About the Faculty
Established under the royal decree of Portugal in the year 1905 as the Chinese Language School, the Faculty of Languages and Translation of Macao Polytechnic University has more than a hundred years’ history. In 1992, the Royal Decree No. 48/92/M approved the establishment of the School of Languages and Translation as well as the bylaws of former Macao Polytechnic Institute; meanwhile, the Royal Decree No. 16/92/M approved the merging of the School with the Technical School of the Department of Chinese Affairs, by then a chief institution in charge of training of translators.
Since its inception, the Faculty of Languages and Translation adheres to its long-standing tradition, and as both Chinese and Portuguese are official languages according to the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the Faculty has been strengthening its training capabilities especially in Chinese-Portuguese and Portuguese-Chinese translation.
After the transfer of sovereignty of Macao from Portugal to the People’s Republic of China, the Faculty of Languages and Translation is committed to training much-needed talents for Macao SAR, extended its translation teaching programme. Besides Chinese-Portuguese translation, it began offering the Chinese-English translation courses in the year 2000.
Currently the Faculty of Languages and Translation offers the following undergraduate programmes:
- Bachelor’s degree programme in Chinese-Portuguese / Portuguese-Chinese translation;
- Bachelor’s degree programme in Chinese-English translation;
- Bachelor’s degree programme in international Chinese language education;
- Bachelor’s degree programme in Portuguese, with two special fields of studies: Portuguese language education and Portuguese language and cultural studies
The learning and teaching pattern of the Faculty of Languages and Translation is one of native language immersion, namely students of Chinese language attending full-time lectures in Beijing for a year while students of Portuguese language attending full-time lectures in Portugal for a year. This pattern may ensure that all students could have an excellent mastery of interpersonal and cultural skills in the native speaking environment. Currently there are about 150 students attending the undergraduate programme in Chinese-Portuguese / Portuguese-Chinese translation.
The Faculty of Languages and Translation began offering graduate courses in Chinese-Portuguese Translation and Interpretation in 2019, and began offering PhD courses in Portuguese language studies from 2020. It has made remarkable achievements in teaching, research and training of languages and translation, and has established a comprehensive education system consisting of undergraduate-, graduate- and PhD-level programmes.
The multi-language and multi-cultural environment of the Faculty of Languages and Translation is dependent upon its outstanding teaching staff, which includes bilingual teachers as well as teachers whose native languages are Portuguese or English, a guarantee of its high translation teaching quality.
The undergraduate programme in Chinese-Portuguese / Portuguese-Chinese translation has been accredited by the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES), Portugal, and the undergraduate programme in Chinese-English translation accredited by the Academic Quality Agency (AQA) for New Zealand Universities.
With its active internationalisation initiatives, the Faculty of Languages and Translation of MPU not only offers teaching and research opportunities for international teachers and students but cooperates with many institutions of higher learning in Mainland China and Portugal to offer a number of graduate and PhD courses, and has signed cooperation agreements with institutions of higher learning of Australia, UK and other Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil and Cape Verde.
Mapping of Graduate Attributes to Programme Intended Learning Outcomes (PILOs): Bachelor of Arts in Chinese-English Translation and Interpretation, Bachelor of Arts in Chinese-Portuguese/Portuguese-Chinese Translation and Interpretation, Bachelor of Arts in International Chinese Language Education, Bachelor of Arts in Portuguese Language, Master of Chinese-Portuguese Translation and Interpreting, Doctor of Philosophy in Portuguese