There are many difficulties in finding out a better way to translate formal and technical documents with full ideas of the writer obtained.Newmark 1981 suggests, “The solution of restric
The organizational structure and values of Esoft Vietnam
Esoft has the biggest office in Hanoi, Vietnam and two other branches inDenmark and Sweden Focusing on the biggest, this research will only explain the organizational structure in Hanoi The office includes BOD, Project Owner andAdvisory Board.There are nine main groups functioning: Customer Service,Technical Development, Production, Product Development, Quality Assurance,Sales, HR&Admin, Finance & Accounting and Technology Esoft Vietnam has
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A managers for each branch Besides managers, each group has sub-group managers.
However, the managers for the teams in the company are called Supervisors.
The core values of Esoft comprise:
- We never compromise on QUALITY: We know that you are busy and need to know for a certainty that you can rely 100% on our services and trust the support that we provide We have got your back by ensuring that every single delivery, no matter how big or small, meets or exceeds your expectations Our policy is that we do not finish our work before you are 100% satisfied.
- CREDIBILITY helps you succeed: We want to understand your business, needs, challenges, and opportunities better than anyone else Only by understanding your needs and your business, we can provide you with the tools and solutions that ensure your success.
- OPENNESS builds great partnerships: We approach the market and our customers with an open mindset We listen before we speak We think about your challenges and wishes before we create solutions and services And we open to delivering custom-tailored solutions that perfectly address your individual needs.
We perceive you as our partner, collaborator, and co-inventor.
- INNOVATION strengthens all of us: Innovation is key to the continued success of our employees, our company and, our clients It is fun It keeps us ahead of our game And it is good for business We are committed to promoting, encouraging, and nurturing innovation at all levels of our organization because we know that the best of ideas can sometimes come from the most unlikely places and the quietest voices.
- We CARE about each other: Esoft is a growing company and many of us spend more time at work than with our friends and family We see this as a great responsibility While we acknowledge that there will inevitably be challenges and frustrations, we are committed to creating a company culture and work environment where everyone is treated equally and with respect, with equal opportunities for personal and professional growth We overcome our challenges through dedication, diligence and kindness When we care about each other, we care for our clients even better.
- PASSION is what makes us go the extra mile: We are passionate about what we do It is the fire within us that makes us want to be no Not at all times and tackle every obstacle with a positive outlook It is what makes us go the extra mile for our clients, our colleagues, and under any circumstance.
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
The channels at Esoft Vietnam for internal communication and theirs
The days of a one-size-fits-all channel are gone Some workers are at desk and access email, while others approach to newsletter or social media Due to the increasing workforce at Esoft Vietnam, reaching employees all requires using a wide range of channels and multiple deliveries of the same message Here are the channels being used for international communication at Esoft Vietnam:
Wall Messaging Displays and Banners Screens
Emails Newsletters Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/esoftvietnam.recruitment/
Website: https://esoft.com and : https://who-is-who.esoft.com/
Internal Blogs: http://Jloaphuong.esoft.com and https://ichemgio.esoft.com
However, at Esoft Vietnam, all documents in the company were translated into English or Vietnamese, and the re-check process translation has been done so far However, using unsuitable words, spelling mistakes, inflexible arrangements and grammatical inaccuracy and setting misunderstanding context in documents cannot be completely avoided and need further consideration.
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
THEORICAL FRAMEWORK so Sen sse 5
The definition of tranSẽafiOTI - ôs1 11 9v ng ngư 5
to develop boarder and deeper based on the opinion of researchers The translation was primarily considered in terms of the difference between free and literal translation, and the disagreement between its fundamental unfeasibility and its utter prerequisite A translator must be either an interpreter or a public speaker An effective translation is fully translated into another language as to be as a clearly apprehended and intensely thought by the native of a country and fits as it is by those who speak the language of original version.
Before, people thought that translation is the substitute of literal material in SL by equivalent textual material in TL Afterward, according to Newmark (1980),
“translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language” Furthermore, translation is also a communication bridge of two languages Obviously, language is various and different from country to country as the sameness cannot occur between two languages Danica Seleskovitch (2009), an excellent interpreter and writer, has said: “Everything said in one language can be expressed in another one - on condition that the two languages belong to cultures that have reached a comparable degree of development’ Literary translation links the tactful connections between cultures and languages and broadens the compassion of humans across borders, according to Professor Rainer Schulte(1980) As a method of communication, people apply translation for multilingual communications which hold at least emerged conspicuously in public sites; for guidelines released by oversea enterprises; for tourist publicity, where it is too regularly produced from the indigenous into the foreign language by natives relating to national pride; for official documents; for reports, papers, articles, correspondence, textbook to transmit facts, advice and recommendations for all field of knowledge As a procedure for learning non-native languages, translation is a two-edged tool: it has the superior objective for representing the learner’s knowledge of the foreign language, either as a form of control or to practice his aptitude so as to increase his competency.
