Master of Arts in Translation

MAPostgraduateArts & Humanities

Part Time Available

About This Programme

As an institution of higher education, the University of Sharjah seeks to provide continuous and specialized education which aims at training human resources that are both capable of contributing to the sustained development of the country and enhancing its links with an ever-changing world. The Department of Foreign Languages, being keenly aware of these objectives, realizes that, in a world undergoing an irreversible process of globalization, there is a growing need for people who are in full command of the language that this process requires. Such people will need to be abreast of the latest developments in the world arena, to transfer the knowledge the country needs in the various fields of human endeavor, and to convey an accurate picture of the progress the country is undergoing in its own attempt to be in the forefront of developing nations. The overall mission of the MA. in Translation Program in the Department of Foreign Languages is to serve the needs of the community in the fields of education, communication, business and diplomacy. Young men and women graduating with a Master’s Degree from the Department are expected to competently fill key positions in these fields and to contribute to the ongoing process of modernization and development in the United Arab Emirates.

Course Highlights

34 credit hours
Taught in English
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Offered since 2005
Study system: Courses and Theses
Full-time and part-time study
AED 3,200 per credit hour

What You'll Study

Program Structure The Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Sharjah has been offering the Master program since 2005. Candidates are expected to complete the degree requirements in a minimum period of three semesters and a maximum of eight. The course requirements consist of compulsory courses (13 CR), elective courses (12 CR) and a thesis (9 CR) totalling 34 credit hours. Department Compulsory Courses: 13 Department Elective Courses: 12 Thesis: 9 Total: 34 Program Graduation Requirements Before graduation, student should complete all graduation requirements that include: 1. Completing successfully all courses of the program. 2. Completing successfully the thesis as specified in the study plan. 3. Obtaining a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Upon the successful completion of 15 credit hours of courses, a student can submit a thesis proposal. Before the submission of the proposal, the student should have selected a supervisor, agreed on a thesis topic with the supervisor and identified a research problem. With the cooperation of the student supervisor, each candidate is required to publish at least one research paper extracted from his/her master thesis in Scopus indexed journals. The programme page lists full-time and part-time study; the study plan document lists full time only.

Year 1, Fall semester

7 credit hours

0202540Translation Theory3 credits
This course introduces central issues of translation theory: history of translation, the question of equivalence/non-equivalence between languages, units of translation, translation and linguistics, translation in the target language culture, translation shifts, translation procedures and methods/strategies. It views translation as a process and as a communicative event.
0202541Contrastive Linguistics3 credits
This course aims at acquainting students with the differences and similarities between Arabic and English at the levels of sentence, syntax, discourse, pragmatics, and culture. Students are expected to make use of this knowledge in the process of translating from Arabic into English and vice versa. This course covers topics like contrastive phraseology, contrastive syntax, contrastive semantics, contrastive discourse, pragmatics, and bilingual computerized corpora.
0202542Research Methodology1 credit
This course aims at familiarizing students with the basic principles, steps, concepts, and skills that they will need for conducting research in translation. Students will analyze, design, and evaluate published papers in the field of translation. The course will also help them analyze and develop research proposals.

Year 1, Spring semester

9 credit hours

0202544Linguistics and Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course aims at acquainting students with the relationship between linguistics and translation, from the inception of translation as a branch of applied linguistics until its development into a full-fledged discipline. It also aims at training students to understand, analyze, and account for various phenomena in translation in terms of the findings of modern linguistic research. Linguistic concepts relevant to translation include form and function, equivalence, sense relations (synonymy, polysemy, etc.), literal and figurative meaning, structural and lexical ambiguity, cohesion, and coherence, foregrounding as a stylistic device.
0202543Translation of Arabic and English Texts I3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course provides intensive practice in English-Arabic-English translation, and sheds light on the theoretical considerations underlying the translation of these texts. It views translation as a process and as a communicative event. The course is designed to train students in the translation of a wide range of genres: literature, media, academic writing, newspaper, and magazine articles, etc.
Elective 13 credits

Year 2, Fall semester

9 credit hours

Elective 23 credits
Elective 33 credits
Elective 43 credits

Year 2, Spring semester

9 credit hours

0202690Master Thesis9 credits
Prerequisite: Completion of at least 12 credits (inclusive of the compulsory courses)
An independent research project of 15,000 words carried out under the supervision of a department faculty member on a translation topic.

