Class attendance and participation in discussion is required.  Participation will be marked on attendance, willingness to participate in class discussion, preparation and performance of reading and responding to questions. Students are expected to be well prepared in order to participate in class discussion – this will ensure good use of class time as well as improving your learning skills and sharing your knowledge with others.Class attendance and participation is expected and will be part of the assessment. This means you not only come and sign in the class but come well prepared and participate in class discussion. You need to reflect on your assignments and think about the translation issues you have encountered and share your thought with others.Your marks for class attendance and performance will be determined by

a)    Whether you attend class regularly or not; b)    How much effort you have taken to prepare for the class; c)    How actively you participate in class discussion; and d)    How helpful your comments are on the work of our fellow students.

There will be 1 weekly translation assignment (from English into Chinese) available on iLearn every week from week 2 to week 11. You are required to submit each of your translation assignments on time through iLearn assignment entry. It is strongly suggested that you write annotations for your translation assignments, which can contribute to both your in-class presentation and your reflective journals (see the tasks below).

You marks will be determined by but not limited to: 1)      your understanding of the source language text; 2)      grammar in your translation; 3)      idiomatic usage in your translation; 4)      meaning and word choice in your translation; 5)      style and tone in your translation.   Students will only be granted extensions/special consideration with valid reasons (eg., serious and unavoidable disruption from completing any unit requirements in accordance with their ability.) Work that is submitted late will be subjected to an assessment penalty if an extension has not been granted. Please check the late submissions section of the unit guide.

There will be one individual in class presentation.  In the beginning of the semester, by the end of week 2, you will be asked to choose one weekly assignment to present the problems you meet in doing the translation. 

Late submission policy will be applied if you fail to register a presentation topic by the due time set on iLearn. Please check the  Late submissions section of this unit guide.

You are expected to share your experiences in dealing with translation problems when doing your assignments. Your oral presentation is expected to be 5-8 minutes long and delivered in English.  You have to finish your presentation within the time limit or marks will be deducted. You should be prepared that the rest of the class will raise questions. 

When preparing your presentation, you may wish to consider the following questions:

1)      What are the functions of the source language texts?

2)      What difficulties do you have in understanding the source language text?

3)      What difficulties do you have in finding equivalent expressions in Chinese?

4)      What kinds of translation strategies do you use in your translation?

5)    What factors do you concider in finding equivalent expressions in Chinese?

After the in class presentation, you need to submit a presentation report through iLearn by the end of the week you do the presentation.

You are required to hand in a 1000-word reflective journal in English by week 13. This task aims to learn how to justify your translation decisions. The journal should contain problems identified, possible solutions and the decision in selecting the best solution. You are NOT allowed to use same examples used in your or your classmates' presentations, or examples analyzed in the class. Moreover, journal is a written assignments, it should cover the issues from more than one of your translation assignments, and your language skills will be taken into account in the mark of this task. This assignment should be your own original work.  Plagiarism is not acceptable (For further information and advice, see www.student.mq.edu.au/plagiarism). Students will only be granted extensions/special consideration with valid reasons (eg., serious and unavoidable disruption from completing any unit requirements in accordance with their ability.)via lodging Disruption to Studies application.  Work that is submitted late will be subjected to an assessment penalty if an extension has not been granted. Please check the late submissions section of the unit guide.

Indicative examples of assessment tasks will be available on iLearn or in class.

There will be a final test for this unit in week 13. During the end-semester test, you are to translate one approximately 350-400 word text from English into Chinese and to answer an ethic question for professional translators. You will have 2 hours to translate the text and to answer the question.  Any paper based and dictionaries are allowed in the examination.

The only exception to not sitting an examination at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances you may wish to consider applying for Special Consideration. Information about unavoidable disruption and the special consideration process is available under the Extension and Special Consideration section of this Unit Guide. It should also be stressed that failing to turn up for exams without prior notification to (WITH DOCUMENTATION ) and obtaining approval from the lecturers for resitting the exams will mean that the students have forgone (that is, given up the opportunity to sit for) the exams.  In which case, no supplementary exams can be arranged.

If a Supplementary Examination is granted as a result of the Special Consideration process, the examination will be scheduled after the conclusion of the official examination period. Individual Departments should contact the Associate Dean Learning and Teaching to confirm when Supplementaries are scheduled.

You are advised that it is Macquarie University policy not to set early examinations for individuals or groups of students. All students are expected to ensure that they are available until the end of the teaching semester, that is the final day of the official examination period.