Program Overview

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Translation - B.S.

Overview

Our Bachelor of Science in Translation combines language proficiency with cultural competency to prepare you for a career as a professional translator. With experienced faculty, immersive learning opportunities and access to state-of-the-art resources, you will gain the skills needed to bridge language barriers and foster cross-cultural communication.

Admissions

• First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework.
• First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent.
• International Students: All international students must provide proof of proficiency of the English language (unless they meet specific exceptions) through the submission of an English language proficiency test score or by completing English language classes at Kent State’s English as a Second Language Center before entering their program.
• Former Students: Former Kent State students who have not attended another institution since Kent State and were not academically dismissed will complete the re-enrollment process through the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center. Former students who attended another college or university since leaving Kent State must apply for admissions as a transfer or post-undergraduate student.
• Transfer Students: Students who attended an educational institution after graduating from high school or earning their GED must apply as transfer students.

Coursework

Major Requirements

• ENG 20002 or ENG 30063: Introduction to Technical Writing or Professional Writing
• MCLS 30420: Foreign Languages and Culture Studies
• TRST 20009: Multilingual Information Lifecycle
• TRST 30230: Approaches to Translation
• TRST 30330: Cross-Language Mediation
• Additional Requirements (courses do not count in major GPA):
  • UC 10001: Flashes 101
  • Minor, Certificate or Second Major Electives (18 credit hours)
  • Kent Core Composition (6 credit hours)
  • Kent Core Mathematics and Critical Reasoning (3 credit hours)
  • Kent Core Humanities and Fine Arts (minimum one course from each) (9 credit hours)
  • Kent Core Social Sciences (must be from two disciplines) (6 credit hours)
  • Kent Core Basic Sciences (must include one laboratory) (6-7 credit hours)
  • Kent Core Additional (6 credit hours)
  • General Electives (total credit hours depends on earning 120 credit hours, including 39 upper-division credit hours) (22 credit hours)

Concentrations

• Choose from the following:
  • Arabic
  • French
  • German
  • Russian
  • Spanish

Arabic Concentration Requirements

• Prerequisite Requirements:
  • ARAB 11101: Elementary Arabic I
  • ARAB 11102: Elementary Arabic II
  • ARAB 21201: Intermediate Arabic I
  • ARAB 21202: Intermediate Arabic II
• Concentration Requirements (courses count in major GPA):
  • ARAB 37231: Translation Practice: Arabic
  • ARAB 37240: Conversation for Business and Special Purposes: Arabic
  • ARAB 47230: Advanced Translation Practice: Arabic
  • ARAB 47240: Business and Special Texts: Arabic
  • Arabic (ARAB) Upper-Division Electives (40000 level) (6 credit hours)
• Concentration Electives, choose from the following:
  • CIS 24053: Introduction to Information Systems and Digital Technologies
  • COMM 43000: Communication Technology and Human Interaction
  • ENG 30062: Principles of Technical Writing
  • GEOG 37045: Geography of the Middle East
  • HIST 31126: History of the Middle East
  • LIS 30010: Information Fluency in the Workplace and Beyond
  • MKTG 25010: Principles of Marketing
  • OTEC 26640: Current Technologies
  • PLST 28001: Legal Research and Writing
  • POL 30560: Middle East Politics (DIVG)
  • VCD 47000: Visual Design for Media
  • Any Arabic (ARAB) Upper-Division course (30000 or 40000 level)

French Concentration Requirements

• Prerequisite Requirements:
  • FR 13201: Elementary French I
  • FR 13202: Elementary French II
  • FR 23201: Intermediate French I
  • FR 23202: Intermediate French II
• Concentration Requirements (courses count in major GPA):
  • FR 33091: French for the Professions Seminar
  • FR 33231: Translation Practice: French
  • FR 43230: Advanced Translation Practice: French (WIC)
  • French (FR) Upper-Division Electives (30000 or 40000 level) (12 credit hours)
  • French (FR) Upper-Division Electives (40000 level) (6 credit hours)
• Additional Requirements (courses do not count in major GPA):
  • General Elective (3 credit hours)

German Concentration Requirements

• Prerequisite Requirements:
  • GER 11201: Elementary German I
  • GER 11202: Elementary German II
  • GER 21201: Intermediate German I
  • GER 21202: Intermediate German II
• Concentration Requirements (courses count in major GPA):
  • GER 31231: Translation Practice: German
  • GER 31240: Conversation for Business and Special Purposes: German
  • GER 41230: Advanced Translation Practice: German (ELR) (WIC)
  • GER 41240: Business and Special Texts: German
  • German (GER) Upper-Division Electives (30000 or 40000 level) (12 credit hours)
  • German (GER) Upper-Division Electives (40000 level) (6 credit hours)

