Chuyên đề thực tập tốt nghiệp: An investigation into the difficulties affecting the translation comepetence of business english students at national economics university

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61AEXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study aims to identify a number of considerable problems that thefourth-year students at National Economics Universi

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BUSINESS ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES

AFFECTING THE TRANSLATION COMEPETENCE OF

BUSINESS ENGLISH STUDENTS AT NATIONAL

ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, April, 2023

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BUSINESS ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

HOANG YEN NHI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFICULTIES

AFFECTING THE TRANSLATION COMEPETENCE OF

BUSINESS ENGLISH STUDENTS AT NATIONAL

ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, April, 2023

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

First of all, with all my admiration and respect, I would like to express myprofound gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Le Thuy Linh who is directly in charge

of teaching me during the translation courses at NEU Her dedication in lecturesalong with her comments and suggestions for our performance have provided mewith a lot of useful knowledge to apply in writing this study

Secondly, I also sincerely thank the teachers from the Faculty of ForeignLanguage, National Economics University, who have taught me subjects in theEnglish major in the past 7 semesters, as well as other teachers who are responsiblefor general subjects The knowledge and experience I learned from the teachersduring my time studying at the university played an important role in the

fulfillment of this essay

Thirdly, I would like to convey my warmest and kindest appreciation to my

friends who gave me a lot of advice and recommendations Specifically, it is vitalfor me to give special thanks to my classmates of BE program at NEU intake 100who played an important part in providing me with their beneficial researchmaterials and the great assistance in performing the survey questionnaire I wouldlike to express my deep gratefulness for the teachers who spent time beinginterviewed, which helps me alot on the way of completing my study

Last but not least, I desire to express my great admiration to my parents

from the bottom of my heart for their wholehearted and unconditional support to

me Without the unlimited love and encouragement that they have been offering,

it could be merely challenging for me to drive my motivation for the purpose ofsharpening myself and broadening my horizon with the enormous knowledgetreasure throughout not only these four years at NEU but my journey of maturity

and success

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study aims to identify a number of considerable problems that thefourth-year students at National Economics University frequently happen to in theprocess of translation during three courses at the university

As can be seen, translation is becoming important in every aspect of humanlife In other words, the translation field increasingly opens more career paths foruniversity students Thus, it is virtually essential to draw more attention to thecompetence of BE students with regard to the translation aspect The ability to identifywhat translation is or how it processes is of superior importance because only whenthey are aware of these, could they realize the problems in their work Additionally,this research suggests numerous practical approaches which were gathered fromreliable sources, BE teachers and personal experience to tackle students’ issues

A number of 10 detailed survey questions were proposed together with 4 directinterview questions were distributed with the responses of 100 senior BE students and

2 translation teachers to illustrate whether they have awareness of translation aspectssuch as definitions, types and process of translation The questionnaire was also incharge of describing obstacles and problems in the translation process of BE students.The results of teacher interview would be used to depict some causes andrecommendations given by the teachers, which helps solidify the academic aspect andclarity of the study The data processing was thoroughly carried out and the outcomeswere displayed in the forms of diagrams and tables

According to the results of the study, it can be easily described that there weredifferent hindrances when BE students do their translations, including some commondifficulties which are lexical factor, phonological factor, custom and tradition factor

or personal competence After figuring out the problems, students would be providedwith valuable solutions by famous authors and BE teachers Moreover, it isnoteworthy that most BE students are fully aware of general information abouttranslation such as definition, classification, or the process of translation

With all the statistics that were processed, analyzed and depicted along withthe potential solutions which are proactively proposed, this thesis is expected tobecome the effective learning materials for not only fourth-year students but alsoall the students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and the teachers as well

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

Hồng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYY 5 << < HH HH 00 0806 iLIST OF ABBREVHIA THONS s- << HH HH CC HH ngu g0” iiTABLE OF COINTIETN TYS 5 << << HH HH HC 0008900 iii

LIST OF FIGURES o 0G (G5 S0 9 9 9 9 Họ 0 00 000900096 vi LIST OF TA BILEES o 0 G5 G5 9 nọ 0 0 00096006 vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 0 G5 G5 5G 50.590 000056 1

1.1 Ratiomale G5 G5 9 9 9 Họ 0.0.0.0 000 00096 1 1.2 PUTDOSS G6 G5 %9 9 99.8994.9994 9908004.0809400809689940894880940909080896 2 1.3 Research Questions d G5 6 S59 %9 99 999.894.9993 09 58906908940889598960996 3 1.4 Scope of the SÍUICỈY G6 G G5 9 99.99 0803.0900009 80040080940090908 996 3

1.5 Significance of the SẦUỈY o <5 << sọ Họ 0090 31.6 Design of the Study 0G G5 9 9 9 0 0000400009400 8896 41.7 Methodology 5< 5 9 9 0 00.000 T04 0000400009080 8080 4

1.7.1 The setting of the StUdy 5 s1 HH HH ng ng re 41.7.2 Research Subjects -c c 1v HH ng HH rrg 41.7.3 Data collection techniques - -c c 131131119 vn re 41.7.4 Data Collection Process - G1 HH ng rey 51.7.5 Data analysis Process 5 Ăn ng HH ng nưệt 6CHAPTER 2:THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK -<<<<<<<e<e 72.1 Definition of Translation - o5 5< 5< s H000 0808 72.2 Features Of TTannSÏ4aẨÏOHA - o- <5 <5 5< 5< 9 99.00.000.009 0096604 08 82.3 The importance of Translation s5 <5 5< s9 99 99.9 0895589408896 10

2.3.1 The role of Translation 1n eCOROTNV - s55 + +ssksseeeeses 10

2.3.2 The role of Translation in educat1OI -5- 5s ++sss++ssx++sexsssss 112.3.3 The role of Translation as a mean of communIcafion 11

2.4 Types of TTa'nSÏ2ẠOTT 6G S5 99 9 99.99 80.0800400809689840869408896 12

2.4.1 Word-for-word transÏatÏOTI - c- + + * 13+ E*vvEEeeersrsereesereevee 132.4.2 Literal trannsÏafIOTI - - - c2 2111211119111 11 19 11 911 1v vn rệt 132.4.3 Free trarnsÏafIOT + 119 3112111911901 1 HH ng ng 142.5 Translation POCSS -s- 55 << 0 HH 1 0.00090000009089 060 152.6 Translation Techniques Classification .o- <5 ss°s se SsSeSeSssse 17

2.6.1 AapfafIOT Gv 172.6.2 AmplIÍICafIOII - <1 TH HH kg 17

1H

Hồng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

2.6.3 U00 - 18P.00 18

PA NJP vào 0n 192.6.7 DISCUTSIV€ CT€AfIOH - Q5 HH TH HH H 192.6.8 Established equ1VaÏ€nit - - - + kh nh HH HH ng ni, 192.6.9 GereraliZation 0n ố ằ 4 192.6.10 Linguistic AmplIÍTCafIOT c1 v vn ng kg 192.6.11 Linguistic COMPTLESSION 5 5 + 13118331 E£EEEEsEsrserereereeeee 192.6.12 Literal transÏafIOT - c1 SH HH HH kg 202.6.13 MOdulafIOTI - .c- 5 1 1 nh ng TH ng 202.6.14 PartICulaT1Z/4fIOTI - - G c1 TH ng 20

