problems in translation of the terminology in economic texts CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

ABSTRACT Nowadays, English is one of the most widely used languages worldwide People use English in various fields Many of them are good at English skill: listening, speaking, reading and even writing However, some others are not really good, they cannot understand what their partner are saying in English English learners usually face difficulties in translation, especially the terminology Translation skill is an extremely necessary skill for us It plays an essential role in learning and working with English In particular, for a foreign language learner, translation skill becomes a necessary and indispensable medium According to some surveys, students say that they have great difficulties in translating the terminology in economic texts This study was conducted to investigate problems in translation of the terminology in economic texts Then, the researcher wants to find a reason for those problems and propose solutions so that students can solve them Eighty people who are final-year English major students at TMU participating in this study Through the research, it is hoped that they will realize the difficulties in English translating skill as well as apply truly effective methods of English translation so as to enhance their English translating proficiency and English translation is no more of their reluctance Therefore, in the hope of improving students’ ability to translate with the enthusiastic help of participants, the researcher hopes this research will be a useful tool for everyone i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During this graduation paper, I received much necessary help, guidance, valuable ideas and encouragement from my teachers, my family and friends I would like to send my sincere and profound thanks to the teachers of the Thuongmai University, especially the teachers in the English faculty during the time when I just started to come to school I thank the teachers for always enabling us to have the opportunity to study in the best and most effective environment With deep gratitude, I would like to thank Mrs Vu Thi Thanh Hoa for enthusiastic guidance and encouragement and valuable guidance so that I can complete this graduation paper I am grateful to final-year students of English faculty at Thuongmai University for their enthusiastic participation Their sharing has become the main sources of data in my research Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to my family, my friends who always stand by and support and become a great motivation to help me overcome difficulties in the process of doing this research In the course of making this graduation paper, although I have tried hard, it is difficult to avoid errors, I hope the teachers will understand At the same time, due to the limited level of reasoning as well as limited scientific research ability I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions for the perfect of my own graduation paper Thank you sincerely! Hanoi, October 19th 2020 Student Nguyen Thi Xuan ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat NO TMU VTM ED IT SL TL Sig KMO iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vi CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Previous studies 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research subjects 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Research methodology 1.7 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of terminology 2.1.1 Definition of terminology 2.1.2 Main features of the terminology 2.1.3 The terminology in economic texts 2.2 Translation theory 2.2.1 Definition of translation 2.2.2 Significance of translation 11 2.2.3 Types of translation 12 2.2.4 Criteria for a good translation version 13 2.2.5 Translation strategies and methods 14 2.3 Problems in translation of the terminology in economic texts 16 2.3.1 Misunderstanding about culture 16 2.3.2 Words and choices of word meanings 16 2.3.3 Lack of economic background knowledge 17 2.3.4 Difficulty in translating the abbreviation 17 2.3.5 Difficulty in translating the terminology hardly used 17 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH FINDINDS 18 3.1 Methodology 18 3.1.1 Research questions 18 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat 3.1.2 Participants 18 3.1.3 Data collection method 18 3.1.4 Methods of data analysis 20 3.2 The results of the study 20 3.2.1 The survey questionnaire’s results 20 3.2.1.1 The results from questionnaire 20 3.2.1.2 Statistics of the variables in the scale 29 3.2.1.3 Statistics of reliability 30 3.2.1.4 Analysis of discovery factors EFA 32 3.2.2 Discussion of the findings 34 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .35 4.1 Summary of the study 35 4.2 Possible solutions 35 4.2.1 Suggestions for students 35 4.2.2 Suggestions for teachers and teaching methods of Thuongmai University 39 4.3 Limitations of the study 40 4.4 Suggestions for further research 41 CONCLUSION 42 REFFERENCES 43 APPENDIX: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES 44 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat LI NO 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale Nowadays, English becomes a common language used widely in most countries of the world Nearly 60 countries use English as their primary language, besides their mother tongue and nearly 100 countries use English as their second language With over 1,130 million native speakers, English is the most spoken language in the world However, each country has its own culture and a unique language These countries that not use English, must know two languages simultaneously to communicate with international friends The English translation industry was born to help the people who have difficulties learning or acquiring a second language English is a language taught in a lot of universities in the world, the language of international communication, science, aviation It is used