Some techniques to help fourth year students at the faculty of english, hanoi open university to improve their english vietnamese translation skill

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES SOME TECHNIQUES TO HELP FOURTH- YEAR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF ENGLISH, HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY TO IMPROVE THEIR

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES

SOME TECHNIQUES TO HELP FOURTH- YEAR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF ENGLISH, HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY TO IMPROVE THEIR ENGHLISH - VIETNAMESE TRASLATION SKILL

Name of student: Nguyen Dieu Linh Date of birth: 20/08/1993

Class: K18SP Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Dang Suu

Hanoi - 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Dang Suu, for his academic guidance and support throughout this study Without his valuable assistance, my thesis would not have been completed

I would like to sincerely thank the lecturers of Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University who have provided me with not only knowledge but also the study condition during my student life, as well as their useful advice in this graduation paper

I would also like to extend my thanks to 100 fourth-year students of Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University for their aid in implementing survey

Finally, I am indebted to my family and friends who have encouraged and supported me so much in the completion of this paper If there had not been great help from the above people, the study could not have been fulfilled

Hanoi, 2nd May, 2015

Nguyen Dieu Linh

TABLE OF CONTENTS Some Techniques to Help Fourth-year Students at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University to Improve

Their English - Vietnamese Translation Skills

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and Purposes of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Research questions 2

5 Methods of the study 2

6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 An overview of translation 5

1.1.1 The definition of translation 5

1.1.2 The principles of translation 5

1.2 Methods of translation 14

1.2.1 Semantic translation 14

1.2.2 Communicative translation 15

1.2.3 Word-for-word translation 17

1.2.4 Literal translation 17

1.2.5 Faithful translation 18

1.2.6 Transliteration 19

1.2.7 Calque 19

1.2.8 Adaptation 20

1.2.9 Descriptive translation 20

1.2.10 Free translation 20

1.2.11 Idiomatic translation 21

CHAPTER II: SOME COMMOM MISTAKES MADE BY FOURTH-

YEAR STUDENTS IN ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION 22

2.1 Subjects of the study 22

2.2 Data collection method 22

2.2.1 Questionnaires 22

2.2.2 Interview 23

2.2.3 Translation test 23

2.3 Findings 24

CHAPTER III: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING FOURTH-YEAR STUDENTS’ ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION SKILL AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH, HOU 32

3.1 Background knowledge 32

3.2 Grammar 37

3.3 Vocabulary 46

PART C: CONCLUSION 50

REFERENCES 52

APPENDIX 54

LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Table 1: Students‟ attitudes toward learning translation

Table 2: Students‟ learning translation problems

Table 3: Student‟s understand of translation learning

Table 4: Student‟s common ways in translation

Table 5, 6 and 7: Student‟s performance in their learning English- Vietnamese translation

Table 8: Students‟ comment on teacher‟s method and their expectation

Table 9: Result of translation test (percentage of incorrect answers)

PART A: INTRODUCTON

1 Rationale

The 21st century has experienced the boom of globalization as people all around the world have connected successfully to each other without the boundary of any country Being the tool to communicate of most people, English now plays an essential role in the development progress of human beings as an international language of the whole world Therefore, mastering English is the desire of many students to have better opportunities to get a better job in future

In Vietnam as well as other countries, English has been taught for many years and become a compulsory subject at any level of education Pupils are required

to expert in simple and basic skills of English such as listening, writing, reading, speaking after graduating high school

However, at academic study level, especially at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University, students are demanded not only to be good at basic skills but also to understand English deeply and use them efficiently to become a professional translator Hence, good English - Vietnamese translation skill is one

of the most major achievements of all students studying academic English

In this study, I would like to carry out a study on how fourth-year students at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University are learning English- Vietnamese translation in order to find out their difficulties, to work out the causes, and then to suggest some solutions to deal with these problems Therefore, I decided to choose the topic "Some Techniques to help fourth- year students improve their English- Vietnamese translation skill at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University "

