Chuyên đề thực tập tốt nghiệp: An investigation into translation errors among business english students of intake 61- national economics university

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

NGUYEN THI HONG NHAT

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSLATION ERRORS AMONG

BUSINESS ENGLISH STUDENTS OF INTAKE 61- NATIONAL

ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

NGUYEN THI HONG NHAT

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSLATION ERRORS AMONG

BUSINESS ENGLISH STUDENTS OF INTAKE 61- NATIONALECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

Supervisor : Ms Le Thu Huong

Student : Nguyen Thi Hong NhatStudent’s ID : 11193951

Class : 61C Business English

The internship opportunity I had with the Faculty of Foreign Languages at

National Economics University was a great chance for learning and professionaldevelopment Therefore, I consider myself a very lucky individual, as I wasprovided with the opportunity to be a part of it I am also grateful for having achance to meet so many wonderful people and professionals who led me throughthis internship period.

First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to Ms Le Thu our course instructor and supervisor for this thesis Her insightful comments,helpful strategies, extensive knowledge, teaching experience, and clear, conciseinstructions have allowed me to finish my thesis on schedule and successfully.

Huong-Secondly, I appreciate everyone who takes an active role in answering mysurvey questions All respondents are graduates of NEU's FFL program They areeager to give their valuable time to fill out this survey and provide helpfulcomments to the writer.

Finally, I perceive this opportunity as a big milestone in my careerdevelopment I will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best possible

way and will continue to work on their improvement in order to achieve desired

career objectives I hope to continue cooperating with all of you in the future.Sincerely,

Hong Nhat

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Based on the foundation of the study titled “An investigation into

translation errors among Business English students of intake 61- National

Economics University”, the author found out common translation errorsencountered by Business English students of intake 61 in NEU and possible causesof these errors.

The data is collected by conducting a survey with 75 participants from FFL

in NEU from 5* March to 15 March 2023, and then analaysed, together with

previous studies, main findings and publications of famous researchers fromVietnamese and around the world.

There are three common types of errors which are often encountered bystudents of FFL in NEU including: linguistics error (frequently encountered errorby BE students of intake 61 in NEU), comprehension error (least common errorfaced by BE students of intake 61 in NEU), and translation error (transferringerror- the most common error encountered by BE students of intake 61 in NEU).

In addition, the research also pointed out two main causes of translationerrors which are lack of knowledge of the target language and cultural differencesbetween two translated languages.

Based on the research and findings presented, it is suggested that in orderfor students to be successful in the terminology for translation field, they shouldemploy specific strategies and maintain regular practices.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

NEU National Economics UniversityFFL Faculty of Foreign Languages

BE Business EnglishSL Source Language

TL Target LanguageMT Machine Translation

0100010015155 ốốố ốốốố ố ố ố 17Figure 3.4: Aspiration to become a translator of BE students of intake 61: 17

CD ã ÔÔ 18Figure 3.6: Common linguistic errors encountered by BE students of intake

Figure 3.7: Common comprehension errors encountered by BE students of intake2 19Figure 3.8: Common translation errors (transferring errors) encountered by BE

Students of intake 612 ee eeesseeeseeseesscessecseeessecesececesscecceseesseesseesaeesaeeeaeeseenas 20Figure 3.9: Main causes of translation ©TTOTS: - sex svsseesseesrke 21

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Ánh ng HH TH HT nàn rệt 1

1.1 Background - - - + xnHnHnH THnHT Th H HH HH Th T HH re 1

1.2 Rationale - Ăn HT HT HT HT HT TH HT HH 11.3 Research quesfÏOIS - - (Gà 1S HT TH TH TH ng rệt 31.4 Scope of the researCHh - 5 5 vn TH TH TT TH HH HH TT ch Hà Hà HH 3

3.2.1 Linguistic CYT OTS nan neố ố.ố.ố ố 18

3.2.2 Comprehension €TTOFF tt HH TH TH TH TT TH Hà HH TT HH Hàng 193.2.3 Translation error (Transferring €TFOT') À + tt HH HT HH ngư 203.3 Causes of translation €TTOFS - - - (+ 1E TT Hàn TT HH Hi, 21Khi 8n 443 22

