An investigation into difficulties in English - Vietnamese technical translation faced by third-year students at English Deparment, Hanoi University of Industry

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THẢO AN INVESTIGATION INTO DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISHVIETNAMESE TECHNICAL TRANSLATION FACED BY THIRDYEAR STUDENTS AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ KHOA TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI KHI DỊCH ANH-VIỆT TRONG CÁC CHUYÊN NGÀNH KỸ THUẬT) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: Code: Supervisor: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS 602215 MA ĐỖ MINH HOÀNG HANOI - 2010 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS T.T: Technical translation ED: English Department HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry SL: Source language TL: Target language T&I: Translation and Interpreting ESP English for Special Purposes LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Students’ attitudes toward technical translation as a subject at ED, HaUI Table 2: Students’ attitudes toward the importance of technical translation Table 3: Students’ attitudes toward the way of learning technical translation Table 4: Students’ attitudes toward technical translation as a job in future Table 5: Levels of difficulty in terms of discourse Table 6: Levels of difficulty in terms of grammar Table 7: Levels of difficulty in terms of vocabulary Table 8: Levels of difficulty in terms of translation techniques Table 9: Causes for difficulties due to students’ learning style Table 10: Causes for difficulties due to teacher and his/her teaching methodology (before T.T lesson) Table 11: Causes for difficulties due to teacher and his/her teaching methodology (during T.T lesson) Table 12: Causes for difficulties due to teacher and his/her teaching methodology (after T.T lesson) Table 13: Causes for difficulties due to teaching and learning conditions Figure 1: Students’ attitudes toward the importance of technical translation Figure 2: Students’ attitudes toward technical translation as a job in future Figure 3: Levels of difficulty in terms of vocabulary Figure 4: Levels of difficulty in terms of translation techniques TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations .IV List of tables and figures v Table of contents .vi Part A: Introduction .1 Rationale Aims of the study .2 Scope of the study Methodology of the study Structure of the study .2 Part B: Development Chapter 1: Theoretical background 1.1 Theory on Translation .4 1.1.1 Definitions of Translation 1.1.2 Translation methods 1.1.3 Translation problems 1.2 Technical Translation .8 1.2.1 Definitions of technical translation 1.2.2 The role of terminology in technical translation 1.2.3 Some misconceptions about technical translation 1.3 Summary 11 Chapter 2: Investigation into the current situation of teaching and learning EnglishVietnamese Technical Translation at English Department, Hanoi University of Industry (ED, HaUI) 12 2.1 Teaching and learning of English-Vietnamese technical translation at ED, HaUI 12 2.2 Description of the teachers at Translation Division, ED, HaUI 12 2.3 Description of the students at ED, HaUI .13 2.4 Description of facilities, materials and teaching methods for English-Vietnamese technical translation at ED, HaUI 13 2.5 Some estimated difficulties in English-Vietnamese technical translation faced by third year students at ED, HaUI, based on subjective opinon of the researcher 14 2.6 Summary 14 Chapter 3: The study 15 3.1 Participants 15 3.2 The data collection methods 15 3.3 The data collection procedures 16 3.4 The data analysis and discussions of the findings .16 3.4.1 Students’ attitudes toward English-Vietnamese T.T at ED, HaUI 16 3.4.2 Students’ difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T 19 3.4.2.1 In terms of discourse .20 3.4.2.2 In terms of grammar .21 3.4.2.3 In terms of vocabulary 22 3.4.2.4 In terms of translation techniques 24 3.4.3 The possible causes for students’ problems in English-Vietnamese T.T 25 3.4.2.1 Students’ learning style 25 3.4.2.2 The teachers and their teaching methodology 26 3.4.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions 29 3.5 Major findings and summary .29 Chapter 4: Recommendations 31 4.1 For students 31 4.1.1 Increasing right perceptions and motivation of learning T.T 31 4.1.2 Applying different learning methods .32 4.2 For teachers 33 4.2.1 Increasing right perceptions and motivation of teaching T.T 33 4.2.2 Renovating and applying flexibly different teaching methods and classroom techniques .34 4.2.3 Working as a freelance translator 37 4.3 For managers 37 4.3.1 For ED managers 38 4.3.2 For the university managers 38 4.4 Summary 38 Part C: Conclusion 39 Summary of the findings and conclusions 39 Limitations and suggestions for further study 40 References 41 Appendix I-IV 10 PART A : INTRODUCTION Rationale Technical Translation (T.T) has long been regarded as the urgly duckling of translation, especially in academic circles Not particularly exciting or attractive and definitely lacking in the glamour and cachet of other types of translation, T.T is often relegated to the bottom division of translation activity and regarded as little more than an exercise in specilized