2.6.16 SuDSfIfUIOTI Gà LH TH TH TH HH HH 202.6.17 TTARSDOSILIOT - HH HH gu TH HH Hi Hà 202.6.18 AT1AfIOHN - Q9 HT HH HH HH Ha 212.7 Factors affecting Translation PFOC€SS o 5< s11, 21

2.7.1 Linguistic factor 212.7.2 Cultural ÍACẨOT s1 Tnhh 242.7.3 v.c bi cin vo gNẠỌIẠỌDaiaiddida) 26CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION cceSSSSSSSsSeesee 303.1 ẸnNĐS ĩc cọ cọ H 0 0.00001000000001 000 609080408800 30

3.1.1 The self-evaluation of BE students on their understanding about the

definition of Translation ccecceseesceeseeeeeeseeeeceseceeeeseceaeceeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeaeees 303.1.2 BE’s perception on the features of a good translation 31

3.1.3 Student’s self- evaluation of the importance of translation in four

different aspects: education, culture, communication and economy 333.1.4 BE’s perception on types of transÏatiOn ccS-csss+sssersss 34

3.1.5 BE’s perception of the process of translation ‹ «+-x++ 37 4.1.6 BE students’ perception on translation techniques -‹- 38

3.1.7 Factors affecting Translation competence of BE students 43

3.2 DiSCUSSION ccscccssccssscseccrsccscccscccscssscssssssessscesscesscesesssccscsssecssssscssssssessoeses 48

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDA TIONN 0c G5 Ăn 15 150850 556 514.1 Recommendation for students o5 <5 5 5< 55s S9 S515 156, 514.2 Recommendation for teachers < 55-555 59 9S 9 91089 856.55 53CONCLUSIONN G0 Họ cọ nọ TH HH 0000010006000 00908 55

iv

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

1 Summary Of the SẦUCỈY o 5 <5 << 5< 5< n0 000 55

2 Limitations ccssccssssccsssssscssscsscssscscsscsssscssccsssscssssssssscssecsesssscsscssccssseeses 56

3 Suggestions for further Studies << 5< s99 09.0 089 688866866 57

REEERENCES cọ HO HH 06 00600060008000400800 APPENDÏYX - << cụ HC II 0000100010004 890

Hồng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Average Language Translator SaÏary - - 555cc s+sseeserses 1 Figure 2.1: Economic translation Specificity ccccccceeseeesceeeseceeeeeeseeeeseeeeaeenees 11 Figure 2.2: Diagram of translation Process cccccseseceseeeseeeeeeceseeeeseeeeeeesaeeees 16 Figure 2.3: Translation process cccccesscsesseeseeeseeceseeceeeesaeeeseeceneceaeeeeaeeeeaeeees 16

IDaiáv02585)i134i1))0.34110/ 22 21

Figure 3.1: BE Students’ self-evaluation of Translation definitions 30

Figure 3.2: Student’s self- evaluation of the importance of translation in four different aspects: education, culture, communication and economy 33

Figure 3.3: BE’s perception on types of transÏaf1OH - «+ =<sx+x+s+srs 36 Figure 3.4: BE’s perception of the process of transÏation - -«+-++ 37

Figure 3.5: : BE students’ assessment of the frequency of translation types 41

Figure 3.6: Factors affecting translation that BE students have known 43

Figure 3.7: BE students’ assessment of the importance of each factor 45

Figure 3.8: Factors that BE students find the most difficult to deal with 47

vi

Hồng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Example of establish equ1VaπT( - 55s +s<x+ssesseerseeeeesee 19

Table 3.1: BE’s perception on the features of a good translation 32

Table 3.2: Examples of types of translation and the correct answWers 35

Table 3.3: Translation techniques that BE students have known 38

vii

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

(This chapter presents rationale, purposes, research questions, research

methodology scope and design of the study)1.1 Rationale

Translation is one of the professions that plays an important role in economic sector because the needs of business and international cooperation willconstantly increase Although the popularity of many softwares and toolssupporting translation makes many people uncertain about the development ability

socio-of this industry in the future However, in some respects, machines cannotcompletely replace the human role According to Global Market Insights, thetranslation industry will be worth 1.5 billion USD by 2024 This is really a goodnews for those who are passionate and eager to pursue this industry The GeneralDepartment of Labor Statistics has also forecast that the employment rate oftranslators and interpreters will increase by 17% in 2026 due to the demand forforeign travel and business expansion to other regions in the world This rate ismuch higher than the growth rate of other occupations

Translator is considered a profession with stable to high income The

following figure illustrates the salary range of a translator in The United States

LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR

Average Salary Junior Level 25th Percentile

$45,000 yearly $36,000 $17.31Yearly Salary Hourly Salary

ZIPPIA Updated August 18, 2021 Yearly Salary Hourly Salary

Figure 1.1: Average Language Translator Salary

(Source: ZIPPIA, The Career Expert, Language Translator Salary)

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

According to the figure, language translators make $45,490 per year on average, or $21.87 per hour, in the United States Language translators with lower

expertise, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $29,000 a year, while the top

10% makes $70,000.

In Vietnam, there has a great deal of universities providing translationcourses in their education programs, and NEU is one of those However, the scores

in Translation I, II and HI courses of many Business English students are not high,

especially in Translation I The reason explaning for this is that Translating I - thefirst course in the whole Translation program, is a new subject, many students

cannot adapt immediately, so their learning results are not really good In addition,the poor results of students may be due to the fact that the students themselveshave not proactively studied and improved their knowledge and experience, or theyhave not studied well the subjects that are prerequisites to the Translation courses,therefore, BE students usually feel bored with any translation courses Additionally,students of BE seem to lack of cultural background in both native language andforeign language which causes certain obstacles during translation process Inaddition, complex sentence structures and specialized words are also a big problemfor students, they tend to find it difficult to look for equivalent terms for eachlanguage when translating texts

Through this study, the writer hopes that BE students would have generalinformation about the importance of translation in the job market Moreover, theauthor conducted this comprehensive analysis with the aim of figuring out some

of the main issues in studying Translation of Business English students At the

same time, the author also suggests some recommendations with the hope ofhelping students studying this course can find a solution to the difficulties, therebyimproving their learning results

1.2 Purposes

The study has three specific objectives as following:

e Firstly, provide general knowledge about Translation

e Secondly, point out common obstacles that BE students usually happen

to when studying Translation course at university

e Thirdly, recommend some approaches that help BE students addressthese difficulties

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

1.3 Research questions

In order to fulfill the study’s aims and objectives, the study is undertaken toanswer the following research questions:

e How do BE students perceive general information about translation?

e What problems do BE students usually deal with during Translation courses?

e What are the solutions that help BE students tackle with these problems?1.4 Scope of the study

