module specification

This module intends to respond to the increasing demand for guidance, both within the academic environment and the translation industry, on the integration of a gender dimension in the translators’ practice. Due to an increasingly gender diversified population of linguists working in this industry and customers, the need to develop gender competencies to ensure that their work is responsive to gender-specific concerns has become paramount for translators.
This module will equip you with robust knowledge of the multifaceted nature of gender identity, and the right skills to appreciate the impact that your (and the others’) perceptions and engrained cultural biases about gender roles, have on people’s daily lives. It will also enhance your receptive attitude to gender concerns while you navigate the ideological barriers posed by the cultures you belong to. It will therefore help you to understand how to tackle the challenges that the translation of sexual/identity discourse may pose.

This module aims to:
1. Enhance your understanding of the importance for translation practitioners of developing a gender-sensitive mindset in today's diverse and evolving society.
2. Critically examine personal and professional experiences through the lens of broader societal debates on gender identity, gender equality, and gender-based violence (GBV).
3. Enable you to reflect on the implications of translators’ choices on shaping gender perceptions to understand translators’ ethical responsibilities in influencing public views and discourses on gender.
4. Develop your practical skills in employing gender-inclusive language forms in translation.

No prerequisite
Available for Study Abroad? NO

Building on the language, critical and technology-based skills acquired in previous modules at Level 4 and 5, this module will equip you with a solid and varied set of gender-specific competencies. For this purpose, the module will cover the following aspects:

1. What is gender and why is addressing gender concerns in translator training relevant? (LO1)
2. Overview of diverse applications that the encounter between Gender Studies and Translation Studies have originated. (LO2, LO3)
3. Gender in verbal and non-verbal language. (LO4)
4. Why should translators be gender responsive? (LO1)
5. Translation at the service of the community (LO3)
6. Translation ethics and translator’s accountability with regards to gender-related concerns (LO2, LO3).

This is an in-class taught module delivered through lectures and seminars. Some sessions will also be delivered simultaneously in class and through MS Teams so that you can continue practising with a variety of interaction modes (face-to-face and distance learning) and can appreciate the use of more inclusive teaching tools. The teaching sessions combine theoretical content and practical tasks including brainstorming and reflective activities, individual and peer work, polls and translations. WebLearn will be used throughout to support teaching and learning.

Independent study: You are expected to undertake a substantial amount of background reading with specific tasks set in preparation for discussion and extended practical activities in the following teaching sessions.

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

1. Gain an understanding of why developing a gender-sensitive mindset as translation practitioners is essential in modern society.
2. Contextualise your personal and professional experiences in the wider social debates about gender identity, gender equality and GBV.
3. Explore the impact of your translation decisions on other people’s gender perceptions.
4. Practise the use of gender-inclusive language forms in texts.

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/BB09B021-AB81-6A97-36DD-890DF6D074E6.html?lang=en-GB