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
2.2 Translating procedure Nida and Taber (1969/1982) illustrated the translation techniques as follows:
* Analysis of the SL and TL ¢ An in-depth study of ST before making attempts translate it.
* Making adjudications of the semantic and syntactic estimates.
“Constant reevaluation of the attempt made, contrasting it with the existing available translations of the same text done by other translators, and checking the text's communicative effectiveness by asking the target language readers to evaluate its accuracy and effectiveness and studying their reactions.”
Additionally, Loescher (1991) explains translation approach as "a potentially conscious procedure for solving a problem faced in translating a text, or any segment of it." As it is confirmed in the meaning, the belief of perception is significant in classifying strategies which are applied by the learners or translators.
In terms of this, Cohen (1998) declares that "the element of consciousness is what distinguishes strategies from these processes that are not strategic" Besides, Bell (1998) distinguishes between global (those dealing with whole texts) and local (those dealing with text segments) strategies and proves that “this discrepancy results from various kinds of translation setbacks” Venuti (1998) indicates that
“translation strategies involve the basic tasks of choosing the foreign text to be translated and developing a method to translate it He employs the concepts of domesticating and foreignizing to refer to translation strategies.” Jaaskelainen (1999) considers strategy as, "a series of competencies, a set of steps or processes that favor the acquisition, storage, and/or utilization of information." He maintains that “strategies are heuristic and flexible in nature, and their adoption implies a decision influenced by amendments in the translator's objectives.”
The different translation procedures are as the following that Newmark(1988), one of the most popular translation scholars, suggested: e Transference: “It is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure It includes transliteration, which relates to the conversion of different alphabets: for example, Russian (Cyrillic), Greek, Arabic,and so on into English The word, then, becomes a loan word It includes transliteration and is the same as what is called transcription.”
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A e Naturalization: “it adapts the SL word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology of the TL.” e Cultural equivalent: “it means replacing a cultural word in the SL with
TL one.” However, they are not the same. e Functional equivalent: “it requires the use of a cultural-neutral word.” e Descriptive equivalent: “in this procedure, the meaning of the cultural- based translation (CBT) is explained in several words.” e Componential analysis: it means “comparing an SL word with a TL word which has a similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then their differing sense components.” e Synonym: it is a “near TL equivalent”. e Through-translation: it is “the literal translation of common collocations, names of organizations and components of compounds It can be called: claque or loan translation.” e Shifts or transpositions: “Transposition, or shift as Catford calls it, reflects the grammatical change that occurs in translation from SL to TL.
According to Newmark, it involves a change in the grammar form SL to TL, for instance, (i) change from singular to plural, (ii) the change required when as specific SL structure does not exist in the TL, (iii) change of an SL verb to a TL word, (iv) change of an SL noun group to a TL noun and so forth.” e Modulation: According to Newmark, it happens when “the translator reproduces the message of the original text in the SL text in conformity with the current norms of the TL, since the SL and the TL may appear dissimilar in terms of perspective.” e Recognized translation: it occurs when the translator “normally uses the official or the generally accepted translation of any institutional term.” e Compensation: “it occurs when loss of meaning in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part.” e Paraphrase: in the procedure, the meaning of the words is explained.
The explanation in here is much more detailed than that of descriptive equivalent. e Couplets: “it occurs when the translator combines two different procedures.”
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
Another admired translation scholar whose work on translation practice is commonly accepted is Mona Baker (1992), pointed out eight strategies for handling non-equivalence at word level. e “Translation by a more general word (superordinate)”: this is “one of the commonest strategies for dealing with many types of non-equivalence, particularly in the area of propositional meaning It works equally well in most, if not all, languages, since the hierarchical structure of semantic fields is not language-specific.” e “Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word”: this is also
“one of the commonest ways to set the equivalence between two or more languages by using a word or phrase to get the general meaning.” e “Translation by cultural substitution”: This strategy involves
“replacing a culture-specific item or expression with a target-language item which does not have the same propositional meaning but is likely to have a similar impact on the target reader.” e “Translation by using a loan word or loan word plus explanation”: this strategy is “particularly common in dealing with culture-specific items, modern concepts, and buzz words Following the loan word with an explanation is very useful when the word in questions repeated several times in the text Once explained the loan word then can be used on its own; the reader can understand it and it is not distracted by further lengthy explanation.” e “Translation by paraphrase using a related word”: this strategy tends to be used “when the concept expressed by the source item is lexicalized in the target language but in a different form, and when the frequency with which a certain form is used in the source text is significantly higher than would be natural in the target language.” e “Translation by paraphrase using unrelated word”: “if the concept expressed by the source item is not lexicalized at all in the target language, the paraphrase strategy can still be used in some contexts Instead of a related word, the paraphrased may be based on modifying the superordinate or simply on unpacking the meaning of the source item, particularly if the item in question semantically complex.” e “Translation by omission”: this strategy may sound rather drastic, but in fact “it does no harm to omit translating a word or expression in some contexts.
