Learning objectives
The course aims at providing the students with a sound language basis and the ability to both read and translate a text from Italian into French respecting the linguistic register (formal, standard, spoken,colloquial and slang). Students should also develop good translating skills and in translating techniques and theory and know how to apply the translation processes into the target language of French and build up an awareness of the language difficulties covered during the course. The student should be able to consolidate language skills and acquire various translation techniques.
During the course students will learn to
- use a dictionary to its full potential (monolingual and bilingual)
- produce grammatical structures in French by comapring the use of the source and target language.
- reflect on semantical and lexical meaning with particular attention being given to “false-friends” and idiomatic expressions.
- reflect on the use of mood and tense in a translation texts.
- recognise and consequently apply the various translation processes studied during the course.
Prerequisites
During the secondyear the student will be expected to pass the language and translation examination at a B2+ level.
Course unit content
The course will be held in French and will focus on the the study of the basic notions of translation theory. Particular attention will be paid to the origins and subsequent development of translation studies throughout the twentieth century. The application of theory will be taught in two separate modules. The first module will deal with the translation processes into French, analysing the smallest units of meaning (the sentence) through language exercises involving translation, and will concentrate on the most problematic areas of grammar, syntax, and lexis when translating from Italian into French.
The second part of the course will move from sentence to text, leading to the methodology of translation. Texts for study will be taken from the domains of journalism (articles from daily and weekly newspapers), advertising (slogans and micro-texts) and literature with extracts from twentieth century works.
The objective of the course is to provide students with the instruments necessary to deal with the translation of a a variety of texts from Italian into French.
Full programme
- - -
Bibliography
Josiane Podeur, La Pratica della Traduzione.
Umberto Eco, Dire quasi la stessa cosa.
Teaching methods
Lectures will be held in the classroom and material used in class will be made available on the University platform ‘Lea’. Traditional and innovative translation theories and methods will be analysed and compared in class. More practical work is also integrated into the course with the language courses held by the language tutors throughout the academic year as well as self-study activities in the multi-media laboratory.
Assessment methods and criteria
Competencies and skills will be assessed through an oral examination in French after successfully passing the compulsory written examination. There are four parts to the written examination: listening comprehension, grammar, summary writing and translation.
A negative assessment will be given if that the student is unable to attain the minimum requirements of the course; has failed to achieve spoken competence at a B2 level; is unable to decodify texts or make independent judgement; shows a lack of personal and independent study and has failed to make use of the information available. Sufficient evaluation (18-23/30) is determined by the demonstration by the student to have learned the basic and minimum contents of the course, the ability to speak French in a suitable topic, and that, despite the simplicity of communication, has some characteristics of level B1 +; ensuring a sufficient level of self-preparation, ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and decoding of complex texts, as well as the formulation of independent judgment. The mean scores (24-27/30) are assigned to the student who produces evidence of a level more than sufficient (24-25/30) or good (26-27/30) evaluation indicators listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded based on the demonstration of a level as very good to excellent evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
Students are required to pass the written examination before being admitted to the oral examination.