The idea for this study is derived from the observations and experiences of

the writer after taking part in all the Translation courses together with the

internship period at the Faculty of Foreign Language at NEU Translation is aspecific course at NEU, which is provided to juniors and seniors However, thestudy only focuses on forth-year BE students at NEU because these studentsprobably have clear career orientations, it is possible that many of them wouldchoose translation as their future passions As a result, this thesis claims to bringbenefits to whom hope to have a deep insight about Translation or whom want to

find out common mistake in Translation process and whom expect to base on this

study to deal with their difficulties in terms of Translation

1.5 Significance of the study

Translation plays a very important role in international relations in

general and Vietnam's foreign policy in particular and it also opens a lot of jobopportunities for students If students study this profession well, they will equipthemselves with a solid knowledge and experience to apply to translation work

in the future, especially for students of Business English - who mainly learnabout languages and its characteristics However, compared with other fields,the number of studies focused on solving common difficulties of Translation isnot so many, partly due to the limitation caused by its high specialization (only

focusing on knowledge of English and Vietnamese) Carrying out this research,

the writer wishes to point out the most common difficulties that students face

in learning this subject, and simultaneously offer some solutions to help

students achieve the desired effect after completing three courses of the subject.Moreover, the author hopes that the data and statistics of this study can be a firmfoundation that later research or study base on

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

1.6 Design of the study

The study consists of six parts:

Chapter | - Introduction - Explains the reasons for choosing the topic and mentionsthe objectives, scope, significance, the research methods and the structure of thestudy

Chapter 2 — Theoretical Framework - gives information about the theoretical

background related to the topic and previous studies

Chapter 3 — Findings and Discussion - presents comprehensive analysis on the datacollected, major findings, discussions

Chapter 4 —- Recommendation - offers some implications for improvement

Conclusion — Summarize the findings and results of the study, indicates the

limitations of the study and proposes suggestions for further research

1.7 Methodology

1.7.1 The setting of the study

In this study, the researcher investigates the difficulties that the seniorEnglish major at NEU have to deal with when translating English to Vietnamese.Therefore, the researcher could propose several strategies to improve thelimitations of BE students

1.7.2 Research subjects

The subjects of this study are the fourth-year students, Faculty of ForeignLanguages, National Economics University When the study was carried out, thisgroup of students had completed all 3 levels of Translation courses, the authorchose these subjects to answer the survey because, at the time of answering thesurvey, the research subjects had certain knpwledge about translation so that theycould give the most comprehensive views of the common difficulties encountered

by the BE students The research subjects taking part in the survey included 100randomly selected students It is a reasonable number, which is enough to representover 140 senior students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages

1.7.3 Data collection techniques

1.7.3.1 Questionaires

The students of Faculty of Foreign Languages were asked to complete aquestionnaire with questions related to the results of the study of Translation

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

courses A survey questionnaire consisting of a set of 10 questions was sent by theauthor to groups of National Economics University to collect information forresearch Before sending out the questionnaires to students, the author asked thelecturer to pre-check them to avoid errors in the data collection process

The author then published a survey questionnaire by creating a questionnaire

on Google Forms This was not a time-consuming process but it still ensured thatthe author can could collect a wide variety of data from student Although this surveywas conducted online, instructions for answering the questions were provided in thefirst and last introductions of the questionnaire Therefore, survey participants could

still answer according to the researcher's wishes

To ensure objectivity and fairness, each student will complete thequestionnaire on their own without seeing the answers of others Only theresearcher can view the full survey results Survey results are only made publicafter all research subjects complete the questionnaire

1.7.3.1 Interview

The teachers of Faculty of Foreign language would be invited to participate

in an interview to answer questions related to the study of Translation Fortunately,the author could invite two translation teachers to participate in the interview.Teachers are those who know how students approach the subject, thereby they canlist some of the difficulties that students have to deal with during the learningprocess In addition, they are also the ones who can propose reliable solutions toimprove student learning outcomes

1.7.4 Data collection process

Data was collected from questionnaires distributed to BE students Inaddition, these students are encouraged to give other difficulties they encountered

in the process of studying Translation as well as their own solutions (There is an

option called “Other Opinion”, where students can give a different answer rather

than the available answers) As mentioned above, each student must complete the

questionnaire by themselves without seeing the answers of others to avoid thesituation that students are influenced by others’ opinions

The questionnaire was conducted to find answers to 2 research questions,including 2 parts:

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

= In part 1, the author aims to figure out whether or not BE students have

a great awareness of translation Question 1 helps students define translation,Question 2,3,4,5,6,7, orientate students to the process and translation techniques

= In part 2, the author learns about the difficulties that BE students have toaddress when translating Question 8,9,10 would help students identify whichproblem they commonly occur and what are the most difficult problems of them

In terms of teacher interview, the author would contact and get the teacher's

agreement before conducting the interview Devices such as recorders and videorecorders were used to ensure that information was recorded in the most detailedway which facilitated the data analysis process

1.7.5 Data analysis process

After the data has been collected, the next step is to analyze those data Theresults of the questionnaire were reviewed and synthesized the difficulties listed

by the students Moreover, the data obtained from the interview is re-checked,based on that, the writer lists out the difficulties that students face, and offerssolutions to help improve students' learning results based on the teacher's answers

The qualitative method is used by the writer to analyze, evaluate andcompare the theory and practice of studying Translation In linguistics,employing qualitative method tends to be the most appropriate choice oflanguage researchers, who use it as the tool to encounter the multiple meanings

as well as the value patterns

Quantitative methods are used to convert data into percentage form anddetermine the habits of students when translating

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

(This chapter includes the theoretical background of the study of Translation)

2.1 Definition of Translation

The conception of Translation seems to be familiar to many people thanks

to its wide relation to most fields in current society It is obvious that Translationhas been defined by a variety of researchers for many years The understanding ofwhat Translation means is crucial because it helps BE students visualize what theywould be required to do in this field However, a perfect definition of this termmight not be introduced yet

There are some definitions of Translation concluded by experts According

to Wiratno (2003) translation is a process of converting messages from SourceLanguage (SL) into Target Language (TL) SL is an original language which istranslated, meanwhile TL is a final language which is used to express the result oftranslation Newmark (1988) who defines translation as an action of converting themeaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended to do

However, the definition of Translation is not as simple as many commonlythink There are also a large number of definitions of Translation from many experts.They define the meaning of Translation in many ways and froma lot of angles Hatimand Munday (2004) state translation as the process of transferring a written text fromsource language (SL) to target language (TL) In this definition, they do not explicitlyexpress what the words or terms transferred mean but they emphasize on translation

as a process With the same opinion that defines Translation as a process, Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000) states that Translation is the process of

changing something that is written or spoken into another language Lilova (1985)concludes that Translation is a special oral or written activity aimed at the recreation

of an oral or written text (utterance) existing in one language into a text in anothertongue, this is accompanied by keeping the invariance of content, qualities of theoriginal and author's authenticity Another researcher, named Solodub (2005) expressthe view that translation is a creative intellectual activity, denoting the transmission of

information from an original language into a final language

The definition of Translation from the experts is not limited only onaforementioned points of view There are several definitions stated by someexperts in terms of communication aspects Sdobnikov and Petrova (2006) statethat Translation can be generally understood as a way to provide interlingual

