AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION AND AUDIO DESCRIPTION (ENGLISH)
- Academic year
- 2024/2025 Syllabus of previous years
- Official course title
- TRADUZIONE AUDIOVISIVA E AUDIODESCRIZIONE INGLESE
- Course code
- LM7480 (AF:440582 AR:249969)
- Modality
- Blended (on campus and online classes)
- ECTS credits
- 6
- Degree level
- Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
- Educational sector code
- L-LIN/12
- Period
- 1st Semester
- Course year
- 2
- Where
- TREVISO
- Moodle
- Go to Moodle page
Contribution of the course to the overall degree programme goals
Building on the knowledge and competences acquired in the previous academic year, the course aims to strengthen students’ ability to carry out IT vs EN contrastive linguistic analysis and to apply the findings to intersemiotic translation and audio description.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge of:
- the stylistic differences between texts written to be read vs texts written to be delivered orally, and the differences involved in organising and delivering the information
- key theories of multimodality and intersemiotic translation
- key principles and guidelines for audio description, with a focus on museum audio description
- techniques for intersemiotic translation and audio description
Applying knowledge and competences
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- carry out linguistic analysis aimed at identifying translation problems for intersemiotic translation and audio description
- apply collaborative practices
- produce audio description scripts that comply with the existing guidelines and best practices
- use software for multimodal analysis of audioo files (QDA Miner Lite)
Making judgements
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- appropriately select strategies and techniques to solve translation problems
- justify and self-evaluate their own translation choices
- carry out quality check based on existing guidelines and best practices
Communication skills:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- use the relevant metalanguage in linguistic/multimodal analysis and in the evaluation of translation strategies
- communicate their own observations and objections in linguistic/multimodal analysis as well as in translation
- communicate art to specific categories of visitors
Learning skills:
By the end on the course, students will be able to
- critically consult the relevant bibliographic resources
- self-train to acquire an appropriate mindset for producing audio descriptions
Pre-requirements
- Excellent knowledge of the Italian language
- Positive attitude towards teamwork
- Excellent command of PC use (Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint, web research tools)
Contents
Course contents:
- Stylistic categories (writing vs speech) and ‘complex medium texts’
- Analysis of audio guide scripts from an IT vs EN contrastive perspective
- Intersemiotic translation practice
- Guidelines for audio description
- Role play activities aimed at the practice of audio description
- Analysis of audio descriptions in English
- Audio description practice
- Use of QDA Miner Lite for multimodal analysis of audio files
Referral texts
Compulsory readings:
- Fina, Maria Elisa. 2018. Investigating Effective Audio Guiding. A Multimodal Comparison of the Genre in Italian and English. Roma: Carocci.
- Perego, Elisa. 2023. Audio Description for the Arts: A Linguistic Perspective. London: Routledge.
Other articles will be provided during the course.
Other sources
ADLAB (website)
ADLAB PRO (website)
Online or printed dictionaries: free choice
Online monolingual dictionary recommended: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Assessment methods
- Tesina: final assignment involving either intersemiotic translation OR audio description. Further details will be provided during the course and will also be available in the Learning Agreement that will be published in the Moodle course.
- Oral exam: PowerPoint presentation (around 20-30 minutes depending on whether students have worked individually or in group), in which students will illustrate the approach and strategies adopted in the assignment. Indications on how to structure an academic presentation will be provided during the course. After the presentation, discussion will follow.
Assessment criteria:
1. translation quality
2. ability to select appropriate strategies and techniques
3. ability to motivate the translation strategies that have been adopted
4. mastery of the theory-related metalanguage.
To be eligible for the exam, all students must complete (and submit via Moodle) a few compulsory assignments. It is possible to write the final paper as a group (max. 4 students). In this case, the grade assigned will be the same for all group members.
Teaching methods
The course will be primarily taught in English and will include both traditional lectures and interactive lessons. For effective learning, students are required to actively participate in exercises and discussions, both in person and on Moodle.
All students are advised to have their own high-performance PC and, if possible, bring it to class when requested. It is possible to borrow one from the Campus for individual lessons.
All students are required to sign up to the Moodle course and, for exam preparation, refer to the materials and activities that will be uploaded in Moodle on a weekly basis.
Teaching language
Further information
Important information:
Regular attendance to the course is strongly recommended. Given the complexity of the topics, students who are unable to attend for various reasons (Erasmus mobility, prolonged illness, work, etc.) are encouraged to contact the lecturer (mariaelisa.fina@unive.it) in advance to receive guidance aimed at mitigating any disadvantages due to their absence. There is NO “syllabus for non-attendees'”: all students are required to complete all the assigned activities.
Type of exam
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals
This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development