In our globalized world, translation is even more important than it was before. It is the central means of the transmission of information through various channels. The world is becoming more and more dependent on translation as a tool for cross-cultural communication.

The Department of Translation and Interpreting at Istanbul Arel University, founded in the 2007-2008 academic year and included in the Faculty of Letters and Sciences, aims to train professional translators and interpreters who possess the necessary knowledge and skills to compete in the translation and language services sector.

Keeping in mind the contemporary and future requirements of the sector, the undergraduate program in Translation and Interpreting offers courses on translation, interpreting, textual analysis and technical writing, translation theory and criticism, translation technologies, linguistics, editing and proofreading as well as courses on the various fields of expertise such as literary translation, media translation and legal translation. Our students are provided with the opportunity to pursue a Double Major or Minor in the Department of International Relations (English).

The graduates will be qualified to work as translators, interpreters, editors and language/culture consultants in translation and language services sector as well as in media organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry for EU Affairs, embassies, non-governmental organizations and in different fields of the services sector.

Program Aim

The aim of the Program is to train translators and interpreters with translation/interpreting, language, culture, research and technological competence so that they can meet the requirements of the highly competitive global translation and language services sector. The graduates of the Program will also have developed consciousness about the significance of recognizing “translation” as an object of scientific research.

Program Objectives

• To develop students’ competence in written and oral translation,

• To develop students’ level of proficiency in English and Turkish,

• To help students become aware of the critical role translation plays in intercultural communication,

• To enable students to acquire the ethical principles and values of the translation profession,

• To promote students’ skills in using translation technologies,

• To develop students’ research competence for translation,

• To help students recognize text types and use appropriate translation strategies for each text type,

• To provide students with the basic theoretical and methodological knowledge to conduct scientific research on translation,

• To develop competence in translating and interpreting, written, oral and audio-visual texts in English in the fields such as social sciences, political science, international relations, economics, literature and law,

• To develop students’ competence in translating texts from a foreign language other than English at Level B2.

• To develop competence in translation criticism and assessment,

• To promote students’ ability to make decisions individually and to work in teams,

• To encourage students to take risks and responsibilities in order to contribute to their field via innovative practices,

• To make students aware of the significance of “learning to learn” in order to continue their professional development,

• To enable students to understand the requirements of self-learning and life-long learning.

On the level of knowledge, at the end of the Program our students will be able to

• define pre-translation, translation and post-translation processes,

• explain different aspects of translation and linguistic study,

• know the meta-language related to the aspects of translation and linguistic study,

• name lexical and syntactic categories in both Turkish and English,

• identify the semantic features of different parts of speech,

• identify varieties of language at the level of the word and the sentence in source and target languages,

• know the ways of paraphrasing, summarizing and re-writing,

• identify different fields of expertise in translation,

• identify text types and related translation strategies,

• know different ways of conducting translation-oriented text and discourse analysis,

• recognize the significance of cultural and linguistic differences between source language/culture and target language/culture,

• define culture-specific elements at the textual and discursive level,

• define translation technologies,

• know translation-oriented terminology management,

• know different ways of translation-oriented research,

• state the basic theoretical and methodological approaches in translation studies,

• identify the research methods applied in translation studies,

• know different methods of translation criticism and assessment,

• define the structural and functional dimensions of the second foreign language at Level B2,

• label ethical principles and values of the translation profession,

• know what kind of responsibilities they should take while conducting translation projects individually and/or in teams,

• know ways of developing critical and analytical thinking,

• identify the ways of continual professional development.

On the level of skills, at the end of the Program our students will be able to

• apply the required activities/tasks pertaining to translation processes,

• use the meta-language related to translation and linguistic study,

• use parts of speech in appropriate linguistic contexts,

• use appropriate register for different text types,

• classify and analyze texts and discourse for purposes of translation,

• make use of background knowledge about linguistic/cultural differences realized in different linguistic expressions for making decisions

• concerning culture-specific elements,

• operate computer-assisted translation tools,

• conduct term extraction and terminology management processes,

• carry out translation-oriented research including the effective use of dictionaries, thesaurus, glossaries and parallel texts,

• design scientific research plan within the framework of translation studies,

• utilize knowledge of fields of expertise in translation,

• interpret and assess/criticize translation products in the light of their theoretical knowledge via critical and analytical thinking,

• use their second foreign language in different interactional settings at Level B2,

• translate texts from the second foreign language into their native language and first foreign language,

• apply the ethical principles and values of the translation profession,

• design translation projects, taking into consideration the labor division in different phases of the project workflow,

• adapt themselves to new situations which require making new decisions,

• justify their translation decisions based on the acquired theoretical background,

• reflect on what they have learnt and how,

• act habitually in renewing their knowledge and skills in the face of changing circumstances in order to achieve continual professional development.