Introduction
The Language Services Unit (USL), part of the University of Granada’s Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization, is an institutional translation, revision and editing service. The Unit is responsible for tasks related to the internationalization of content in Spanish and English, the development of bilingual institutional resources, and the creation of editing and translation tools, such as the UGR English Style Guide. Moreover, the USL supports the development of the terminology resource UGRTerm®, as well as UGRCat, the bilingual catalogue of UGR programmes and courses.
To achieve these aims, the USL makes use of language technologies, including computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, machine translation systems, and processes based on artificial intelligence. The ultimate goal of the USL is to enhance the quality, consistency and clarity of institutional language and communication, both internally at the UGR and externally with our international stakeholders.
The USL is primarily dedicated to translating, revising and editing:
– Institutional regulations
– International agreements
– Academic reports
– Institutional communiqués and announcements
– Multimedia content
– UGR websites
Organisation
The USL is coordinated by the Secretariat for Language Services and Resources, within the framework of the Language Policy established by the UGR’s Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization
Specialties
Institutional Translation, Content Internationalisation, Text Editing and Proofreading, Translation Technologies, CAT Tools, Machine Translation, Multimedia Localisation, Terminology Management, Corpus Linguistics, Database Management, Subtitling, Language Consultancy, Institutional Communication, Post-editing, and Translation Training
Foundation
2020
Contact
@email - Silvia Montero Martínez (Director for Language Services and Resources)
langservices@ugr.es - Alan Hewitt y Alec Weedon (Language Services Unit Staff)
Location
Espacio V Centenario
Av. de Madrid s/n, Planta Baja, Puerta B13,
18012, Granada (Spain)
Resources developed by the USL:
UGRTerm®
What is UGRTerm?
UGRTerm, the Spanish-English language resource that was officially launched in March 2018, contains the official nomenclature of the University of Granada (UGR) and a considerable number of terms and expressions related to research and higher education. It also features terminology from cross-cutting spheres such as the social sciences and humanities; law; economics and statistics; information, communication and public events; public infrastructure; and politics, government and administration. The resource now contains over 43,000 terms in English and Spanish.
A pioneering database in the international university context, UGRTerm is designed to facilitate the standardisation and homogenisation of the official nomenclature in use at the UGR, both in Spanish and English. It also aims to become a support tool for all members of the university community (teaching and research staff, administrative and support staff, and students) who draft and translate university documents on a regular basis.
It is funded by the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization, through the secretariats for Language Policy and for Language Services and Resources, within the framework of the UGR's Internationalization Strategy.
Objectives and scope
The main objective of UGRTerm is to facilitate communication in the UGR and make it more effective and consistent, both internally and externally. This means eliminating possible ambiguities, controlling the proliferation of new terms, identifying obsolete terms, and generally improving the national and international image of the UGR.
UGRTerm has not been conceived as a comprehensive dictionary per se, but rather as a living resource that is continually updated. Since its launch, the official UGR nomenclature related to new university bodies, activities, courses, etc. has been incorporated, alongside terminology which is frequently used in the higher education and research sectors (e.g. teaching posts and learning and research processes). Moreover, terminology which arises in the process of translating contents such as academic and research reports, university websites, international agreements, etc. is also regularly added to the database.
Currently, the thematic index of UGRTerm is divided into three main sections: 1) Official terminology of the University of Granada; 2) Terminology related to Research and Higher Education; 3) Transversal Notions. By way of example, the sub-section titled ‘Teaching, Learning and Research Process’ now features terms and expressions such as ‘to sit an exam ⇆ examinarse’; ‘to submit a thesis ⇆ depositar una tesis’; ‘tutorial ⇆ tutoría’; ‘learning to learn ⇆ aprender a aprender’; ‘bullying ⇆ acoso escolar’; ‘comparative study ⇆ estudio comparativo’; ‘level test ⇆ prueba de nivel’; ‘teaching methodology ⇆ metodología docente’, and so forth.
The terms related to the most common teaching posts at the University of Granada and other Spanish public universities have also been incorporated into the database. The task of translating these positions into English poses significant challenges because the terms employed across different higher education systems vary greatly (even among different universities within the UK or the US). Consequently, given that there is no straightforward equivalence for academic positions among these different systems, the most common posts at UK (British English) and US (North American English) universities, as well as those used in EU documents (EU English), have been employed as benchmarks.