If the meaning convey by a particular item or expression is not vital enough to the
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A development of the text to justify distracting the reader with lengthy explanations, translators can and often do simply omit translating the word or expression in question.” e “Translate by illustration”: this is “a useful option if the word which lacks an equivalent in the target language refers to a physical entity which can be illustrated, particularly if there are restrictions on space and if the text has to remain short, concise, and to the point.”
At the syntactic level, Catford (1965), another well-known translation studies scholar proposes assessing “shifts”, he outlines them as removals from proper correlation in the procedure of translating from the SL to the TL, which are divided into four types: e Structure-shifts, which embrace a grammatical alteration between the formation of the ST and that of the TT. e Class-shifts, when a SL item is decoded with a TL item which belongs to a diverse grammatical class. e Unit-shifts, which engage alterations in order. e Intra-system shifts, which arise when SL and TL holds systems which nearly relate properly as to their structure, but when translation implicates selection of a non-corresponding term in the TL system.
Catford was disapproved for his linguistic theory of translation One of the most mocking criticisms came from Snell-Hornby (1988), who argued that
Translation methods - - s1 9019 9 HH ng gà 9
language” He refers to the following methods of translation:
Word-for-word translation: “in which the SL word order is preserved,and the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context.”
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
- Literal translation: “in which the SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest equivalents, but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context.”
- Faithful translation: “it attempts to produce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures.”
- Semantic translation: “which differs from “faithful translation” only in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text.”
- Adaptation: “which is the freest form of translation and is used mainly for plays (comedies) and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture is converted to the TL culture and the text is rewritten.”
- Free translation: “it produces the TL text without the style, form, or content of the original.”
- Idiomatic translation: “it reproduces the “message” of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialism and idioms where these do not exist in the original.”
- Communicative translation: “it attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership.”
2.4 What is semantic and communicative translation?
Peter Newmark is a legendary British translation theorist and translation educator He divided translation into “communicative and semantic translation” in his works “Approaches to Translation” which was first printed in 1981, discussed different translation ways to reach the goal of “equivalence”, and provided new ideas and approaches for translation practices.
“Semantic translations reside within its original culture and assist its reader only in communication Semantic translation is likely to be more awkward, more complex, more concentrated, more detailed, and it processes the thought process irrespective of transmitter’s intention Semantic translation is neutral and objective, just to translate naturally It does not require adding, repairing, or reducing It only changes the text force and meaning of SL to TL.”
“Semantic translation requires the translators to replicate the original form from the SL to the TL as much as possible It regards the original words and phrases as sacred, even if there are some ambiguities and errors in the original text.
Semantic translation generally applies to literature, scientific and
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A technical literature, and other genres that treat the original language and contents as important as the translated ones.”
Communicative Translation According to his communicative translation theory, “translation is a kind of communication process, and translators should convert the source language (SL) culture into the target language (TL) culture as much as they can During this transplanting process of texts from one culture to another, the translators should try to make the TL readers understand the SL author’s thoughts and make both the TL and SL readers share common ideas about the text.” Varieties that usually use the communicative translation method are news report, textbooks, public announcement, and many other non-literary works.
Communicative translation emphases on the TL readers, attempting to crack or remove any reading or communicative problems and obstacles to complete the communication activity efficiently.
To compare and evaluate the semantic and communicative translation understandably, some English idioms can be taken for extra clarification:
“A burnt child dreads the fire”
(1): Đứa bé bi bỏng thì so lửa (2): Con chim vướng nỏ sợ cành cây cong The same meaning is shown in the two translation Translation (1) is stick to the original words under the semantic translation while translation (2) is totally translated into a Vietnamese idiom, which is communicative translation.
(1): Không vấp ngã, không thành công.
