Master of Arts in Translation Studies

The Languages, Linguistics, and Translation Department of the School of Education, Arts, and Social Sciences (SEAS) of Africa International University (AIU) offers a MA in Translation Studies as a two-year program with two possible tracks:

  • General translation
  • Bible translation.

Note on eligibility for admission: It is assumed that applicants will have a BA in translations studies, linguistics, or some other related field, and that they will therefore have taken some introductory courses at BA level. Applicants who have not taken relevant BA level courses may be required to take introductory courses in addition to the regular MA courses, as follows:

Structure of the MA programs: 

Description Distribution of Units
An MA comprises 54 semester credits
Of these 6 credits are Thesis credits
The remaining 48 credits are distributed in 16 courses of 3 credits each
Of the 16 courses two are courses required of all MA students, regardless of their program
Of the remaining 14 courses some are “core”, required of all students in the program, some are required for a particular concentration, and some are electives.

MA in Translation Studies

Applicants who have not had the equivalent of the following 4 courses at BA level may be required to take them in addition to the 16 courses required for the MA (making a total of 20 courses).

  • LT500 Introduction to Language and Linguistics
  • LT503 Introduction to Sociolinguistics
  • LT501 Introduction to Morphology and Syntax
  • LT 502 Morphology and Syntax 2

Also recommended but not required is the following:

  • LT 510 Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

The following courses are required of all students in both concentrations:

  • LT531 Translation Theory and Practice 1
  • LT532 Translation Theory and Practice 2
  • LT633 Professional Ethics for Translators
  • LT631 Research Methods for Translation Studies
  • LT504 Semantics and Pragmatics
  • LT615 Discourse Analysis
  • LT530 History of Bible translation/History of translation
  • LT643 Analysis of target language
  • LT643 Analysis of source language
  • LT636 Translation of narratives
  • LT637 Translation of non-narratives (poetry)
  • BL courses (4)

The following two courses are required of all MA students of the university:

  • PA500 Foundations for Life and Ministry
  • MS605 Leadership Development
  • BS501 Hermeneutics
  • BS630 Cultural world of the Bible

The courses for the concentrations are as follows:

MA in Translation Studies, General

All general translation students take the following four courses:

  • LT630 Advanced Translation Theory
  • LT642 Analysis of the Source Language for Translation
  • LT643 Analysis of the Target Language for Translation
  • LT639 Translation as a Profession

General translation students choose four from the following courses:

  • LT625 Statistics for Linguistics Research
  • LT638 Translation of Poetry
  • LT640 Translation of Non-print Media
  • LT629 Special Topics in Translation
  • LT635 Electronic Technology for Translation
  • LT 636 Translation of Narrative
  • LT637 Translation of Non-Narrative Prose

MA in Translation Studies-Bible Translation

All students in the Bible Translation concentration take at least two of the following courses:

  • LT638 Translation of Poetry
  • LT636 Translation of Narrative
  • LT637 Translation of Non-Narrative Prose

All students in the Bible Translation concentration take the following courses taught by the Biblical Studies

  • BS501 Hermeneutics
  • BS630 Cultural Worlds of the Bible

+ 4 courses in either Greek or Hebrew*

*If the student has already taken Greek or Hebrew, other courses may be substituted.

Students in both concentrations are required to write an MA thesis

  • LT690 Thesis