NN AN ANALYSIS OF a SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 1 2 FROM THE BOOK “THE ROAD TO HOME” BY MARY BLAIR, 2019

NG UY EN DA O NH AT – GR AD UA TI ON TH ES IS IN EN GL IS H LI NG UI ST IC SDA NA NG 202 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS NGUYEN DAO NHAT AN ANALYSIS OF A SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS & FROM THE BOOK “THE ROAD TO HOME” BY MARY BLAIR, 2019 GRADUATION THESIS IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS DA NANG, 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS NGUYEN DAO NHAT AN ANALYSIS OF A SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS & FROM THE BOOK “THE ROAD TO HOME” BY MARY BLAIR, 2019 Major : English for Translation and Interpretation SUPERVISOR : NGUYEN THI DIEU TRAM, M.A STUDENT : NGUYEN DAO NHAT CLASS : K23NAB STUDENT CODE: 23203110114 DA NANG, 2021 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my family, teachers and friends who have been by my side, helping and supporting me a lot in the implementation of my graduation paper Secondly, I would like to thank the Faculty of English for organizing and creating conditions for me to practice Thirdly, I would like to send deep gratitude to the lecturers at Faculty of English - Duy Tan University for their dedication to conveying valuable knowledge to me during my study time at school In particular, I want to send my deepest thanks to Ms Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, who dedicated herself to teaching, helping, and answering all questions and difficulties in completing the graduation paper Finally, I hope that this graduation paper will be successful and receive many positive comments from the teachers and lecturers In conclusion, I am grateful to all of you Wishing you all happiness, good health and success! Yours sincerely! Student Nguyen Dao Nhat Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in the whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Da- nang, May 2021 Nguyen Dao Nhat Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A ABSTRACT This paper is a suggested translation of Chapters 1&2 of “The Road to Home” by Mary Blair In addition, I also analyze some complicated issues in this novel, such as vocabularies, structures Therefore, at the end of this graduation paper, I list some of difficulties and solutions that I encountered in translation Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A ABBREVIATIONS SL : source language TL : target language Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A TABLE OF CONTENTS Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In this world, not everyone is born in a complete family No one can choose the place of birth and who their parents are However, the feelings of those family members are always real Therefore, I decided to translate this book, which really made me fascinated by the content of this book I focus on the translation of Chapters and These two chapters revolve around the main character's life, the difficulties she experienced from childhood to adulthood, the lack of mother's love and her grandmother's love for her 1.2 Aims and Objectives 1.2.1 Aims - To have a comprehensive understanding of theoretical translation, and practice using specific English flexibly, creatively and accurately - To show off my translation skills as well as document analysis 1.2.2 Objectives - To translate document quickly and smoothly - To analyze difficult words, phrases, idioms, and structures, etc - To help me improve my translation skills Scope of the Study The novel tells the story of Stephanie Louann Jennings family However, 1.3 because of time limitation, this graduation paper only focuses on chapters - 1&2 with 4,398 words 1.3.1 Text Features The author of this novel is Mary Blair, she is of some famous novels like Safety Underneath The Fireplace, My Best Friend/ My Evil Stepmother, - Sometime After Midnight, etc The chapters I choose to translate are the first and second chapters of “The Road to Home” There are four chapters in the novel, which tells about Stephanie’s growth, her life with her grandmother and mother, and something she experienced 1.3.2 Text Length Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A The novel includes chapters, but the time is limited so I have translated only chapters with 4,398 words in length 1.3.3 Text Organization The novel includes chapters, because of limitation of time, I have translated only chapters - Chapter 1: Stephanie’s life as a child with her mother and grandmother Chapter 2: Stephanie’s life as an adult and what happened after her mother got out of rehab 1.3.4 Text Source http://bookies.publicbookshelf.com/the-road-to-home/ 1.4 Methods of the Study 1.4.1 Translating Methods - Reading several documents related to the source language text’s topic to get some basic knowledge and specific terms - Reading the whole text to get the main content - Identifying and marking specific vocabulary and complicated grammatical structures - Analyzing sentence structure - Rendering the source language text and concentrating on