2 Aims and objectives of the study

 Giving a brief overview of translation and how fourth-year students at Faculty of English, HOU are learning English - Vietnamese translation

 Finding out difficulties and mistakes made by fourth-year students at Faculty of English, HOU in learning English - Vietnamese translation

• Giving suggested solutions to learn English - Vietnamese translation

effectively

3 Scope of the study

The study limits itself to the investigation of the difficulties and their causes of the fourth-year students at Faculty of English, HOU in learning English - Vietnamese translation The solutions are provided to help fourth-year students at the Faculty of English, HOU learn English - Vietnamese translation more

effectively

4 Research questions

 What are the common mistakes made by fourth-year students at Faculty

of English, HOU in the process of learning English - Vietnamese translation?

• What are some suggestions for fourth-year students to improve their

English - Vietnamese translation skill?

5 Methods of the study

In this study, I use such methods as descriptive method, questionnaires, quantitative and qualitative, translation test and interviews The combination helps to provide the most exact result for the research about learning English - Vietnamese translation at Faculty of English, HOU

6 Design of the paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS Some Techniques to Help Fourth-year Students at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University to Improve Their English - Vietnamese Translation Skills PART A: INTRODUCTON

1 Rationale

2 Aims and Purposes of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Research questions

5 Methods of the study

6 Design of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 An overview of translation

1.1.1 The definition of translation

1.1.2 The principles of translation

2.2 Data collection method

PART C: CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 An overview of translation

1.1.1 The definition of translation

What is translation? Often, though not by any means always, it is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text Common senses tell us that it ought to be simple, as one ought to be able to say something as well in one language as in another On the other hand, you may see it as complicated, artificial and fraudulent, since by using another language you are pretending someone you are not Hence in many types of text (legal, administrative, dialect, local, cultural) the temptation is to transfer as many SL (Source Language) words to the TL (Target language) as possible The pity is, as Mounin wrote, that the translation can not simply reproduce, or be, the original And since this is so, the first business of translation is to translate

1.1.2 The principles of translation

There are some general principles which are relevant to all translation:

1.1.2.1 Meaning

The translation should reflect accurately the meaning of the original text Nothing should be arbitrarily added or removed, though occasionally part of the

meaning can be “transposed-changed the position” For example:

“The real Vietnam War ended in 1975, everything about it since then has

become a war story…” Cuộc chiến thực ở VN đã kết thúc năm 1975…

- “ He made the bed” : the meaning of the sentence must be made clear whether

he put the sheets, blanket and pillow in neat order on the bed or he as a carpenter made the new bed

The translator should ask himself:

- if the meaning of the original text is clear, if not where the uncertainty lies

- if any words are loaded, that is, if there are any underlying implications (“Correct me if I am wrong…” suggests “I know I am right”!)

- If the dictionary meaning of a particular word is the most suitable one

- If anything in the translation sounds unnatural or forced

As we have seen that one form may express a variety of meanings and on the other hand, one meaning can be expressed in a great number of forms For example, “Is this seat taken?”; “Is there anyone sitting here?”; “May I sit here?” All have the same meaning: the speaker is indicating a desire to sit in a certain seat

Each language has its own distinctive forms for representing the meaning Therefore, in translation the same meaning may have to be expressed in another language by a very different form To translate the form of one language literally according to the corresponding form in another language would often change the meaning or at least result in a form which is unnatural in the second language Meaning must, therefore, have priority over the form in translation It is meaning which is to be carried over from the source language to the target language, not the linguistic forms In addition, a literal translation (word-for-word translation) does not communicate the meaning of the source text It is generally no more than a string of words intended to help someone read a text in its original language It is unnatural and hard to understand, and may even quite

meaningless, or give a wrong meaning in the target language It can hardly be called a translation The goal of a translator should be to produce a target language text (a translation) which is idiomatic; that is one translation which has the same meaning as the source language but is expressed in the natural form of the target language The meaning, not the form is retained