terminology and subject knowledge Indeed, these factors, particularly subject knowledge, have in some quarters led to T.T being feared and loathed, like a modern-day barbarian of the linguistic world (Jody Byrne, 2006) Like other specialized types of translation, however, T.T does not fit neatly into any one theory or approach and that there is no adequate explanation of T.T as an activity In fact, T.T is worthy of serious study Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) has always been proud of its long history with great contributions to the national technological developments as well as industrialization and modernization process To diversify its training majors and educational services, HaUI newly established English Department (ED) in 2005 with the hope of providing qualified technical translators and interpreters for the national labour market Even teachers and students at ED have tried their best, it is inevitable to cope with difficulties in both awareness as well as methodology and experiences of teaching and learning T.T Being trained as an translator and interpreter and now working as a teacher at Translation Division, ED, HaUI, the researcher has always been aware of difficulties as well as responsibilities of training and developing skills and strategies of translation in general and T.T in particular for English majored students If students have good perceptions and understanding as well as chances to practice and gain experiences of translation and T.T, they are able to build self-confidence and interest in translation-related jobs in future Despite the efforts of both teachers and students, however, the researcher still feels dissatisfied of her students’ translation competence and frankly realizes that they are unlikely to meet social demands after graduation The researcher has recognized many factors affecting teaching and learning T.T such as inadequate understanding and professional knowledge of T.T from both teachers and students; inappropriate teaching methods and classroom techniques; students’ low motivation as well as ineffective teaching and learning conditions Recognizing this study 11 as a minor thesis, however, the researcher cannot cover all the issues related to T.T, but only English-Vietnamese T.T applied for English-majored students at ED, HaUI Aims of the study The study ultimately aims to examine difficulties faced by third year students at ED, HaUI in English-Vietnamese T.T The researcher would like to find out the proper answers for the research questions, then suggesting helpful recommendations to improve the raised issue:  What are the attitudes of the third year students at ED, HaUI toward EnglishVietnamese T.T?  What are the most common difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T facing the students?  What are the possible causes for the difficulties? Scope of the study The study mainly focuses on the most common difficulties facing third year students at ED, HaUI in English-Vietnamese T.T The researcher will analyze and discuss findings in the student questionnaire; combine with observation, marking and informal interview with students and teachers; then suggest recommendations to improve teaching and learning T.T at ED, HaUI It is hoped that findings from this thesis will be of some benefits to improve teaching and learning T.T at ED, HaUI Methodology of the study The study will be conducted on a step by step basis First, the study will present a review of theory on translation in general and T.T in particular to form overall view of the research matter This study adopts case study approach, therefore, it is necessary to investigate the current situation of teaching and learning English-Vietnamese T.T at ED, HaUI in order that the researcher can estimate difficulties facing her third year students To achieve the aims of the study, the survey questionnaires will be used as the main method to collect necessary data for analysis and discussion Besides, the researcher’s observation, marking as well as informal interview with students and colleagues will be also used in the thesis Structure of the study The study includes three main parts, a bibliography and appendixes Part A : Introduction 12 It introduces the rationale for choosing the topic, the research questions, the aims, scope, methodology and structure of the study Part B : Development Part B consists of three chapters Chapter 1: Theoretical background This chapter provides theory of translation in general and T.T in particular Chapter 2: Investigation into the current situation of teaching and learning EnglishVietnamese T.T at ED, HaUI The chapter brings the general picture of teaching and learning T.T at ED, HaUI The researcher analyzes the situation and subjectively gives a draft answer for the research questions Chapter 3: The study This chapter presents research methodology which concentrates on the participants, data collection methods and procedures, data analysis and discussion of findings to compare with her first draft answer in chapter Chapter 4: Recommendations The chapter suggests the possible recommendations to reduce the difficulties in EnglishVietnamese T.T at ED, HaUI The researcher would like to foward the thesis to her students, her colleagues and the board of managers at HaUI with the