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

communication by the means of creation of a text in TL intended to fully replace

the original message Another definition proposed by Garbovsky (2004) is that

Translation is described as the social function of communicative mediationbetween people, who use different language systems According to him, thisfunction is carried out as a psychophysical activity of a bilingual person aimed atthe reflection of reality based on his (her) individual abilities as an interpreter,accomplishing transition from one semiotic system to another with the equivalentpurpose, but it is always the partial transmission of a system of meanings,contained in a source message, from one communicant to another Sharing thesame idea, Latishev (1988) writes in his research that Translation is a kind oflanguage mediation, with the aim of socially serving to approximate a mediated

bilingual communication by fullness, effectiveness and naturalness to a common

monolingual communication

Moreover, Translation also has relation to cultural aspects A definitionproposed by Kridalaksana (1983) that Translation is transferring messages amongcultures and languages However, Newmark (2001) shares his viewpoint thatTranslation is just a basic skill, he states that Translation is a tool consisting of theeffort to substituting a written message or statement in one language by the samemessage or statement in another language

Based on all definitions above, it can be deduced that translation is morecomplicated than people expect The most common definition of Translation,which is widely known, is a process of transferring messages, words or texts fromsource languages into target languages During this process, a translator must havedeep understanding about both source texts and target ones, he (she) is required tohave knowledge about the style of both languages; hence, he (she) is capable ofdelivering the messages of his (her) translation thoroughly

2.2 Features of Translation

All languages are different, each language has its own grammar, its ownwords, structures styles and expressions However, when being translated intoothers tongues, the translation has several common characteristics

According to Maryamu Danbaba (2017), a good translation must have three

main characteristics: accurate, clear and natural He then explicitly differentiatesthese terms to make clear what accuracy, clarity and naturalness is

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

The researcher explains that an accurate translation does not illustrate onethat is as near to the form of the original message as possible, but one thatexpresses the same meaning as exactly as possible Conversely, a translation isinaccurate if the meaning of the translation is described in a different way from

the original language To reinforce his own view, Maryamu Danbaba (2017)

refers a research of Kathy Barnwell In her study, Kathy Barnwell (2005)concluded that inaccurate translation includes Omission, that is a part of themeaning is missing; Addition which happens when anything has been added tothe meaning; Change which means the meaning has been altered in any way.Therefore, to produce an accurate translation, the translator must not omit, add,

or change the meaning of the original message

In his study “Qualities of a good translation”, Maryamu Danbaba (2017)also mentions another feature of translation, which is clarity If a translator wants

to create a translation which is clear, he must take the following questions into

consideration: “Does the translation communicate the meaning? Do people

understand what the translation means? Is what they understand in fact the original

meaning that the author intended?” He also uses the statement of Richard C Blight

(2019) to consolidate his view Richard C Blight (2019) states that the quality of

a translation is to clearly convey the similar message that the source textcommunicated to its original readers The message is required to be in a form thatcan be easily obtained by its readers To conclude, any kind of translation should

be that which transforms the message as clear as possible

The third features that Maryamu Danbaba (2017) describes in his study isnaturalness According to the author, a natural translation is one that does not

sound ‘foreign’, it does not need to look like a translation at all, but like a person

speaks in a daily conversation He points out the fact that if a translator is notconscious at all, he or she will often carry over expressions from the languagehe/she is translating from He advises each translator to be careful when checkingand finding the natural, idiomatic expression in target language For eachlanguage, there may be one or two ways of expressing the same idea It is theduty of the translator to find the most suitable way to express the meaning as

naturally as possible

Recently, more and more studies have been carried out to figure out themain characteristics of a translation Kristina Temelkova (2021) points out sevenstandards to evaluate a good translation such as Accuracy, Clarity, Authenticity,

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

Appropriate tone and style, Cultural appropriateness, Consistency, Contemporarylanguage However, the criteria set by Maryamu Danbaba could be seen as asignificant perspective to evaluate a good translation Although current researchershave made attempts to add more standards, which requires translators to pay higherattention to their translation, the viewpoint of Danbaba seems to be the core value,the most effective measure to sort out the characteristics of translation

2.3 The importance of Translation

In this era of globalization, translation has been given more importance.Although translation in general terms means converting a text from one language

to other tongues, the role of translation is undeniable because of its contribution

to a variety of fields in society such as economic growth, education development,and communication

2.3.1 The role of Translation in economy

According to Ankita Saha (2020), translation has made a huge contribution

to the global economy In his study, he states that in this globalization era, it isextremely crucial for companies or enterprises to have foreign associations, clientsand customers Although English — an international language, is widely spoken yetpeople prefer to read about products and services or engage in content in theirnative language He thinks that in order to draw the attention of the foreigncustomers, it is important for the companies to have a translation department Hethen explains more about the problem that if a company does not have anycompetitive advantage in terms of translation while their competitors are able tosell their products in foreign languages, then their competitors would obtain morechances to dominate the entire market and this company runs a higher risk of

‘achieving’ losses.

Irina Zaykova (2019) also emphasizes the role of translation in economy inhis study He states that economic translation is an interdisciplinary area and coversmajority of activities such as business, economy, finance and commerce Heindicates that business translation is more frequently used than others because it isclosely connected to business papers such as contracts, agreements, and financial

reports Therefore, he assures that economic translation has its own specificity and

he illustrates the unique feature of the role as following diagram

10

Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

Economic Specific field translation of functioning:

various areas

of activity

Genre stylistic

diversity

Figure 2.1: Economic translation specificity

Source: (Economic Translation: Theoretical and Practical Issues, by Irina

Zaykova, 2019)

Based on the explanations above, it is clear to conclude that every single

business has one thing in common that is a heavy reliance on foreign relations

It is the role of Translation that enables businesses to communicate theirmessages to their partners

2.3.2 The role of Translation in education

Not only in business aspect but translation also has its importance in the field

of education According to Ankita Saha (2020), previously, education was restricted

to nearby schools, local colleges and universities However, with advancement of timeand the globalization, people are prone to learn new things, which facilitates them to

go to different parts of the world He indicates that students who have opportunities

to travel to experience foreign education often for them language becomes a barrier

To him, with the help of translation, the language barriers have been faded andoverseas students have equal opportunity to obtain knowledge

Generally, translation in education can help with integration If all the

schoolbooks are translated into one’s native tongue, it is for sure that foreign

students can adjust to their new surroundings easily

2.3.3 The role of Translation as a mean of communication

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000), the special

purpose of translation is as a medium of communications Another view of Duff(1989), he claims that playing the role as a process of communication,

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translation functions as the medium ‘across the linguistic and cultural barriers’

in converting the message written into the foreign tongues In other words, hestates that translation breaks the wall between cultures and cultures, languagesand languages Translation is a very helpful assistant for people who come fromaround the world in communication to each other Another researcher namedAnkita Saha (2020) also shares his view about translation in cultural correlation

