English - Phonetics, Grammar and Translation (BASF/BATV)

The overall aim of “Phonetics, grammar and translation” is to introduce you to English grammar and phonetics as well as translation between English and Danish. In the module, you will learn to analyse and describe the grammatical and phonetic structure of the English language, as well as the functions, or uses, of relevant linguistic elements. You will learn how to compare grammatical and phonetic features across English and Danish, partly with a focus on “errors” typical of Danish learners of English. You will learn to translate between Danish and English, using various foundations of translation theory, and to analyse existing translations. The active participation of every student is expected together with the timely completion of all set tasks assigned by the teacher, including reading and group work.

The module is divided into three separate courses – Phonetics, Grammar and Translation, as suggested by the module title – which run more or less in parallel throughout the semester. Below is a brief overview of the three courses:

The primary goal of the phonetics course is to enable you to analyse, describe and compare the pronunciation of three forms of English – GB (General British), GA (General American) and English with a typical Danish accent – the latter especially in terms of typical “errors”. In order to achieve this goal you will learn about general principles of speech production, pronunciation as a linguistic system, phonetic transcription and contrastive descriptions of accents, including diagnosing errors.

The grammar course element enables students to analyse and describe English grammar as a communicative system and to gain a broader understanding of the workings of the English language. We will address syntax and grammatical morphology as well as the communicative functions of grammatical structures and categories. Moreover, students are introduced to different perspectives on the English language within the field of linguistics (i.e. the scientific study of language).

The two primary aims of the translation course are to enable you to (1) produce idiomatically and stylistically adequate non-technical translations between Danish and English, and (2) apply translation theory to the analysis and critique of existing translations in order to improve your own skills as a translator. During the course, you will be introduced to general translation theory and the various translation strategies, you will gain insight into useful translation technology and online tools, and you will try your hand at different genres, including literary fiction, essays and news items.