hope of improving T.T teaching and learning at the university Part C: Conclusion This part summarizes the main issues raised in the study, points out the limitations and makes some suggestions for further research References Appendixes 13 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Technical translation (T.T) is an important part of translation, therefore, it is necessary to present a review of theory on both translation and T.T to form the basis for pointing out difficulties facing the third year students at ED, HaUI 1.1 Theory on Translation Newmark (1988:19) states that “ translation theory is neither a theory nor a science, but the body of knowledge Its main concern is to determine appropriate translation methods for the widest possible range of texts or text-categories Further, it provides a framework of principles, restricted rules and hints for translating texts and criticizing translations, a background for problem-solving” 1.1.1 Definitions of Translation Translation has been approached variously and thus many different definitions of translation have been coined Catford (1965:20) considers translation the replacement of textual material in one language by an equivalent textual material in the other language This point of view was shared by Hartman and Stork (1972:713) “translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language” These definitions emphasize on importance of equivalence when textual material is replaced from source language (SL) to target language (TL) Bell, RT (1991:5) says “Translation is the expression in another language (or TL) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences” Hatim and Mason (1990:3) see translation as a communicative process which takes place within a social context These definitions attach importance to equivalence between SL and TL Indeed, translator should be the one of superior language ability in at least two languages Newmark, however, has made an important contribution to the development of translation He states (1988a:7) “Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language” Newmark is the first one considering translation a science, a skill, an art, a matter of taste 40 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS Basing on the findings from this research, T.T has not been seen seriously as a subject of study by both teachers and students at ED, HaUI There are improper understanding and awareness of T.T resulting in inappropriate attitudes and motivation from students and ineffective teaching methodology from teachers toward T.T Within the scope of the study, the researcher would like to put forward recommendations for students, teachers and managers of the university in order to reduce difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T facing third year students at ED, HaUI and to improve interest of teaching and learning T.T The recommendations are presented clearly to make readers satisfy the two questions “why is it necessary to follow such recommendations” and “how to follow them” 4.1 For students 4.1.1 Increasing the right perceptions and motivation of learning T.T Firstly, students themselves should have the right perceptions of T.T They must be aware of its usefulness and popularity in our world today Data from part of the questionnaire show students’ improper attitudes toward T.T and their low interest and expectation of working as technical translators in future However, becoming a technical translator is rather appropriate and fashionable for foreign language-majored students, especially for the ones who graduated from a technical university like HaUI Students should improve the knowledge of the subject matters day by day The problem is that being an expert in highly specialized field is not a prerequisite to work as a technical translator in future T.T is not all about conveying specialized information However, it does not mean that T.T learners need not care about professional knowledge The more familiar students are with professional knowledge, the better their translation versions will be Familiarity in T.T brings convenience and success for them in future One perception of T.T students should bear in mind is that T.T is not all about terminology The study shows many students find it difficult to understand and memorize terminology Actually, terminology is considered a challenging task to not only students but also teachers, even professional technical translators Sofer (1999:39) states that being ninety percent sure of a word’s meaning is not good enough in professional translation Furthermore, Newmark (1988) has claimed that terminology accounts for at most just 510% of the total content of technical texts Technical terms should be gained and enriched gradually by translation practice, observation and even experience 41 One important perception is that style is very important in T.T Therefore, students should apply different translation methods and strategies to specific texts Students should grasp basic translation methods to ensure equivalence in translation Translation is a craft and translator is a craftsman Because T.T is so useful and popular, students need to recognize the ways of learning this subject effectively as well as have high motivation to overcome difficulties in learning process Students