Master of Arts in Translation and Bilingual Communication

Programme Director: Prof SHUTTLEWORTH, Mark

The MA in Translation and Bilingual Communication (hereafter abbreviated as “the Programme”) is a two-year part-time/one-year full-time programme offered by the Department of Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies of the Faculty of Arts. Comprised of an Interpreting Stream, a Practical Stream and a Technology Stream, the Programme caters for the needs of practitioners, potential interpreters and those aspiring to pursue research in translation studies.

This Programme aims to provide, at the postgraduate level and with the needs of three main target groups in mind, focused and vigorous training in translation and bilingual communication.

Specifically, the Programme hopes to achieve the following objectives:

1. To cater the needs of students with different talents and abilities;
2. To offer more vigorous and concentrated training and enabling future trainees to acquire more insightful and professional skills in interpreting;
3. To provide intellectual stimulation to mid-career translators and those whose work requires bilingual/trilingual competence by encouraging them to reflect on their profession, develop conceptual, analytical, and linguistic skills that can further inform their work, and refine their organizational and presentational skills; 
4. To help takers of the Programme exercise their critical mind and appreciate better the relation between theory and practice, so that they can be more aware of and more articulate about the intricacies of bilingual communication and how they negotiate the challenges of translation;
5. To provide a formal focus on new technology-based approaches to translation including translation memory, machine translation, localization and audiovisual translation; and
6. To make the Programme available to applicants who have no knowledge of Chinese.

The structure of the curriculum is as follows:

Interpreting Stream

Practical Stream

Technology Stream

Requirements

To be awarded the degree of MA in Translation and Bilingual Communication, students of the Interpreting Stream are required to take two common core courses (6 units), four required courses (12 units) and three elective courses (9 units); and to achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 (i.e. gain grades of C- or above).

Students of the Practical Stream are required to take two common core courses (6 units), four required courses (12 units) and three elective courses (9 units); and to achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 (i.e. gain grades of C- or above).

Students of the Technology Stream are required to take two common core courses (6 units), four required courses (12 units) and three elective courses (9 units); and to achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 (i.e. gain grades of C- or above).

1. Students receiving an F grade in any course must either repeat that course, or replace it with another if it is not a required course.
2. Students whose GPA stands at 2.20 or below in the first or second semester will be given a warning that their low mark may result in failure to qualify for the degree.
3. Students with no course grade below B- and no repeated courses and who achieve a GPA of 3.67 or above will graduate with “Distinction”. Students attaining a cumulative GPA between 3.40 and 3.66 will graduate with “Merit”.
4. An oral examination for the Programme as a whole may be required for borderline cases.

Interpreting Stream

^ Usually offered in alternate years.

Practical Stream

^ Usually offered in alternate years.

# Practical Stream students are expected to receive category B grade or above in TRA 7170 and the approval of course instructor to take this course.

Technology Stream

* Electives chosen should include at least two of the five asterisked courses.

** May be chosen by native speakers of Chinese.