3.4.1 Fully equipped with translation knowledge and tÌheOFy -cS«cccscc<xse+ 22

3.4.2 Enhance the ability to learn about cultures around the world - 23

3.4.3 Do not overuse translation OỌS Ác 1n TT HH Hàng re 24

3.4.4 Divide the translation time qDDFOJFÍf€Ïy HH HH re 243.4.5 Learn how to look up difficult technical terms in the dicfionary 25CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION Án HH HH HH HT HH HH nhiệt 26

4.2 Limitations nh 274.3 Suggestions for future researCH - - (Gà 1S TH ng TH ng 27

3210 3400100 29

APPENDIX 0 cố cố cố cố ố ố ố.e 31

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

In the present era of globalization, translation plays a significant role inconveying languages and cultures Translation is now recognized as a skill fortransferring messages from one language into another It is similar tocommunication in that we transfer information from sender to receiver throughwritten texts There are at least two factors involved in this process: the sender, orthe person who wishes to send the message to someone else, and the receiver, orthe person who will receive the message The issue is that the sender sent themessage in a language that the receiver does not understand That is why they bothrequire the assistance of someone who can translate the language so that themessage is understood by the receiver This person is known as a translator, andhe or she served as a liaison between the sender and the receiver.

Along with the translation process, translators have been entrusted with therole of facilitating communication and understanding between people who comefrom different cultures and speak different languages since the beginning of their

profession This role is even more important in the twenty-first century, when

nations all over the world have banded together with fervor to address globalchallenges and promote socioeconomic development Along with this trend,National Economics University strives to train highly qualified translators in order

to meet the needs of the entire society and improve the quality of translation market

in Viet Nam.

1.2 Rationale

In the course of human history, translations, both written and spoken, as

well as interpreting, have all played significant roles in the process of humancommunication For example, translations have made it possible for people to gainaccess to significant texts that are used for academic and religious purposes Onthe other hand, the study of translation as an academic subject did not get its start

until very recently In countries where English is the primary language, thisacademic field is now generally referred to as translation studies (Munday, 2001).Nowadays, the world's proclivity for development in the twenty-firstcentury is based on integration and globalization It is common knowledge that onecountry cannot be isolated from the rest of the world community In other words,people rely on one another for survival, existence, and the growth of their ownbusinesses The need for people to communicate and exchange information fromone country to another is becoming increasingly important Because each countryhas its own language, the field of translation is required to bridge the language

The skill of translation is becoming increasingly important in the modern

world Since the development of new technologies, the importance of translationhas grown to encompass virtually every facet of human existence Because

translation involves not only changing words from one language to another but

also changing the message or meaning, it is essential that it be translated accuratelyto ensure that the intended meaning is conveyed when moving from one languageto another After that, there will not be any confusion or misunderstanding causedby poor communication.

Additionally, there are some steps involved in the translation process in order toappropriately present the meaning First of all, the translator should be studyingthe lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural contextof the text in the source language, and then the translator should analyze the sourcetext to determine the meaning of the text, and finally, the translator shouldrestructure the same meaning by using vocabulary and grammar that areappropriate in the translated language and its cultural context (Larson, 1984).Besides translation steps, translation standards are also noticed Standardization intranslation encompasses all aspects of the process, from the software to be used tothe evaluation of the work to ensure that it adheres to the rules of the targetlanguage A translated document must consider factors including precision,phrasing, style, readability, and consistency Through standardization, it is ensuredthat each translated work is double-checked for these factors and others Without

these safeguards, it is conceivable for a work to be translated and the finishedproduct to utterly miss the original's objective or even to make little sense to thetarget audience Therefore, providing a perfect translation requires the translatorto have full knowledge and skills during the translation process.

On the other hand, translation is not without its challenges, and this is trueeven if the translator has expertise in translation, linguistic theory, and other relatedfields of study Meaning components (lexical items), the same meaning occurringin several forms, one form representing several meanings, and one meaningrepresenting several forms are some of the challenges that translators frequentlyface Another challenge that frequently arises is when one meaning representsseveral forms Some articles that conduct research on translation errors state thatthe authors discover certain categories of translation errors as well as the factors

that contribute to the errors themselves (Newmark, 1988).