(2): Có công mài sắt, có ngày nên kim.
In this example, again, the translation (2) consider the TL readers’ habit and the TL culture better than the translation (1) However, it does not imply that communicative translation is better than semantic translation To use which approach depends on specific context.
2.5 What is the morale of workers?
Numerous terms from several opinions identify morale The various definition of morale appears in many fields In sports, esprit-de-corps it may require self - confidence of a group, in education it may be the enthusiasm to learn by students, in business, it is connected to the craving to achieve the aims So, it is an overall attitude of an individual or group towards all aspects of their work
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
Source: Employee Morale (isapatguru.com)
To achieve high levels of employee morale, “organizations must ensure that the physical environment is conducive to organizational needs facilitating interaction and privacy, formality and informality, functionality and cross- disciplinarily Consequently, the physical environment is a tool that can be leveraged both to improve business results” (Mohr, 1996) and employee well- being (Huang, Robertson and Chang, 2004) “Ensuring adequate facilities are provided to employees, is critical to generating greater employee commitment and productivity The provision of inadequate equipment and adverse working conditions has been shown to affect employee commitment and intention to stay with the organization” (Weiss, 1999).
Haynes (2008) explains “the behavioral office environment behavioral components of the office environment that have the greatest impact on office morale In all the work patterns, it was found that interaction was perceived to be the component to have the most positive effect on productivity, and distraction was perceived to have the most negative effect on productivity.”
“Employee’s welfare and social security are important because it frees the employee to work with his utmost efficiency and effectiveness to the organizations task and thus organization’s productivity and efficiency get increased It also plays an important role in reducing absenteeism and employee turnover Social security measures are the part of welfare activities which play important role in rapid industrialization, growth of national economy as they improve employee’s morale by providing sense of security to them against various industrial hazards” (Shelar and Phadatare ,2013).
Usmani (2013) explores the relationship between diversity and customer satisfaction mediated by employee morale “Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were run to test the relationship and significance of the model The results rejected the mediated
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A relationship of diversity and customer satisfaction but showed positive direct association between diversity and employee morale.”
Ngamb (2013) revealed that “there is a relationship between leadership and morale, and those leadership competencies such as communication, fostering trust and team building set a clear direction for the college impact on morale It is recommended that morale surveys should be conducted to obtain the requisite information before developing strategies that relate to employee morale, retention, and performance.”
Zial (2011) concluded is that “teambuilding has long term positive relationship between employee morale and employee retention Team performance, individual contribution, team evaluation and coordination have long term positive relationship between employee morale and employee retention.
Team unity has no significant effect on employee morale and employee retention.”
2.6 Translation vs employees’ morale The way the language structured may affect perceptions The insight of employees or associates will lead their future behaviors For instance, it has been demonstrated that the thoughts of an employee depend on the words the employer will use while assigning him to a task Two different ways to ask the same question to infer two different feelings from the employee’s point of view Moreover, when the language used is not the native language of the employee, it could also result in unwanted responses Feelings of being offended, dominated or even hostile reactions, such as complacency and over-confidence, are examples of these unwanted responses Languages shape the way people feel and think By speaking the mother tongue of co-workers and associates, and by forming the phrases correctly, we will preclude all unexpected reactions from them It will support us to run the business more efficiently
What is the morale Of WOTEK€TS s5 s3 vn nen 11
Numerous terms from several opinions identify morale The various definition of morale appears in many fields In sports, esprit-de-corps it may require self - confidence of a group, in education it may be the enthusiasm to learn by students, in business, it is connected to the craving to achieve the aims So, it is an overall attitude of an individual or group towards all aspects of their work
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
Source: Employee Morale (isapatguru.com)
To achieve high levels of employee morale, “organizations must ensure that the physical environment is conducive to organizational needs facilitating interaction and privacy, formality and informality, functionality and cross- disciplinarily Consequently, the physical environment is a tool that can be leveraged both to improve business results” (Mohr, 1996) and employee well- being (Huang, Robertson and Chang, 2004) “Ensuring adequate facilities are provided to employees, is critical to generating greater employee commitment and productivity The provision of inadequate equipment and adverse working conditions has been shown to affect employee commitment and intention to stay with the organization” (Weiss, 1999).
Haynes (2008) explains “the behavioral office environment behavioral components of the office environment that have the greatest impact on office morale In all the work patterns, it was found that interaction was perceived to be the component to have the most positive effect on productivity, and distraction was perceived to have the most negative effect on productivity.”
