Teaching & Learning

In order to better serve the needs of the Macao SAR Government in the construction of the Service Platform for Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, the School of Languages and Translation of the Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) proposed the project of "Training High-end Chinese-Portuguese Bilinguals in the Era of Digital Humanities: Building a Comprehensive and Multidimensional Advantageous Platform" (hereinafter referred to as “the Project”) in August 2015, and formally implemented it in August 2016 after one year of preparation and validation.

 

The School of Languages and Translation has a history of more than 100 years of language education and has accumulated rich experience in language and translation teaching. Since the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the School has been committed to training language and translation professionals for the Macao SAR, and has been expanding its translation teaching areas. The Project was proposed to enrich the connotation of the platform for high-end Chinese-Portuguese bilinguals training. With high-quality courses and training and internationalized quality assurance, it provides a wider scope for learning and practice for students from Macao, the Chinese Mainland and Portuguese-speaking countries, to further improve the quality of talent training, and to explore new pathways for teacher training. The implementation of this project is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

 

First, diversification of the curriculum. In response to the needs of the Macao SAR Government and the curriculum development plan of the Institute to increase the types of training of Chinese-Portuguese bilinguals in a timely manner, the School, on the basis of the BA Programme in Chinese-Portuguese/Portuguese-Chinese Translation and Interpretation, has opened a new bachelor's degree program in International Chinese Language Education (2016) and a bachelor's degree program in Portuguese Language (2017). The former applicable to non-native speakers of Chinese mainly aims at cultivating talents proficient in Chinese for Portuguese-speaking countries, while the latter’s Portuguese language education and Portuguese language and culture courses aim to nurture Chinese-Portuguese bilinguals that are urgently needed by the SAR in addition to Chinese-Portuguese translators.

 

Second, multidimensionalization of the structure. Based on the Chinese-Portuguese/Portuguese-Chinese Translation and Interpretation bachelor's degree program, the Master of Chinese-Portuguese Translation and Interpreting and Doctor of Philosophy in Portuguese programmes were launched in 2019 to build a multidimensional and comprehensive bilinguals training system. The launch of the Master's and Doctoral programmes provides a strong guarantee as well as enhances the level of the platform for the cultivation of advanced professional bilinguals in China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

 

Third, internationalisation of quality management. In the process of building the Chinese-Portuguese Bilinguals Training Platform, we have always adhered to the philosophy of "outcome-based" education, strictly followed the international quality assurance mechanism of the Macao Polytechnic Institute, converged with the international community in terms of quality management, and actively accepted the programme evaluation by international higher education accreditation agencies to promote the construction of programmes and enhance the teaching standard through international assessment. The Bachelor’s Programme in Chinese-Portuguese/ Translation and Interpretation was accredited by the Portuguese Agency for Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation (A3ES) in 2016, making it the first translation programme in China to receive international recognition. In addition, the Bachelor’s Programmes in International Chinese Language Education and in Portuguese Language, the Master’s Programme in Chinese-Portuguese Translation and Interpreting and the Doctoral Programme in Portuguese have all adhered to international quality standards since the beginning, and will undergo academic review by relevant institutions in due course.

 

Fourth, deepening international cooperation. The cooperation with the Directorate-General for Interpretation of European Commission (DG-SCIC CE) has been strengthened, and the cooperation agreement signed in 2016 has further deepened and implemented the specific framework of the Chinese-Portuguese bilingual conference interpretation trainer programme. The European Union & MPI interpretating training mode has been formed gradually in practice, while the Chinese-Portuguese interpretation teaching team of MPI has also matured and grown. With the support of the Institute and through the friendly cooperation with DG-SCIC CE, we have successfully applied for the establishment of the International Portuguese Training Centre (Conference Interpretating), which not only nurtures excellent teachers and raises the standard of interpretating teaching, but also provides students at all levels with convenient conditions for nearby observation and practice.

 

Fifth, implementing translation teaching-industry-research projects. With the support of the Institute, and in collaboration with the China International Publishing Group, the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI) was successfully implemented in Macao, making us the first national translation qualification examination venue in Hong Kong and Macao. This has facilitated and helped the future career development of Chinese-Portuguese and Chinese-English translation students in Macao and the Greater Bay Area, and facilitated their early career planning and professional preparation. Together with the Putonghua Proficiency Test (PSC) and the Portuguese Proficiency Examination (LAPE) set up earlier, these tests are of great significance for the building of a demonstration based on teaching-industry-research collaboration.

 

Sixth, stepping up the development of teaching materials. To bring changes to the old teaching materials which are out-of-date and boring, we have been actively working on the development of Chinese-Portuguese translation and international Chinese language teaching materials, and are conducting related research projects. This will provide scientific, cutting-edge and international teaching content for the classroom, as well as providing resources for the development of teaching materials and academic research in the field.

 

Seventh, implementing the "student-cantered" concept in practicum and practice. Students have been encouraged and guided to make full use of the excellent conditions provided by the bilingual training platform to actively participate in various competitions, such as the World Chinese-Portuguese Translation Competition, the Portuguese Speech Contest, the Portuguese Poetry Recitation Competition, the Portuguese Debate Competition, and the Promotion Film Creation Competition for Portuguese-speaking countries, etc., so as to develop their abilities and talents through competition and practice. In recent years, our undergraduate students have participated in many voluntary activities such as the "Cultural Week of Portuguese Speaking Countries" and Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF), and our MA students work as interns for Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao.

 

The project of “Training High-end Chinese-Portuguese Bilinguals in the Era of Digital Humanities: Building a Comprehensive, and Multidimensional Advantageous Platform” aims to bring changes to the single-discipline and single-level Chinese-Portuguese bilinguals training, improve the level of teachers through a series of external cooperation, and provide students with opportunities for learning, practice and improvement. The development of and research on teaching materials have also provided further support for the construction of the platform. The recent years of practice have proved that the Project has achieved the expected results. It has injected new impetus to the academic construction and teaching reform project of the Institute and to the creation of "Training Base for High-end Chinese-Portuguese Bilinguals", "International Portuguese Training Centre" and “Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Exchange Centre” in Macao. Moreover, it has made important contributions to the major initiatives and strategies, such as "One Centre, One Platform, One Base" development strategy, the establishment of “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Youth Exchange and Cooperation Base for China and Portuguese-speaking countries" and the construction of the “Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone”.