Department Elective Courses (12 credit hours)

The student will choose four courses, totalling 12 credits from this list.

0202545Legal Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
The course familiarizes students with legal terminology, sentence structure, rhetorical features, and styles of a variety of legal texts such as contracts, agreements, laws, memoranda of association, articles of association, promissory notes, leases, organizational by-laws, etc. Focus is placed on accuracy and suitability of style.
0202546Mass Media Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This is a practical course in which the principles of translation covered in previous courses are put into practice. It is based on the belief that translation is a skill improved with practice and informed by theory. The course familiarizes students with a wide range of media texts and allows them to experiment with various forms of media translation, including news translation, translation of advertisements and subtitling. It also invites students to explore questions about the role of translation in our globalized world.
0202547The Cultural Trend in Translation Studies3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course aims to acquaint students with the basic concepts and major issues often discussed in relevant literature on culture and translation. It also helps students to develop critical awareness of the specific problems of cultural transfer as manifested in English-Arabic-English translation. It further equips students with the translation strategies that would enable them to tackle cultural problems in certain registers and justify their translation choices.
0202548Scientific and Technical Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course develops competence and skills in translating a variety of scientific and technical text types, focusing on technical terminology, rhetorical organization and use of specialized dictionaries.
0202640Translation Criticism3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course aims at developing the student's ability to apply systematic criteria in order to assess translated texts and in turn to make informed decisions in the process of translation.
0202641Translation of Religious Texts3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course introduces students to techniques of translating religious texts through identifying special problems and tackling them.
0202642Literary Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
The course introduces students to the difficulties and intricacies of literary translation and ways of overcoming them. The course will address four issues: first, analysis of the main issues related to research in literary translation; second, investigation of the research methods particularly suited to literary translation research; third, explore the history of literary translation in Arabic through major literary translations, and finally attempt some hands-on exercises in literature.
0202643Machine-aided Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course provides an overview of the use of computers in translation and the practical and theoretical problems encountered. Central issues include machine translation and its limitation, machine-aided translation, terminology banks, translator workstations, online dictionaries, language corpora.
0202644Lexicology and Lexicography3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course aims at enabling the students to acquire the basic concepts of lexicology (the science of vocabulary) and lexicography (the process of writing, editing, and/or compiling a dictionary), to study the development of meaning, forms, and semantic changes through time as well as etymology. The following topics will be covered: lexicology and lexicography, the definition of words, word formation, semantic analysis, analysis of the lexicon, sense relations between words (hypernymy, hyponymy, synonymy, antonymy, homonymy, polysemy, and others), the structure of the mental lexicon, the micro- and macro structure of dictionaries, different types of dictionaries. Moreover, students will be required to conduct their own lexicographic analysis and suggest the lexicographic design of a selected lexical unit.
0202645Principles of Consecutive Interpreting3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This practice-oriented course introduces students to the principles and procedures of consecutive interpretation. It focuses on the fundamental skills associated with consecutive interpretation in particular listening skills, summarizing spoken material, note-taking, and memory enhancement. The course also aims at developing the students' stock of vocabulary in various registers. Students will be provided with extensive practice in consecutive interpretation from English into Arabic and vice versa. Students are expected to interpret orally delivered material on general topics accurately, appropriately, and fluently.
0202646Translation of Arabic and English Texts II3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This course builds on 0202543 Translation of Arabic and English Texts I. It expands on topics and notions discussed in that course with the purpose of providing students with in-depth understanding.
0202647Business Translation3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
Introduces students to terminology, types and styles of banking, financial, insurance and economic texts; the course also trains them to operate with multinational companies in a global marketplace and sensitizes them to cultural differences in the business environments.
0202648Translation of Political Speeches and Texts3 credits
Prerequisite: 0202540, 0202541, 0202542
This is basically a practical course in which students are expected to be acquainted with the high-frequency terms and expressions used in political texts and speeches. The course also aims at familiarizing students with the linguistic and stylistic features of the language of political texts. It involves a great deal of translation from Arabic into English and vice-versa. Topics include speeches, political news and, materials pertaining to international relations, and diplomatic texts. Students will also be expected to practice a lot of translation criticism of translated texts.