“Employee’s welfare and social security are important because it frees the employee to work with his utmost efficiency and effectiveness to the organizations task and thus organization’s productivity and efficiency get increased It also plays an important role in reducing absenteeism and employee turnover Social security measures are the part of welfare activities which play important role in rapid industrialization, growth of national economy as they improve employee’s morale by providing sense of security to them against various industrial hazards” (Shelar and Phadatare ,2013).
Usmani (2013) explores the relationship between diversity and customer satisfaction mediated by employee morale “Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were run to test the relationship and significance of the model The results rejected the mediated
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A relationship of diversity and customer satisfaction but showed positive direct association between diversity and employee morale.”
Ngamb (2013) revealed that “there is a relationship between leadership and morale, and those leadership competencies such as communication, fostering trust and team building set a clear direction for the college impact on morale It is recommended that morale surveys should be conducted to obtain the requisite information before developing strategies that relate to employee morale, retention, and performance.”
Zial (2011) concluded is that “teambuilding has long term positive relationship between employee morale and employee retention Team performance, individual contribution, team evaluation and coordination have long term positive relationship between employee morale and employee retention.
Team unity has no significant effect on employee morale and employee retention.”
Translation vs employees’ mOFaÌ€ .- ¿+5 +ss + +vkseereeerereeerres 13
Recent research indicates that many organizational members seem to experience the implementation of a common corporate language that is not their native language as detrimental to their work skills, routines, and organizational standing For example, Neeley, Hinds, and Cramton (2012) observed that “many non-native speakers felt that their restricted capacity in the mandated language reduced their communication effectiveness and their general work-related abilities and competencies As a result, many non-native speakers develop language performance anxieties and feelings of job insecurity” (Harzing & Feely, 2008;
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
“Language affects business in two different ways On the one hand, economic globalization does not mean globalization of the languages It means that international companies must take the language of their foreign clients into account while trying to make them purchase their products or services The more confident the client is, the higher the chance of purchase On the other hand, companies could be more efficient by using native languages in their internal communication, and thus avoid unexpected, unwanted or adverse reactions from their employees and associates, since these reactions could be sand in the wheels of the business.”, Ralph Becker (2018)
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Ăn S°SS1Seesee 15
Semantic features of words and phraS€S - c- 55s cs+£+sssseske 15 1 Translation by a loan word or a loan word plus explanation
3.1.1 Translation by a loan word or a loan word plus explanation This strategy appears in all the documents with the highest appearing times:
80 times and occupies nearly a quarter of the proportion in all strategies with 24.1% In this case, the translator uses a cultural-specific items, modern concepts and buzz word to set the Vietnamese equivalent for source text in English.
Because the concept is a proper name of a pandemic that a widely known in English names, the translator uses the word in TL without accompanying explanation.
(-)Covid-19 (Again we can be proud of getting our cost saving plan in place in such short time as the impact from the Covid-19 situation surely can be felt already now.)
>Covid-19 (Chung ta có thé tự hào vì da thực hiện được kế hoạch cắt giảm chỉ phí nhanh chóng khi ảnh hưởng cua dịch Covid-19 dang ngày cảng rõ rệt) [page 6]
In the same way with the translation above when using a loan word to express the meaning, the translator in this situation uses this strategy to set the buzz words in the TL as in the SL.
(-) production, tech, customer service and HR (I want also to take the opportunity to thank everyone in and our production, tech, customer service and AR who had dealt with a lot of new things over the past few weeks in order to put our contingency in place.)
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
> production, tech, customer service and HR (Nhân đây, tôi muon gui lời cam ơn tới tat cả các nhân viên Production, Tech, Customer Service va HR, những người trong suốt tuân qua đã phải đối mặt với những van dé không hé quen thuộc dé triển khai kế hoạch dự phòng như mong muốn ) [page 5]
3.1.2 Translation by using a more general word The second runner-up in all is the strategy translation by using a more general word, which has 20.8% for 69 times In contrast to the strategy which the translator uses a neutral/less expressive word to describe the source text, in this trategy, the translator tries to fulfill the meaning of source text a more general word that helps listeners/ readers or \singers understand the general meaning.
(-)all in this toghether (We are all in this together)
> ké vai sát cánh (Chúng ta luôn kê vai sát cánh) [page 25]
Source text Target text Back translation all in this together Ké vai sat canh shoulder to shoulder
3.1.3 Translation by paraphrase using unrelated word With 15.7% for 52 times appearing, this strategy stays in the third rank in all the strategies and is used in both Vietnamese and English versions
Sometimes, to set the words and phrases getting along with the context, the translator cannot use exact equivalent for source text To make the sentence, he adds some words or phrases that have no related meaning to the source text.