He indicates that Translation helps in connecting cultures across the world In

his study, he points out that it is important for a good translator to haveknowledge about the background of the language they are translating to convert

a particular text into the desired language

Communication is a necessity in this global era, in some cases, linguisticdifficulties discourage people from talking or chatting However, translation isgetting more and more helpful in terms of conveying daily messages betweenpeople and people in spite of geographical boundaries

Based on these research above, it is undeniable that translation has a closerelationship with a variety of aspects in society Not only does it affect theeconomic growth but it also has a huge influence on education development andthe way human communicate Specifically, without Translation, businesses aspeople commonly know would not exist since Translation fuels the globaleconomy Thanks to Translation that helps schools and universities make sure

that teachers and students are understanding each other on multiple levels,

thereby students are able to understand the concepts teachers are sharing withthem Last but not least, it is hard to ignore the role of Translation in connectingpeople around the world, creating possibilities for people communicate withothers despite language barriers

2.4 Types of Translation

The experts of Translation divide the kinds of translation based on somepoints of view A researcher, Catfords (1965) shares his thoughts about thetypes of Translation in his study that there are three types of Translation: word-for-word translation, literal translation and free translation, this is also thetheory that the study follows

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2.4.1 Word-for-word translation

According to Catfords (1965) word-for-word translation tends to be

difficult to be understood by readers, which means that the words taken from the

SL are translated in an approach that the translator does not put more emphasis on

the message which are expressed in the TL text Therefore, the result may bedifferent from the original source language text There are some examples takenfrom a translation website, the source text comes first, and the translation follows:

“Từ phía đông thôi về một ngọn gió lạnh va âm” The translation is “From side

east blow back a wind cold and wet” Another example is “Mẹ của me cua tôi là

bà ngoại cua tôi.” And the translation is “The mom of my mom is my grandmother”.

Catfords (1965) states that word-for-word translation is difficult to beunderstood The vocabularies were translated exactly from the TL but the wordorder and sentences still followed the SL These sentences above can be translated

in a different way that sounds better than that before: “From the east came a cold

wet wind” and “My mom’s mother is my grandmother”.

In general, word-for-word translation is often demonstrated as interlineartranslation, with the TL immediately below the SL words The source languageword order is unchanged and the words translated singly by their most commonmeanings, in other words, no correlation to the context

2.4.2 Literal translation

Catfords (1965) implies that literal translation may start from word translation but it makes change in conformity with the TL grammar.According to him, this type of translation may be in a group or phrase translation.Another researcher, Cakir (2006), indicates that literal translation is a type of word-for-word translation and it can be applied as a pre-translation activity to addresssome difficulties such as obscurity and ambiguity He also makes comparisonbetween word-for-word and literal translation that word order is the same in word-for-word translation, however, in literal translation, grammatical structures areadapted to the nearest target language equivalents Larson (1984) debates that aliteral translation is useful when the source structure text is studied as in an

word-for-interlinear translation However, he thinks that a literal translation is not good at

conveying the meaning of the source language because its aim is to help readersunderstand a text in its original language

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The following of a literal translation example is extracted from a book

named “Translation: From theory to practice” written by Nguyen Thuong Hung,

published in 2005

Source text: “Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon was built by King Jeogjo(r.1776 — 1800) as an act of filial piety to restore the honor of his father who wasmurdered as a result of palace intrigue The Fortress was designed by Jeong Yak-yong known as Dasan, one of the greatest Confucian Silhak (School of PracticalLearning) scholars (WK).”

Literal translation: “Pháo dai ở Xu-on được xây dung bởi Nha vua

Gi-ong-gio (1776 — 1800) như một hành động hiếu thảo của con cái nhằm khôi phục danh

dự cho người cha đã bị sát hại do một mưu đồ trong cung đình Pháo đài được thiết

kế bởi Gi-ong I-ác-i-ong còn được gọi là Da-xan, một trong những học giả lớn nhất

của trường phái Học hành của đạo Không.”

Edited translation: “Vua Gi-ong-gio (1776 — 1800) đã xây dựng pháo dai

Hoa Xương ở Xu-on để tỏ lòng hiểu thảo của một người con nhằm truy tôn vua bị một mưu đồ trong cung đình sát hại Gi-ong I-ác-i-ong, còn được gọi là Da-xan, một trong những học giả lớn nhất của trường phái Thực học trong Nho gia, đã thiết

kê công trình này.”

Literal translation is a type of translation that converts the source languagegrammatical constructions to their nearest target language equivalents but thelexical words are again translating singly, out of context In some cases, this typepractically is the same with the word to word translation

2.4.3 Free translation

Catfords (1965) indicates that free translation emphasizes more on themessage which is expressed in SL text in the translator’s own words It is very

important because it will give information that is easy for the readers to understand

In this type, the translator may add or omit some words if it is necessary Because

of some changes, this kind of translation will give information that is easy forreaders to understand

One researcher, Simatupang (2000), shares his view about types oftranslation that Translation is divided into two types which are literal translation,and non-literal translation or free translation Newmark (1988) proposes eighttypes of translation, they are: word-for-word translation, literal translation, faithfultranslation, semantic translation, adaptation, free translation, idiomatic translation,

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and communicative translation Below is an example extracted from the study

named “An investigation into translation methods manifested in the English

translational version ‘The sorrow of war’ from “Nỗi buồn chiến tranh’ by Bảo Ninh”

written by Le Thi Kieu Thanh (2019):

English sentence: “For three days and nights Hanoi ‘s streets were filledwith crowds of people celebrating that in sixty days there would be no foreign

troops in Vietnam and that all U.S military bases in the South would be dismantled.”

Vietnamese sentence: “Trong ba ngày ba đêm, các đường pho Ha Nội tranngập những dam đông ăn mừng viên cảnh trong vòng sáu mươi ngày nữa sẽ không

còn bóng dáng một binh sĩ ngoại quôc nảo tại Việt Nam và các căn cứ quân sự Mỹ

tại miên Nam sẽ được dỡ bỏ.”