What You'll Learn

• Theoretical principles of the major approaches to translation • The characteristic discourse features of various Arabic and English text types (legal, business, journalistic, political, religious, scientific, etc.) and the ability to translate each particular kind of text. • Awareness of the relationship between culture and translation, of English and Arabic cross-cultural differences and similarities, of translation traditions and trends in these two languages. • How best to transfer Arabic and Islamic culture to English-speaking countries. • The principles of consecutive translation of political speeches and interviews from, and into, Arabic. • The research skills necessary in the areas of translation, machine translation, contrastive linguistics, and lexicography. • Critical thinking and problem solving in multi-lingual contexts.

Entry Requirements

Academic: Admission Requirements (from the study plan document) Specializations that can be accepted in the program: Translation, linguistics, or literature. 1. The student must hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent from a recognized university with a CGPA of 3.00 out of 4.00. Students with a CGPA between 2.5 and 2.99 may be admitted conditionally. 2. The degree must be in a major that qualifies the student to study the MA in Translation program. 3. Students who do not hold a relevant degree to translation, linguistics or literature must take three to four remedial courses, specified by the Department of Foreign Languages. 4. Students in programs taught in English must obtain 550 on the TOEFL (PBT) (should be taken inside the university), 79 on the TOEFL (IBT) (outside the university) or 6 on IELTS (Academic). Admission requirements for master programs: • The student must hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent from a recognized university with a CGPA of 3.00 out of 4.00. • Students with a CGPA between 2.5 and 2.99 may be admitted conditionally. • The degree must be in a major that qualifies the student to study the master's program. • Students must meet the English language proficiency requirement. • Attachment of ‘no objection of study certificate’ from the authorities responsible for national service for male Emirati students (ages from 18 to 30 years old). • Attachment of a letter of study approval from the Kuwait Embassy Cultural Office for Kuwaiti students only. • Attachment of People of Determination card (if applicable). • In case the student works in a certain place, please attach a letter from the employer stating that the student is working for this agency. • For individuals with foreign qualifications, it is necessary to provide a Certificate of Equivalency.

English: Students in programs taught in English: a score of 1400 in an EmSAT English exam, 550 in TOEFL (ITP) (or its equivalence), or 6 in IELTS must be obtained. Students who have an EmSAT score of 1250 or its equivalent in another English proficiency standardized test accredited by the Commission for Academic Accreditation, such as TOEFL (ITP) with a score of 530 (or its equivalence), and IELTS with a score of 5.5 may be admitted, however, they must meet the following conditions: • An EmSAT English score of 1400 or its equivalent must be obtained by the end of the first semester. • A maximum of 6 credit hours (Master level) must be registered in the first semester, excluding intensive English language courses. • A minimum CGPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 must be obtained in the first 6 credit hours of the master program. Native speakers of English shall be exempted from the TOEFL Test if the language of instruction in their undergraduate studies was English. Also, Students who graduated from academic institutions that uses English as the primary medium of instruction, in bachelor studies, are exempted. Equivalent scores (EmSAT / paper-based TOEFL ITP / IELTS academic): 950-1075 / 450 / 4.5; 1100-1225 / 500 / 5.0; 1250-1375 / 530 / 5.5; 1400-1525 / 550 / 6.0. The exam offered by the University of Sharjah, AMIDEAST Dubai, and Abu Dhabi head offices only. The UoS reserves the right to require students to attend an interview in the Languages Institute. Students may be required to take a further in-house test to ensure their scores are consistent with their English Language proficiency.