1.1.2.2 Form

Dealing with the form means referring to the lexicon and grammar of one

language The ordering of words and ideas in the translation should match the original as closely as possible This is particularly important in translating legal documents, guarantees, contracts, etc…

Translation is basically a change of form (lexicon and grammar) When we speak of the form of a language, we are refering to the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs etc., which are spoken or written These forms are referred to as the surface structure of a language It is the structural part of

language which is actually seen in print or heard in speech In translation, the

form of the source language is replaced by the form of the target language

It‟s obvious that translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into the target language This is realized by going from the form

of the first language to the form of a second one by way of semantic structure It

is meaning which is being transferred and must be held constant Only the form changes The form from which the translation is made will be called the source language and the form into which it is to be changed will be called the target

language Translation, then, consists of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation and cultural context of the source language

text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, after that reconstruct this

same meaning using lexicon and grammatical structure which are proper in the target language and its cultural context

Let us look at one example that we are translating a Vietnamese sentence into English:

“Mấy năm qua công cuộc đổi mới trên mặt trận kinh tế của đất nước ta đã

mở ra mạnh mẽ.”

Over the past few years, the economic innovation of our country

Qua mấy năm kinh tế đổi mới của ch/ta đất nước

has ushered drastically

đã mở ra mạnh mẽ

It is undoubted that the given example consists of some changes in form: order of Vietnamese words (SL) in a sentence is different from that of English (TL) The Vietnamese form consists of the verb form „mở ra-has ushered‟, noun forms, (đổi mới-innovation, đất nước-country,năm-years); adjective form(kinh tế-economic); adverb form(mạnh mẽ-drastically)

The fact shows that persons who know both the SL and the TL well can often make the transfer from one form to the other very quickly, without thinking about the semantic structure overtly

+ In most languages there is a meaning component of plurality as suffix

„S‟ in English This suffix often occurs in the grammar on the nouns or verbs or both.Whereas it does not occur in Vietnamese It is expressed in terms of lexicon

Books in the library have been kept carefully

Những quyển sách trong thư viện được giữ gìn cẩn thận

+ The same meaning component can be expressed in several surface

structure lexical items There is the word „Sheep‟ in English However, the words Lamb, ram and ewe also occur and include the meaning Sheep But these words get the additional meaning components which are young (in lamb), adult and male (in ram), and adult and female (in ewe)

+ It should be noted that one form can be used to convey alternative

meanings.Since most words have more than one meaning: the primary meaning

which ussually comes to mind when the word is said in isolation and the

secondary meanings- the additional meanings which a word has in context with other words We take the verb „run‟ in English as an example We can say the boy runs Runs here is in its primary meaning We can also say the car runs, the river runs and her nose runs Runs in the given sentences are in its secondary

meanings It should be borne in mind that the same grammatical pattern may express several different meanings We just take the English phrase „my house‟ for example, it may mean “the house I live in”, “the house I built”, “the house I own”, “the house I rent,”or “the house for which I drew up the plans” Only the larger context can determine the particular meaning

+ The whole sentence may also have several functions A question form

may be used for a nonquestion For example, the question “John, why don‟t you

go to the concert?” takes the form of a question, and may be asking for

information in some context, but it is often used with the meaning of a command (or suggestion) rather than a real question It is then a real question A simple

sentence in English like “He made the bed,” may mean either “He (the

carpenter) made the bed,” or “He put the sheets, blanket, and pillow in neat

order on the bed.”