terms and structures that had been marked - Looking up in dictionaries and searching on the Internet to get the most 1.4.2 - suitable meanings for difficult words Checking the target language text at least twice Analyzing Methods Reviewing the grammatical theory Analyzing grammatical structures and identifying the sentence’s components Finalizing the study Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 10 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Translation Theory 2.1.1 Definition of Translation Translation is the process clearly presenting the relation between at least two languages: source language (SL) and target language (TL) There are many different definitions of translation given by some wellknown linguistic experts as follows: “Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL).” (họ, năm xuất bản: số trang) “Translation is a process of rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text.” “Translation is the process of conveying messages across linguistic and cultural barriers.” 2.1.2 Types of Categories There are some types of categories of translation defined in terms of extent, levels, and ranks of translation 2.1.3 Full vs Partial Translation The distinction relates to the extents of translation According to J.C Carford (1965), in a full translation the entire text is submitted to the translation process: that is, every part of the SL text is replaced by TL text materials In a partial translation, some part or parts of the SL text are left untranslated: they are simply transferred to and incorporated in the TL text Examples: • Full translation: There has been a dramatic rise in house prices this year  Đã có tăng giá nhà năm • Partial translation: The remark received widespread press coverage, especially after many Democratic politicians and some Republicans, Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 59 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A • Independent clause: “Stephanie was out feeding the chickens” - Subject: Stephanie - Verb: was out feeding - Object: the chickens Suggested version: Sáng sớm thứ Hai, chng điện thoại reo, Stephanie ngồi cho gà ăn Example 19: She gave him the keys to her car while her mother was trying to scoot the table over a few feet (L2, P86, p44) • Dependent clause: “while her mother was trying to scoot the table over a few feet” - Time subordinator: while - Subject: her mother - Verb: was trying - Object: to scoot the table over a few feet • Independent clause: “She gave him the keys to her car” - Subject: She - Verb: gave - Object 1: him - Object 2: the keys to her car Suggested version: Cô đưa cho ta chìa khóa xe mẹ cố gắng di chuyển bàn vài bước 4.3.2.2 Complex sentences with relative clause A relative clause, also called an adjective clause, modifies a noun A relative clause can modify any noun in the sentence: a subject, an objective of a preposition A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, which, that, where, when, why) Sometimes the pronoun can be omitted However, sometimes commas are required Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 60 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A There are two types of relative clause: • Defining Relative Clauses Defining relative clauses are composed of a relative pronoun (sometimes omitted), a verb, and optional other elements such as the subject or object of the verb Commas are not used to separate defining relative clauses from the rest of the sentence Commas or parentheses are used to separate non-defining relative clauses from the rest of the sentence • Non-Defining Relative Clauses Non-defining relative clauses are composed of a relative pronoun, a verb, and optional other elements such as the subject or object of the verb Commas or parentheses are always used to separate non-defining relative clauses from the rest of the sentence Example 20: She told the teacher that she belonged to a religion who does not believe in taking pictures or using a computer (L4, P13, p23) • According to the example, the restrictive relative clause“who does not believe in taking pictures or using a computer” modifies the noun phrase “a religion” • Relative clause: “who does not believe in taking pictures or using a computer” • Relative pronoun: who Suggested version: Bà nói với giáo viên thuộc tôn giáo không tin vào việc chụp ảnh sử dụng máy tính Example 21: The owners of the house were a farmer and his wife that lived a mile or so down the road (L1, P16, p24) • According to the example, the restrictive relative clause“that lived a mile or so down the road” modifying the noun phrase “The owners of the house” Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 61 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A • Relative clause: “that lived a mile or so down the road” • Relative pronoun: that Suggested version: Chủ nhân nhà vợ chồng người nông dân sống cách dặm Example 22: Marsha started hanging out with the younger group of farm hands who loved to drink and party and staying out late at night (L1, P26, p27) • According to the example, the restrictive