Translation errors made by senior students at university of languages and international studies in their english translation of vietnamese collocations in the final examination of advanced translation

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI University of Languages and international Studies FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION Graduation paper TRANSLATION ERRORS MADE BY SENIOR STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN THEIR English translation of Vietnamese collocations in the final examination of advanced translation Supervisor: nguyen thi dieu thuy Student: tran ngoc hang Year of ENROLLMENT: QH09 E25 HA NOI, MAY 2013 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP CÁC LỖI DỊCH THUẬT SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ TƯ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ MẮC PHẢI TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH DỊCH CÁC CỤM KẾT HỢP TỪ TIẾNG VIỆT SANG TIẾNG ANH TRONG BÀI THI CUỐI KỲ MÔN BIÊN DỊCH NÂNG CAO Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thúy Sinh viên: Trần Ngọc Hằng Khóa: QH09 E25 HÀ NỘI, NĂM 2013 ACCEPTANCE r y st t t t r n n , class: QH2009.F.1.E1, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the Univ rsity r l tin to t r t ntion nd us of B lor’s Gr du tion P p r d posit d in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Tr n Ng c H ng Hanoi, April 30th 2013 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to show my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyễn Thị Diệu Thúy, BA for her critical comments, tremendous encouragement and explicit guidelines during the time I prepared and conducted this study Without her support, it would be extremely difficult for me to complete this graduation paper Apart from that, I also owe many sincere thanks to Ms Nguyễn Thị Cẩm Linh, Ms Ngô Hà Thu and Mr Tr n Hoàng Anh for their precious assistance If there had not been their help, I could not have collected enough necessary materials for my paper and acquired enough academic knowledge for the research, which are among the key things for my thesis completion Besides, I want to show my greatest love to my grandmother, my parents, my aunt, my cousin Le Quang Anh and my younger brother for their inspiration during the time I carried out this research Last but not least, I also want to say thank you to friends from class 09E25 for being besides me and encouraging me to try together to reach the final goal of our four years studying at the University of Languages and International Studies ii ABSTRACT Collocation is one of the most challenging problems to most of foreign language learners in general and translators in particular It is pretty demanding for both translation professionals to practitioners to render a collocation from the source language into the target language due to many subjective and objective reasons from linguistic to translators‟ competence ones As a result, students with limited linguistic competence and knowledge often make errors in their collocations translation It is necessary for them to be aware of these errors and know how to avoid as well as correct them next times This study is aimed to investigate translation errors in the English translation of Vietnamese collocations made by senior students majoring in English translation and interpreting at the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University (VNU) in their final examination of the subject named Advanced Translation The study also comes up with suggested translations for some difficult collocations The results of the study show that even senior students made many translation errors in their translation exam Findings from data analysis reveal that omission, inappropriate linguistic variations are the most frequent errors made by the students The conclusion can also be drawn that students should get greater access to both authentic Vietnamese and English resources so that they will have better understanding about the languages they use and learn as well as improve their knowledge about different issues to produce better translations iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgements i Abstract ii List of figures, tables, and abbreviations v Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organization Chapter 2: Literature review 2.1 An overview of translation quality assessment 2.1.1 An overview of translation quality assessment 2.1.2 An overview of translation errors 2.2 An overview of collocations 2.2.1 Definition of collocation 2.2.2 Classification of collocations 2.2.3 Studies related to collocations and collocations translation 11 2.2.4 Procedures in collocations translation 13 2.3 Summary 17 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Selection of subjects 19 3.2 Data collection instrument 19 3.3 Procedures of data collection 19 3.4 Procedures of data analysis 20 iv Chapter 4: Findings and discussion 4.1 Findings 22 4.1.1 Translation errors 22 4.1.1.1 Contresens (Opposite sense) 22 4.1.1.2 Faux sens (Wrong sense) 24 4.1.1.3 Nonsens (Nonsense) 26 4.1.1.4 Addition 27 4.1.1.5 Omission 27 4.1.1.6 Loss of meaning 29 4.1.1.7 Inappropriate linguistic variation 29 4.1.2 Good translation and procedures employed 4.1.2.1 Shift or transposition 32 4.1.2.2 Paraphrase 33 4.1.2.3 Reduction and expansion 34 4.1.2.4 Lexical synonymy 35 4.1.2.5 Other translation procedures 37 4.2 Pedagogical implications and suggestions 38 Chapter 5: Conclusion 5.1 Summary of findings 39 5.2 Limitations 40 5.3 Suggestions for further research 40 References 42 Appendix v ABBREVIATION