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| ELL4041 | Localization | 2+0+0 | ECTS:4 | | Year / Semester | Fall Semester | | Level of Course | First Cycle | | Status | Elective | | Department | WESTERN LANGUAGES and LITERATURE (%100 English) | | Prerequisites and co-requisites | None | | Mode of Delivery | | | Contact Hours | 14 weeks - 2 hours of lectures per week | | Lecturer | Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Muhammed BAYDERE | | Co-Lecturer | | | Language of instruction | | | Professional practise ( internship ) | None | | | | The aim of the course: | | The primary aim of this course is to guide students from a traditional understanding of text translation toward a professional, technology- and market-oriented perspective of today?s localization industry. The goal is to teach students how to fully prepare a digital product (such as a website, mobile application, or software) for a target market?not only linguistically, but also culturally, technically, legally, and in terms of user behavior.
Students will learn that different content types (marketing, user interface, online help, and audiovisual materials) require distinct strategies (e.g., transcreation, technical writing). They will also develop the ability to identify and resolve both technical (e.g., character limits, encoding) and cultural (e.g., image selection, format conventions) challenges in localization.
Ultimately, the course aims to equip students with fundamental knowledge of localization project management, quality assurance, and tools, preparing them to become competent professionals in the localization field. |
| Learning Outcomes | CTPO | TOA | | Upon successful completion of the course, the students will be able to : | | | | LO - 1 : | define the concept of localization and its significance in a global context. | 1 - 11 | 1,6, | | LO - 2 : | analyze a digital product (such as a website or application) and detect non-textual localization issues (e.g., date/currency formats, culturally inappropriate visuals, UI/design problems). | 1 - 11 | 1,3,6, | | LO - 3 : | distinguish and apply localization strategies specific to different content types, such as marketing, user interface, and online help materials. | 1 - 11 | 1,3,6, | | LO - 4 : | adapt content for different markets by taking various factors into consideration. | 1 - 11 | 1,3,6, | | LO - 5 : | describe the main stages of the localization process (preparation, execution, quality control) and explain the functions of the essential tools used throughout these stages. | 1 - 11 | 1,6, | | CTPO : Contribution to programme outcomes, TOA :Type of assessment (1: written exam, 2: Oral exam, 3: Homework assignment, 4: Laboratory exercise/exam, 5: Seminar / presentation, 6: Term paper), LO : Learning Outcome | | |
| This course begins by redefining translation within the context of digital products and introduces the concept of localization through industry standards such as LISA and GALA. It emphasizes that localization is a multi-layered process extending far beyond text translation ? encompassing the adaptation of graphics, content, design, currencies, measurement units, date/address formats, and local legal requirements for the target market.
The course explores the historical development and market growth of the localization industry (including statistics and growth rates). Students analyze both successful and poor localization cases as part of case studies.
The main body of the course focuses on various content types within digital products, such as marketing materials, user interfaces, online help pages, and audiovisual content. Throughout the course, the localization process (preparation, execution, quality control) and key industry roles (project manager, localization engineer, language specialist, tester), as well as essential tools, are introduced. Collaborative localization exercises and group projects are used to reinforce these skills and concepts. |
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| Course Syllabus | | Week | Subject | Related Notes / Files | | Week 1 | Introduction
- Course introduction, expectations, and assessment
- Definitions of localization
- General discussion on translation and localization
| | | Week 2 | The localization industry and its history
- The birth of localization
- Localization becoming an industry
- The significance of localization: market statistics and growth
| | | Week 3 | The GILT model 1: Globalization & internationalization
- Globalization: The business strategy for a global market.
- Internationalization: The technical preparation of the product
- Internationalization examples
| | | Week 4 | The GILT model 2: Internationalization (cont.) and localization
- Internationalization case study: Date/time formats (ISO 8601), currency, units of measure
- Localization: The cultural and linguistic adaptation process built on internationalization
- Case study: Good and bad localization examples
| | | Week 5 | Content types 1: Marketing content & transcreation
- The 3 questions: Where? who? why?
- The function of marketing content and localization strategies
| | | Week 6 | Marketing content workshop
- Brand voice, adapting humor, call to action
- Case study: Google Fit Japanese vs. English adaptations of graphics and taglines
| | | Week 7 | Content types 2: Online help
- Goal, function, and challenges
- Localization strategies
| | | Week 8 | Content types 3: User interface
- Goal, function, and challenges
- Localization strategies
| | | Week 9 | Midterm exam | | | Week 10 | Content types 4 & 5: AVT & SEO/SEM
- Audiovisual Content (AVT): Subtitling and dubbing
- SEO/SEM: The importance of local keyword research
| | | Week 11 | The localization process 1: Preparation
- Product preparation: Market analysis and legal checks
- Internationalization testing: Pseudo-localization
- Project preparation: Creating a terminology glossary, translation memory (TM), and style guide
| | | Week 12 | The Localization process 2 & 3: Execution and tools
- Project execution: Translation, engineering, and review
- Localization tools: The role of CAT tools, MT (NMT), and TMs | | | Week 13 | The localization process 4: Quality assurance
- Quality assurance and review
- Linguistic quality assurance
- Functional quality assurance | | | Week 14 | Industry roles and group project
- Industry roles
- Group project introduction: selecting (or creating) a website/mobile app
- Project planning: Identifying marketing, UI, and help content and group formation | | | Week 15 | Project workshop and presentations
- Groups presenting their localization process and challenges
- Showcase of localized (Turkish) product components
- Term review
| | | Week 16 | Final exam | | | |
| 1 | Esselink, B. 2000; A Practical Guide to Localization. John Benjamins. Amsterdam/Philadelphia. | | | |
| 1 | Pym, A. 2004; The Moving Text: Localization, Translation, and Distribution. John Benjamins B.V., Amsterdam/Philadelphia. | | | 2 | Alonso, V. 2014; New Challenges in Interactive Media Localization Projects. Fun for All: Translation and Accessibility Practices in Video Games, Carme Mangiron, Pilar Orero ve Minako O Hagan, ed., Peter Lang, Bern. | | | 3 | O Hagan, M. ve Chandler, H. 2016; Game localization research and translation studies: Loss and gain under an interdisciplinary lense. Border Crossings: Translation Studies and other disciplines, Yves Gambier ve Luc van Doorslaer, 309-330. John Benjamins, Amsterdam. | | | 4 | Sin-wai, C. 2022; Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Technology. Routledge, New York. | | | |
| Method of Assessment | | Type of assessment | Week No | Date | Duration (hours) | Weight (%) | | Mid-term exam | 9 | | 2 | 50 | | Project | 16 | | 2 | 50 | | |
| Student Work Load and its Distribution | | Type of work | Duration (hours pw) | No of weeks / Number of activity | Hours in total per term | | Yüz yüze eğitim | 14 | 2 | 28 | | Sınıf dışı çalışma | 3 | 13 | 39 | | Arasınav için hazırlık | 3 | 7 | 21 | | Ödev | 2 | 6 | 12 | | Proje | 2 | 1 | 2 | | Diğer 1 | 6 | 3 | 18 | | Total work load | | | 120 |
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