ETHICS, PROFESSIONAL DEONTOLOGY AND TEAM WORKING

The course Ethics, Professional Deontology and Team Working is a core course in Translation and Interpreting, aimed at students from the English-Spanish, English-Italian Sign Language (LIS), and Spanish-Italian Sign Language (LIS) curricula, with a particular focus on professional ethics and teamwork. The course aims to equip students with the necessary methodological and practical resources to prepare them for the ethical and collaborative aspects of the professions of translation, interpretation, and language and cultural mediation. It explores various codes of ethics developed and adopted by national and international professional associations representing translators, mediators, and interpreters. However, the course also aims to go beyond these codes and encourage critical thinking about the ethical choices and dilemmas that translators and interpreters frequently face, for which they are often unprepared. Additionally, the course aims to promote best practices and collaborative skills that are essential for the success of complex projects.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired critical thinking skills that will enable them to make ethical decisions in their professional careers and be responsible for them. They will be able not only to comply with professional codes of ethics provided by their employers or professional associations, but also to chose among the ones that are available, while also being aware of the principles of accountability and responsibility for their choices. This competence is crucial for translators and interpreters to handle unforeseen situations that may arise during their professional practice. That is particularly important in today's world. Any code of ethics, no matter how advanced, cannot anticipate all possible scenarios. By engaging in group work and simulations of work contexts, students will gain experience in collaborative translation practices. They will also develop a better understanding of the responsibilities involved in project management and improve their conflict management skills. This will enable them to approach these aspects with greater confidence in their future working environments. More generally, it is in the interest of society for individuals to be accountable for their decisions in their professional lives as well as in their personal lives.

Pre-requisites of this course are a level C1 of the QCER as for the English language and an excellent competence of the Italian language. International students will need at least a level B2 of the QCER as for the Italian language, especially in terms of oral language.

The course covers fundamental concepts of ethics and morality, with a focus on the ethical implications of language choices. It examines various interpretations of terms such as professionalism, code of ethics, and law. The course compares different models of codes of practice and explores the differences between deontological and teleological approaches. In addition, the course will cover the concepts of flexibility, integrity, honesty, independence, and pride in one's work. It will also explore the ideas of decision accountability and individual responsibility. Copyright and translation rights will also be covered. Regarding teamwork and collaboration skills, they will be demonstrated through practical exercises as abilities that promote a positive work culture and environment, enabling teams to achieve goals through effective collaboration and motivation. Students will have the opportunity to test these skills through the practical experience of team project work.

Mandatory readings:

Slides of the lectures, academic papers and book extracts which will be provided by the professor and uploaded on the course moodle page

Recommended reading:

Baker, Mona (2018) In Other Words. London and New York: Routledge, Chapter 9 p. 307-331.

Koskinen, K. and N. K. Pokorn (eds.) (2021) The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Ethics. London and New York: Routledge.

The final exam will consist of two parts, a written and an oral one, testing students’ competence on course topics.
Additionally, students will be required to complete a group project work within two weeks time and upload it to the course Moodle page following shared guidelines and instructions.
The oral test will evaluate students' understanding of the course material, contents and metalanguage. To successfully pass the exam, it is strongly recommended that students have a C1 level of English according to the QCER. The oral exam will test their ability to use metalanguage to discuss their project work. The final exam result will be calculated based on the marks of the written project and the oral test.

Lectures, practical exercises, workshop activities, group work, project work, self-assessment activities.

English

Lectures will be held in English. Most translation examples will deal with the English-Italian language combination.

written and oral