AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION AND AUDIO DESCRIPTION (ENGLISH)

This is one of the basic courses within the Translation and Interpretation MA programme. This course aims to provide students with practical and methodological tools for audiovisual translation and audio description from Italian into English.
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.

Knowledge and competences
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 audio 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

- Proficiency in English at C1 level
- Excellent knowledge of the Italian language
- Positive attitude towards teamwork
- Excellent command of PC use (Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoint, web research tools)

The course includes 30 hours of instruction, spread over six months.

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

All the materials that will be uploaded on the Moodle course weekly are compulsory for exam preparation.

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

The exam consists of a written test (paper) followed by an oral test (presentation + discussion):

1. 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.

2. Oral exam:
- PowerPoint presentation (around 20 minutes), 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
- two questions on the theoretical concepts covered in the course.

written and oral

Assessment Criteria

1. Final Assignment (Tesina)
- Quality of linguistic documentation supporting intersemiotic translation/audio description
- Ability to synthesize and select content, and to convey meaning appropriately
- Adherence to guidelines for both intersemiotic translation and audio description (reference theory)
- Formal accuracy and compliance with instructions
Score: ___/15

2. Oral Exam
- relevant and precise references to theoretical aspects in the PPT
- ability to present one's work, discuss alternatives, justify choices, and self-correct if necessary
- knowledge of the reference theory
Score: ___/15

IMPORTANT:
A lack of or insufficient theoretical knowledge will result in failing the exam. The score obtained in the term paper will be retained, but the oral exam (limited to the two theoretical questions) must be retaken.

To be eligible for the exam, all students must complete and submit (via Moodle) certain mandatory assignments, which will be specified on the Moodle course page as needed.
The Final Assignment (Tesina) may be completed as a group project (maximum of 4 students). In this case, the assigned grade will be the same for all group members.

The course will be conducted in a 'blended' mode: 10 lessons will be held in person, and 5 lessons will be conducted asynchronously on the Moodle course indicated on the course webpage. For the asynchronous lessons, students will log into Moodle and complete the activities indicated for that week, but the instructor will NOT be online. The schedule for the asynchronous lessons will be posted on Moodle at the beginning of the course.
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.

This syllabus may be modified during the course based on the students’ progress and any difficulties that may arise.

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.

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