Luận văn thạc sĩ Luật học: Khó khăn của sinh viên năm cuối chuyên ngành Anh khi dịch thuật ngữ pháp luật Anh - Việt: Trường hợp điển hình tại Đại học Luật Hà Nội

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGU NHY AT E QUAN NG 443026 ENGLISH-MAJORED SENIORS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATING ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE LEXICAL LEGAL TERMS: A CASE STUDY AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY Hanoi — 2023 MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGUYEN NHAT QUANG 443026 ENGLISH-MAJORED SENIORS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATING ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE LEXICAL LEGAL TERMS: A CASE STUDY AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NHUNG KHO KHAN CUA SINH VIEN NAM CUOI TRONG VIEC DICH CAC THUAT NGU TU VUNG PHAP LY ANH-VIET: MOT NGHIEN CUU DIEN HINH TAI DAI HOC LUAT HA NOI Major: Legal English GRADUATION THESIS Supervisor Hanoi — 2023 ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Nguyen Nhat Quang - class K4430, a candidate for the degree ofBachelor of Arts accepts the requirements ofHanoi Law University relating to the retention and use ofBachelor's Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessiblefor the purposes ofstudy and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Date: April 2"4, 2023 Researcher’s signature Supervisor’s confirmation MA Nguyen Hai Anh Nguyen Nhat Quang ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratefulness towards my supervisor, MA Hai Anh Nguyen for her support with great patience, devotion, unwavering advice, profound insight, and experience Mrs Anh has been very attentive to me and guided me through the difficulties I have in the process of writing this thesis Besides my supervisor, my sincere thanks go to all the Members of the Thesis Committee, and the lecturers who work hard and fair to evaluate this research of mine, give insightful comments and questions, as well as provide me with detailed feedback to help my future studies I am deeply grateful that Hanoi Law University creates such opportunity for me to enhance my writing and research skills Via this activity, I and other students shall gain a variety of useful knowledge and experience for our future careers Last but not least, I am particularly grateful for my family members and close friends who have been supportive and caring throughout the journey with their unconditional love, understanding and kindness I thank my fellow K4429 and K4430 classmates for the tremendous amount of advice and cooperation to support me in the writing and survey process i ABSTRACT The intricate nature of legal terminology renders its translation challenging, as distinct legal systems in different countries create unique terminology that can vary significantly even among those countries sharing the same language As opposed to scientific or other technical terminology, legal translation poses greater difficulty owing to its system-bound character Therefore, this study aimed to identify the lexical difficulties encountered by fourth-year students at Hanoi Law University when translating legal terms, as well as their causes and potential solutions The sample consisted of 60 fourth-year students majoring in legal English, who completed questionnaires and participated in semi-structured interviews as primary data collection tools Results revealed that a large number of students faced challenges when translating legal terms, with borrowing terms, highly technical terms, archaic terms, and legal system-bound terms being the most difficult As a matter of facts, last-year students also utilized various approaches to overcome these challenges Based on the findings, the study offers suggested recommendations for students, teachers, and course designers to enhance legal translation proficiency 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACCEPTANCE PAGE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii ABSTRACT iil LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES Vill LIST OF TABLES ix INTRODUCTION | 1 Rationale for the study 1 2 Aims of the study 2 3 Research questions 3 4 Scope of the study 3 5 Significance of study 4 6 Organization of the study 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1.1 Terminology 5 1.1.1 Definition of terminology 5 1.1.2 Definition of legal terminology 6 1.1.3 Characteristics of legal terminology 6 1.2 Translation theory 8 1.2.1 Definition of translation 8 1.2.2 Definition of legal translation 9 1.2.3 Characteristics of legal translation 9 1.2.3.1 The nature of legal language 9 1.2.3.2 A system-bound discipline 10 1.2.3.3 Fidelity 11 1.2.3.4 Ambiguity and interpretation 11 1.2.4 Categories of legal translation 12 1.2.5 Strategies for translation of legal terms 12 1.2.5.1 Functional equivalence 13 1.2.5.2 Formal equivalence 13 IV 1.2.5.3 Borrowing 14 1.2.5.4 Description 14 1.3 Lexical difficulties in legal terms translation 14 1.3.1 Technical terms 15 1.3.2 Borrowing terms 15 1.3.3 Archaic terms 16 1.3.4 Phrasal verbs 16 1.3.5 Synonyms 17 1.3.6 Legal tautologies 17 1.3.7 Unfamiliar pronouns 18 1.3.8 Reciprocal words and titles 19 1.3.9 Legal abbreviation 19 1.3.10 Legal system-bound terms 19 1.4 Review of some previous researches related to difficulties in translating legal terms 20 1.5 Summary 22 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 23 2.1 Participants 23 2.2 Data collection 24 2.2.1 Data collection instrument 24 2.2.1.1 Questionnaire 24 2.2.1.2 Semi-structured interview 25 2.2.2 Data collection procedures 25 2.3 Data analysis procedure 27 2.3.1 Data analysis from questionnaires 27 2.3.2 Data analysis from semi-structured interview 28 2.4 Summary 28 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 29 3.1 Seniors’ identification of learning and translating legal terms 29 3.2 Lexical difficulties in translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese 33 3.3 The possible causes of these lexical difficulties in translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese 38 3.3.1 Objective causes 38 3.3.2 Subjective causes 40 3.4 Suggested approaches applied toward lexical difficulties in translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese 43 3.5 Summary 49 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 50 4.1 Recommendations for students 50 4.2 Recommendations for teachers 52 4.3 Recommendations for curriculum designer 53 4.4 Summary 53 CONCLUSION 54 1 Summary of the main findings 54 2 Implications 55 3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 56 3.1 Limitations of the study 56 3.2 Suggestion for further study 56 REFERENCES 57 APPENDICES 62 APPENDIX 1 62 APPENDIX 2 69 APPENDIX 3 70 APPENDIX 4 78 VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELP English for Legal Purposes HLU Hanoi Law University Source Language SL Target Language TL vil LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Seniors’ identification of learning their knowledge of Page Figure 2 legal terminology 29 Figure 3 Seniors’ identification of improving their knowledge of 30 Figure 4 legal terminology 30 Figure 5 Seniors’ frequency of translating English-Vietnamese 3l Figure 6.1 legal terms 32 Figure 6.2 Figure 4: Seniors’ identification of the types of 34 Figure 7.1 documents translatedfrom English into Vietnamese 36 Figure 5: Seniors’ identification of difficulties in 45 Figure 7.2 translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese The lexical difficulties that seniors may encounter when 47 translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese The lexical difficulties that seniors may encounter when translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese Suggested approaches applied by seniors toward lexical difficulties in translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese Suggested approaches applied by seniors toward lexical difficulties in translating legal terms from English into Vietnamese vill