relative clause“who loved to drink and party and staying out late at night” modifies the noun phrase “the younger group of farm hands” • Relative clause: “who loved to drink and party and staying out late at night” • Relative pronoun: who Suggested version: Marsha bắt đầu chơi với nhóm người nơng dân trẻ tuổi thích uống rượu, tiệc tùng đêm Complex sentences with Noun Clause Noun clauses as the name implies, function as nouns It can be used as 4.3.3.3 the subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, subject complement, or appositive Example 23: She thought grandma would be so happy (L5, P40, p33) • Independent clause: She thought grandma would be so happy - Subject: She - Verb: thought - Object: grandma would be so happy • Dependent clause: (that) grandma would be so happy - Subject: grandma - Verb: would be Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 62 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A - Complement: so happy  This dependent clause functions as the object of the verb “thought” It is a Noun Clause Suggested version: Cô nghĩ bà vui điều Example 24: She told the mother of the two little girls that she was already sixteen years old (L1, P36, p31) • Independent clause: She told the mother of the two little girls that she was already sixteen years old - Subject: She - Verb: told - Object 1: the mother of the two little girls - Object 2: that she was already sixteen years old • Dependent clause: that she was already sixteen years old - Subject: she - Verb: was - Complement: already sixteen years old - Coordinator: that  This dependent clause functions as the object of the verb “told” It is a Noun Clause Suggested version: Cơ nói với mẹ bé gái cô mười sáu tuổi 4.3.3 Compound-complex Sentences Compound- complex sentences are made from two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses Example 25: When she got close enough, she yelled please Santa stop so I can tell you what I want (L4, P4, p20) • Two independent clauses “When she got close enough, she yelled please Santa stop” and “I can tell you what I want.” are connected by the coordinator “so” to create a compound-complex sentence Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 63 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A • In the first independent clause “When she got close enough, she yelled please Santa stop”, there are one independent clause and one dependent clause In the dependent clause “When she got close enough”: • Subject: “she” • Verb: “got” • Complement: “close enough” • Time subordinator: “when” - In the independent “she yelled please Santa stop”: • Subject: “she” • Verb: “yelled” • Object: “please Santa stop” • In the second independent clause “I can tell you what I want”, there is one independent clause” • Subject: “I” • Verb: “can tell” • Object 1: “you” • Object 2: “what I want” Suggested version: Khi cô đến đủ gần, hét lên làm ơn đợi Ơng già Noel để nói ơng biết muốn Example 26: For awhile Marsha kept clean and followed all of the rules set by the state, then one night she disappeared and when she came back, there were new needle marks on her arms (L2, P75, p64) • Three independent clauses “For awhile Marsha kept clean and followed all of the rules set by the state” and “then one night she disappeared” and “when she came back, there were new needle marks on her arms.” are Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 64 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A connected by a comma and the coordinator “and” to create a compoundcomplex sentence • In the first independent clause “For awhile Marsha kept clean and followed all of the rules set by the state”, there is one independent clause - In the first independent clause “For awhile Marsha kept clean and followed all of the rules set by the state”: • Subject: “Marsha” • Verb 1: “kept” • Complement: “clean” • Verb 2: “followed” • Object: “all of the rules set by the state” • Adverbial: For awhile - In the second independent clause “then one night she disappeared”: • Subject: “she” • Verb: “disappeared” • Adverbial: “then one night” • In the third independent clause “when she came back, there were new needle marks on her arms”, there are one independent clause and one dependent clause” - In the dependent clause “when she came back”: • Subject: “she” • Verb: “came back” • Time subordinator: “when” - In the independent “there were new needle marks on her arms”: • Subject: “there” • Verb: “were” • Object: “new needle marks on her arms” Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 65 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Suggested version: Trong thời gian Marsha giữ tuân theo tất quy tắc nhà nước đặt ra, sau đêm, biến trở lại có vết kim cánh tay 4.4 Passive Voice Passive voice emphasizes the person or object receiving the action Forms of passive: Tenses Simple Active S+V+O Passive S + be + PP.2 + by + O Present Present S + am/is/are + V-ing + O S + am/is/are + being + PP.2 + Continuous Present S + has/have + PP.2 + O Perfect Simple Past Past by + O S + has/have + been + PP.2 + S + V-ed + O by + O