Based on this theory, translation errors during studying and translating

process is inevitable Making mistakes poses considerable challenges forTranslation and Interpreting major students of intake 61 of National EconomicsUniversity during doing translation Therefore, this study is carried out with theaim of identifying common translation errors that students often encounter,indicating possible causes of these errors and thereby, proposing suggestions and

recommendations to improve translation efficiency and the current practice.

1.3 Research questions

The study aims to answer three questions:

1 What are frequent types of translation errors that Business English studentsare facing?

2 What are the reasons for these translation errors of Business English

Content scope: The study focused on the investigation and analysis ofpopular translation errors among Business English students of Faculty of ForeignLanguages of intake 61-National Economics University and find out main causesof these errors and suggested some possible recommendations to improvetranslation efficiency.

Subjects in this study are 80 students of intake 61 from the Faculty ofForeign Languages who have studied Translation and Interpreting in the academic

year 2020-2021 National Economics University

Geographical scope: The research is based on National EconomicsUniversity,

Time scope: The research was conducted from February 2023 to March,

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developing statements that were deeper and more specific regarding the issue athand in order to reach a conclusion and establish its veracity The answers to all of

the aforementioned research questions were generally provided by the survey aswell as the research materials that were used for the study.

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Translation theory

2.1.1 Definition of translation

The process of transferring the meaning of a message that has been written

down (a text) from one language to another is known as translation Translation isone of the most important tools for companies that want to sell their goods andservices on a global scale It enables them to communicate with customers in the

customers’ native language, which helps them overcome language barriers It hasthe potential to result in increased visibility, a broader customer base, and, as a

consequence, an increase in sales and revenue In the same vein, inaccuratetranslation can be detrimental to a company's reputation and lead to mistakes thatare expensive to correct.

Several authors in this field have defined translation in a variety of ways,each of which is contingent on the writer's perspective regarding language andtranslation Translation is a process that, according to Wills in Choliludin (2007:3), moves from a written source language text to an optimally equivalent targetlanguage text This process also requires the translator to have an understanding ofthe syntactic, semantic, stylistic, and text pragmatic components of the original

text For example, the Vietnamese sentence “Có rat nhiều khó khăn khi học ngoại

ngữ.” can be translated into the English sentence “There are a lot of difficulties

when learning foreign languages” In addition, Nida and Taber (1982: 12) statethat translation is the process of recreating, in the target language, the closestnatural equivalent of the source message, first in terms of the message's meaningand then in terms of the target language's style Each of the aforementioneddefinitions suggests that translation requires two languages: the target or receptorlanguage (TL or RL) and the source language (SL), and that translating is theprocess of recreating the meaning of the SL text into the TL text The target orreceptor language (TL or RL) is the language that is spoken by the people who arereceiving the translated text.

According to Catford (1965: 20), translation is the substitution of text inone language (SL) with equivalent text in a different language (TL) Larson addsa definition that is similar He claims that the goal of translation is to convey theoriginal message in the target language This is achieved by making use ofsemantic structure to transform one language into another What is being passed

along is meaning, and that meaning must be preserved.

It has been determined, on the basis of the definitions presented above, that

translation is an activity that involves relationships between two or more languages

prior to the process of conveying meaning from the SL into the TL This conclusionhas been reached in agreement According to what Halliday says in Steiner, goodtranslation products will result in accurate messages, legibility, and acceptance.According to Nida and Taber (1969), translating means creating the most literaltranslation of the message from the SL into the TL, first in meaning and then in

style Translation requires introspection, stress, and dynamic equivalence.

According to Newmark (1981), translation is the art of communicating thesame idea in a different language Moreover, Translation, according to Pinchuck(1977:38), is the process of determining a TL counterpart for an SL statement Itis obvious that translating a text requires more than just conveying meaning; atranslator also needs to have talent and artistic ability if they want their work to beaccurate and simple to grasp.

Wills and Noss (1982) states that translation is a transfer process that triesto change a written SL text into an optimally equivalent TL text and necessitatesthe analytical processing of the SL as well as the syntactic, systematic, andpragmatic comprehension of the SL.