(-) Tết (Thật không dé dàng gi dé phục vu bữa ăn cho hơn 700 nhân viên làm việc 3 ca liên tục, trang trí văn phòng và hỗ trợ các công việc hành chính trong suốt dip Tét.)
> holidays (With more than 700 people in the office, working three shifts, it is not always easy to deal with issues such as meal services, interior design and administration support during holidays.) [page 11]
“Tét” - This word must get the English equivalent Lunar New Year, but in this situation, the translator chooses the word holidays We often see Summer holidays or Christmas holidays With the meaning of holidays = ki nghi, it is quite different from the Vietnamese original meaning However, the intention here is that, there is the biggest traditional celebration for Vietnamese having official
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A break, while the word holidays describes a time when someone does not go to work or school but is free to do what they want.
> The rise of a talent [page 12]
“Thang tién” could get the English equivalent “Promotion” However, the translator uses another phrase “the rise of a talent” which seems not to be getting along with the Vietnamese Sometimes, the translator(s) pass by a beautiful word or phrase that is very equivalent to the word or phrase in SL, to choose another one which has the same meaning or nearly the same but having the correct meaning.
Besides that, translating with the most maintained meaning is the target of any translator Therefore, how to express and describe the meaning of the word or phrase is the reason why translators do not choose exact equivalent word or phrase in TL, but using a different one to illustrate and convey a full image inside the word This situation is a typical example.
3.1.4 Translation by using a more neutral/less expressive word Appearing 50 times with 15.1%, this strategy stands on the fourth rank in all strategies used In this case, the translator cannot express the true meaning of the source text by using an exact equivalent in the target text Using this strategy is to help readers understand some parts of meaning of words or phrases in the source text.
(-) tiến hành cải tao (chúng tôi đã thuê một bên thi công dé tiễn hành cải tạo một phân sân trường)
> construct (we have hired a local entrepreneur to help construct a new school) [page 7]
Source text Target text Back translation tién hanh cai tao construct xay dung
Frequency of semantic translation straf€ỉ1€S ô<< <++s++ 22
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
Table 1: The appearing times and percentage of semantic strategies
Strategy Times Percentage A loan word or a loan word plus explanation 80 24.1%
Using a more neutral/less expressive word 50 15.1%
In the data, the strategy “Translation by a loan word or a loan word plus explanation” appears 80 times and take the highest percentage with 24.1% while the two strategies “Translation by a more general expression word (superordinate)” and Translation by paraphrase using unrelated word” stand on the second and third rank with 20.8% for 69 times and 15.7% for 52 times.
Staying at the fourth and fifth rank is the two strategies “Translation by using a more neutral/ess expressive word” with 15.1% for 34 times and
“Translation by using omission” 10.27% for 34 tokens.
Standing at the sixth and seventh rank is the two strategies “Translation by co-hyponym ” with 7.85% for 26 times, and “Translation by using expansion” with 6.04% for 20 times.
By examining the frequency of those 7 strategies, the strategy “Translation by a loan word or a loan word plus explanation” is most used with nearly a quarter of proportion.
The percentage of 7 strategies is illustrated as follows:
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
= A loan word or a loan word plus explanation - 24.1%
= Using a more neutral/less expressive word - 15.1%
Figure 2: The percentage of semantic strategies
3.3 Communicative features Peter Newmark revealed, “the purpose of the communicative translation is to make the TL readers have the same feeling as the SL readers about the text, and to clarify the translation version Centered on specific language and culture, it pays attention to the TL readers, and delivers domesticated content to them In order to achieve the goal of clearness, fluency and concision, some semantic contents may be lost.”
3.3.1 Translation as per Specific Purposes In terms of communicative translation, the original texts will be translated in a way that will be straightforward to understand by the TL readers It aims to bring the original information accurately in TL But when the original information struggles with the communicative purpose, equivalence the effect will be chosen as a compromise or conciliator
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A
The translation of some Esoft’s weekly update may have different meanings evaluated with their original literary meanings In such cases, the translators will redefine them based on their shapes, forms, or functions in the context to be easily understood by the TL readers There are three examples of Esoft’s weekly updates.