themselves have many ways get motivated They can frankly express their desire and expectations in learning this subject to the teacher They can also go to class frequently to gain learning atmosphere, sharing exercies, translation products and experience Many say that learning at class helps them revise difficult terms, discuss translation versions to find the most acceptable one, consult friends and teacher timely and often This study aslo explores some effective methods to motivate learning of EnglishVietnamese T.T such as surfing webs of technical matters to read news and revise professional terms; collecting extra materials for T.T from ESP books, printed newspapers, and internet; consulting technical experts Students can have T.T related part-time jobs They can take translation materials from translation centers to both practice T.T skills and earn money as well Sources for T.T materials can also come from teachers, friends or relatives More importantly, thanks to frequent translation practice, students themselves can form habit of translation, and then interest in this subject 4.1.2 Applying different learning methods Translation is a hard work; student should be active in learning and flexibly apply various translation methods to gain the most acceptable translation version for each specific text To learn English-Vietnamese T.T better, students should combine such different methods as learning individually, learning in pairs or in groups, consulting teachers or specialists Students can also choose themselves the most effective way to suit their learning conditions or personalities Learning individually helps students gain the most concentration on the subject They can choose an appropriate place to practice translation, complete T.T homework and prepare for the next lessons They should be present at class to show their translation products to share with other classmates and consult teachers Some can make full use of technology, especially, internet to search information from technical websites to read news and update 42 new technologies From informal interview, the researcher sees that some students find good way to learn English-Vietnamese T.T by visiting websites often Reading books or printed newspapers is also an effective way to increase students’ perceptions on professional knowledge and to memorize technical terms and phenomena explanation Study shows that not only lack of professional knowledge, respondents in this study show their weaknesses in English competence and their general English practice skills Translation is nearly the final stage for English-majored students However, basic knowledge of grammar is considered the foundation for students to reach this stage Students themselves can overcome difficulties in basic grammatical features Learning in pairs or in groups is proved an effective method for foreign language learners Students can form their learning pairs or groups to prepare for translation lessons by making presentations or discussions Learning with others can help student find interesting and effective to argue and share T.T difficulties and solutions As mentioned above, students can also together share English technical materials from translation centers or sources from teachers, friends or relatives, then work in pairs or in groups to practice translation Each group can share translation version, check and edit each other This method can bring them money and more importantly translation skills, habit and interest Consulting teachers or specialists is another recommendation A student can be disoriented or bored if he/she only learns individually He/she gradually neglects the tasks, finds nothing helpful and effective Learning in pairs or in groups sometimes causes more arguments than agreements Everyone seems to protect their ideas and translation version rather than accept or praise other better ones Therefore, consulting teachers or specialists for checking and broadening students’ minds is another effective method In fact, if translation products are frequently shared, checked by peers, teachers or experts, it is surely that its quality can be obviously improved 4.2 For teachers 4.2.1 Increasing the right perceptions and motivation of teaching T.T In fact, not all teachers, educators, even professional translators have the right perceptions of T.T From the informal interview with colleagues, the researcher finds that T.T is not acknowledged properly Teachers of T.T should be the one who must firstly have right awareness and understanding of the subject they teach The right perceptions of T.T can make teachers be confident and helpful at classes He/she can answer questions raised by 43 students and make them satisfy and partially be interested in T.T learning Moreover, most teachers at ED, HaUI who are in charge of T.T teaching, lack knowledge and experience on technical matters and consider T.T a new and unfamiliar subject Increasing the right perceptions of T.T as well as raising motivation of teaching this subject is extremely necessary and important Most respondents in this study either agree or strongly agree that T.T is boring It is understandable that this subject is difficult and less exciting than other parts of translation due to its professional knowledge and technical terms