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Faculty Members Contribute to Public Forum on 7th Anniversary of King Salman

  On Monday, November 8, 2021, King Khalid University celebrated the seventh anniversary of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's ascension to the throne. As a part of the celebration, a talk was held on leadership and achievement in theater 6. His Excellency the President of King Khalid University, Prof. Fallah Al-Solamy, led the discussion, which was open to the public.   Representing the Faculty of Languages and Translation — and all programs within — were Vice Dean for Academic Development & Quality, Dr. Abdulrahman Almosa, and Dr. Mona Al-Shehri, who is now the General Supervisor of the Student Training Unit. Of note, Dr. Almosa moderated the event and began by recalling the remarkable development and unprecedented achievements we have witnessed at all economic and social levels. Dr. Al-Shehri echoed Dr. Almosa's sentiments by explaining how the exceptional women empowerment reforms have led to an inclusive approach in their participation in national development.   Also participating in the event were Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Ahmed Al-Faya, General Director of the Human Resources Operations Department, Muhammad bin Shaya Al-Nahari, and student Reham Al-Shawal. They all highlighted the substantial improvements made in local governance, urban policy, and youth empowerment stemming from Vision 2030.   All programs in the Faculty of Languages and Translation are committed to implementing its role in the community partnership plan of King Khalid University. Please click here to view a recording of the event. Date: 11/15/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

Faculty Members Participate in Graduate Studies Preparation Program

  During the week of November 7, 2021, 3 faculty members participated in a series of webinars — supervised by the Vice Presidency of Graduate Studies and Academic Research and organized by the Scholarship Department — designed to prepare teaching assistants and lecturers for the intense responsibilities and schedule of a doctoral program. On a daily basis, nearly 150 participants engaged in robust and engaging conversations with a team of leading researchers and experienced faculty from King Khalid University.   Representing the Faculty of Languages and Translation were Dr. Munassir Alhamami, Dr. Abdul Wahed Q. Al Zumor, and Dr. Fakieh Alrabai. Dr. Alhamami led off Monday's session with a presentation on research methods, and he highlighted the importance of forming a coherent picture of the research techniques used. Following closely after, Dr. Al Zumor complemented Dr. Alhamami's session by introducing participants to the specific rules, flow, and structure of academic research writing. Concluding the Faculty of Languages and Translation's participation on Wednesday was Dr. Alrabai. He led participants through research methodology and the process of visualizing the implementation of a research project.   Faculty members in all college programs are committed to regularly participating in research-based academic activities to improve our programs' and institutional performance. Date: 11/13/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

A Professional Approach to Reducing Stress Involved in Course Report Writing

  Mr. Mohammad Adil conducted a very effective workshop focusing on stress management which was titled A Professional Approach to Reducing Stress Involved in Course Report Writing, on November 10, 2021. The workshop was organized by the Language Research Center. The trainer, along with some basics of course report writing, particularly emphasized how to lessen stress many teachers experience before course report submission. He also emphasized that a professional approach to handling this course report task can easily reduce stress to a great extent.   The session included some brainstorming tasks for the participants. The tasks were based on the relationship between a course coordinator and instructors and how a wrong approach to designing an examination or a quiz could lead to unnecessary stress. In response to the tasks, the participants shared some thought-provoking ideas that every teacher must think of. For example, changing our mentality helps a great deal. We all should avoid downplaying the course report writing job and therefore consider it as an important one.   The trainer emphasized being proactive and working on the report ahead of time, preferably during the semester, not after the final examination. He also showed some examples of how tests, quizzes, and tasks could be aligned with the course learning outcomes in advance and how it could help design tests in a more effective way, eventually reducing stress most teachers experience at the end of every semester.   As regards Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) measurement, the trainer primarily emphasized the "Values" domain, which many instructors have experienced difficulties with. He showed a sample of a survey form that could be used in class to measure the CLOs under "Values".   Adil concluded that we, the instructors, especially the coordinators, work ahead of time by being proactive by designing and aligning. The coordinators should avoid burdening the instructors with tasks they can do easily alone. Also, the instructors should cooperate as well by being available to the coordinator.   The workshop was very engaging and a great success. Please click here to view the workshop booklet. Date: 11/12/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

FLT Delivers Brief Translation on the Arabian Highland Development Strategy in 7 Languages