To conclude, a free translation appears to be free from the word-for-wordequivalents of the SL text The emphasis is on capturing the sense of the originaltext Free translation is more suitable for literary texts while literal translationgenerally suits scientific and technical texts

Obviously, researchers have different vantage points of the number of

kinds of translation However, the classification done by Catfords seems to be

followed by various authors that there are three main types of translation:

word-for-word translation, literal translation and free translation Therefore, the

theories of the research would follow mainly his research in terms of the number

of kinds of translation

2.5 Translation Process

As mentioned above, some experts hold the view that translation is aprocess in which a text from one language is converted into other tongues Withthe aim of having a deep insight about how to create a desired translation, manyresearchers have made a lot of effort to find out the steps of translation

In their research, Nida and Taber (1969) divide the process of translatinginto three stages system, starting with analysis of message in the SL, thentransferring, and ending with reconstruction of the transferred message in the TL.This process is described in the following figure

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A (Source Language) B (Receptor Language)

A

(Analysis) (Restructuring)

v

X——= — [liiilsftFr)T”—————————————W VY

Figure 2.2: Diagram of translation process

(Source: The Theory and Practice of Translation, Nida and Taber, 1969)From the diagram, it is clear that the source language is analyzed before moving

to the transferring step This is the stage that SL is converted into TL The Reconstructionphase is the phase where the translator rewrites or examine the materials in such a waythat the translation product is readable and acceptable based on rules and styles in the TL.Furthermore, Nababan (2003) shares the same view with Nida and Taber He alsoemphasizes that the process of translation has three steps, which are 1) the analysis of thesource language (SL), 2) transferring the message, 3) restructuring

In addition, it is necessary to consider another view from Larson (1984),who also describes the translation process as following:

(Source: Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language

Equivalence, Larson, 1984)

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In his thesis, Larson (1984) focuses more on the meaning of the message

He states that Translation consists of transferring the meaning of sourcelanguage into the target language This is completed from the form of the firstlanguage to the form of the second tongue by the way of semantic structure.According to his statement, the role of semantic organization or the termmeaning is prioritized during the process

Obviously, Larson (1984) and Nida and Taber (1969) share the similar

idea when introducing the process of translation Both include three main steps

and each text of source language must be analyzed and reconstructed beforebeing turned into a perfect translation The three main phases (analyzing,understanding and reconstructing) stay unchanged through each recent research

It is necessary that translators follow those step so that they can create anaccurate, clear and natural translation

2.6 Translation Techniques Classification

Apparently, to translate one text, translators can employ various methods toproduce a complete translation Molina and Albir (2002) propose a definition oftranslation techniques They based on two premises: the need to differentiatebetween method, strategy and techniques; the demand for an analysis andfunctional concept of translation techniques According to them, translationtechniques have five fundamental features Firstly, they affect the result of thetranslation The second feature is that they are classified by comparison with the

original Following characteristic is to affect micro-units of text Forthly, they are

by nature discursive and contextual and the fifth feature is that they are functional

Based on the two authors’ theories, there are eighteen techniques that areapplied to translate source labguage to target one

2.6.1 Adaptation

Adaptation occurs when something unique to one language culture isconverted in a thoroughly different method that is similar or appropriate to other

language culture Adaptation is mostly used for plays or comedies and poetry, the

SL culture is adapted to the TL culture and then the text is written again Hatim

(2001) indicates that adpatation method includes a set of modification techniqueswith the aim to increase translation equivalence

2.6.2 Amplification

This method is used to introduce details that are not formulated in the sourcelanguage Footnotes are also types of amplification

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2.6.3 Borrowing

According to Molina and Albir (2002), borrowing is the action that takes

words directly from one language into another without translation There are someunderlying reasons for borrowing Firstly, it is because the target language has nogenerally used equivalent The second reason is that the source language wordsounds better than translated version And the last explanation is that borrowing

translation helps retain some “feel” of the source language Molina and Albir (2002)

states that borrowing is divided in the two kinds They are pure borrowing and

naturalized borrowing

1 Pure borrowing

Pure borrowing is defined as the activity to translate source text into thetarget text without any modification of the spelling or pronunciation For example,words such as ‘email’, ‘internet’ or ‘wifi’ do not change their formulation whenbeing converted into other languages This technique is used by the translatorbecause the readers themselves can understand the meaning of the word in thetarget language

2 Naturalized borrowing

Naturalized borrowing in translation is transferring the SL by adapting from

a SL word to the phonetic and morphological norm of the TL For instance, the

word ‘canteen’ when being converted into Vietnamese will turn into “căng tin’ or

‘cool’ with its Vietnamese translation is ‘kul’.

2.6.4 Calque

Vinay and Darbelnet (2001) emphasizes “Calque is defined as a special kind

of borrowing where SL expression or structure is translated in literal translation”.

They divide calque into two types which are lexical borrowing (respect grammar,structure of SL) and structural borrowing (introduce a new structure of TL)

2.6.5 Compensation

Compensation can be used when something can not be translated In other

words, compensation is employed to introduce an ST element of information orstylistic effect in other place in the TL because the lost meaning is expressedsomewhere else in the TL text

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2.6.6 Description

Description is a method used to replace a term or expression with a

description of its form or function

Be in the black lời

Be in the red

Buy a pig in a poke mua trâu vẽ bóng

The dearest is the cheapest của rẻ là của ôi

(Source: Methods and procedures for translation business English into

Vietnamese, Nguyen Phuoc Vinh Co, 2012)

This technique synthesizes linguistic elements in the TL This is often used

in simultaneous interpreting and in sub-titling It is an opposition to linguisticamplification

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2.6.12 Literal translation

This is a technique in which the SL grammatical constructions are

converted to their nearest TL equivalents, but the lexical words are againtranslated singly, out of context Le Thi Kieu Thanh (2019) indicates an example

in her study as following:

English sentence: Everything would then be placed inside a bag made ofyellow oilpaper which was actually invisible ink reports and summaries of otherdocuments that could not be photographed

Vietnamese sentence: Tat cả đựng vào cái tui bang giấy dau màu vàng nói trên, cả vỏ cả ruột dé là tài liệu.

2.6.13 Modulation

This method aims to change the point of view, focus on cognitive category

in relation to the ST; it can be lexical or structural In other words, according to

Peter Newmark (1988), modulation means a variation in the message due to a

change in the point of view He divides this method into two branches: optionalmodulation and fixed modulation

of hands as a sign of greeting to other people and to respect them

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2.6.18 Variation

This technique changes linguistic or paralinguistic elements (intonation,

gestures) that affect aspects of linguistic variation: changes of textual tone, style,social dialect, geographical dialect, for example, to introduce or change dialectalindicators for characters when translating for the theater

In conclusion, all the methods above are applied to different levels, differentcontexts To produce a good translation, translators can use more than onetechniques; translators also flexibly employs these approaches in order to createdesired translation

2.7 Factors affecting Translation Process

Translation, according to many researchers, is a complicated process Manyfactors are crucial to the process of translating and those factors often causeproblems to the outcomes of students when translating Dongfeng wong and Danshen (1999) focus their attention on key factors in the three most important areas:language, culture and the translator’s personal conditions These factors play amajor role in the results of each students majoring in translation

Figure 2.4: English syllable

(Source: The study of language, Yule, 2010)

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The figure from Yule (2010) illustrates consonants (a branch ofphonological factor) of an English word This pattern can be also found in

Vietnamese consonants, according to Lan Truong (2015) Although Vietnameseand English consonants are in common to some extent, Giang Tang (2007) points

out some onset consonants that Vietnamese ans English have in common are /p, b,

d, k, m, n, f, v, s, z, h, l⁄ However, the Vietnamese appear not to aspirate the /p/sound, instead they pronounce it as /b/ sound Also, according to Giang Tang(2007), the consonants on coda position that Vietnamese and English share are /p,

t, k, m, n/ and ‘ng’ but the ending sound /p, t, k/ are not released in Vietnamese Moreover, the English consonant /{{/ sounds the same to the Vietnamese consonant

