Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Department of English Language & Literature
1st term, 2015-2016
Course Title:
Media Translation
Course Code:
ENG 387
Year of Study:
3rd
Number of Credits:
3
Duration in Weeks:
15
Contact Hours per Week:
Lecture (2 hours)
Tutorial (1 hour)
Pre-requisite(s):
ENG140 Introduction to Translation
Prepared by:
Dr. Kanglong LIU
Course Aims
The course aims to equip students with the principles and techniques of translating print
and non-print media texts, including press releases, magazine articles, features, film scripts,
advertisements and corporate promotional materials. The practical and research skills that are
of immediate importance to the translation of media texts will also be introduced with
translation examples taken from real-world settings. Upon completion of this course, students
should be able to formulate and employ appropriate translation strategies to overcome
language and cultural barriers of media texts and translate with confidence non-technical
media texts from English to Chinese and vice versa.
Course Outcomes, Teaching Activities and Assessment
Course Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
Upon completion of this course students should be able to:
understand a variety of print and non-print media texts and their language
ILO1
and stylistic features
analyze and identify the basic problems of media translation and present
ILO2
operable solutions using related translation theories.
formulate and employ appropriate translation strategies to overcome
ILO3
language and cultural problems of media texts.
translate with confidence non-technical media texts from English to Chinese
ILO4
and vice versa.
cultivate and develop a good translation sense that is important and
ILO5
necessary for a media translator.
TLA1
TLA2
TLA3
TLA4
TLA5
TLA6
TLA7
TLA8
Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs)
Analysis of the features and rudiments of media translation
Textual analysis of media texts
Critical reading/analysis of media texts using relevant translation theories
Teacher-facilitated discussions of translation problems and strategies.
Evaluation and criticism of real-world translation examples
In-class translation exercises of authentic media texts.
Explanation of translation assignments and exercise
In-class presentation by students of their translation works, followed by
critique and discussions.
2
AT1
AT2
AT3
AT4
Assessment Tasks (ATs)
3 Translation Assignments
Oral Presentation
Group Translation Project
Final Examination
TOTAL
20% (5%*2+10%*1)
20%
20%
40%
100%
Alignment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes, Teaching and Learning Activities
and Assessment Tasks
Course Intended Learning
Teaching and Learning
Assessment Tasks
Outcomes
Activities
ILO1
TLA1,2,3, 5
AT1,3,4
ILO2
TLA3,4,5,6
AT1,2,3,4
ILO3
TLA4,6,7
AT1,2,3,4
ILO4
TLA4,6,7
AT1,3,4
ILO5
TLA3,4,5,6,8
AT2,3
Course Outline
1. Introduction: general introduction
(1 week)
2. Overview of translation tools and resources related to media texts
(1 week)
3. Media translation: features of media texts and their translation
(1 week)
4. Press releases
Key Concepts: News headlines, The inverted pyramid structure,
news lead, neologisms, informative text, political correctness
*Assignment
(4 weeks)
5. Features and Magazine articles
Key Concepts: soft news, active voice, informative text
(1 week)
6. Commercial texts
Key Concepts: content-focused translation, skopos,
functionalist approach
*Assignment
(2 weeks)
7. Promotional materials
Key Concepts: skopos, Karl Bühler’s distinction of text types,
vocative text
(1 week)
8. Advertisements
Key Concepts: vocative Text, creative translation,
translation as adaptation
*Assignment
(1 week)
9. Film scripts
(1 week)
Key Concepts: audio-visual translation (AVT); Gottlieb’s diagonal translation,
time/space constraints in translation
10. Reading weeks
(2 weeks)
3
Academic Honesty
You are expected to do your own work. Dishonesty in fulfilling any assignment undermines the
learning process and the integrity of your college degree. Engaging in dishonest or unethical
behaviour is forbidden and will result in disciplinary action, specifically a failing grade on the
assignment with no opportunity for resubmission. A second infraction will result in an F for the
course and a report to College officials. Examples of prohibited behaviour are:
Cheating – an act of deception by which a student misleadingly demonstrates that s/he has
mastered information on an academic exercise. Examples include:
Copying or allowing another to copy a test, quiz, paper, or project
Submitting a paper or major portions of a paper that has been previously submitted for another
class without permission of the current instructor
Turning in written assignments that are not your own work (including homework)
Plagiarism – the act of representing the work of another as one’s own without giving credit.
Failing to give credit for ideas and material taken from others
Representing another’s artistic or scholarly work as one’s own
Fabrication – the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or other
findings with the intent to deceive
To comply with the University’s policy, the term paper has to be submitted to VeriGuide.
Resources
Primary Texts:
Abend-David , Dror. (2014) Media and Translation: An Interdisciplinary Approach. New
York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Bielsa, Esperança & Bassnett, Susan. (2009) Translation in Global News. London; New York
: Routledge.
Cheng, Maria. (2004) Translation for the Media. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong.
Gottlieb, Henrik. (1994) "Subtitling: Diagonal Translation". Perspectives: Studies in
Translatology, Volume 2, Number 1, pp. 101-121
Li, Defeng. (2009) Translating Journalistic Texts: Principles and Methods. Hong Kong:
Hong Kong University Press.
Mencher, Melvin. (2006) Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing. Boston: McGrawHill Higher Education.
Richardson, John E. (2007) Analysing Newspapers: An Approach from Critical Discourse
Analysis. Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Supplementary Readings:
Bielsa, Esperança. (2005) “Globalisation and Translation. A Theoretical Approach”.
Language and Intercultural Communication, Volume 5, Number 2, pp. 131-144.
Fairclough, Norman. (1995) Media Discourse. London; New York: Edward Arnold.
Fong, Chee Fun Gilbert. (2003) "Subtitling and Translation Education". The 3rd International
Conference on Translation and Interpretation Studies: Theory and Practice of Interpretation
& Translation Education. pp. 151-167.
Harty, Kevin. J. (2010) Strategies for Business and Technical Writing (7th ed.). Boston:
Longman.
Lukasz Bogucki & Krzysztof Kredens. (2010) Perspectives on Audiovisual Translation.
Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
4
Itule, Bruce. D. & Anderson, Douglas. A. (2007) News Writing and Reporting for Today’s
Media. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
McLoughlin, Linda. (2000) The Language of Magazines. London, New York: Routledge
Nord, Christiane. (1997) Translation as a Purposeful Activity. Manchester: St Jerome.
Rima Malkawi. (2012) The Ideological Stamp: Translation of Political Discourse in News
Media. Patternson Lakes: Writescope Publishers.
Schäffner, Christina & Bassnett, Susan. (2010) Political Discourse, Media and Translation.
Translated by Michael Berry. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Pub.
廖柏森。（2007）。《新聞英文閱讀與翻譯技巧》。臺北：眾文圖書股份有限公司。
劉訓成。（2002）。《新聞英文編譯》。廈門：廈門大學出版社。