Moreover, students at ED, HaUI are not majored in any technical matters These factors prevent students from creating a good translation version That is the reason why teacher should “transmit aspiration” to raise students’ interest in this subject A teacher should show his/her interest, enthusiasms in teaching Motivation of teaching T.T is very important for both teachers and students Teacher can gain high motivation by various ways Internet is a great source Teacher can visit technical website to update professional knowledge and information Teachers can also consult other colleagues at other technical departments at HaUI to improve knowledge of technical matters as well as to check technical terms 4.2.2 Renovating and applying flexibly different teaching methods and classroom techniques Part of the student questionnaire investigates possible causes for students’ problems in English-Vietnamese T.T It reveals students’ expectations of their teacher’s methodology There are some shortcomings in teaching T.T at ED, HaUI It cannot be denied that the role of teacher at class, even student-centered class, is still necessary and important Therefore, renovating and applying flexibly different teaching methodology is indispensable to obtain the final target – making students learn T.T better and better First, a teacher must be the one who is quite sure of his/her students’ learning ability He/she can classify them and then form groups containing both students who are good or not good at T.T Students can share and learn translation techniques each other and improve themselves It is easy for a teacher to classify level of students by testing and marking at the beginning of the term, interviewing or consulting the teacher of the previous terms, even a survey questionnaire Understanding students’ learning ability can help teacher apply effective way of teaching to certain classes and certain student groups Teachers must constantly refresh their own knowledge and leave positive impression on 44 their students during the course To reach this target, each teacher has his/her own way However, he/she can refer to the following recommendations: Teachers should always create exciting and enabling atmosphere at class According to the results of the research, one of the causes for students’ difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T is that they have negative attitudes, low interest and motivation in the subject Therefore, to reduce the difficulties, teachers should make T.T course useful and their lessons fun, instead of traditionally boring T.T lessons Teachers should be friendly and helpful at class Teachers can also begin the course by giving some easy texts, simplifying and clarifying students’ tasks to suit students’ learning ability and to make them feel feasible to finish the subject requirements To vary the tasks, teachers can require students to work individually, in pairs or groups Teachers should diversify the techniques by using visual aids to explain technical terms and phenomena For instance, the pictures of different types of topologies (bus, star, ring, tree and mesh ones) can be downloaded from internet and used to teach effectively shapes of data transmission in Information Technology A picture of common network topologies in Information technology 45 To help student understand and memorize terms in Automobile Technology, it is ideal to take them to workshops, however, showing pictures to visualize real objects is a proper method A picture of disc brake in braking system of automobile technology Teachers can also consult explanation of phenomena from internet or experts to make lessons much more useful and exciting Students will recognize that translation is not only language transference but also gradual improvement in professional knowledge and technical terms Teachers should follow the model of student-centered class Students are the centre of the class activities; who finish homework, prepare for group presentation, actively join discussion and argument at class Teachers should assign translation homework and presentation of given technical topic to student groups regularly and timely The teacher is a facilitator helping students analyze translation shortcomings, evaluate translation versions, judge discussion and argument as well as recognize the best translation version at class Teachers should be creative in teaching and implementing class activities Teachers should not only praise the best translation version, but also analyze and admit other acceptable ones Data analysis and discussion show a lot of information about students’ difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T However, they rate their levels of difficulty differently in each 46 area Therefore, teachers should grasp each level and apply appropriate methods to each area For instance, in terms of vocabulary, pictures, video or real objects should be used to illustrate and explain for technical terms and phenomena Students can be encouraged to improve their general English practice skills (especially reading and writing) themselves as well as increase knowledge of discourse and grammar Consulting other colleagues’ methods, not only colleagues at ED but also the ones at other technical departments in HaUI, is a good way to renovate learning