Sept 2025 Entry
1 or 1.5 years (Full-time)
3 years (Part-time)
31
Under normal circumstances, full-time and part-time students are able to complete the programme within 1 or 1.5 and 3 years respectively. Non-local students should register as full-time students. Students who wish to extend their studies beyond normal duration can submit such request to the Department for consideration.
Applicants are required to choose either the full-time or part-time mode on their application for admission to the programme. Students who study full-time are required to take a minimum of 9 credits per semester.
This programme is offered within the Master of Arts Scheme in Chinese, Linguistics and Translation.
Notes to Applicants
Application to our postgraduate programmes can be done without any agency service. Applicants are required to apply online via the Study@PolyU website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/study/pg.
Please note that all fields in the application forms should be filled. We will not consider applications that do not provide details of academic qualifications.
What's New
Programme Aims
There is a great need in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world for professionally trained translators and interpreters who can work at a high level of competence in either Chinese or English. This programme meets that demand by offering language industry professionals the opportunity to upgrade their qualifications, catch up on new developments in translation and interpreting, and to expand their existing skills or acquire new skills.
Characteristics
We provide practical professional training. The elements of theory that we introduce are directly relevant to improving the efficiency of practitioners. The programme has a broad-based curriculum, which allows students to prepare for later professional specialisation. Graduates have enhanced skills that are marketable in both the private and public sectors.
The programme is included in the "List of Qualifications Awarded by Local Institutes and Recognised for Exemption from the Language Proficiency Requirement (LPR) (English Language)" of the HKSAR Education Bureau.
Programme Structure
The programme includes 6 Compulsory Subjects and 4 Elective Subjects that are chosen from a pool of subjects in the general area of language studies.
Medium of instruction:
The medium of instruction are English and Chinese (Putonghua / Cantonese).
Core Areas of Study
Compulsory Subjects
- Advanced Translation
- Interpreting: Consecutive
- Interpreting: Principles
- Professional Ethics and Academic Integrity
- Translation Studies
- Translation: Discourse and the Translator
- Translation: Text and Context
Elective Subjects
Elective Subjects in translation/interpreting/language studies (English):
- Advanced Interpreting
- Advanced Legal Translation
- Advanced Liaison Interpreting
- Advanced Translation for Business and Commerce
- Advanced Translation for Media
- MATI Dissertation
- Multimedia Applications for Language Professionals and Translators
- Specialised Interpreting Programme I
- Specialised Interpreting Programme II
Other Elective Subjects under MA scheme:
- Action through Text in Japanese, Chinese and English
- Chinese Lexical Semantics and Corpus Linguistics
- Contrasting Japanese, Chinese and English Discourse
- Contrastive Analysis
- Digital Media Communication
- Experimental Phonetics
- Hong Kong Literature
- Intercultural Communication
- Introduction to Cantonese Studies
- Introduction to Chinese Language Testing
- Introduction to Educational Linguistics
- Neurolinguistics
- Poetry of the Tang and Song Era
- Psycholinguistics
- Research Methods in Language Teaching and Language Studies
- Selected Readings of the Eight Writers of Tang and Song Era
- Sign Language and Linguistics
- Special Education Needs Associated with Cognitive, Physical and Sensory Disorders
- Special Education Needs in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing
- Statistical Methods in Language Research
- Teaching Chinese Grammar to Non-native Speakers
- Teaching of Chinese Characters and Words to Non-native Learners
Information on the subjects offered can be obtained at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/cbs/study/taught-postgraduate-programmes/ma-scheme-in-chinese-linguistics-and-translation/translating-and-interpreting/curriculum.
(The above subject list is subject to revision.)
31
Dr Cheung Kay Fan Andrew
PhD
-
A Bachelor’s degree from a recognised institution.
-
Applicants are expected to meet ONE of the following requirements:
-
A Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of at least 96 for the Internet-based test, or a TOEFL score of at least 590 for the paper-based test;
OR -
A score of at least 7.0 on listening and reading sections with no sub-score below 6.5 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS);
OR -
A level of competence in English, as demonstrated by performance in the admission test set by MATI, which indicates that the applicant* is capable of studying successfully at the taught MA level.
-
Notes:
*This only applies to either native English speakers or non-native English applicants with a Bachelor’s degree from a university using English as the medium of instruction (EMI).
Non-native speakers or applicants without a Bachelor’s degree from an EMI university (but meeting the requirement as stated in the third bullet point) still have to fulfil the University-wide minimum language requirements. Exceptional cases are considered on a case-by-case basis.
For further information on academic matters, please contact:
Programme Leader, Dr Cheung Kay Fan Andrew (tel: (852) 2766 7448; email: andrew.cheung@polyu.edu.hk).
For general information, please contact:
CBS General Office (tel: (852) 2766 7454; email: cbs.tpg@polyu.edu.hk).
Starting from 2024/25 cohort, students are required to complete the compulsory 1-credit subject “CBS5T01 Professional Ethics and Academic Integrity” to satisfy the Academic Integrity and Ethics (AIE) requirement for graduation. No credit fee will be charged for this subject.
9
Please click here to download.
HK$6,500* per credit
* Specialised Interpreting Programme 1 & 2 are charged at a higher rate of HK$16,190 per credit.
(Note: No credit fee will be charged for the 1-credit subject “CBS5T01 Professional Ethics and Academic Integrity”.)
Required
Required
Required