Just for words have primary and secondary meanings, grammatical markers have their primary function and often have other secondary functions Let us take preposition ON for illustration

- Jane found a book on the table  quyển sách ở trên bàn

- Jane found a book on English  quyển sách về tiếng Anh

- Jane found a book on Thursday quyển sách vào ngày thứ năm

- Jane found a book on sale  đem ra bán

Or

- Michael was sitting by the riverside: by in this sentence signals that the

Riverside is the location

- The thief was arrested by a police: by in this case signals the meaning

that Police is the agent of the action

1.1.2.3 Register

The term register is used in the same way as „style‟ in the field of

language learning and teaching It is used to refer to all types of situational variation and sometimes also to refer to socially-conditioned variation

Languages often differ greatly in the levels of formality in a given context

To resolve these differences, the translator must distinguish between formal/informal or fixed expressions and personal expressions, in which the writer or speaker sets the tone The translator should also consider:

- if any expression in the SL would sound too formal/ informal, cold/ warm, personal/ impersonal…if translated literally For example:

-Expressing anger:

The slight figure of Maria appeared in the doorway, her eyes flashing,

„You are late, you are late, you are 23 minutes late.‟ Or

„Don‟t you tell me to calm down You‟d like me to be a drudge, wouldn‟t you, to

be a slave, to keep silent while you go out drinking and chasing girls all the nights?‟…

-Expressing formal style,

Would you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?

Would you open the door for me, please?

For example:

- That girl teacher is looking very charming

Cô giáo ấy thì trông rất duyên/ đang trông rất duyên

- Quả táo này ăn rất ngon

- This apple eats very tasty literal / word-for-word translation

Hôm qua đã khai mạc hội chợ thương mại quốc tế tại Hà Nội

Yesterday opened the world trade Fair in Hanoi  Literal translation

- Would you mind my smoking in here?  Formal asking for permission

- The translator must find out what the intention of the speaker or writer is (to persuade/dissuade, apologize / criticize If this comes true in translation For example:

- Why don‟t we go to the movie tonight?  Suggestion

- Would you, please, have another cup of cofee?  Invitation

1.1.2.4 Source language influence

One of the most frequent criticisms of translation is that „it doesn‟t sound natural‟ This is because the translator‟s thoughts and choice of words are too strongly moulded by the original text A good way of shaking off the source

language influence is to set the text aside and translate a few sentences aloud, from memory This will suggest natural pattern of thought in the first language, which may not come to mind when the eye is fixed on the SL text

- …”Chẳng nói chẳng rằng, ba dang tay bợp tai cho nó một cái đánh „bốp‟ Con

bé loạng choạng ngã xuống vũng nước bẩn, nước mắt nó ứa ra, chắc là đau lắm Con ráng chạy lại níu tay ba, nhưng không kịp…”

… “Without a word you (held out your hand and) boxed her ear with a „pop‟ The little girl staggered before falling down into the pool of filthy water Tears started to her eyes, possibly becaause of acute pain I tried to get to the place to prevent you, but( it was too late) I failed

- “The mosquitoes‟ eggs go through four changes, until finally the small

mosquitoes appear…”

- …Trứng muỗi phát triển qua bốn thời kỳ/ giai đoạn rồi mới nở thành

muỗi con

1.1.2.5 Style and clarity

The translator should not change the style of the source language text when rendering it into the target language text But if the text is sloppily written, or full

of tedious repetitions, the translator may, for the reader‟s sake, correct the defects For example:

a- … “Phía Nhật Bản hoan nghênh cải cách kinh tế của Việt Nam đạt kết quả tốt.”

… “The Japanese delegation acclaimed the success of Vietnamese economic reform

b- …Lấy thay thế bằng nhập khẩu để giải quyết thâm hụt thương mại và hỗ trợ tăng trưởng trong nước là một phần mang tính tiêu chuẩn của chiến lược phát

triển của nhiều quốc gia, kể cả ở giai đoạn đầu mà nhiều nước Đông Á phát triển kinh tế

It is a standard part of namy nations‟strategy for development to deal with commercial deficits and assistance to domestic economic growth by import replacement,including many South East Asian countries‟ the initial stage of economic development

The SL text must be analysed and clarified before rendering into the SL text c-…I took a decisive step when I married Antonia I was then thirty, and she was only thirty five She looks now, for all her beauty, a little older than her years, and has, more than once, been taken for my mother

