EU High Level Scientific Conference Series
Prof.Dr.H.Gerzymisch-Arbogast (Translation/Interpreting) ATRC Saarbrücken






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Abstracts of PhD Workshop Sessions





Bernd Benecke (Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich)

Thursday, 12 May 2005

Workshop: Audio Description

The first session of this Workshop will concentrate on the theoretical aspects of Audio Description. After a brief introduction into the topic (What is Audio-Description? Where does it come from?) the group discusses what kind of guidelines may be necessary to transform information from the image to a text.

In a second session the participants train their own abilities in Audio Description. Small groups of 3 to 4 people will do the description of a few minutes of the movie "Dead Poets Society" (in English or German).

Finally the results of that work are presented and discussed with the whole auditorium in relation to the guidelines discussed in the first session. Finally the description done by professional describers is watched and discussed.



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Gerhard Budin (Vienna)

Tuesday, 10 May 2005

Workshop: Presentation and Discussion of Selected Dissertation Topics

In this session various dissertation topics will be treated in research fields such as localization research, translation-oriented terminology and ontology studies, translation technologies, cross-cultural knowledge management, multilingual content management, etc. Typically, doctoral dissertations in such research fields are focusing on exploring real-world problems encountered in language industry, translation and terminology services, the use and evaluation of products of tool developers for terminology management, translation memory tools, localization engineering, translation workflows and project management, etc.), but also more "theoretical" research topics such as epistemological and cognitive processes in term formation and concept formation, or more "formal", i.e. computational topics such as modeling domain ontologies, modeling content units and meta-data specification in distributed content repositories. More recently, E-Learning has become increasingly relevant also as a research topic. Pedagogical and didactic questions of designing learner-centered E-Learning environments for localization professionals, terminologists, content managers, and other language professionals have become relevant for research.



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Jan Engberg (Aarhus) / Klaus Schubert (Flensburg)

Tuesday, 10 May 2005

Workshop: Exploring Dissertation Topics in Specialized Translation

In this session, two of the central topics in research in specialized translation will be treated, viz. the pragmatic and cognitive specialization of discourse (as the basic condition for specialized translation) and the conditions under which the translation of such discourse is carried out. While specialized translation traditionally was centred on transferring elements of specialized content (e.g., technical, legal or medical) from one written text to another, today's professional reality is characterized by a number of additional conditions and constraints. In particular, the relationship between the specialized content and the linguistic form is in many cases influenced by the technical mediums of communication. For instance, both the use of translation software and media such as hypertext, on-line help or embedded text entail a strong tendency towards consistent, uniform and repetitive style. Controlled languages and style guides have a similar effect. All of these conditions give raise to new perspectives and features that should be taken into consideration when researching the area. The session will consist in an overview of the state of the art in these two areas, presenting central problematic fields and different approaches to their investigation.



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Georgios Floros (Nicosia)

Monday, 9 May 2005

Workshop: The case of 'culture' in translation studies

Working with the notion of 'culture' in relation to translation can be an extremely demanding task, as 'culture' has been the subject of heavy debate within the framework of a wide range of academic disciplines. Thus, when preparing a PhD-thesis, doctoral students are confronted with a vast variety of definitions and methodological approaches to the issue of cultural elements in texts. These definitions and approaches often seem to be quite controversial to one another and this makes a bibliographical overview even more complex. The aim of this workshop is to discuss ways and methods of selecting, organizing, presenting and criticizing definitions and approaches in complicated issues such as culture and translation.



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Yves Gambier (Turku)

Sunday, 15 May 2005

Media Translation Workshop

The workshop will deal with the usefulness and limitations of different approaches, methods and tools of analysis in audiovisual translation (AVT). Studying AVT (cinema, TV, video) means looking at not only translators but at all the agents involved (from the decision-makers to the viewers) and at the entire field (production, distribution, consumption). Existing possibilities and constraints in doing research and in publishing, as well as the implications of research in such an expanding genre, will be considered.



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Claudia Giehl (Saarbrücken)

Friday, 13 May 2005

Interactive Peer Panel on LSP & Translation

After an introduction to the field of LSP translation we will talk about the principles of scientific work, focussing on the following aspects of quantitative linguistic work:
·   working with text corpora
·   data acquisition, collection, and interpretation
·   statistics
·   literature work (including an introduction to EndNote: a software for literature management)
Following this more 'theoretical' part, 3-4 participants will give a short overview over their work, with special attention to problems and difficulties to the above mentioned aspects. The group as a whole will then discuss these issues and try to work out possible solutions. This part of the Peer Panel will be geared towards the specific needs and interests of the participants.



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Daniel Gile (Paris/Lyon)

Saturday, 7 May 2005

1100-1230: "The ambitions of science"

  • Science as an attempt to fight human limitations in exploring the universe
  • Scientific norms
  • Expectations from doctoral dissertations
  • The Empirical Science Paradigm and the Liberal Arts Paradigm
  • Indicators
  • Is science "better"? General considerations
Sunday, 8 May 2005

0900-1030: "Quantitative analysis and variability"

  • Signal and noise from uncontrolled variables, Signal and noise from intrinsic variability
  • Inferential statistics as a response to variability
  • Implications for empirical doctoral projects in TS
1100-1230: "Suggestions for empirical projects"

  • The meaningfulness of significance
  • Quantitative vs. qualitative research
  • The contribution of research to practical Translation: hype and reality
  • Implications for empirical doctoral projects




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Jan Kunold (Saarbrücken)

Saturday, 14 May 2005

Interactive Peer Panel on Sub- and Surtitling

The creation of sub- and surtitles, especially in the field of opera-surtitling, are often subject to specific needs and demands. This workshop will characterize general theoretical problems, aspects, similarities and differences concerning the creation of sub- and surtitles and will include practical examples. Together with Dr. H. Trummer of the Saarländisches Staatstheater, the needs and reality of opera-surtitling will be discussed.



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Jörg Scherer (Eurice, Saarbrücken)

Freiday, 13 May 2005

Workshop: International Project Management: Problems and Perspectives

International project management has become a crucial topic for the implementation of transnational collaborative research projects. The sessions will focus on research and innovation projects that are carried out by international consortia of academic and industrial partners. The workshop will address the theoretical background as well as specific skills and tools to cope with the management of such large international projects.

European funding possibilities for R&D projects as well as practical experience in the day-to-day management of large international project consortia will be presented. All workshop topics are based on successful international projects. Participants will have the opportunity during the course of the session to focus on their own projects

The setup of research management offices in Higher Education institutes including an introduction to professional project management techniques and tools will be presented. Additionally, former graduates of translation studies will report on their personal experience in using acquired linguistic skills in the management of international projects.



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Martin Will (Luxembourg)

Thursday, 12 May 2005

Interactive Peer Panel on interpreting in PhD studies

How to plan, prepare and progress with a doctoral dissertation in interpretation studies.
In Germany, writing a doctoral dissertation in the arts is less dependent on formal criteria and preconditions than in countries like France or the US. Therefore, students can easily underestimate scientific as well as specific practical and organisational problems when trying to develop their thesis. Focusing on experience in writing a dissertation in interpreting science, the workshop will focus on how to plan and progress with a thesis in this specific field of research. The workshop will include discussions on literature research, decision-making and content-related issues as well as logistical and practical problems and will be based on interactive participation



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