  As part of the Bachelor of Arts in English program's Community Service Partnership Plan under the supervision of Dean Abdullah Al-Melhi and in cooperation with the university Media Center, a portion of the Arabian Highland Theme in the Aseer Region Strategic Plan, supervised by the Aseer Development Authority (ASDA), was translated into seven languages. The short videos were widely distributed on YouTube and Twitter and made viewers aware that His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, launched the Arabian Highland development strategy in the Aseer region. In Afrikaans, Bengali, French, Hindi, Pashto, Romanian, and Urdu, the strategy's primary objective of turning the region into an all-year-round world destination through an investment of $50 billion SAR was explained. Dean Abdullah Melhi explained that this community service activity delivered in October 2021 is part of the Bachelor of Arts in English program at the Faculty of Languages and Translation's commitment to serving the community in the fields of languages and translation.   Of note, the Community Service Partnership Plan (CSPP) and Employer Advisory Board (EAB) were recently revised and approved in a Department Council meeting on November 2, 2021. The new CSPP calls for increased alignment with: the Mission Statement and the recently revised and approved EAB. It also references the Aseer Development Authority and Vision 2030 as the basis for broadening the scope of our community service partnership activities.   Particular thanks are due to our Bachelor of Arts in English program colleagues who provided accurate translations of information designed to instruct residents on the Aseer Strategic Plan. The translations were made available in the following languages: Afrikaans, Mr. Azaad Hayat; Bangla, Mr. Mohammad Fuad; French, Dr. Abdelhamid Bessaid; Hindi, Mr. Javed Ahmed; Pashto, Mr. Salahud Din Abdul Rab; Romanian, Dr. Justin Sfariac; Urdu, Mr. Mohsin Khan. Date: 11/6/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

How to Prepare an Oral Research Presentation

  On October 12, 2021, the Scientific Research Unit - Women’s section- organized a webinar titled How to Prepare an Oral Research Presentation by Dr. Nada Alqarni.   Dr. Alqarni started her presentation by guiding her audience to think about their target. “Think about what you want to achieve and think about how you are going to involve your audience in the presentation”, said Dr. Alqarni. She then illustrated the significance of brainstorming the main ideas, organizing the topics of discussion, getting ready for the presentation and rehearsal.   Dr. Alqarni indicated that it is important to capture the listener’s attention in the beginning. Then the presenter should state the purpose of the topic of discussion and present an outline of his/her work. Dr. Alqarni highlighted the importance of presenting the main points one by one in a logical order and making it clear when moving to another point. She indicated that using clear examples to illustrate the key findings is helpful to keep the audience involved in the discussion. In addition, she referred to the use of visual aids to make the presentation more interesting.   The webinar focused on five main points. These are: preparing an oral presentation, organizing the content, typical presentation format for research projects, delivering a presentation, and a summary of all the main ideas of discussion. In the end, Dr. Alqarni presented a video where an oral research presentation is delivered, and she explained its points of strengths and weaknesses. The presentation was followed by a discussion on presenting research projects that were nicely and neatly wrapped.   The webinar, which was mainly delivered to MA and Ph.D. students and attended by staff members from different faculties at the university, was really informative. Date: 10/18/2021 Source: Dr. Amal Metwally - Head of Scientific Research Committee
English

FLT Participates in Mobaderoon 2

  On 29 June 2021, Hassan Costello delivered a 2-hour webinar titled "Strategies for IELTS Preparation and Test-Taking". Under the supervision of the Vice Presidency of Business and Knowledge Economy, the webinar was organized by the Scholarship Administration and Faculty of Languages and Translation as part of Mobaderoon 2, a community service initiative focused on furthering the development of knowledge exchange between King Khalid University and the community. In the webinar, Costello explained to nearly 250 participants that there are plenty of decent study guides on the market, but his goal was to provide practical strategies that can be used to exploit weaknesses in the test itself and avoid the most common errors when taking the IELTS. "Each tip was carefully selected for its effectiveness. Strive to become an expert in learning what works well and what can be done in order to improve," he said.   The Bachelor of Arts in English program at the Faculty of Languages and Translation is committed to participating in community partnership activities as part of its role in the community partnership plan at King Khalid University. Date: 7/9/2021 Source Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

Faculty Member Writes Book Chapter About Translators Training

  Dr. Eyhab Abdulrazak Bader Eddin, Assistant Professor of Translation, has written a chapter for a book entitled "Research Into Translation and Training in Arab Academic Institutions". The book will be published by Routledge on July 30, 2021. Dr. Bader Eddin's chapter is entitled "Insights into Translators Training: Issues and Methods of Assessment". As explained in the book description, the book "addresses translators' status, roles, and structures. It also provides Arab perspectives on translation and translation training, written by scholars representing academic institutions across the Arab world. Themes in this collection include training terminologists on managing, promoting and marketing terms; corpora and translation teaching in the Arab world; use of translation technologies; translators training and translators' methodologies and assessment of translators' competence; research on translator training; and the status quo of undergraduate translation programs in a sample of five Arab universities. A valuable resource for students, professionals and scholars of Arabic translation and interpreting." Date: 6/8/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
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Faculty Member Delivers Session on Annotated Translation