/ch/ However, Giang Tang (2007) emphasizes that /ch/ is palatal, stop and

voiceless while /t// is palatal, affricates and voiceless The difference in consonants

really causes difficulty for translators to fulfill their tasks

Another branch of phonology is vowel According to Nguyen Dinh Hoa(1997), there are eleven vowels in Vietnamese, while there are thirteen in English,

stated by Yule (2010) Vietnamese diphthongs are much more complicated thanEnglish Giang Tang (2007) emphasizes that Vietnamese not only has 20 possible

two-vowel combinations, but it also has seven three-vowel combinations such as

hal, hé/, /ua/, /ud/, /yêu/, /uay/, /oai/ and so on At the same time, there are only

five main diphthongs in English, those are /aI, av, e1, ov, o1/

The major phonological difference between Vietnamese and English istones Tones in Vietnamese are spent to change the meaning of a word Forinstance, Lan Truong (2015) shows an example that Vietnamese word “tôi” has

different meaning from ‘t6i’ (guilt), “tối (dark), or ‘toi’ (bad) when different tones

are added into the word “tôi” In contrast, the word ‘tip’ in English does not carrythe same meaning with ‘dip’ because the initial sound is distinctively pronounced

It is obvious that the differences in tone, vowel and consonant between Englishand Vietnamese discourage translators and affect a lot their translation quality

2.7.1.2 Lexical factor

Moving from a comparison of the phonological factor, we now compare

Vietnamese and English at the lexical level Firstly, according to K L Nguyen(2004), in English, words may keep the same form, for example, ‘to kick’ and

‘a kick’ or it has a different form to indicate a change in word class such as

‘child’ and ‘childish’, while Vietnamese words never change in form to indicate

a word class

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Another different element related to lexical factor 1s how Vietnamese andEnglish speakers use words to make reference to people or items in the worldaround them Both Vietnamese anf English have pronoun to supersede for nouns

or noun phrases There are several pronouns in Vietnamese that can be used in a

general sense such as ‘tdi’, ‘I’, most Vietnamese pronouns are kinship terms and

they are used depending on the social context and the relationship between speakerand listener, stated by Luong (1990) He also gives some examples of kinship terms

that indicate age and gender include chi “older sister,” anh “older brother,” em

“younger sibling,” bac “father or mother’s older sibling”, di “aunt or mother’s younger sister,” cô “aunt or father’s younger sister,” chú “uncle or father’s younger brother” and cau “uncle or mother’s younger brother”.

Erickson (2001) summarizes that English uses distinct pronouns to indicate

first person ‘I, me’, second person ‘you’, and third person ‘she, he, it’ English differentiaes gender in the singular third person ‘she, he’ and number in the first person ‘I’, ‘we’ and third person ‘she’, ‘they’ On the contrary, Vietnamese

pronouns remain the same and do not indicate number, subject or predicate

position, nor first, second, and third person In order to indicate plurality in

Vietnamese, a quantifier is added before the pronoun For example, các “some” is added before chú “uncle” to indicate more than one male who is approximately the age of one’s uncle: cac chu.

Apparently, the different lexical source between English and Vietnamese isthe major factor that causes unnecessary mistakes of translators To find the mostsuitable terms in translation, translators are required do understand the formulation

and the features of each language’s lexical source.

2.7.1.3 Syntactic factor

According Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai (2019), the major difference betweenVietnamese and English syntax lies on passive voice (PV) Firstly, English hastransitive verbs and intransitive verbs, which explains for why English has twoforms of sentence: Active and Passive Voice On the contrary, Vietnamese has noverbs like that so passive voice is used for specific functions If in English, there

are many ways to express PV (be + past participle/ It is said that ), Vietnamese

5)

uses mostly two main words ‘bi’ and “được” Nguyen (2006) analyzes the

“obligatory and compulsory” parts of PV in two languages English must follow

this structure in a PV sentence: Be + Past Participle or Become/ get + PastParticiple while Vietnamese must present: bi/duogc + Verb It can be concluded

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from the structure that the optional part in English is the doer whereas in

Vietnamese it becomes an “essential” part For instance: in English: (Active Voice)

They killed Peter and Peter was killed (Passive Voice) while in Vietnamese:

(Active Voice) Ho giét Peter and Peter bi ho giét (Passive Voice) From the

example, it is clear that they saying will be unnatural if, in Vietnamese, the cause,

the agents are ignored

Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai (2019) also points out a disparity between the twocountries’ syntax, which is negative sentence Apparently, there are a lot ofdifferences between English and Vietnamese negative sentences She provides anexample as following English has a specific structure for a negative sentence as

in this sentence: I have no money (S + V + no + N) while in Vietnamese, this

structure is seen as “Tôi không có tiền” (S + không + V + N) Syntactically, a

negative sentence in English has the tense and use the right auxiliary for example:

“T didn’t sleep last night” not “I won’t sleep last night” while for any tenses, in

Vietnamese, it is important to add a negative word such as “không” or “chăng” to

make a negative sentence Another difference lies on double negative It can beseen as unnatural to use a double negative in Engish while double negative is usedfrequently in Vietnamese and this sentence is able to express both positive and

negative meaning, for example: “Cam không được hút thuốc”.

It is cleat that form of sentences differentiate the syntaxes of Vietnameseand English In some aspects, because of the difference, translators run a higherpossibility of making mistakes which lead to misunderstanding between two

languages

2.7.2 Cultural factor

As mentioned before, culture and translation have a close relationship, inother word, one factor significantly affects another Bassnett (1992) emphasizesthe close-knit relationship between translation and culture that translating works

to bridge the cultural gap between two worlds and make communication possiblebetween different linguistic communities The author also likens language to ‘theheart within the body of culture’

Discussing more about the influence of culture on translation, according to

Tran Thi Mai Le (2011), in her study, she states that some certain aspects of culture

that causes loss of meaning during translating She indicates “The differentcustoms and traditions in the daily activities and communications in Vietnam and

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Western countries reflect the different cultural mentality” She gives examples to

make clear her own views, which is that when translating the phrase

“bread-and-butter function” from source language, the translators used “chức năng kiếm com”

as an equivalence Another example is the expressions in greeting, in westerncountries, the words or phrases they use to greet others that depend on the period

of time in a day For instance, the translators converted the phrases "Good morning,girls” and "Good morning, ma'am” into “Chao các em” and “Chao cô a” inVietnamese She concludes that in this case, the target readers will not realize the

period of time of this situation if they do not know the source text She also adds

that some cultural terms and idiomatic expressions related to food, clothes or theterminology related to a specific field which have no equivalents in the TL culturethat is also a case of loss in meaning and this causes problems to translators

Based on the thesis of Mai Hao Quang (2021), culture factor can be dividedinto five aspects which are historical culture, geographic and psychological culture,material culture, customs and tradition, and religious culture