2.1.2 Types of translation

Catford (1965: 21-25) devised a classification system for translation thatwas based on its scope, levels, and ranks In accordance with the scope of theundertaking, he categorizes translation as either complete or partial In term of

translation activity, there is total translation and limited translation, and on theranks, there is rank bound translation and unbounded translation.

When a text is subjected to a full translation, the entire document istranslated from its original language into the target language This means that allof the original text is removed and replaced with text written in the target language.A translation that is only partial maintains the integrity of the source text byretaining some of the original text They simply get translated into the text of the

language that they are intended for.

Complete translation requires not only the modification of SL'sgrammatical structure and vocabulary with equivalent TL’s grammatical structureand vocabulary, but also the replacement of SL’s phonetics or writing systems with

non-equivalent TL’s phonetics or writing systems as a direct result of this

replacement The term “restricted translation”, on the other hand, refers to the

process of replacing SL text with equivalent TL text at only one level, such as thephonological or graphological level, or just one of the two grammar and lexis

levels This is in contrast to “full translation”, which refers to the replacement of

SL text with equivalent TL text at multiple levels.

The term “rank-bound translation” refers to a translation in which the choiceof TL counterparts is consciously limited to one or a few levels in the hierarchy ofgrammatical units, most commonly at the word or morpheme rank, establishingword-to-word or morpheme-to-morpheme equivalence This type of translation isknown as a “rank-bound translation” Unbounded translation, on the other hand, isa form of regular total translation in which equivalences are not restricted in theirability to freely move up and down the rank scale According to Choliludin (2007),

pages 26-29, Brislin classified translation into the following categories based on

the function it was meant to serve.

a Pragmatic Translation

It is the process of accurately conveying the information that was intendedto be communicated in the message's original language through the translation of

the message into another language This process is referred to as “translation”.

Certain aspects of the version written in the original language are not discussed.

b Aesthetic-poetic Translation

This is a form of translation in which the translator makes adjustments tothe target text based on factors such as the reception of the source text in the targetculture, the original text's artistic form, and other factors A poem, rhyme, heroiccouplet, climactic conversation, or novel are all good candidates for this categoryof translation.

c Ethnographic Translation

The purpose of an ethnographic translation is to achieve an explanation of

the cultural setting of both the original language and the target language versions.

It is necessary for translators to be aware of how words are utilized and tocomprehend how they function within a variety of cultural settings.

d Linguistic Translation

The focus here is on the morphemes that make up the source language,specifically their grammatical form and the meanings that correspond to that form.As examples, we will look at the language that is used in computer programs aswell as machine translation.

Brislin says that there are two main types of translation: translations of factsand translations of works of literature This distinction is based on the kinds ofmaterials that need to be translated Only when translating from real-world sourceslike scientific disciplines, reports, newspapers, and other such mediums is atranslation considered to be factual Factual translation refers to the process oftranslating in order to transmit facts with precision, without including the emotionsor feelings of the translator Literary translation is the process of converting writtenworks into another language This type of translation, which includes thetranslation of poems, plays, novels, and other works of literature, incorporates thefeeling or emotion of the translator and is frequently subjective.

According to Larson, translation can be broken down into two distinctcategories: translation that is based on form and translation that is based onmeaning (1984: 15) Meaning-based translation employs the target language'snatural forms to convey the original text's meaning while translation that is basedon form makes an effort to follow the form of the source language and is alsoreferred to as literal translation Translation based on meaning is the more commonof the two types of translation This sort of translation is what's meant when peopletalk about idiomatic translation.

Larson (1984:16) says that idiomatic translations make use of the nativegrammatical structures and vocabulary of the target language A translation that isaccurate in terms of idioms does not sound like a translation It would appear thatit was originally written in the language of the receptor Because of this, aprofessional translator will make an effort to translate using idiomatic expressions.

In addition, translating idiomatic expressions or literal meaningsconsistently in practice can be quite challenging The literal meaning of the wordsis frequently conveyed alongside their colloquial equivalents in these translations.The translation could then be extremely literal, literal, modified literal, nearly

idiomatic, idiomatic, or even more free than is reasonable.

