MA Translation

Entry standards

Native English speakers: a UK First or Second class honours degree or equivalent in the relevant language. Speakers of other languages: an equivalent to UK Second class degree or above in English or another relevant subject. 

English language requirements

Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with 7.0 or more in writing (or equivalent) and a minimum of 6.0 in all other components (or equivalent).

Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.

MA Translation - structure and modules

Module Titles

Modules (including optional modules)

• Specialist translation (Economics/BusinessTranslation; Scientific/Technical Translation; Ab initio Language for Translation purposes can be substituted or added)
• Translation Issues 1 and 2
• Computer-assisted Translation Tools
• Technical Writing
• Translation of Persuasive Texts
• Translating Cultures
• Translation and Corpora
• Dissertation

European Masters in Translation

In 2009, the European Commission launched a major initiative to spread good practice in translator training through its European Masters in Translation Network. Following careful vetting, our MA Translation programme was selected to be a member of this exciting new group, offering you a further bonus when selecting this programme.

Module Overview

Compulsory modules

Economics/Business Translation (language pair-specific)*

This module provides you with no previous experience of specialist translation in economics/business with the opportunity to reach an acceptable professional level of translation competence. It combines regular translation practice in smaller groups with lectures on the underlying principles of economics and applied economics.

Scientific/Technical Translation (language pair-specific)*

This module provides you with no previous experience of specialist translation in science/technology with the opportunity to reach an acceptable professional level of translation competence. It combines regular translation practice in smaller groups with lectures on the underlying principles of science and technology.

Ab initio Language for Translation Purposes*

This module provides you with the chance to study a new language for translation purposes. It is particularly useful for students with only one foreign language who wish to add to their portfolio of translation languages. At the end of the module, you will have the basis for further professional development in the chosen language.

Translation Issues 1

This module provides you with a framework for understanding important aspects of translation and translating, drawing on key concepts from text linguistics, semiotics and text processing as well as terminology studies.

Dissertation

This module allows you to specialise in an aspect of the programme of particular interest by writing a topic-based dissertation, doing a translation with commentary or compiling an electronic termbase with commentary. Successful completion of the module requires close collaboration with a supervisor and good planning and organisation skills.

* You must select a minimum of two of these modules.

Subject information

Why study in the Centre for Translation Studies? 

You will be taught by both academic staff and experienced practising professionals in a supportive and welcoming atmosphere. 

Our academic staff enjoy international reputations in their particular field and bring the insights of their research work into the classroom. You will be challenged to think and develop your own ideas. 

Our extensive team of tutors – professionals who work as translators, interpreters, subtitlers and audio describers – bring their knowledge of the marketplace, its conditions and expectations to practice-based classes in which interaction and feedback are the keys to progress. 

Our students of translation, interlingual subtitling and interpreting take part in practice-based classes in language-specific groups for which assignments are set throughout each semester. You will get individual feedback on a regular basis from an expert tutor in your chosen language pair throughout the academic year. 

Postgraduate students are fully integrated in the life of the Centre for Translation Centre (CTS)and benefit from being part of a larger community in the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences. Research students enjoy the use of a dedicated postgraduate research room.

MA Translation - entry standards

Entry standards

Native English speakers: a UK First or Second class honours degree or equivalent in the relevant language. Speakers of other languages: an equivalent to UK Second class degree or above in English or another relevant subject. 

English language requirements

Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with 7.0 or more in writing (or equivalent) and a minimum of 6.0 in all other components (or equivalent).

Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.

Planned intake

Up to 55

Start date

Programme director

• Professor Margaret Rogers

MA Translation - fees and funding

Fees

Translation (full time):

UK/EU - £5,740 
Overseas - £11,550

Translation (part time): 

UK/EU - £2,870 
Overseas - £5,775

www.surrey.ac.uk/pgfees/2012

Funding

Departmental scholarships are available on a competitive basis as a contribution towards fees. Further details on request.

MA Translation - professional context

Professional recognition

Students may join the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) or the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIoL) as student members.

Accreditation

Links with Professional Associations 

The Centre for Translation Studies is proud of its active links with the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIoL). The Centre is a corporate member of the ITI and supports its activities by contributing to courses in continuing professional development. By working together with the ITI and the CIoL, the Centre is keen to promote all branches of translation and interpreting and to work towards establishing and maintaining the highest possible standards.

MA Translation - teaching

Teaching hours

Teaching: 10–12 hours per week
Private study: 28–30 hours per week
Dissertation: approximately 600 hours over three months

Staff perspective

Professor Margaret Rogers

Translators, as intercultural mediators, benefit enormously from exchanges with fellow students and tutors. One of the really special features of our MA Translation programme is the contribution made by our network of professional translators.
As students, you will benefit from their expertise in small classes, each of which is focused on a particular language pair using specialised texts of relevance to the professional market. You can also specialise in different pathways, including a new
one in translation and technology. 

I am also able to bring to the classroom the experience I gain from travelling to other countries where I participate in international conferences and give invited lectures. 

My main research topic is specialist translation and terminology; I not only write and publish my own work, I also review work for academic journals, research councils and international conferences. This keeps me in touch with the wider academic
world and keeps me on the ball when teaching!