Russian Concentration Requirements

• Prerequisite Requirements:
  • RUSS 12201: Elementary Russian I
  • RUSS 12202: Elementary Russian II
  • RUSS 22201: Intermediate Russian I
  • RUSS 22202: Intermediate Russian II
• Concentration Requirements (courses count in major GPA):
  • RUSS 32231: Translation Practice: Russian
  • RUSS 32240: Conversation for Business and Special Purposes: Russian
  • RUSS 42230: Advanced Translation Practice: Russian (ELR) (WIC)
  • RUSS 42240: Business and Special Texts: Russian
  • Russian (RUSS) Upper-Division Electives (30000 or 40000 level) (12 credit hours)
  • Russian (RUSS) Upper-Division Electives (40000 level) (6 credit hours)

Spanish Concentration Requirements

• Prerequisite Requirements:
  • SPAN 18201: Elementary Spanish I
  • SPAN 18202: Elementary Spanish II
  • SPAN 28201: Intermediate Spanish I
  • SPAN 28202: Intermediate Spanish II
• Concentration Requirements (courses count in major GPA):
  • SPAN 38231: Translation Practice: Spanish
  • SPAN 38240: Conversation for Business and Special Purposes: Spanish
  • SPAN 48230: Advanced Translation Practice: Spanish (ELR) (WIC)
  • SPAN 48240: Business and Special Texts: Spanish
  • Spanish (SPAN) Upper-Division Electives (30000 or 40000 level) (12 credit hours)
  • Spanish (SPAN) Upper-Division Electives (40000 level) (6 credit hours)

Graduation Requirements

• Graduation Requirements Summary:
  • Minimum Major GPA: 2.000
  • Minimum Overall GPA: 2.000

Roadmaps

• Arabic Concentration
• French Concentration
• German Concentration
• Russian Concentration
• Spanish Concentration

University Requirements

• Flashes 101 (UC 10001)
• Diversity Domestic/Global (DIVD/DIVG)
• Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR)
• Kent Core (see table below)
• Writing-Intensive Course (WIC)
• Upper-Division Requirement
• Total Credit Hour Requirement

Kent Core Requirements

• Kent Core Composition (KCMP) (6 credit hours)
• Kent Core Mathematics and Critical Reasoning (KMCR) (3 credit hours)
• Kent Core Humanities and Fine Arts (KHUM/KFA) (minimum one course from each) (9 credit hours)
• Kent Core Social Sciences (KSS) (must be from two disciplines) (6 credit hours)
• Kent Core Basic Sciences (KBS/KLAB) (must include one laboratory) (6-7 credit hours)
• Kent Core Additional (KADL) (6 credit hours)

Program Learning Outcomes

• Graduates of this program will be able to:
  1. Participate in most informal and some formal conversations with sufficient accuracy, clarity and precision to convey their intended message without misrepresentation or confusion and identify the cultural variables likely to lead to misunderstanding when communicating in their language pair.
  2. Compose routine social correspondence and write summaries, narratives and descriptions of a factual nature needed in a professional context (i.e., business letters, memos, commercial and legal forms, etc.) in their non-native language.
  3. Translate short general and semi-specialized texts in various domains and in a variety of translation contexts from the source language into their native language with a basic understanding of translation principles and text features relevant in the translation decision-making process.
  4. Demonstrate an understanding of the typical life cycle of multilingual information in the language industry and common computer applications used by translators.

Program Policies

• Foreign Language Requirements
• Mandatory Outcomes Assessment

Full Description

The Bachelor of Science degree in Translation is a pre-professional program designed for students who are seeking the more professional focus and interdisciplinary breadth that the B.S. degree offers with the inclusion of a minor, double major or certificate to develop the skills needed to translate in a professional setting. It introduces the basics of translation theory as it applies to the actual practice of translation.

The requirement of a minor, certificate or second major enables students to acquire a level of expertise in a specific field in which they can specialize as translators. This degree also enables students to have a major and a minor that make them more competitive and prepare them for a sector that the U.S. Department of Labor projects as one of the fastest-growing sectors globally. Translation majors are strongly encouraged to undertake study in a country where their language concentration is spoken so that they can achieve the necessary proficiency level. Skills necessary include an excellent command of the source language, an excellent command of the target language, cultural knowledge, specialist knowledge, research competence, terminological competence, technological competence, an understanding of the translation industry and transfer competence.

Graduates may enter graduate programs in translation (the professional degree) or go on to work for government, business, industry or translation agencies, or as freelance translators.

The Translation major comprises the following concentrations:

• Arabic
• French
• German
• Russian
• Spanish

Many study abroad opportunities exist, including:

• France: Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux III, Bordeaux (all class standings, all majors/minors)
• Germany: Julius-Maximilian-Universität Würzburg, Würzbug (all class standings, all majors/minors)
• Germany: Universität Leipzig, Leipzig (intermediate German language proficiency required)
• Spain: Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid (all class standings, all majors/minors)
• Spain: Universidad Europea de Valencia, Valencia

Students in the Translation major must declare a minor, certificate or second major at Kent State.