• Offered for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Professor Jens R Hentschke

• Owning School: Modern Languages
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

* To enable students to undertake independent research of limited scale at postgraduate level in preparation for PhD study.
* To introduce students to a range of research methodologies appropriate to their interests and previous experience, in particular to those varieties of research which are appropriate for investigating the processes and products of translating and/or interpreting.
* To encourage a clear understanding of the complementary roles of practical insights (product evaluation, professional/educational issues, etc.) and a coherent theory/research-corpus framework in translation and interpreting research.
* To enable students to organise and plan their research and to produce coherent analyses, in written or other appropriate form, of the topic(s) studied.
* To enable students to evaluate the respective functions of translating or interpreting practice and written comment/evaluation in the production of coherent research assignments which apply appropriate research methodologies to relevant content, data or source material.

Outline Of Syllabus

The subject matter for the research assignments, the scope of the assignments and appropriate research methodologies and approaches will be determined in consultation between the student, the programme director and any other member(s) of academic staff who may undertake
supervision of the assignments.
The assignments chosen will take into account the interests and previous experience of the student, including any plans s/he may have for future PhD study, the academic traditions of the subject and
opportunities for cross-disciplinary work where appropriate.
If desired, and if there is supervisor and external (or second internal) examiner expertise available in the language pair in question, one or more assignments may involve a reflective practice element (i.e. producing and commenting on one’s own translating/interpreting work).

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Preparation for the assignments will normally include supervision by one or more members of staff, guided reading and private study. It may also include attendance at postgraduate seminars and/or at teaching sessions connected with modules offered at undergraduate or taught masters level. There may also be a considerable amount of fieldwork, but the amount will depend on the nature of the assignments (i.e. to what extent they involve text study vs. gathering data from human subjects).
The balance between tutorial and private-study time reflects the stress on guidance towards independent research that underlies this module, though the exact ratio will be a matter for negotiation between the student and the programme director and will depend upon the nature of the assignment. Good practice would suggest that students should be offered a minimum of three hours' supervision for each 100 credits of study in addition to the initial meeting at which the assignments are agreed.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

A minimum of two and a maximum of four assignments will be submitted, each worth between 20 and 40 credits.
The mode of assessment and the word-count of each assignment will be identified as appropriate to the nature of the assignment. Typical modes would include:
• an assessed essay;
• a reflective practice assignment (interpreting/ translation work plus commentary, with i/t work gaining up to 50% of marks awarded)
• a case-study involving one or several subjects.
Any of these things would represent 100% of the formal assessment
Deadlines to be negotiated between student and supervisor
The open-ended, negotiable nature of assessment methods reflects the fact that topics and approaches for each assignment are individually negotiated between supervisor and student.

Reading Lists

• SML9003's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• SML9003's Timetable