citizens and holders of permanent resident visas must be made via the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC).

http://www.uac.edu.au

International applicants must apply directly to the University of Western Sydney via UWS International.

http://www.uws.edu.au/international

Applicants who have undertaken studies overseas may have to provide proof of proficiency in English. Details of minimum English proficiency requirements and acceptable proof can be found on the Universities Admissions Centre website (UAC).

Overseas qualifications must be deemed by the Australian Education International - National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (AEI-NOOSR) to be equivalent to Australian qualifications in order to be considered by UAC and UWS.

Course Structure

Qualification for this award requires the successful completion of 40 credit points including the units listed in the recommended sequence below.

Recommended Sequence

Full-time, Start-Year Intake

Autumn or Spring session

Introduction to Interpreting PG

This is the core unit for students in postgraduate coursework programs in Interpreting and Translation. It introduces students to translation theory and practice of Interpreting. Lectures are held in English for students of all languages. The tutorials are language specific in Arabic, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish.

Introduction to Translation PG

This is a core unit for students in postgraduate coursework programs in Interpreting and Translation. It introduces students to the theory and practice of Translation. Lectures are held in English for students of all languages. The tutorials are language specific in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

And 20 credit points from the pool units below

Full-time, Mid-Year Intake

Spring or Autumn session

Introduction to Interpreting PG

This is the core unit for students in postgraduate coursework programs in Interpreting and Translation. It introduces students to translation theory and practice of Interpreting. Lectures are held in English for students of all languages. The tutorials are language specific in Arabic, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish.

Introduction to Translation PG

This is a core unit for students in postgraduate coursework programs in Interpreting and Translation. It introduces students to the theory and practice of Translation. Lectures are held in English for students of all languages. The tutorials are language specific in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

And 20 credit points from the pool units below

Pool Units:

Business Interpreting

The unit builds student skills in different settings of business interpreting, from formal business meetinfs to on-site work in production units to business social activities. Interpreting skills are honed through practice utilising live, media and internet input. The unit also examines the complexity of the interpreter's role and the interrelationship between business ethics and interpreting ethics when interpreters function as members of a business team.

Conference Interpreting

Conference Interpreting is a highly complex activity which requires a high level of bilingualism, expertise in a variety of interpreting skills and knowledge of specialised discourse and contextual issues that relate to international fora. This unit aims to introduce students to the theory and practice of Conference Interpreting. The theoretical concepts that underpin Interpreting will be taught and become the basis for all practical work.

Legal Interpreting

Legal interpreting is a highly complex process that requires specialised training in interpreting techniques, litigation tactics, legal language and the legal system. This unit is a compulsory unit for students in the BA (Interpreting and Translation) course. It can also be offered to practising interpreters who wish to improve and perfect their knowledge and skills in legal interpreting. It aims to provide students with the theoretical background and the opportunity to develop the interpreting skills necessary to operate at the NAATI professional level as a court interpreter. Lectures are held in English for students of all languages. The tutorials are language specific in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

Medical Interpreting (PG)

This unit aims to develop students' skills and knowledge in interpreting at the Professional level (formerly NAATI Level 3) through the modes of dialogue interpreting, consecutive interpreting, simultaneous interpreting and sight translation in the domain of health services.

Interpreting Skills

This is a core component of the Bachelor of Arts (Interpreting and Translation) and a pool unit in some postgraduate courses. The unit is aimed at developing essential skills in interpreting and deals with the specialised technical skills necessary for the different modes of interpreting: dialogue, consecutive, simultaneous, and sight translation. Given the large amount of independent practice needed to develop competence in interpreting, it pays special attention to the teaching of techniques for autonomous learning. Lectures are held in English for students of all the languages available. The tutorials are language specific in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin or Spanish.

Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling and Captioning

This unit aims to introduce students to the framework of audiovisual translation in the form of subtitling for films, documentaries and other screen programs and captioning for hearing impaired viewers. The content of the unit will cover the principles, constraints, guiding rules, translation strategies that specifically govern subtitling and captioning. It will also introduce students to related translation theories and the application in practice. The class will be non-language specific, but students will be expected to work from and into their language other than English.

Community and Social Services Translation (PG)

This unit aims to develop skills in translation particularly into English in a number of specialised fields: institutional information; documents; medical and legal information; special event literature and advertising and material relevant to special groups (e.g., temporary visitors to sporting events and trade exhibitions). The aim of the unit is for students to develop skills in producing target texts in styles appropriate to specific groups and communities, and to the content and function of the source text. The unit also aims to develop skills in researching and using appropriate specialist terminology, editing and revising, and producing camera-ready documents. On the basis of these skills, the unit is to further develop students' ability to reflect upon translation in terms of strategies and appropriateness in relation to the target audience as well as make critical written and oral assessment of relevant translations. The unit will be available, depending on sufficient demand, for Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

Literary Translation

This unit aims to develop in students an appreciation of different literary genres in English and in their other language (LOTE) with an emphasis on stylistic and cultural issues to provide a basis for literary translation. The unit will cover literary translation theory and introduce relevant strategies to be applied in practice. The class will be non-language specific, but students will be expected to work from and into their language other than English.

Specialised Translation (PG)

This unit explores the functional, discursive, rhetorical, syntactic, semantic and lexical features of texts in the following specialised fields: tourism, news media, legal texts, technical & scientific materials. Knowledge of the functions and textual features of specialised texts will provide a basis for translating these specialised texts from and into English. Students will analyse the texts in both languages, and discuss ways in which the texts are to be translated. The unit will be available, depending on sufficient demand, for Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish.

Translation Technologies (PG)

This unit aims to equip students with the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to effectively apply information and communication technologies to translation and other language related tasks. It focuses on translation memory and terminology management systems, and on the workflow involved in the handling of multilingual content. Emphasis is also put on uses of the Internet as a resource tool, and to the principles of controlled language for text to be processed by machine translation (MT). Tutorials will be conducted in a computer lab where students will familiarize themselves with leading computer-assisted translation (CAT) software applications.

The Language of the Law

This unit aims to develop in students an understanding of the intricacies of the language of the law when used in written documents and mainly in the context of the courtroom. It will provide students with a historical overview of the development of Law English, its aims and purposes and its current uses. Special emphasis will be placed on the implications of legal language on legal translations and court interpreting, but the unit is suitable for monolingual students interested in the language of the law.