Translation Studies

Entry requirements

For the entry requirements of this course, please see our website.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The MA in Translation Studies offers knowledge and expertise for students wishing to pursue a career as professional translators in the public and private sectors, or wishing to pursue further study in translation. Training in translation also prepares you for careers in other language-related professions including journalism, public relations and language teaching.

Specifically, the programme aims to:

• Facilitate a full understanding of the development of the discipline of translation studies and of the translation industry, and allow the pursuit of specialist or vocational interests within a general framework common to all students on the programme.
• Acquaint you with the main theoretical issues in translation studies, and demonstrate how they have a bearing on your specialist area of study, be that the practical translation of literary, legal, medical or administrative texts, or the academic study of translation e.g. its theory and history, or the complex, cultural transactions it involves.
• Develop a clear awareness of the problems of understanding and interpretation raised by the practice of translation through analysis of key texts in translation studies.
• Promote the development of analytical, practical, evaluative, aesthetic and expository skills that will serve to address these problems in both applied and theoretical contexts.
• Encourage the development of research skills specifically related to the your specialist area of interest in order, as appropriate, to prepare the theoretical and methodological groundwork for a dissertation or for an annotated translation project.
• Foster skills in the balanced interpretation of the cultural and linguistic contexts for the practice of translation, in order to enable a solid grasp of the practical implications of political and cultural arguments in the context of translation studies.
• Explore and promote the development of effective strategies for managing complex linguistic and cultural transactions.

Information for international students

Non-native speakers of English are expected to have a recognised English-language qualification (e.g. IELTS with a score of 6.5 and no subsection below 5.5), as the minimum requirement to be invited to interview. Written and oral competence in English will also be tested at interview.

Note: International students pursuing part-time programmes of study are not eligible for Tier 4 (General Student) visas and must have alternative leave to remain in the UK if they intend to study at the University in person.