as the language of international business Recently, with the development of our society as well as other countries in the world, economic and trade sector has become one indispensable field in the economy in general, development of the countries in particular, including our Vietnam Successful economic and trade cooperation requires many factors, of which mutual understanding is the most importance Therefore, the translation of economic and trade texts plays an important role and is of the greatest concern Recognizing the importance of translation, Thuongmai University has introduced Translation into the subject The teachers teach the students how to translate English into Vietnamese and how to translate Vietnamese into English The teachers instruct students how to translate documents such as social, economic business, culture, education, foreign affairs, health care, etc and specialized texts However, most students often find that they have a lot of difficulties in translating the terminology in economic texts In this research, I will investigate the difficulties in translation of the terminology in economic texts encountered by the final-year English major students at Thuongmai University and suggest some solutions to this problem TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat Therefore, I would like to conduct the study entitled “Common difficulties in translation of the terminology in economic texts encountered by final-year students of English faculty, Thuongmai University” I hope this study will help the senior students find out their difficulties and provide them some solutions to translate the terminology in economic texts more easily 1.2 Previous studies Research topics on issues “the difficulties of learners in English translation” have been studied by many different researchers around the world in general and in Vietnam in particular 1.2.1 In the world Through surveying the research on translation issues, I see that there have been many books, many works by foreign authors on this issue A study named “Difficulties and some problems in translating legal documents” by Ivanka Sakareva The paper aims at revealing the difficulties in translating legal documents In order to make a full characteristic of these problems, Ivanka Sakareva has described the actual process of translating the rules that should be observed by the translators, the translation strategy in translating documents as well as the importance of the cultural transfer How does the legal translation differ from the literal one? Is it an easy task to translate specialized texts? Another study named “Analysis of Translation Difficulties for the Fourth Semester Students of English Department of IKIP Gunungsitoli Year 2013/2014” with the objective of the research is to find out and to describe translation difficulties for the fourth semester students of English department of IKIP Gunungsitol The researcher uses two kinds of research instruments that are questionnaires which consist of a test as the source of content analysis applied as a part of qualitative research method And others: “A Linguistic Theory of Translation” by Catford (1965 Oxford University Publishing House, Oxford); "Contemporary Translation Theories" by Hay Gentzler (1993 Roudledge Publishing House, London & New York); “Discourse and the Translator” by Hatim and Mason (1990 Longman Publishing House, UK); Jakobson's "On Linguistic Aspects of translation" TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat (1959 Article published in The Translation Studies Reader, L Venuti (ed.) Roudledge, London & New York, 1998); "A Textbook of Translation" by Newmark (1988 Prentice Hall Publishing House, London 1988) 1.2.2 In Vietnam A study named “Difficulties in Learning the Translation of Students majoring in International Relations” The purpose of the research is to identify and explain these difficulties, and to provide some methods for students to be good at translating and have their own experience in the following working process The researcher limited his research subjects to students of TA39A and TA39B classes, English department, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam Another research, “A study on the translation of economic terminology”, conducted by Hoang Thi Bay, her MA minor-thesis, has been carried out with the hope of finding out the common, appropriate and preferable ways to make the translation of economic terms from English into Vietnamese sound original and natural The major concern of this paper is to give the answer to the question: “What are the common translation strategies and procedures used in the translation of economic terms in the economic textbook “Business Law?” Based on the results from the study, some suggestions are given, that can be of some use to those who are responsible for teaching English for economics and translating documents in this field Additionally, a MA minor thesis of Pham Thi Minh Chien, “A study on English translation of Vietnamese traditional medicine texts” It aims at clarifying and discussing some characteristics of VTM texts and then giving suggestions on strategy and techniques used in translating VTM texts and standardization of English translation of VTM It also analyzes some common mistakes and figures out the reasons for this present chaotic situation There are some previous studies on translation skill of university students All these studies show that different aspects of the problem give the reader a more multidimensional view and to recognize the importance of improving English translation skill 1.3 Aims of the study TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat REFFERENCES Hoang Thi Bay, (2005), A study on the translation of economic terminology, Vietnam National University College of Foreign Languages Pham Thi Minh Chien, (2010), A study on English translation of Vietnamese traditional medicine texts, University of Languages and International Studies Catford, (1965), A Linguistic Theory of Translation, Oxford