…….Tôi đã đi đến một bước quyết định khi cưới Antonia Hồi ấy tôi 30 tuổi, còn nàng mới chỉ 35.Cho dù nàng rất xinh đẹp, nhưng bây giờ sắc đẹp của nàng phần nào đã bị phôi pha và đã hơn một lần,người ta cứ lầm tưởng nàng là mẹ tôi

 Style of the SL must not be changed

1.1.2.6 Idioms

Idiomatic expressions are notoriously untranslatable These include similes, metaphors, proverbs and sayings, jargons, slang, and colloquialisms, and phrasal verbs For example:

a- The black sheep of the family (Idiom)

b- Khỏe như Phù Đổng Thiên Vương (simile)

c- Cho nó một băng = 100 đồng (slang)

If the expressions cannot be directly translated, try any of the following:

- retain the original word, in inverted comas: „….‟

- retain the original expression, with a literal explanation in brackets: Indian summer (dry, hazy weather in late autumn)

- use a close equivalent : talk of the devil = „the wolf at the door‟ (literally)

- use a non-idiomatic or plain prose translation

The golden rule is: if the idiom does not work in the L1, do not force it into the translation

1.2 Methods of translation

The main methods of translation:

1- Semantic translation 2- Communicative translation 3- Word-for-word translation 4- Literal translation

5- Faithful translation 6- Transliteration 7- Calque

8- Adaptation 9- Descriptive translation 10- Free translation

11- Idiomatic translation

1.2.1 Semantic translation

Semantic translation is to reconstruct the exact meaning of the original It must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text, compromising on meaning where appropriate There will be little change if necessary For example:

“Sự suy nhược về xác thịt ấy cũng chưa thấm vào đâu với sự suy nhược về tinh thần, luôn luôn bác lo lắng, sợ sệt bất cứ một thứ gì Một tiếng động nhỏ cũng làm cho bác giật mình, một lời nói to cũng làm cho bác thấp thỏm, trống ngực đánh thình thình.”

“ But this state of physical exhaustion was nothing as compared with his mental debility Fear and anguish seized him at any moment about anything, the least noise made him jump, an outburst of voices made him tremble, his heart beat violently.”

“There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.”

“Con yêu, đây là những điều cha đang suy nghĩ: Cha đã nghiêm khắc với con Sáng nay, khi con mặc quần áo đi học, cha đã rầy con vì con chỉ quệt chiếc khăn ướt lên mũi con thôi Cha đã mắng con vì giầy con không đánh bóng, cha

đã la khi con liệng đồ chơi của con xuống đất.”

1.2.2 Communicative translation

Communicative translation tries to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are acceptable and comprehensible to the readers

a) The focus is on the message and readers, for example:

“Vietcombank thành phố Hồ Chí Minh triển khai dịch vụ gửi một nơi, rút nhiều nơi.”

“Vietcombank in Ho Chi Minh city launches a service that allows clients to deposit money in one branch and withdraw it in others.”

b) The meaning and form of the translated text must be suitable in the target language If necessary, something should be added to or removed from the original, for example:

“Nhiều cổ phiếu đã tăng giá: giá trị giao dịch giảm, nhà đầu tư nước ngoài vẫn

tích cực mua cổ phiếu.”

“Prices of listed shares have increased: despite declining transactions, foreign investors still continue to buy them.”

despite is added to the translation to make the translation more logical

c) Reconstruct badly-written sentences in the original, for example:

“Quy trình quản lý cũng cần được nghiên cứu để đạt được mô hình hợp lý với điều kiện Việt nam đã có nhiều khóa bồi dưỡng quản lý dự án được tổ chức, giúp các bên tham gia xây dựng có cơ hội tiếp cận với thực tiễn và lý luận và quản lý

dự án theo thông lệ quốc tế.”

“với điều kiện Việt Nam Đã có ”; “ lý luận về quản lý”

” The management process should also be studied so as to acquire a rational model suitable to conditions in Vietnam Many refresher courses on project management have been held that enabled parties participating in construction to

have access to theory and practice of project management in line with

international practice.”

d) Clarify ambiguous sentences in the SL, for example:

“Hải Phòng: cuộc bán đấu giá doanh nghiệp nhà nước đầu tiên tại Việt Nam.”

