Teaching and Research Group of Translation and Interpreting

TEACHING AND RESEARCH GROUP OF TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING

Head: Prof. Dr. Viktor Ristani

Email: [email protected]

The Teaching and Research Group “Translation and Interpreting” aims to improve and raise the standards of teaching and scientific research in support of and for the benefit of students at all three cycles of study in the field of Translation and Interpreting Studies, namely Translation and Interpreting. It also aims to further encourage academic staff to engage in various applied activities in the field of translation and interpreting, publications, the preparation of monographs and textbooks, dictionaries, consultancy of various kinds within the framework of personal and professional development, management of national and international projects, etc.

Completed and Ongoing Projects

Project 1: “Improving Scientific Research with Young Researchers in the Department of English,” Duration: January 2023 – December 2024, Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Viktor Ristani

Project beneficiaries: Academic staff and students enrolled in the Master’s and Doctoral programmes in the Department of English and beyond.

Overall project objective: To enhance the quality of scientific research conducted by young researchers in the Department of English.

Project 2: “Integrating EMI Competences into the Bachelor’s Study Programme in English Language (Profile: English Language, Translation and Interpreting, British and American Studies),” a project of the Department of English, with the participation of the Translation and Interpreting Teaching and Research Group, within the framework of the project “EMI in Albanian Universities: From Piloting to Implementation,” supported by the Albanian Media Institute and the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana. Duration: May 2024 – ongoing, Coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Daniela Hasa

Project beneficiaries: Translation and Interpreting academic staff and students enrolled in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in the Department of English.

Project objective and purpose: To incorporate media-related elements into teaching programmes with the aim of encouraging critical thinking and critical analysis of materials obtained from various sources and used as teaching materials.

Specific project objectives in relation to Translation Studies:

• to provide students with a deeper perspective and approach to translation as both a process and a product;
• to familiarise students with and update their knowledge of the basic principles of media and information literacy;
• to examine materials from a wide range of sources, such as the Internet, advertisements, print media articles and technical texts;
• to further raise cultural awareness as a key element in conveying messages in the target language;
• to further develop students’ ability to communicate ideas as clearly and openly as possible;
• to further develop their ability to synthesise and interrelate ideas;
• to review and update existing translation and interpreting modules by incorporating and integrating media and information literacy;
• to familiarise students with and update their knowledge of the basic principles and elements of artificial intelligence;
• to review and update existing translation and interpreting modules by incorporating and integrating artificial intelligence into existing translation and interpreting modules.

Project 3: “Aspects of Improving the Teaching and Learning of Terminological Translation in Activities with Students from Both Cycles and Translation and Interpreting Academic Staff through the Integration of Artificial Intelligence,” Period: March–April 2025, Coordinator: Dr. Orges Selmani

Project beneficiaries: Translation and Interpreting academic staff and students enrolled in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in the Department of English.

Project objective and purpose: To identify best practices and further improve teaching in the field of terminology and terminological translation through critical thinking and critical analysis. To incorporate elements of artificial intelligence into the teaching and scientific research processes in this field of Translation Studies.

Specific project objectives in relation to Terminological Translation:

Examination of the evolution of terminology, focusing on:

• the way in which a particular field has evolved or changed over a given period;
• semantic changes in terms;
• neologisms;
• localisation as a key element in terminological translation;
• the use of artificial intelligence in terminological translation.

Expected project results and outputs:

• Organisation of a workshop with students from both cycles and Translation and Interpreting academic staff;
• Use of artificial intelligence to create a database that can be updated annually;
• Development of a quality assessment model against which the consistency and appropriateness of terms can be evaluated;
• Creation of a guide for dealing with terminology that presents increased translation difficulty due to highly culture-specific references.

Project 4: “Aspects of Improving the Teaching and Learning of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting in Activities with Students from Both Cycles and Translation and Interpreting Academic Staff through the Integration of Artificial Intelligence,” Period: May–June 2025,

Coordinator: Dr. Rudina Xhillari

Project beneficiaries: Translation and Interpreting academic staff and students enrolled in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in the Department of English.

Project objective and purpose: To identify best practices and further improve teaching in the field of consecutive and simultaneous interpreting through critical thinking and critical analysis in the teaching and scientific research processes in this field of Translation and Interpreting Studies, in light of the developments and challenges associated with the use of artificial intelligence.

Specific project objectives in relation to consecutive and simultaneous interpreting:

• to raise for discussion issues related to interpreting and its challenges in the present day and in the era of artificial intelligence;
• to explore recent trends in conference interpreting;
• to further investigate the challenges of virtual interpreting, remote interpreting, artificial intelligence vs. interpreting, hybrid activities and multilingualism;
• to draw conclusions regarding practical ways of addressing current challenges.

Expected project results and outputs:

• Organisation of a workshop with students from both cycles and Translation and Interpreting academic staff;
• Presentation of ideas through PowerPoint presentations and videos;
• Exchange of ideas between interpreters and future interpreters;
• Questions and answers concerning the challenges of interpreting and ways of overcoming them.

Head of the Translation Teaching and Research Group: Prof. Dr. Viktor Ristani

Members of the Group: Dr. Rudina Xhillari, Prof. Dr. Ukë Buçpapa, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Iris Klosi, Dr. Orges Hakani, Dr. Adelina Albrahimi, Dr. Jonida Petro, Dr. Nejla Qafmolla, MSc. Sonila Alla, Doctoral Student, Dr. Luela Liçi, Dr. Alketa Pema, Dr. Kristina Ajazi, Dr. Rozana Bela.