S + was/were + PP.2 + by + O S + was/were + V-ing + O S + was/were + being + PP.2 + Continuous Past S + had + PP.2 + O by + O S + had + been + PP.2 + by + Perfect Simple S + will/shall + V + O O S + will + be + PP.2 + by + O Future Future S + will/shall + have + PP.2 S + will + have + been + PP.2 Perfect +O + by + O Be + going S + am/is/are + going to + V S + am/is/are + going to + be to Model +O S + model verb + V + O Verbs + PP.2 + by + O S + model verb + be + PP.2 + by + O Example 27: Stephanie Louann Jennings like most young almost adults was allowed to be a child when she was little (L1, P1, p19) Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS • • •  66 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Tense: Past Simple Auxiliary verb: was Main verb: allowed A verb in passive voice is often translated into “được” or “bị” Therefore, I decide to translate the sentence into Vietnamese Suggested version: Giống hầu hết người trẻ tuổi khác, Stephanie Louann Jennings làm trẻ nhỏ Example 28: The money was spent to pay their bills and food (L4, P7, p21) • • •  Tense: Past Simple Auxiliary verb: was Main verb: spent A verb in passive voice is often translated into “được” or “bị” Therefore, I decide to translate the sentence into Vietnamese Suggested version: Số tiền dành để toán hóa đơn thức ăn họ Example 29: They were taken very good care (L4, P36, p30) • • •  Tense: Past Simple Auxiliary verb: were Main verb: taken A verb in passive voice is often translated into “được” or “bị” Therefore, I decide to translate the sentence into Vietnamese Suggested version: Chúng chăm sóc tốt 4.5 Empty Subject A complete sentence must be composed by a subject and a finite verb English clauses which are not imperatives must have a subject Sometimes we need to use an empty subject when there is no subject attached to the verb, and where the real subject is somewhere else in the clause It and there are the two empty subjects frequently used in English Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 67 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Example 30: Mr and Mrs Owens didn't know how the barn caught on fire but there was a storm that hit the area with lightening and a lot of very loud thunder (L1, P77, p43) • The empty subject: “there” Suggested version: Ơng bà Owens khơng biết làm mà nhà kho bốc cháy có bão đổ vào khu vực với tia chớp nhiều tiếng sấm lớn Example 31: It wasn't long before she had two little girls coming over five days a week (L3, P35, p30) • The empty subject: “it” Suggested version: Không lâu sau, cô nhận trơng hai bé gái đến nhà năm ngày tuần Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 68 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 5.1 DIFFICULTIES All students must complete a graduation project in order to complete a four-year degree in the Faculty of English in Duy Tan University For me, this is a good opportunity to apply all the knowledge I have gained during the four years of translation The novel I choose to translate is "The Road to Home" by Mary Blair Although this novel uses familiar words, I still struggle with difficulties grammar and vocabulary as follows: The first difficulty I encountered in the translation process was choosing the right words for the context in order to convey the author’s best ideas to the readers This took me a lot of time in the process of translating this novel The second difficulty is that the subject and the object in this book easily confuse me For example, telling the stories between granddaughter, grandmother and mother, the author use the subject is “She” or the object is “Her” many times and it makes me have many difficulties in translating Besides, I also have difficulty with sentence structures about time, such as “It’s was not long before” The final difficulties are grammatical analysis and the lexical part of sentences Some sentences are very complicated which made me carefully consider and modify the knowledge gained for correct analysis At the same time, the author often uses idioms in his works, so I also need to spend a little time finding the suitable meanings In short, I have tried my best to complete this translation The goal is to get all the stories that the author wants to convey to the reader by reading the novel I will continue to try to improve my translation skills every day as well as correct the mistakes I encounter during the translation process Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 69 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A 5.2 SOLUTIONS During the translating process of the graduation paper, I have faced many challenges and difficulties; however, I have tried my best to finish the paper When I encounter a difficult word or phrase or idioms, I first use the Oxford dictionary, Cambridge dictionary, Tflat or Tratusoha dictionary to find the most suitable meaning for my translation from the original text In addition, I give my translated version to my parents and friends to check whether they could understand it or not This way helps me improve the quality of my translation Finally, I