The first is “What a TEAM !!!” According to semantic translation, it should be translated based on modulation, but that will lead readers to confusion about what it is Therefore, the translators decided to use communicative translation and translated it into “Một sự đoàn kết tuyệt vời!!!” as “team” may reasonably imply the feeling of workers’ unity From its Vietnamese context, the TL readers can know what it is at the first instant The second is “Let us stay true to our core values also during difficult times !!”, literally “stay true” meaning “be yourself”
(hay 1a chinh ban than minh) However, here in the document, it means “stick to our core values”, so the translators translated it into “Hãy thực hiện đúng các giá trị cốt lỗi của chúng ta trong thời gian khó khăn nay!!” based on its characteristics which is a comprehensive description for readers The third is “Fantastic to see how different teams and individuals are going the extra mile or two” An English idiom “go the extra mile” means “to make more effort than your expectation”(nỗ lực hơn mong đợi.” In the document, it refers to a creature that only people who have seen death can see it Hence, the translators related it with barriers and extended its meaning to “Thật tuyệt vời khi thay các đội và cá nhân đang vượt qua rào cản của mình.”
3.3.2 Translation as per Vietnamese Readers’ Customs Intending to be smooth and reliable translation, communicative translation needs to fully reflect in the difference between the TL culture and the SL culture.
In the application og translation process, a conversion from SL culture to TL culture should be accomplished in order to modify the translation version to the TL reader; cultural background and be thorough understanding For this reason, the translation of some words and phrases needs to followto the TL culture “let’s all go the extra mile”, originally meaning “making more effort”, is an English idiom encouraging employees’ spirit in Esoft Vietnam The word “con thuyén”
(boat) caters to Vietnamese readers’ knowledge about and customs of solidarity for a team For the suitable context of CEO’s appeal in the unprecedented scenario, the translators translated them with “Hãy nhớ rằng chúng ta dang trên cùng một con thuyền và tat cả chúng ta đều phải đóng góp sức minh” Other examples are
“Our Journey — Our Success” This English phrase is similar to a Vietnamese idiom, complying with Vietnamese speaking about extraordinary efforts.
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Translated into “Noi nào có ý chi — Noi đó có con đường” not only describes the intention vividly, but also rhymes in Vietnamese Another similar example is “It is particularly satisfying to see that our efforts, for the most part, have paid off” which literally means “It is pleasing to be successful by working hard” But the translators express it into “chúng tôi cũng sé không ngủ quên trên chiến thắng, vẫn còn rất nhiều điểm cần cải thiện” to make it more oral and encouraging In addition, the translator also created some words out of the words’ or phrases’ original meaning, for instance, “không ngủ quên trên chiến thắng” which is used to drive hard and tough things away to clear a road and keep trying Not adopting its Latin connotation “particularly satisfying” (dac biét hai long), but introducing a completely irrelevant phrase based on its meaning in the original context, the translators intended to help the TL readers better understand it and also keep the company’s spirit up by putting them into a similar context to the original one.
Frequency of communicative translation straf€g1âs ô 26 3.5 _ The morale of Esoft’s employees vs the semantic and communicative
Table 2: Percentage of communicative translation
Translation as per Specific Purposes 170 77.2%
In the data, the strategy “per Specific Purposes and Forms” stays on the first rank by appearing in 170 sentences with 77.2% On the other hand, the strategy
“per Vietnamese Readers’ Customs” possesses the second rank with 22,7% for signals showed in 50 sentences.
The percentage of 2 strategies is illustrated as follows:
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= Specific Purposes and Forms - 77.2% = Vietnamese Readers’ Customs -22.7%
Figure 3: The percentage of communicative translation
3.5 The morale of Esoft’s employees vs the semantic and communicative translation
Language doesn’t just impact how we work, it can also change how we feel about work It is a real added-value to communicate not only with media , but also with employees or associates It makes them feel more comfortable and usually helps developing valuable relationships.
3.5.1 Survey Demographics 70 employees at Esoft Vietnam were surveyed between the production team and the non-production team The truth is just about 28.5 % of respondents reading any kinds of Esoft’s documents carefully either in Vietnamese or English 21.4%
(15) of them were in non-production team, while 7.14%(5) of them were in production team The rest of the respondents identified as who read some parts of documents, never read them or “other”.
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= Read them carefully-28.5% |= Read some parts of them-51% = Never read them-5.7% ô= Other-14.2%
Figure 4: Opinions on the way of reading documents at Esoft Vietnam
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= Non-production team-21.4% = Production team- 7.14%
Figure 5: Department of respondents who read documents carefully
3.5.2 Survey results On the one hand, the percentages of types of Esoft’s documents which responders read carefully are taken from the survey
63.1% of all documents are announcements from CEO and high-end managers.
16.7% of all documents are monthly newsletters.
12.9% of all documents are weekly updates about the contingency plan in Covid-19.