In light of the UGR’s strategic context, precedence has been given to British English and EU English (usage status: Official/standardized) and, where necessary, North American terminology is admitted (usage status: Admitted). Moreover, when relevant, denominations in Spanish include both the masculine and female gender.
Why standardise?
The University of Granada manages an extensive range of academic programmes, conducts highly complex and diverse research activities at both the national and international levels, and provides the University community and society with a vast array of services. By way of an example, the UGR teaches a staggering 10,000 courses, over 70 bachelor’s degrees, over 100 master’s degrees and 28 doctoral programmes. These academic programmes are taught to approximately 55,000 students every year, over 4,500 of whom are international.
This context poses significant challenges to the consistent, coherent and systematic communication of information, both internally at the University and externally with regard to our international students and stakeholders. This is made all the more complex by the need to communicate information both in Spanish and in a host of other languages, especially in English. Moreover, this difficult task is further intensified by the sheer variety of posts, positions, services, units, faculties, schools etc. involved in coordinating, managing and governing the University throughout its 7 campuses.
Precisely because of this complexity, the effective management of information and communication in different languages is essential in order to satisfy the needs of our University community and partner institutions, as well as the public bodies and private sector organisations that maintain close ties with our Institution.
The Language Policy of the University of Granada is therefore a fundamental cornerstone of our Internationalization Strategy and Communication Policy. In this regard, UGRTerm has been conceived as a centralised, open access bilingual resource (and as a multilingual resource in the near future).
Users
This tool has been designed for internal users (academic and research staff, administrative and support staff, and students of the UGR) as well as for external users interested in the academic and institutional terminology used in the UGR and the context of higher education.
Functions
UGRTerm enables users to conduct simple and advanced searches, and terms can be searched alphabetically or by subject area. This flexibility allows users to access each term entry from different access points, depending on their user profile, needs and knowledge level. At the very least, each entry provides the official/standardized Spanish term used in the UGR (usage status) and its English correspondence. Furthermore, it often provides additional information regarding the type, meaning, and use of terms, including abbreviations, variants, definitions, contexts, etc. Users can also make suggestions regarding specific terms and internal users can also download a list of entries in Excel format.
User support and training sessions
UGRTerm is a user-friendly resource. However, for additional support, a user guide and videotutorials are available at: https://ugrterm.ugr.es/en/help-and-video-tutorials/
Furthermore, training sessions are delivered for diverse groups at the UGR, including teaching and research staff, administrative and support staff, and interns. If you wish to request a training session for your centre/service, please contact our team.
UGRCat
About UGRCat and its objective
UGRCat is a bilingual (Spanish-English) catalogue of programmes, courses and research lines offered by the University of Granada. Its development was proposed by the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization as a response to the commitment undertaken by the University of Granada to publish and regularly update our course catalogue on our institutional website, as established in the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education.
It also serves a need for transparency in order to foster better understanding between different institutions and countries, and internal and external stakeholders.
To achieve this aim, it includes the items listed by the ECTS Users’ Guide 2015 published by the European Commission. For example, the programme catalogue includes information such as the admission requirements, the qualification awarded, the length of the programme and the mode of study. Likewise, the course catalogue offers up-to-date information on every individual educational component, for instance the code, title, type or content.
Users
This tool has been designed to offer prospective students, as well as other internal and external stakeholders, clear and accessible information on the educational programmes, courses and research lines offered by the University of Granada.
Features of UGRCat
UGRCat provides a search engine to conduct simple and advanced searches of programmes and courses using keywords, codes, branches, campuses, mobility windows, etc.
Note
Prospective students may view the latest academic year as a guide, bearing in mind that some programmes and courses may not be offered next year, and new ones not shown here may be available. You may also find useful information on our webpages “Grados ofertados por la Universidad de Granada” and “Másteres y Doctorados (Postgrados) ofertados por la Universidad de Granada”.
UGR English Style Guide
The UGR English Style Guide is a language resource for in-house and freelance translators, administrative and support staff (PAS), and teaching and research staff (PDI) who are responsible for producing institutional texts in English at the UGR.
Other linguistic resources
If you wish to find information on other resources developed or recommended by the Language Services Unit (USL), access the Linguistic Resources section.