If translated into „auction of a first state-owned enterprise‟, it is wrong, but as

“Hải Phòng: first auction of a state-owned enterprise in Vietnam.”

e) Avoid reiteration in the SL text, for example:

“Trong đợt xét tặng danh hiệu Nhà giáo ưu tú lần thứ 8, Thái Bình đã có thêm

10 Nhà giáo ưu tú, nâng tổng số lên 59 Nhà giáo ưu tú trong toàn tỉnh.”

“Nhà giáo ưu tú” is twice reiterated in the source sentence

- You are skinny and she is fat

Anh thì gầy chị ta thì béo

- Beggars can‟t be choosers

Ăn mày đòi xôi gấc

1.2.4 Literal translation

The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents, but the lexical words are translated singly, out of context, for example:

a- “In 2002, the ratio of high school graduates who advanced to institutions of higher learning was 87 percent for general high schools and 49.8 percent for vocational high schools.”

-Literal translation:

“năm 2002, tỷ lệ học sinh tốt nghiệp trung học theo học tại các cơ sở học thuật cao hơn là 87% đối với các trường trung học thông thường và 49,8 % đối với các trường trung cấp dạy nghề.”

-Final translation:

“Năm 2002, 87% học sinh tốt nghiệp trung học và 49,8% học sinh tốt nghiệp các trường cao đẳng dạy nghề theo học các trường đại học.”

b- Mỹ muốn thay ông Arafat

The US wanted to replace Yasser Arafat > wrongly- translated

The US wants Yasser Arafat to be replaced Final translation

1.2.5 Faithful translation

Faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning

of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures It transfers cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical abnormality of the SL in the translation For example:

a- “Nằm ở phía bắc dãy núi Trường Sơn thuộc tỉnh Quảng Bình, vườn quốc gia Phong Nha- Kẻ Bàng được đánh giá là một trong hai vùng núi đá vôi rộng nhất thế giới và đang được UNESCO công nhận là di sản thiên nhiên thế giới.”

Faithful translation:

Located to the North of Truong Son mountain range in Quang Binh province, Phong Nha- Kẻ Bàng national park is evaluated as one of the world‟s two

largest limestone regions and is being recognized by UNESCO as a world‟s natural heritage

Final translation:

“Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park, located to the north of the Truong Son mountain-range in Quang Binh province is one of the world‟s two largest limestone regions It is waiting for UNESCO‟s approval as a world‟s natural heritage.”

b- “Scientists have learnt a great deal about malaria-carrying mosquitoes The only importance of the male is the part he plays in helping to produce young mosquitoes.”

Transliteration means the use of the phonetic and alphabet system in TL to

transcribe certain word in the SL.For example: “marketing” in English can be transcribed in Vietnamese as ma-két-tinh

“Filit” in French can be transcribed in Vietnamese as phi-lê

“Beijing” Bắc Kinh

“Shanghai” Thượng Hải

“Scandal” xì-căng-đan

- Borowings We come across many borrowed words in any languages This is a popular tendency to enrich languages

Nó bị bệnh Down đấy

Chị ấy là vận động viên boxing nổi tiếng của VN

1.2.7 Calque (Loan Translation)

It is a borrowing phenomenon in languages in which syntactic structures

in SL are preserved, but the morphemes or words of the structures are replaced

by those of the TL For example:

Peretstroika (Russian means innovation); candidate etc

1.2.8 Adaptation

This is the freest form of translation It is used mainly for plays and poetry; the theme, characters plots are usually preserved The SL culture converted to the TL culture and the text rewritten

1.2.9 Descriptive translation

In descriptive translation, target language is used to enable readers to imagine an object, a thing, a phenomenon or a concept in the SL text Descriptive translation can be applied when there is no equivalent in the TL The main reason for descriptive translation is the difference between the two

cultures.For example: “nhà sàn”: “house-on-stilts”; “ Lễ hạ điền” : “the transplanting rite”

rice- “Lễ hạ điền tổ chức vào tháng 5 âm lịch, là nghi lễ có tầm quan trọng đặc biệt trong các nghi lễ nông nghiệp của đồng bào Mường.”

