The nuts and bolts of corpora A teaching sequence for using corpora in the scientific and technical translation classroom
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Abstract
This paper illustrates the application of corpora in the scientific and technical translation classroom. First, we review some previous works on teaching experiences with corpora and specialised translation. Then, we will present the teaching sequence we have applied in the subject Scientific and Technical Translation I BA-AB (English-Spanish/Spanish-English) of the BA in Translation and Interpreting at the University of Malaga. The main objective of this teaching experience was to familiarise our students with linguistic corpora and thus encourage them to using corpora as a translation tool. During the five sessions we dedicated to this topic, the students were able to learn more about what corpora are and how they can benefit from them as translators. First of all, they worked with reference corpora available on the net, both in Spanish (CREA, CORPES XXI) and in English (BNC, COCA). Then, they explored the different corpora accessible from Sketch Engine, as well as the numerous functions offered by this corpus analysis tool. Lastly, they compiled an ad-hoc technical corpus which they later used to translate an extract of a motorbike user’s manual. This teaching experience suggests that corpora are a very effective tool, as they enable translation students to solve a wide range of linguistic difficulties (terminological, conceptual, grammatical or stylistic).
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