2.7.2.1 Historical aspect

According to his study, it can be concluded that different countries havedifferent historical development, therefore, their historical culture is not similar.This barrier leads to the different communication between languages He indicates

an example that the word phrase ‘con Réng chau Tién’ is surely translated in a

direct way with some explanations since a lack of historical background in Westerncountries It is common that an English version of that phrase is ‘children of thefairy and the dragon’

2.7.2.2 Geographical and psychological aspect

Ali Sulaimaan (1988) claims that two cultures involved in translation mayhave distinct backgrounds related to such topics like animals, plants and climate.According to him, within these two cultural frameworks, the different geographicalterms woudl acquire different shades of meaning for the people using them Inother words, due to different geographical environments and national psychology,

a word would be translated into different versions in two different cultures

2.7.2.3 Material aspect

The material aspect of culture refers to the material accomplishments of asocial group This aspect consists of certain fields such as economy, science,technology, food, clothing, transportation and artifacts Mai Hao Quang (2021)

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shows an example of an English word ‘rugby’ This is a term which means a

popular outdoor game in England However, ‘rugby’ is rarely used in Vietnam,

hence, if translators want to encode this word, they should add some basic

information for Vietnamese readers

2.7.2.4 Custom and tradition aspect

Following Mai Hao Quang’s study, the different customs and traditions in

daily activities and communication in Vietnam and Western countries reflectdifferent cultural psychology He takes naming system as an example According

to him, how to name others reflect the different standards of the people’s level,whether the relationship is close or not In Vietnam, people often call others bytheir titles and lines of business to show respect whereas in Western countries,

people call each other’s first names to show their relationship Some promouns

in Vietnamese such as “cụ, ông, ba, cô, chu, bac, anh, chi, thim, mo’, of course,

these words have their English version but it seems unnaturally used in written

He illustrates this fact by an example that the sentence “ở hiền, gặp lành” cannot

be converted into ‘stay gently, meet evenly’ although it meets the demand ofmeaning and paradigm However, it is a belief, a Buddhism belief Therefore, it

should be translated into ‘One good turn deserves another’.

The five aspects of culture play an important role in translating process ofeach translator Obviously, it is cultural aspect that makes a person different andmakes translation farther difficult

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2.7.3.1 Personal competence

Dongfeng wong and Dan shen claim that a translator needs to be flexible in

SL translation and TL representation, he/she has to have special knowledge and

experience in the related fields According to the two authors, with regard to SLinterpretation, a translator must be competent enough to understand the variousconceptual associative or thematic meanings of the original They point out that

many cases of mistranslation are resulted from the translator’s inaccurate

interpretation, which attributes to his/her limited competence in the SL In terms

of TL representation, a translator must be capable of representing in the TLeffectively what he/she has processed the SL Nida (1966), in other words, statesthat a translator must be able to find or establish in the TL ‘the closest natural

equivalent’ of the SL message Nida also implies that in addition to competence in

both SL and TL, translators usually specialize in one or more areas of knowledge

in which their competence is needed, for example, aeronautics, accounting,

international law, medicine, or agronomy Following his statement, if the translator

does not have a fundamental information of the ideas in the text to be translated,especially technical texts, the work cannot be expected to be satisfactory Finally,experience of each translator is also crucial to translation quality Experience canhelp translators overcome many difficulties, only skillful translators can bring theircompetence and knowledge into SL interpretation and TL representation

Therefore, it is for sure that the higher competence of the translator is thebetter he/she translates Having more knowledge about daily aspects or academicfields can be a competitive advantage of each translator

2.7.3.2 Personal attitudes

Dongfeng wong and Dan shen (1988) also give more importance toattitudinal factors in their study The authors emphasize that even with the samepersonal competence, translators with different attitudinal orientations (aesthetic,communicative, strategic, political, ethical) would produce different translations

2.7.3.2.1 Aesthetic attitudes

Dongfeng wong and Dan shen (1988) indicate that aesthetic attitude isreflected in the way the translator interprets the SL text and then represents it inthe TL There are some translators who may focus their attention on the aestheticvalue of the original content, others concentrate on its form In fact, an originaltext will assume different forms and take on different aesthetic values in differentversions On the one hand, the translator’s aesthetic attitude is more or less

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influenced by the general aesthetic orientations of the historical-cultural context

On the other hand, according to the authors, the individual translators’

understandings of art and aesthetics, differentiate their aesthetic orientations andthe choices they made in translating

2.7.3.2.2 Attitude toward recipients’ response

This type of attitude refers to how the translators respond to readers’ needs, editors’requirements anf critics’comments It can be seen from Dongfeng wong

and Dan shen’s research that the majority of translators tend to care about theirreaders’ needs Different attitudes towards the readers would certainly encouragedifferent strategies and produce distinct versions of the text

2.7.3.2.3 Strategic attitudes

Strategic attitude means the way translators respond to the traditionalstrategic orientations of their cultures The two authors are of the opinion that anytranslators have to adopt a certain strategic attitude in response to the strategicorientation of the period And that with the development of human knowledge,

translators’ strategic selections become increasingly mature It should be noted that

a translator’s strategic attitude is also affected to a certain extent by his/her own

views on language, literature, culture and so on

2.7.3.2.4 Political and ethical attitudes

These attitudes are described as the translators’ active and passive response

to the political and ethical environment in a given cultural context When the

translator encounters an SL text with political or ethical viewpoints that do not

conform to the TL political or ethical atmosphere, his/her own political or ethicalattitudes would constitute how it is treated

2.7.3.2.5 Professional attitudes

Professional attitudes are defined as the way translators respond towards

their work Mistranslation is often caused by the translator’s irresponsible

approach to work This translator is prone to display reluctance to make acareful and serious analysis of the original and to consult dictionaries,encyclopedias and experts for help in solving problems Generally stated, those

who view their translation activity as an art or special interest seem to be more

responsible, while those who translate for money may be less so Without any

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Hoàng Yến Nhi — 11193972 — Business English 61A

doubt, this sense of responsibility plays a pivotal role in the process of

translating and in the quality of the translation

The five aspects (Aesthetic attitudes, Attitude toward recipients’ response,Strategic attitudes, Political and ethical attitudes, and Professional attitudes)constitute personal attitude of each translator Each would help translators dealwith one aspect when translating It is necessary that translators practice to improvetheir attitudes and understanding about translation

Although, aforementioned factors, to some extent, are not enough, theybring an overview that what problems a translator needs to tackle with whentranslating a text or a message It is very important that translators take theseinfluences into consideration before starting their work

It is undeniable that translation is a profession receiving more and moreattention of students Therefore, there have been many researches carried out toshow the importance of translation However, it may be due to the disparity of timewhen doing research or the limitations of the methodology, previous studies seem

to take a deep look into the definition, types and the process of translation In fact,there are many existing aspects of translation that need discovering to helptranslators have better understanding about the field they are working in Thewriter of this thesis expects to provide not only the definition, classification, theprocess translation, factors affecting translation but also the common difficultiesthat BE students often meet when translating Also, the study indicates the opinions

of teachers how students approach translation courses and effective methods toapply during the translation process Moreover, the writer hopes not only could

point out certain problems when translating, but also propose somerecommendations that help students produce the best translation

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