and teaching activities Teachers should sometimes attend teaching lessons of their colleagues to share lesson preparation and experience, discuss professional knowledge and teaching methods, acquire new and effective ones Being flexible, creative and well-prepared for T.T lessons helps each teacher have his/her own teaching method and impression on their students Teachers should also ask the department managers and university ones for seminars and training courses of T.T Having opportunity for discussion and T.T training and experiences will raise teachers’ motivation in teaching and improve their profession and qualifications 4.2.3 Working as a freelance translator Newmark (1988:6) states that translation is a skill, an art, a matter of taste Therefore, teaching translation requires a teacher to work flexibly between the roles of a teacher and a translator To teach T.T effectively, a teacher should work as a freelance translator to practice T.T and gain practical experience to share with his/her colleagues and students Teachers will find it confident to give students practical advices and hints in translation lessons Moreover, students find it more exciting and convincing to follow their own teachers’ professional knowledge and experience It is easy for teachers to find a job as a freelance translator They can go to translation centers or contact with company to take materials for translation Teachers and students can cooperate to reach the final and the most acceptable translation version Teachers can require student groups to translate and check themselves Then the teacher is the last editor This recommendation can bring both teachers and students T.T motivation and interest; practice and experience as well as monetary benefits 4.3 For managers The results of the study are hopefully of interest and concern to both ED managers and the university ones 47 For ED managers: From the formal interview with other colleagues and the researcher’s point of view, it is necessary for the ED managers to consider and assign teachers clearly to specific divisions with certain tasks This is very helpful and efficient to clarify teaching missions and cut down teachers’ workload and pressure Teachers can keep mind on their work and have enough time to prepare and renovate their lessons The number of technical fields is infinitely large, and terminology is expanding and changing daily, therefore, it is appropriate to assign one teacher to T.T course of one or two technical matters For the university managers: The university managers should create favorable conditions for the teaching and learning T.T to make this subject familiar and attractive to teacher and students It is important to encourage teachers to collect and renovate teaching materials, textbooks and equipments The university managers should recognize teachers’ effort and enthusiasms, praise properly and timely and support if needed Moreover, adding some necessary technical subjects to syllabus for English majored students should be worth considering T.T lessons are more exciting and effective if the teacher and students at ED are given opportunity to go to available workshops at HaUI for practical experience and observation It also creates friendly atmosphere between the teacher and students as well as understanding and sharing among different departments at the university 4.4 Summary Recommendations in this chapter were made thanks to data analysis and discussions in the chapter To fulfill the aim of reducing difficulties facing the third year students at ED, HaUI in English-Vietnamese T.T, recommendations were suggested for students, teachers and managers at HaUI Students should increase the right perceptions and motivation of learning T.T, apply different methods to their learning style Teachers should increase the right perceptions and motivation of teaching this subject, renovate and apply flexibly different teaching methods To make teachers’ hints in T.T more exciting and convincing, it suggests that teachers work as freelance translators The E.D and university managers should create favorable conditions for teaching and learning T.T 48 PART C: CONCLUSION Summary of the findings and conclusions To meet the demand of globalization as well as industrialization and modernization trend in Vietnam, there are innumerable English technical materials that need translating into Vietnamese Therefore, T.T has been increasingly playing an important role in economic integration and technology transfer process in Vietnam HaUI has been well-known for its technical engineerings like automobile technology, information technology, mechanic engineering, electronics, electrics; therefore, training of technical translators and interpreters is of the university board of managers’ desire as well as in the policy of diversifying its professions This mission was assigned to teaching staffs and students at ED, HaUI They, however, have coped with so many difficulties on the way to make this legitimate aspiration come true That is the reason why the question: “what are the most common difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T faced by the third year students at ED, HaUI?” is mainly raised in this thesis To answer this question and suggest helpful recommendations, a survey questionnaire