“ The rice-transplanting rite held in the fifth month of the lunar calendar is a

particularly important one among agricultural rites of the Muong.”

1.2.10 Free translation

Free translation reproduces the content without the form of the original Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original called intralingual translation The equivalent is not restricted to one unit of translation, for example, one word in SL can be equivalent to a group of words or a phrase

For example: It‟s raining cats and dogs: Mưa tầm tã

It serves him right: đáng đời hắn

- Sometimes, translation in TL is shorter than the original

“Ngân hàng thế giới nhận định: kinh tế VN năm 2003 sẽ đạt mức tăng trưởng 7% WB đánh giá tình hình kinh tế VN trong 12 tháng qua là khả quan và đấy hứa hẹn.”

” Vietnam‟s economic growth í estimated at 7 percent in 2003, according to the World Bank The Bank há made an optimistic and positive assessment of the country‟s economy over the past 12 months

1.2.11 Idiomatic translation

Idiomatic translation reproduces the message of the original text but tends

to distort nuances of meaning by prefering colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the original.For example:

“ Hàng loạt dự án đầu tư nước ngoài có tổng giá trị gần 1 tỉ USD đang chờ được cấp giấy phép - tin từ Bộ Kế hoạch- Đầu tư.”

“A host of foreign-invested projects, valued at a combined 1 billion USD, are

waiting for a nod – from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.”

a nod: the meaning is distorted, it should be replaced by approval

CHAPTER II: SOME COMMOM MISTAKES MADE BY FOURTH- YEAR STUDENTS IN ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

The main of this chapter was to find out the factors which created problems to the translators during the translation process This chapter deals with questionnaires to obtain valid data and analysis The chapter begins with the presentation of data collection methodology of the study, and then the collected data are analyzed to find out problematic area and suggestion to the new program

2.1 Subjects of the study

Due to the fact that it was impossible to collect to the data needed for this research study from the whole population of students, the researcher decided to choose 100 4th year students at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University as subjects of the study Using statistic, the researcher could provide the estimations for the whole student population from the results of 100 subjects of this study These students would be required to state their attitude towards their learning translation

2.2 Data collection method

To assure the validity of the survey, the researcher uses the combination of three following methods: questionnaires, interviews and translation test

purpose of using questionnaire in this chapter is to investigate the attitude of students towards learning translation Questionnaires would be a good instruction to collect data in a short time and the analysis of answers to closed questions is straight forwards

Questionnaires (see Appendix) made up questions were for the students It was to identify the student‟s lacks and problems when learning translation The results of question which are presented in the following section will important input for the proposed syllabus of the selection

2.2.3 Translation test

The translation test includes 8 English sentences from translation books of 4th year students at faculty of English, HOU:

1) She is a black beautiful girl

2) She is a beautiful black girl

3) It is thought that the Prime Minister will visit London next month

4) Many industrial zones are under construction by huge corporations in different provinces

5) We happen to attend the international conference last month in Bangkok 6) The man Botanica met at the party was kind but he was not her cup of tea 7) What is Lord Goring?

8) Which teacher do you like best?

Due to the limitation of time, the number of students taking the test is 100 The answers of students to the translation test present some common mistakes made by fourth- year students of English faculty while translating, which will help the researcher find out some suggested solutions to the problem

2 What is the difficulty in your translation

learning? (choose more than one)

41

%

Table 2: Students‟ learning translation problems

Options

Question A B C D E

3 What knowledge you have got is

helpful for your translation learning?

(choose more than one)

4 Which method do you usually use

to translate? (choose more than one)