  Dr. Eyhab Bader Eddin has undertaken a fresh initiative for bringing "Annotated Translation" to light. Annotated Translation is a fascinating yet complex subject that has increasingly come to prominence and gained currency for being adopted as a major assessment method for Translation students in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Although a firm dividing line could be drawn between 'annotated translation' and 'translation commentary', they both have been used interchangeably in his session open to the public during the Spring 2021 semester. Dr. Bader Eddin delivered a 2-hour-long session — titled "Annotated Translation: Showing students the ropes — on the fundamentals of the subject", drawing attendees' attention to the seminal book, which was the first of its kind, fully devoted in a book-size work to this subject. Viz. Sewell's 2002 (Translation Commentary: The Art revisited). The session tackled such points as definition, How should an annotated translation look like? What should it include and exclude, desirable and undesirable features, marking criteria for translation commentary, steps to initiate a translation annotation project, and some illustrative practical examples. Some tangible examples have been offered to link theory to practice, as a rarely distinguished feature in translation. The session was followed by some assignments to ensure the attendees had grasped the content of the session.   To view all webinars, please click here. Date: 5/6/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

Faculty Member Leads 3-Part Series on the Parts of Speech

  In a continuous series of sessions aimed at advancing and deepening understanding of graduate students, Dr. Eyhab Bader Eddin started to offer an advanced free intensive course on the Parts of Speech. Students at the graduate or doctoral level who are in the process of writing their thesis, dissertations, or research papers face unique challenges. These papers indicate whether or not they understood the concepts clearly. For this reason, Dr. Bader Eddin held a 3-part webinar series on the 8 parts of speech open to the public during the 2020-2021 academic year. The webinar, tailored to graduate students, attracted hundreds of attendees from different parts of the world. High on the target list came graduate students and English teachers for the purpose of addressing any problems related to parts of speech and to fill any gap in their linguistic knowledge so as to clamber up the rung of their mental ladder aplomb.   "While it may seem that having a detailed understanding of the parts of speech is not needed, it is imperative that graduates of the Faculty of Languages and Translation present their papers in the right manner with proper sentence structure," said Dr. Bader Eddin. He then explained that Dean, Dr. Abdullah Al-Melhi, and Vice Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Munassir Alhamami, were highly supportive of his 3-part webinar series, which was launched to engage the community, alumni, and currently enrolled students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.   The topics discussed included, but were not limited to the following: Language components Detailed Overview of the parts of speech Grammatical hierarchy Sentence types according to A) structure and B) communicative function Syntactic theory Language universals Semantic classes Typology of parts of speech systems Language components Overview of parts of speech Grammatical hierarchy Sentence types according to A) structure and B) communicative function Nouns as a part of speech Noun types and characteristics Noun plural formation Noun plurals Noun gender Noun Case Noun genitive and -of phrase Meanings of genitive and –of phrase   These sessions were followed by assignments handed out to ensure the attendees' thorough understanding of the topics covered. Questions were always welcomed to clear away any fog of misunderstanding during the course of the sessions. It is worth mentioning that we have come to know that new sessions are to be held soon in a bid to complete the series.   To view all webinars, please click here. Date: 5/6/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English

Faculty Member Leads Project to Enrich Arabic Wiki Content

  Supervised by Dr. Fahad Otaif, Assistant Professor of Critical Discourse Analysis and Translation, a team of postgraduate female students from the Faculty of Languages and Translation (FLT) participated in the "WikiDowen" project during the Spring 2021 semester. The WikiDowen Project, under the administration of the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah), aims to enrich and increase the Arabic content on Wikipedia; although Arabic is the fourth most popular language in the world, the Arabic content on Wikipedia still ranks 25th in terms of volume.   Dr. Otaif praised the postgraduate students who worked hard, saying that: "the students were really motivated to take part in this initiative, they worked hard to translate more scientific content. The initiative resulted in 50 articles translated from English into Arabic. The translated topics ranged from medical topics, to psychology, Artificial Intelligence as well as engineering. The translated articles were compiled in a digital booklet to document the scientific outcomes of the initiative".   Dr. Otaif added, "the WikiDowen's Project manager, Dr. Zuhair Al-Shehri, and his deputy Ms. Reem Al-Mutairi also played a vital role in helping the new Wikipedians (translators) to post and edit their translations on the Arabic Wikipedia; this cooperation lasted for two months and was really fruitful for both parties."   Vice Dean for Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Munassir Alhamami, added, "we are excited to be a part of this national volunteer initiative for the second year in a row; it provides our FLT students the opportunity to participate in a field experience activity that is aligned with the learning outcomes we target in our language and translation programs."   Dr. Otaif added, "such initiatives and projects will grant our students valuable experience and help them in mastering the translation profession through which they will improve their professional background and job readiness; I do thank our Dean Dr. Abdullah Al-Melhi and the vice dean for postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Language and Translation for their endless support in this initiative and will continue to encourage similar initiatives at the FLT in the near future en shaa' Allah." Date: 5/4/2021 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation
English