with the participation of 54 third years students of ED, HaUI was used as the main method to investigate students’ attitudes toward English-Vietnamese T.T at ED, HaUI, their difficulties in English-Vietnamese T.T and the possible causes The study shows that participants have the improper attitudes and perceptions of English-Vietnamese T.T as well as low interest and motivation to learn this subject They cope with the difficulties in discourse, grammar, especially vocabulary, translation techniques These difficulties result from students’ attitudes and learning style; teachers’ ineffecient teaching methods and classroom techniques; practical experiences; and improper teaching and learning conditions Basing on the results of the study, the researcher presents the recommendations to reduce difficulties teaching and learning English-Vietnamese T.T The researcher suggests clearly the possible ways to students, teachers and also managers at HaUI Students are encouraged to increase the right perceptions and motivation of learning T.T, and apply different learning methods To play the role as a facilitator that helps students analyze T.T shortcomings, evaluate translation versions, judge discussion and argument as well as recognize the most acceptable translation version at class, teachers should be the first ones increasing the right perceptions of T.T and motivation of teaching this subject, renovating 49 and applying flexibly different teaching methods Teachers should also work as freelance translators to gain and improve their practical experiences and make their lessons in T.T more exciting and convincing The E.D and university managers are suggested creating favorable conditions for teaching and learning T.T Scientific and technical advances are developed rapidly, resulting in higher demand for T.T, especially English-Vietnamese one The crucial thing in this thesis is that both teachers and students must have the right perceptions of T.T Once T.T is understood and treated correctly and properly, interest and motivation are surely raised, then finding appropriate teaching and learning methods is completely feasible Hopefully, the thesis might be of some benefits to improve teaching and learning EnglishVietnamese T.T at ED, HaUI Limitations and suggestions for further study In most research projects, especially minor theses with limited time and moderate requirements, some limitations are inevitable The study in this thesis is of no exception The study was conducted in the newly established ED at HaUI with teaching staffs including the researcher having little or even no teaching experiences of T.T, the suggestions in chapter were likely to be subjective and incomplete, leaving the issue open for debate Hopefully, the following matters will be thoroughly studied in the future:  The most common difficulties in English-Vietnamese technical translation faced by the third year English non-majored students at HaUI  The translation problems of English-Vietnamese technical matters  Standardization of Vietnamese equivalents for English technical terms in EnglishVietnamese technical dictionary 50 REFERENCES Bell, Roger T (Roger Thomas) (1991), Translation and Traslating: Theory and Practice, Pearson Education Limited Byrne, J (2006), Technical Translation: Usability Strategies for Translating Technical Documentation, Dordrecht: Springer, The Netherlands Byrne, J (2009) The Coming of Age of Technical Translation The Journal of Specialized Translation, issue 11, special Issue on Technical Translation, pp.2-5 Catford, J.C (1965), A Linguistic Theory of Translation, London: Oxford University Press Fischbach, H (1998), Translation and Medicine, John Benjamins Publishing Company Gerzymisch-Arbogast, Heidrun (1993) Contrastive Scientific and Technical Register as a Translation Problem In Wright, Sue Ellen and Leland Wright (eds) Scientific and Technical Translation American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series VI Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp.21-52 Hartmann, R.R.K., and F.C.Stork 1972 Dictionary of language and linguistics, London: Applied Science Hatim, B and I Mason (1990), Discourse and the Translator, London: Longman Kenedy, C & R, Bolitho (1984), English for Specific Purposes, Macmllan Press 10 Koller, W (1979), Equivalence in Translation Theory, Chesterman 11 Newmark, P (1988), Approaches to Translation, Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd 12 Newmark, P (1988), A textbook of Translation, Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd 13 Montgomery, Scott (2000) Science in Translation Chicago: The University of Chicago Press 14 Robinson, D (2003), Performative Linguistics: Speaking and Translating as Doing Things with Words, Routledge 15 Snell-Hornby, Mary (1988) Translation Studies An Integrated Approach Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company 16 Sofer, M.