Graduate Programmes at NTU School of Humanities

History

The Master of Arts in Translation and Interpretation (MTI) Programme is the first-of-its-kind, as well as the most historic, postgraduate degree programme focusing in English and Chinese in Singapore and Southeast Asia. 

Under the auspices of the Singapore Government, NTU in 2015 leveraged on the already very successful Graduate Diploma of Translation and Interpretation (GDTI) which was started in 2005 to develop the present Master of Arts degree programme. Our distinguished alumni includes the Senior Minister of State. The launch of the MTI Programme in January 2016 is testimony to NTU’s continuous efforts over more than a decade of successfully fostering theoretical, practical, historical and technical knowledge of translation and interpreting studies.

Vision and mission

Singapore is uniquely situated in Southeast Asia, linking East and West and bridging the Global North and Global South. Our programme is benchmarked against the best translation programmes in the world, and is structured with a strong academic emphasis capitalising on Singapore’s acknowledged expertise in bilingual teaching and research.

MTI is housed in the School of Humanities (SoH) within the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CoHASS) at the Nanyang Technological University, a research intensive university, where we are proud of our excellent research capacity and teaching programmes in the humanities. We specialise in courses integrating training in translation and interpreting skills with the knowledge of subject areas of expertise for which the University is well-known. These include public policy, mass communication and information studies, business, localisation and marketing, and computer engineering. Building on SoH’s internationally renowned research excellence in translation studies, bilingualism, and multicultural studies, MTI fosters innovative, interdisciplinary, and industry-focused knowledge in new areas such as medical communication and interpreting,  AI-human collaborative (ChatGPT & NLP) and machine translation, and translation in heritage/museum studies. 

The curriculum also distinguishes itself by including an overseas immersion programme, which allows students to go to a Chinese or English speaking country to receive intensive translation and interpreting training from seasoned diplomatic interpreters and field experts who are engaged in high-profile international conferences and world summits such as UNESCO, the United Nations, the Olympic Games etc.

We aim to provide a comprehensive and all-rounded education to enable our students and social stakeholders to be a force of positive change, making our society, community and world more inclusive, caring and sustainable through the medium of linguistic and cultural translation. 

With a focus on English to Chinese and Chinese to English translation, the MTI Programme distinguishes itself from general translation courses and programmes. Its specific objectives are to help students to develop the following capabilities: 

• A high level of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in both Chinese and English. 
• A comprehensive set of skills as well as professional attitudes and ethics for carrying out professional translation/interpretation work between English and Chinese. 
• A thorough understanding of theories, debates, and research methods in translation and interpretation studies. 
• Competency in conducting research in translation and interpretation as well as expertise in research design and methodology. 
• Capabilities for tackling various issues in relation to registers and styles and rendering texts from a wide range of specialised fields, as well as adequate knowledge of relevant interdisciplinary concepts. 
• Awareness of technological changes and advances in translation/interpretation, as well as the know-how to use translation tools to facilitate translation production. 
• The ability to reflect on one’s own translation and interpreting experience in more theoretical terms, so as to learn from future experience and foster developments in related fields. 

• Court, conference, and community interpreting
• Linguistic foundation for effective translation
• Literary translation in Asian literature and Sinophone communities
• Localisation and project management
• Medical communication and interpreting
• Singapore-related translation topics in journalistic translation and translation for heritage & museum
• Translation histories and theories 
• Translation technology: AI, Audiovisual translation, CAT & MT
• Text & discourse analysis in translation

The MTI Programme is focusing on both academic and practical training, where students can be trained rigorously in broad-based knowledge with specific skillsets and techniques in translating/interpreting. We acknowledge that students are coming from various academic and professional backgrounds and at different junctions of choosing and changing profession.  Our programme aims to provide study options and flexibilities to complement and synergise existing experience, qualifications, knowledge and know-how to reach their goals for academic and career advancement.  Classes are scheduled in the evenings of weekdays and on Saturdays; the MTI programme welcomes local students to embark on their study journey while holding a full time day job.

Students can choose to complete the programme within the minimum candidature of 1 year to the maximum of 2 years. 

Within the specific candidature, students must choose one of the three study tracks and complete a minimum of 12 Academic Units (AUs) from the category "Specialised Electives”, with an option either to do a dissertation/capstone project or go for overseas immersion. The remaining AUs are to be taken from the category "General Electives”.

Choose one of three Study Tracks

Students must accumulate a total of 30 AUs by completing different types of courses and components, as below:

 Research Track (30 AUs)
- Minimum 12 AUs Specialised Electives
- General Electives 10 AUs
- Dissertation/Capstone Project (compulsory) 8 AUs
- Immersion (optional) (payment required)

 Practice Track (30 AUs)
- Minimum 12 AUs Specialised Electives
- General Electives 12 AUs
- Overseas Immersion (6 AUs)

Coursework Track (30 AUs)
- Minimum 12 AUs Specialised Electives
- General Electives 18 AUs

Specialised elective courses are centred on core, indispensable and sophisticated knowledge that underpins translation and interpreting studies. They provide the intellectual foundation for further education, research, and professional development whether one’s interests lie in STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) or SHAPE (Science, Humanities, Arts for People and the Economy). Seminars, flipped-classrooms and translation practicum in a simulation laboratory are incorporated into the course design, to help students to consolidate learning outcomes by developing essential knowledge and transferrable skills such as critical and analytical thinking, self-reflection, leadership and project management skills,  communication and social skills, public speaking and peer evaluation.

General elective courses are provided to foster student capabilities to understand the world through the prism of epistemological knowledge of translation and interpreting studies. In line with the interdisciplinary nature of translation studies, theories and key concepts relating to the central theme of each specialised course are also introduced, to provide students with essential background knowledge and a better understanding of various professional contexts in order to conduct interdisciplinary research. These courses are designed to respond to the needs of industry and government policy, enabling students to tailor to their own preferences in developing their expertise in a specialised domain.

An overseas immersion programme is incorporated into the MTI curriculum design. Under the immersion programme, students are given the opportunity to go to a Chinese or English speaking country to take courses while at the same time immersing themselves in the local culture to enhance their bilingual and cross-cultural communication skills.

In short, the 30-AUs curriculum is designed to fulfil these goals:

• Complementarities and customised combinations between Specialised Electives and General Electives.
• Fulfilment of the career aspirations of students who come from different academic and career backgrounds.
• Adaptation of students to the versatility of the employment market and applications for PhD or other professional degrees.
• Accomplished learners can finish their study within 1 year whilst others can pace their learning agenda.

Translators, interpreters, writers, copywriters, journalists, civic service officers, freelancers, cultural advisors, or positions in inter-government/organisations, and any industries which require the frequent use of English and Chinese.