University Publishing House, Oxford Hatim and Mason, (1990), Discourse and the Translator, Longman Publishing House, UK Hay Gentzler, (1993), Contemporary Translation Theories, Roudledge Publishing House, London & New York Ivanka Sakareva, Difficulties and some problems in translating legal documents Jakobson, (1959), On Linguistic Aspects of translation, Article published in The Translation Studies Reader, L Venuti (ed.) Roudledge, London & New York, (1998) Newmark, Peter, (1988), A Textbook of Translation, Prentice Hall Newmark, Peter, (1982), Approaches to Translation, Pergamon Press 10 Albert Sydney Hornby, (1942), Oxford learner Dictionaries 11 Theory of interpreting and translation, Thuongmai University 12 Yasminar Amaerita Telaubanua, (2014), Analysis of Translation Difficulties for the Fourth Semester Students of English Department of IKIP Gunungsitoli Year 2013/2014 13 http://luanvan.net.vn/luan-van/de-tai-a-study-on-translation-of-economic- and-trade-terminology-from-english-into-vietnamese-71632/ 14 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326716636_CHALLENGES_IN_TRANS LATING_EDUCATIONAL_TERMINOLOGY 44 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat APPENDIX: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES This survey aims to find out difficulties in translation of the terminology in economic texts encountered by final-year students of English faculty, Thuongmai University I would really appreciate it if you could take some time to fill out this questionnaire Many thanks! First of all, please translate following terminologies: NO English meaning Balance of trade Circulation commodity Compound interest Underground economy Allowances and expenses for corporatio tax The openness of the economy Absolute monopoly Budget deficit INCOTERMS 10 Break-even Question In your opinion, learning translation is……… ☐ Interesting and helpful ☐ Difficult but interesting 45 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat ☐ Difficult and boring ☐ Easy and helpless Question The reason why students study translation is … (you can choose more than one answer) ☐ Because it is a compulsory subject ☐ Because it is interesting ☐ Because it is helpful, I can expand knowledge, learn a lot of information ☐ Because I want to study more skills to make myself more perfect Question In your opinion, studying translation can help you… (you can choose more than one answer) ☐ Enlarge your vocabulary ☐ Improve language skills ☐ Use grammar structures more flexibly ☐ Expand knowledge ☐ Work or study effectively Others: ………………………………………………………………………… Question How much time you usually spend studying translating the terminology in economic texts (as self-study)? ☐ or hours per week ☐ About hours per week ☐ About 10 hours per week ☐ More than 10 hours per week 46 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat Question How often you have difficulties when translating the terminology in economic texts? ☐ Frequently ☐ Sometimes ☐ Seldom ☐ Never Question What is the biggest challenge you have to face when translating the terminology in economic texts? ☐ Words and choices of word meanings ☐ Misunderstanding about culture ☐ Lack of economic background knowledge ☐ Difficulty translating the abbreviation ☐ Difficulty translating the terminology you hardly use Others: ……………………………………………………………… Question What you often when you encounter new terms? ☐ Look up its meaning by using a dictionary or Google Translate tool ☐ Ignore it and translate other words, then go back to guess its meaning in the context ☐ Skip it and translate others ☐ Ask your friends or your teacher Others: ………………………………………………………………… Question What you often after you finish your translation? 47 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat ☐ Share with your friends ☐ Read it again to correct some mistakes if there are ☐ Read it again and try to translate it in another way ☐ Wait for your teacher’s feedback Others: ……………………………………………………………………… Question What has a great influence on your interest in translating the terminology in economic texts? ☐ Teaching method ☐ Teaching material ☐ Topic of translation ☐ Your own ability Others: ………………………………………………………………… Question 10 What you often to improve your translation of the terminology in economic texts? ☐ Learning vocabulary ☐ Reviewing your teacher’s feedback to learn vocabulary, grammar and way of using vocabulary ☐ Reading and practicing translating business newspapers or economic magazines ☐ Do nothing Others: ………………………………………………………………………… Question 11 Please indicate your level of consent to the statements below with the convention as follows: 48 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat Not very disagr eeable Not disagreeable Neutral Agreea ble NO Strongly agreeable Statements Economic terms are difficult to memorize because they vary in specific areas Economic Vietnamese to English is more difficult than that from English to Vietnamese I rarely translation at home My translation exercises often include very few new terms or abbreviations I usually make a paraphrase for the term if I cannot find the right word language but it is often inconsistent with the meaning of that term My economic background knowledge is limited as I don’t spend much time learning about it I often take a lot of time to choose suitable words terminology translation 49 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com moi nhat ... 2 .1. 1 Definition of terminology 2 .1. 2 Main features of the terminology 2 .1. 3 The terminology in economic texts 2.2 Translation theory 2.2 .1 Definition of translation. .. students often find that they have a lot of difficulties in translating the terminology in economic texts In this research, I will investigate the difficulties in translation of the terminology in economic. .. spending on studying translating the terminology in economic texts (as self -study) Chart 3.4 The amount of time students usually spending on studying translating the terminology in economic texts