(1999), The Translator’s Handbook, Schreiber Publishing, Inc., Rockville, Marryland, U.S.A 51 APPENDIX STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE The survey questionnaire is designed for my thesis “An Investigation into Difficulties in English-Vietnamese Technical Translation Faced by Third-Year Students at English Department, Hanoi University of Industry” It is highly appreciated if you could spend your little time completing truthfully the question All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please respond to each statement or question and complete all of them as frankly and accurately as you can Part 1: Student’s attitude towards English-Vietnamese Technical Translation at ED, HaUI Please put √ in a column that matches your opinion most Strongly Statements agree Neither Agree agree nor disagree Attitude towards technical translation as a subject at ED, HaUI a You like translation very much b You feel technical translation boring Attitude towards the importance of technical translation a Technical translation is so important in our lives b It is so necessary and worth learning technical translation nowadays Attitude towards the way of learning technical translation a You like learning and exploring actively T.T by yourself b You often motivate yourself to have right attitude towards learning T.T Attitude towards technical translation as a job in future You would like to become a technical translator in future Disagree Strongly disagree 52 Part 2: Student’s difficulties in English-Vietnamese technical translation Below are some difficulties you may encounter when translating English-Vietnamese technical materials Please rate the level of difficulties by putting √ in the appropriate box Statements Very difficult Difficult Neither difficult nor easy In terms of discourse a Understanding content of English original texts b Understand relationship between paragraphs in texts c Understanding relationship between sentences in texts d Identifying structure of texts e Identifying and recognizing conjunctions and discourse markers f Understanding graphs, diagrams and figures In terms of grammar a Recognizing different parts of speech b Identifying types of sentences: simple or complex, passive or active voice c Identifying main and subordinate clauses in complex sentences d Understanding relationship between clauses of compound and complex sentences In terms of vocabulary a Understanding technical terms b Memorizing technical terms c Guessing meaning of words from contexts d Guessing meaning of words from their formation Easy Very easy 53 e Choosing the appropriate meaning for polysemantic words f Choosing Vietnamese equivalents for English technical terms In terms of translation techniques a Avoiding word-by-word translation b Coping with non-subject sentences c Applying paraphrase (explain technical phenomena) Part 3: The possible causes for student’s problems in English-Vietnamese technical translation Please put √ in a column that matches your problems most In your opinion, what are the causes for difficulties in English-Vietnamese technical translation? Your learning style a You learn technical translation at class only b You not consult other technical materials (both English and Vietnamese) or experts for T.T but depend only on textbooks and teachers c You not work effectively in groups Your teacher and his/her teaching methodology 2.1 Before starting technical translation lesson a The teacher was too demanding and strict b The teacher did not start his/her translation lessons by checking some randomly selected students’ homework c The teacher did not give pre-translation activities to make students get ready 2.2 During the time that students translation tasks a Teacher did not create exciting atmosphere with support of visual aids b The teacher did not give and carefully explain technical terms c The teacher did not teach and show you technical translation strategies d Translation tasks at class are provided unclearly and logically Yes No 54 e The teacher did not control class activities and follow students closely f The teacher did not analyze translation errors of each student or student group at class as well as let students discuss and make corrections g The teacher did not encourage different translation versions but only accepted the best one h The teacher did not suggest his/her own translation versions for references 2.3 After the technical translation lesson a The teacher did not revise the lesson and listen to students’ expectations for the next one b Homework was not given enough and regularly d The teacher did not check your translation products at home often and timely c The teacher did not share with you his/her own practical translation experiences Teaching and learning conditions a Materials are boring and out of date b You have never given the opportunity to go to available workshops at HaUI for experience and observation c The university has never organized a meeting with participation of technical translator to help you consult practical experience Thank you for your cooperation ... thesis ? ?An Investigation into Difficulties in English- Vietnamese Technical Translation Faced by Third-Year Students at English Department, Hanoi University of Industry? ?? It is highly appreciated... Definitions of Technical Translation In terms of nature of SL text, Sofer (1991) classified translation into translation of literary works and translation of scientific and technical matters T.T... SL or TL In terms of SL emphasis, translation methods include word-for-word translation; literal translation; faithful translation and semantic translation Word-for-word translation Newmark (1988b:63)