MA Translation - learning

MA Translation - graduate profile

Student Profile: Stuart Alford

MA Translation

Having completed my undergraduate studies in languages a few years before, I decided I wanted to further my career opportunities by studying for a Masters in Translation.
I chose Surrey for several reasons. The reputation of the programme was one, but also its ‘usefulness’. It offers you a chance to determine your path of study, focusing on key fields and areas that enable you to walk straight into, or back into, the translation industry, equipped with knowledge that is highly relevant to the day-to-day business of translation.

This degree, along with the experience I had previously gained from working in a translation company, have allowed me to broaden my opportunities in the industry. In fact, I doubt that I would have found my current job with a Belgian translation company as a translator/reviser so easily without this particular Masters degree.

MA Translation - more

Strengths of the Centre for Translation Studies 

• We combine state-of-the-art teaching methods with up-to-date insights from translation and interpreting research. 
• Our programmes are taught by a combination of academic staff and practising professionals.
• We maintain close relations with the profession: CTS has forged close links with the Institute of Translation and Interpreting and the Chartered Institute of Linguists and has an extensive network of visiting professionals.
• We place equal emphasis on translation/ interpreting theory and practice.
• Our programmes prepare you for the professional market as well as research; we help you to develop the professional skills required to start a career in your chosen field of translation/ interpreting or research.
• We offer regular language-pair-specific practice throughout the academic year, taught in small groups.
• Our programmes enable you to study according to your specific interests; each programme combines a range of compulsory modules with a variety of options.
• We provide excellent academic support facilities.
• We use state-of-the-art professional translation software; our software includes translation memory, terminology management, subtitling and audio description software and is accessible 24/7.
• We have three state-of-the-art interpreting labs.
• We offer a supportive environment for learning.

Research in the Centre for Translation Studies 

CTS enjoys an international reputation for its scholarship and research across a range of areas in translation and interpreting studies. 

Founded in 1982, the Centre offers a full portfolio of programmes from undergraduate through Masters to doctoral level. The Centre is staffed by scholars who are actively involved in the national and international research scene. Colleagues regularly participate in international conferences, give invited lectures, publish in peer-reviewed journals, produce edited volumes on topical themes with leading publishers, and write monographs.

Research Projects

AVIDICUS–Assessing Videoconference Interpreting in the Criminal Justice System

Videoconference technology is now widely used in criminal proceedings to speed up cross-border communication, reduce costs and increase security. The emerging settings – e.g. video links between courtrooms and witnesses abroad, between police stations and prisons – also involve bilingual communication and therefore require interpreters to be integrated into the videoconference setting. The project (led by CTS) aims to investigate the viability and reliability of videoconference and remote interpreting in criminal proceedings.

BACKBONE–Corpora for content-and-language-integrated learning

The Backbone project (led by the University of Tübingen) aims to compile a multilingual corpus of authentic spoken discourse in a range of cultural and professional contexts to be used for the development of language proficiency in interpreter/translator training. CTS is primarily concerned with research into the pedagogical foundations of corpus compilation/exploitation and will create a corpus of British regional and sociocultural varieties and enrichment materials for business and community interpreting contexts. The project corpora will be piloted with CTS interpreting students.

Seminars and Events 

CTS regularly organises a varied programme of international events. 

A two-day seminar on ‘Audio Description for Visually Impaired People: Towards an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda’, sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies, was initiated and hosted by CTS. It provided an interdisciplinary framework for dialogue and future research and brought together thirty participants from eight countries.

‘Translation and Opposition’ was an international one-day event organised by CTS, under the auspices of the publisher Multilingual Matters Ltd. The aim of the event was to bring together specialists from various institutions in the UK and other European countries to discuss and debate the conflictive aspects of translation. 

The 21st anniversary of Surrey’s MA in Translation was marked with an event entitled ‘The Translator as Professional and Scholar: Challenges and New Horizons’. Guests included a senior representative of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, and over 70 students from both undergraduate and postgraduate CTS programmes.

The Royal Embassy of Norway in London sponsored a two-day International Translation Symposium hosted by CTS staff. 

‘In So Many Words: Language Transfer On The Screen’, an international conference on audiovisual translation, was co-hosted by CTS and the Hispanic Research Centre at the University of Roehampton. 

Translation Studies 1+3 Taught Masters Leading to PhD 

This route allows you to submit a single combined application for study on a taught Masters programme with further study for a research degree. The initial application should include details of the proposed taught Masters programme and the broad area of the proposed future research. Offers for the 1+3 programme will include progression criteria that will be applied at the end of the taught element, usually in the form of an overall percentage and a minimum performance in the dissertation. This pathway is primarily intended for the MA in Translation Studies but can be considered for other programmes. 

English Language Support 

Mastery of English is vital for success in our translation and interpreting programmes. The Department’s intensive academic English courses are available for students who wish to prepare for their degree programmes starting in the autumn. 

These pre-sessional classes are available in four- to ten-week sessions between July and September as well as from October to June. The University sometimes asks for successful completion of our ten-week pre-sessional programme as a condition of entry.

Support is also available to you throughout the academic year in study skills and academic writing. You will receive individual attention from our experienced and friendly staff to help you get the most from your degree programme.

MA Translation - apply

• MA Translation - Full-time - starting September 2012
• MA Translation - Part-time - starting September 2012