HT5001 Introduction to Translation Studies
Translation is a vehicle for cross-cultural communication. This course is an overview on translation as a field of study and a professional practice guided by standards and ethics. It introduces the methodological approaches and procedures in rendering a text into another language. In particular, it focuses on the analysis of the text structure and discusses the different approaches to text analysis.
HT5002 Contrastive Analysis of Chinese & English
This course highlights the use of contrastive methodologies in translation. An understanding of the similarities and differences in the syntactic, lexical, phonetic and semantic levels in a pair of languages (e.g. Chinese and English) contributes to text analysis and the assessment of translation techniques employed.
HT5003 Language Workshop
The objective of the workshop is to develop and strengthen listening, speaking and writing skills in Chinese and English, thus laying a firm foundation for effective translation and interpretation.
HT5004 Techniques of Translation
This course considers the elements of sentence structure and semantics in communicative translation and cultural translation. It also discusses the common problems of non-equivalence at various linguistic levels and explores the strategies adopted by professional translators.
HT5005 Revision and Editing in Translation
The quality of translation is enhanced by terminology research as well as revision and editing. This course covers topics such as interdisciplinary terminology, practice-oriented terminology analysis and matching, and terminology management. It also focuses on quality assessment and revision parameters, and offers practical approaches to different forms of revision and editing (structure, style, consistency etc).
HT5006 Fundamentals of Interpretation
This course develops creative interpretive skills by addressing key topics such as public speaking, sight interpretation and discourse analysis. It discusses various approaches to discourse analysis, for example speech act theory and interactional sociolinguistics. Class work also involves wide reading, organisation of texts and audio-visual materials, and editing in contexts such as oratory, extemporaneous speaking, and duo interpretation etc.
HT5007 Consecutive Interpretation
A practical course on the basic skills of consecutive interpretation: note-taking and listening skills. Students will be trained on the logic and structure of a speech using three-minute topical speeches as practices to hone the basic skills and techniques of consecutive interpretation.
HT5008 IT and Project Management in Translation
The first section of this course examines the use of information technology in translation, the development and limitations of machine translation, and the use of translation memory. The second section looks at the challenges of project management in translation, focusing on the operational environment, workflow, and the tools and components of effective management.
HT5009 Localisation: Applying Skills to Singapore-specific Discourse
This course utilises local materials to acquaint students with the linguistic and social aspects translation and interpretation locally. It will focus on adaptation to accents, pet phrases, special terms, peculiar language habits etc. as well as the understanding of meanings in contexts, all of which require local knowledge.
HT5010 Annotated Translation Project
Translators are expected to perform their professional tasks skillfully and independently. In this supervised project work, students are required to identify the challenges in translating given texts and explain and evaluate their chosen strategies.