have created a plan to schedule the right time so that I can complete this graduation paper quickly and efficiently In addition, I received the enthusiastic support of the role's instructor, Ms Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram She helped me correct and change the negative points so that I can complete them in the best way Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 70 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 6.1 CONCLUSIONS After finishing this graduation paper, I gained a lot of experience and more practical knowledge in translation I know that I still have many shortcomings I have to work harder and improve my skills in the translation process For the graduation paper, I improved a lot of skills for myself, and I learned more about search engine methods, how to choose words suitable for the context In addition, I expanded my vocabulary that I didn't have many opportunities to increase before My idioms have been greatly improved and grammatically improved in structured sentences such as single sentence, compound sentence, compound- complex sentence in the graduation paper, my ability has been enhanced This is a great opportunity for me This graduation paper has provided me a lot of knowledge and helped me apply everything I have learned 6.2 SUGGESTIONS After I finish my graduation paper, I have some suggestions for learning and teaching 6.2.1 Suggestions for learners After four years studying languages, I have accumulated a lot of experience in this field First of all, you must have passion and love for this subject In addition, to be a good student, you must work hard first Besides your attending classes, you should also practice your language skills at home such as learn English skills on youtube or some websites for learning english You also practice listening and dictation skills to improve your listening skills, etc Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 71 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A Finally, having a lot of practical knowledge can help you improve your translation skills You should have a separate notebook so that you can write down practical knowledge or lessons that you learned in class and community Thanks to that, you can applied them effectively and selectively in translations 6.2.2 Suggestions for teachers Firstly, I think that in the teaching process, teachers should diversify and enrich their lessons to avoid having answers first In addition, teachers should also provide students with more interesting topics, creating more excitement, in addition to adding more knowledge to students Secondly, the Faculty of English at Duy Tan University should create more extracurricular activities or field trips to help students improve their language skills This will help them be more confident and active in learning and practicing Finally, I think the major subjects in the curriculum should be given more hours so that students can get more in-depth knowledge of their major Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 72 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A REFERENCES BOOKS Vietnamese [1] Nguyen Manh Quang, (2013), Translation theory, Department of Foreign 1.1 2.1 Languages of Duy Tan University English [2] Catford, J.C, (1965), A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Oxford [3].Peter Newmark, (1988), A textbook of translation, Prentice-Hall International [4] Tudor Ian, Dr, (1965), About translation theory, Cambridge WEBSITES [5] https://www.wikipedia.org/ [6] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/grammar/british-grammar/ DICTIONARIES [7] https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ [8] http://tratu.soha.vn/ [9] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/ Student: NGUYEN DAO NHAT Code: K23.701 GRADUATION THESIS 73 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M.A SUPERVISOR’S COMMENTS  -······································································································ ······································································································ ······································································································ ······································································································ ······································································································ ······································································································ ······································································································ 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Dieu Tram, M .A There are some basic principles of translation listed by M .A Nguyen Manh Quang [4, p18 - p 22] 2. 2 .1. 1 Meaning The translation should reflect accurately the meaning of the original... of translation defined in terms of extent, levels, and ranks of translation 2 .1. 3 Full vs Partial Translation The distinction relates to the extents of translation According to J.C Carford (19 65),