The objective of the translator should be to produce an idiomatic translation.According to Newmark (1988: 46), idiomatic translation is able to replicate thecontent of the original, but it has a propensity to misinterpret the nuances ofmeaning because it favors colloquialisms and idioms in places where they are notpresent in the original If readers of the receptor language do not even recognizehis work as a translation but rather just as a piece of writing in the receptorlanguage that is intended for their education and delight, then he will know that hehas been successful in his endeavor.

2.1.3 Translation Process

According to Larson (1984: 3), the goal of the translator when translating atext is to provide an idiomatic translation that makes every effort to convey the

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meaning of the source text in the natural forms of the receptor language Inaddition, he asserts that the process of translation requires one to investigate thelexicon, grammatical structure, communication environment, and cultural contextof the SL text in order to ascertain its meaning The newly acquired meaning isthen re-expressed or reconstructed by making use of vocabulary and grammar thatare natural to the target language as well as the cultural context of that language.The diagram that can be found below was created by Larson to illustrate the

translation procedure.

SOURCE LANGUAGE RECEPTOR LANGUAGE

Text to betranslated

\ 7

Discover Re-express

the meaning the meaning

Figure 2.1: Translation process by Larson (1984:4)

There are three stages to the translation process, as described by Nida and

Taber (1982: 33): (1) analyzing, during which the meaning of the words and word

combinations is taken into account along with the grammatical relationships on thesurface structure; (2) transferring, during which the content is mentally transferredfrom language A to language B; and (3) restructuring, during which the content isreformed to create a final message that is entirely understandable in the receptorlanguage The figure that follows demonstrates the translation procedure.

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Source Language Receptor Language

Figure 2.2: Translation process by Nida and Taber (1982:33)

2.1.4 Standardization in translation process

Standardization in translation encompasses all aspects of the process, fromthe software to be used to the evaluation of the work to ensure that it adheres to

the rules of the target language The fact that it guarantees that the translatorsthemselves fulfill a certain quality and are fluent in both the source and destination

languages may be even more significant To ensure that they accurately understandthe source and target texts for the suggested audience, translators must also possessa certain level of research, cultural, and technical ability.

A translated document must consider factors including precision, phrasing,

style, readability, and consistency Through standardization, it is ensured that each

translated work is double-checked for these factors and others Without thesesafeguards, it is conceivable for a work to be translated and the finished product toutterly miss the original's objective or even to make little sense to the targetaudience.

The initial standards for a quality translation were established by Nida andTaber in 1969 They contend that a quality TL product matches the SL text in termsof semantic accuracy, grammatical correctness, stylistic effectiveness, and textualcoherence Meanwhile, Munday (2001:26) cites Tytler who lists three generalguidelines for a competent translation:

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a A thorough transcription of the concepts in the original work must beprovided in the translation

b The literary style and tone must match those of the original.c The translation ought to be as fluid as the original work.

Besides, a good translation can also accurately express the facts and meetthe original's aim, according to Newmark (1988:192) A good translation is onethat “fulfills the same purpose in the new language as the original did in thelanguage it was written” This definition is in line with this approach Additionally,Nida (2000:134) lists the four fundamental criteria for a good translation asfollows: it must make sense, capture the essence and style of the original text, havea natural and effortless style, and elicit the same reaction.

2.2 Translation Error

2.2.1 Definition of Error

Error states that something is wrong In addition, an error is a linguisticform or combination of forms that, in the same context and under productioncircumstances that are comparable, the speaker's native counterparts almostcertainly would not produce the form or combination of forms in question

(Lennon, 1991).

The terms “error” and “mistake” are still frequently confused by a largenumber of people There is a difference between the two terms, despite the factthat they are frequently used interchangeably with one another Error, in thecontext of scientific discourse, denotes a deficiency in the student's knowledge andexhibits a systematic pattern On the other hand, a mistake is typically regarded asa deficiency in performance, and it does not take place in a predictable manner(Goff-Kfouri, 2004).

2.2.2 Translation Error

Non-native speakers who don't know the target language's rules make errorsin speech and writing Pym (1992) says language, pragmatics, and culture cause

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