92974 - English Language (C Language) For Interpreters

Learning outcomes

Student will know the fundamentals (terms, concepts and methods) to analyse the structure, functions and textual and discursive organisation of the English language. Students will be able to understand, analyse and produce mainly oral discourse (but also written texts) belonging to the relevant genres and text types, also in multimedia environments. They will also be able to express themselves spontaneously in a very fluent and accurate manner even in complex communicative situations.

Course contents

During the lessons, students will work on analysing and understanding English language texts and videos on all kinds of topics. This work will help broaden vocabulary, strengthen English comprehension and improve the linguistic register used so that it is more appropriate to the interpreter's work. In order to check understanding of the texts and videos that will be used and to reinforce the work on analysing texts, students will be asked to produce a targeted summary in English highlighting the most important points. Students will also be asked to hold debates in English on various topics, and to present to the whole group, also with the aid of slides if desired, topics of their choice but always in English. Students will also have to work on pronunciation and fluency, essential aspects of the interpreter's job.

Readings/Bibliography

Amato, Amalia (2002) "Interpreting Legal Discourse on TV: Clinton's Deposition with the Grand Jury" in Perspectives on Interpreting, Giuliana Garzone, Peter Mead e Maurizio Viezzi (eds), Bologna, Clueb: 269-290. ISBN 88-491-1956-9.

Aston, G. (2018) “Acquiring the Language of Interpreters: A Corpus-based Approach” in Russo, M. & Bendazzoli, C. & Defrancq, B. (eds) Making way in corpus-based interpreting studies. Singapore: Springer Nature, 83-96.

Chevalier, Lucille e Daniel Gile (2015) “Interpreting quality: a casestudy of spontaneous reactions”, Forum 13(1). 1-26.

Gillies, A. (2013) “Conference Interpreting – A Student’s Practice Book”, Routledge, ISBN 9780415532341

Mack, G. D. (2021) “L’interpretazione simultanea”, in Russo, M. (ed) Interpretare da e verso l’italiano: didattica e innovazione per la formazione dell’interprete. Bologna: BUP, 19-39.

Russo, Mariachiara (1995) "Media interpreting: Variables and strategies", in Y. Gambier (ed.) Communication audiovisuelle et trasferts linguistiques/Audiovisual Communication and Language Transfer, International Forum, Strasbourg, 22-24/6/95, Translatio (Special Issue of the FIT Newsletter),14 (3-4): 343-349.

Setton, R. & Dawrant, A. (2016) Conference interpreting – A complete course. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, capitolo 4.

Straniero Sergio, Francesco (2007) Talkshow interpreting. La mediazione linguistica nella conversazione-spettacolo, Trieste: EUT.

Teaching methods

Students will be expected to speak a lot of English through presentations and debates. The very analysis of texts and videos and then summarising their content is a tool for improving English and speaking it even more fluently and trying to understand the most important parts, a skill that is extremely useful in interpreting.

Assessment methods

There will be two exams:

MID-TERM EXAM: Presentation (with slides if students wish to use them) on a topic chosen by the students themselves. The number of words of the articles: between 800 and 1000. Students will be given 5 minutes (+ 2 minutes for ‘set-up’) to present the article and especially the main points using slides. Feedback will be given by the lecturer and the other students (no more than 2 minutes).

Students must submit articles in WORD format and any slide (maximum 2 slides per student) 2 weeks before the exam. The grade will count for 33% of the final grade.

The FINAL EXAM will be an oral summary in English of a video chosen by the lecturer. The length of the video will vary for the two language groups and will be shorter for students with Language C English. Consecutive technique CANNOT be used. 

The final mark can only be turned down once. Both exams (mid-course and final exams) will have be re-sat if the final mark is turned down.

 

Teaching tools

The lecturer will use articles from quality newspapers, magazines and websites, and authoritative videos found on youtube or quality sites.

N.B.: In view of the type of activity and teaching methods adopted, attendance of this training activity requires the prior participation of all students in modules 1 and 2 of training on safety in the workplace, in e-learning mode: https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Cortucci