7.3% of all documents are blogs in Esoft.com On the other hand, those who read some parts of the documents responded to the survey in different way
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10% of all documents are announcements from CEO and high-end managers.
14.285% of all documents are monthly newsletters.
32.85 % of all documents are weekly updates about the contingency plan in Covid-19.
0.285 % of all documents are blogs in Esoft.com When being asked for the criteria of a good translation at Esoft Vietnam, the key employees answered that they evaluate some qualities afterwards following the bar chart below.
Evaluations for a good translation at ESOFT VIETNAM
8 8 Ss sẽ 3 x ô về ° Re) e < & é e S A & ve cx) ô‹s @& {
@ Those who read docments carefully @ Those who read some parts # Others
Figure 6: Opinions on evaluation for a good translation at Esoft Vietnam
The bar chart compares the quantity of a good translation in terms of semantic and communicative features, measured in the number of employees who did a survey, disposed by three different types of responders in Esoft Vietnam.
As regards employees reading documents gently, in which is remaining within SL culture, its volume reached the highest level among the three types of
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A responders with 12 people This figure then decreased in other factors of semantic translation such as “inferior to ST” and “author-centered” In contrast, the number of people reding some parts of document tends to choose factors in communicative consistently above 30 people and surpass the others.
Overall, the number of those who read some parts of documents inclined to evaluate the criteria of communicative translation, while those who read documents carefully responded more to factors in semantic translation than those in communicative translation As a result, due to the higher number of respondents in those who read some parts, communicative translation in Esoft Vietnam is evaluated more appreciably than semantic translation.
At the end of the survey, they are asked about their opinions in the effects of translation on morale and either they would like to read more improved translation in the future or not.
Improvements for translation in near future at Esoft
@ Yes Translation is important and needs futher improvement I No Because translation is not a factor that can improve working enviroment
Figure 7: Opinions on improvements for translated documents in near future at Esoft The result shows that most of employees (98%) who did the survey chose
“yes” It also implied that languages play an important role in a business and it doesn’t just impact how we work but also change how we feel about work.
3.6 Summary of the findings We find all the methods suggested by Baker and Newmark used, and they interrelated each other in translating words and phrases from Vietnamese into English and vice versa One method can be appeared in one case, but sometimes,
Quach Minh Anh — 11160403 — Business English 58A more than two methods are combined in translating To conclude, the study has focused on the answers to the research questions as follows:
(1) ~ What are the effects of translation on morale?
To collect the data shown above, we surveyed 70 employees in both non- production team and production team at Esoft Vietnam about their reading documents habit and their thoughts on the effect of translation on morale An attention-checker question was included to ensure the participants did not mindlessly answer questions The questions are about their reading habits at Esoft Vietnam, the features of semantic and communicative translation they prefer in a good translation and their thoughts on the consequence of translation in Esoft Vietnam Because language shape the way people feel and think, translation at Esoft Vietnam also affects employees’ morale positively.
Almost translated documents are acceptable and easily understandable, which can bolster and boost employees’ morale when receiving or looking for the information and updated news Besides, translation helps spreading the messages between non-production team and production team fast and widely, which can lead to higher lever of employees’ morale Come tough times, the teams should come together to deal with whatever problems are out there because of giving and receiving clear messages to each other This is where a sense of unity is evoked in the team and employees will no longer just feel that they are working for themselves They are now working towards something bigger than themselves, and as a team.
(2) How does the semantic translation of HRM documents affect employees’ morale?
By using the suggested translation strategies of Newmark and Baker, the semantic features in all collected documents in Esoft Vietnam translated into English and Vietnamese were examined with these typical seven strategies in the table below:
- Omission of nouns - Omission of verbs
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Using a more neutral/ess expressive word Using a more general word
Using expansion Using co-hyponym A loan word or a loan word plus explanation
Strategies of semantic translation help the translator deliver the information and messages seriously and academically As a result, working environment at Esoft Vietnam becomes an ideal place for professional internal communication.
This means that translation directly improve employees’ morale thanks to formality.
(3) How does the communicative translation of HRM documents affect employees’ morale?
By using the suggested translation strategies of Peter Newmark, it was found that 2 strategies were used in translating the communicative features in all collected documents in Esodt Vietnam translated into English and Vietnamese:
- Translation as per Specific Purposes and Forms - Translation as per Vietnamese Readers’ Customs Strategies of communicative translation help both the translator and the reader develop interpersonal skills (soft skills) which could affect the morale of the company A positive work environment would have routine trainings to improve efficiency and instill positive morale among employees from translation.