EFL English foreign language ST Source text TQA Translation quality assessment TT Target text ULIS University of Languages and International Studies VNU Vietnam National Studies vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study Translation is said to be the second oldest science in the history and play a prominent role in every society since the introduction of languages and communication Especially in the context of globalization and international integration, the twenty first century has seen an increasing number of translators and interpreters as well as increasing demands of translating documents It is understandable that translation work is capturing special attention of the whole society as a result of accelerated economic, scientific and technological development Together with the rapid development of translation work, translation studies as a science also witnesses great development with many in-depth researches such as those of Peter Newmark, Nida, Wilss, Nida & Taber and so on Among numerous areas of translation research, translation quality assessment is one of the most popular branches with a large number of projects carried out by professional researchers, translators as well as nonprofessional ones In linguistics, collocation is an important part of every language including English and Vietnamese As a translator, it is unavoidable to face with countless collocations during their translation Translators of different levels and experiences might come up with different ways to translate collocations, students majoring in translation and interpreting also have their own ways to deal with various types of collocations Acknowledging the demand of translation, many Vietnamese universities have adopted translation training and teaching curriculum, among which is University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) of Vietnam National University (VNU) Students of the examined university must have been taught some translation skills and techniques to ensure their performance, one of which is collocations translation However, it does not mean that they can absorb all they are taught during the course and not all students share the same way and ability of translating collocations Besides, to many students of translation, translating texts from their mother tongue to another language is believed to be more challenging It is because their foreign language competence is not really good enough to produce good translation in the target language which is expected to be natural and equivalent From the reasons mentioned above, the researcher attempts to conduct a study on translation errors made by senior students at ULIS, VNU in their English translation of Vietnamese collocations in their final examination 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study The study is designed to examine translation errors committed by senior students at the University of Languages and International Studies in their English translation of Vietnamese collocations in the final examination of Advanced Translation At the same time, the study tries to have an insight look on the students‟ translation and procedures employed in good translations Last but not least, suggested translations for all Vietnamese collocations taken from the test will be given for students‟ consideration and reference To achieve these goals, the current research tries to answer the following questions: What are translation errors made by senior students at ULIS, VNU in their English translation of Vietnamese collocations based on the classification of Hurtado (1995) (contresens, faux sens, nonsense, addition, omission, loss of meaning, inappropriate linguistic variations, and unresolved extra-linguistic references)? What is/are procedure(s) employed by students in some good translations? What are suggested English translations for those Vietnamese collocations from the perspectives of the researcher and the teacher? Nord, C (1988) Textanalyse und Ubersetzen, Heidelberg, J Gross Verlag [transl.: (1991) Text-Analysis in Translation, Amsterdam, Rodopi] O‟Dell, F and M, McCarthy (2008) Collocation in Use: Advanced Cambridge: CUP Palmer, F.R (1933) Second Interim Report on English Collocations Tokyo: Kaitakusha Sharififar, M 2009 Applicability of Newmark‟s Procedures to Translation of Religious Cultural Elements from English into Persian Trinh, N F, (2001) English and Vietnamese collocations – A Contrastive analysis Macquarie University Wehmeier, S (ed) 2000 Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary of Current English Sixth edition Oxford: Oxford University Press (OALD6) Zughoul, M.R and H Abdul-Fattah.(2003) Translational Collocational Strategies of Arab Learners of English Babel, 49: 1, 59-81 43 APPENDIX 1: Translation errors classification English translation "moc" coffee "real" Hanoian enjoyers "rock" coffee A charming unique A consequence of years Accumulates difficulties Administration offices (cơ quan quản lí) Always choose (trung thành với) Appear (có chỗ đứng) Arrangement and decorations Arrive at transparency for the above problems (minh bạch khúc mắc Authoritative agencies Authority agencies (cơ quan thẩm quyền) Authorize organization Basic coffee Black coffee Brief and remembering names Buzzling Saigon Cafeterias Challenges Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning X X X X X Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 44 X English translation Chance (có chỗ đứng) Changing price movement Charming unique Claim (đặt vấn đề) Clear those problems above Clearify the abovement doubts Coffee (hạt cà phê) Coffee bead Coffee nuts Coffee restaurants Coffee seeds Coffee stalls Compete harshly Compete tightly Competent authorities (cơ quan thẩm quyền) Competition Competitive economic environment Concern about (đặt vấn đề) Corportations (cơ quan quản lí) Crowded Saigon "đá" coffee Deal with the problem (minh bạch khúc mắc trên) Different brands and coffee styles Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X x X X 45 X X X English translation Different names and styles Disappear (có chỗ đứng) Domestic middle and small enterprises Easily obsess people Easy and simple cafes Easy-to-remember names Emphasize (đặt vấn đề) Enterprises having unclear foreign investment Enterprises receiving foreign capital investment capitals Enterprises with foreign funded capital Excellent dish performances Exciting Saigon Faithful with FDI enterprises Fierce comptetitiveness Foreign - owned enterprises Foreign invested entrepuses Freezing water coffee Great competition Have the chance to appear (có chỗ đứng) Hidden original beauty Hidden origionals Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X x X X X X X X X X x X X X X X X 46 X X English translation High agencies (cơ quan thẩm quyền) High level officers (cơ quan quản lí) High quality service Huge corporates Hurstling Saigon Identify the transperaccy of the above problems In Hanoi quarter (con phố cổ) Increasing preference of students (ghiền cà phê) Inside special features Invade tax Isolated enterprises (trường hợp cá biệt) It is doubt that Leave a deep imprint in the drinker's mind Legislative agencies (cơ quan thẩm quyền) Long years Loyal with Luxirious setting Make enjoyers miss (làm người ta nhớ) Make the difficulties transparent Make these problems explicit Make those reasons clear Make transparency for above-mentioned issues Manage the issues (làm minh bạch khúc mắc trên) Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 47 English translation Management abilities of tax agencies (cơ quan quản lí) Management ability (cơ quan quản lí) Management officers (cơ quan quản lí) Management organizations (cơ quan quản lí) Management skill (cơ quan quản lí) Managers (cơ quan quản lí) Many years Market competition (cạnh tranh vất vả) Medium and small enteprises Meet a lot of difficulties in competition Mention about (đặt vấn đề) Mention to (đặt vấn đề) Mentioning about (nói đến) Middle and small domestic enterprises Minor bad casse Minority cases Modern and professional Music is strong and competitive (mạnh nhạc) Music is the best choice National authorities (cơ quan thẩm quyền) Natural and simple cafés Need suspenising (rơi vào diện nghi ngờ) Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition X Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 48 X X X X English translation No pop music (có chỗ đứng) No translation Noisy Saigon Officals Officials Old quarter On talking about (nói đến) Only choose Only enjoy Pain coffee Particular phenomenons Past years Plain and simple shops Precious examples Price changing Price exchange Price exchanging Price transference activities Price transferring Price transfomation Professional serve Professional services Professional serving style Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning X X Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 49 X X X English translation Provide music (mạnh nhạc) Pure coffee shops Raw coffee Receive suspicion Recent difficulties Recent hard times Recent years Related offices Relevant authorities (cơ quan thẩm quyền) Return the transparency to these problems Rough coffee Saigon Secret unique Seeds Separate enterprises (trường hợp cá biệt) Share their profit (chuyển giá) Short and easily remembered names Short and easy remembering names Short names Silently unique beauty Simple and easy-to-remember coffee shops Simple cafes Simple cafeterias Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 50 X English translation Simple coffee bars Simple, original coffee shops Sizable enterprises Small and medium enterprises Small and medium scaled enterprises Small and medium sized enterprises Small and middle enterprises Small businesses Small coffee shops Small quarters (con phố nhỏ) Small roads (con phố nhỏ) Some of the worst situations (trường hợp cá biệt) Some officers (cơ quan quản lí) Some years Speaking about (nói đến) Special situation Stand in (có chỗ đứng) Street Stress (đặt vấn đề) Tax bodies Tax collectors (cơ quan thẩm quyền) Tax imposing companies Tax institutions Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 51 English translation The bean The ever-increasing demand of coffee The eye-catching of decorating café The involved authority agencies (cơ quan thẩm quyền) The last time The old quarter The passing years The past period of time The past years The problem comes from (đặt vấn đề) The real circumstance in almost enterprises The related agencies (cơ quan thẩm quyền) The related institutions (cơ quan thẩm quyền) The strong point of student is music (mạnh nhạc) Their operation about taxation (trốn thuế) Their seemingly acts of tax cheating There is room for (có chỗ đứng) Think (đặt vấn đề) Time to displayed (có chỗ đứng) To be easily remembered To be famous with different styles To be in doubt of Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning X X Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 52 English translation To be in suspicious To be in this kind of restaurant (có chỗ đứng) To be introspected (rơi vào diện nghi ngờ) To be listed in doubtful companies To be made strong with music (mạnh nhạc) To be out of existence (có chỗ đứng) To be pass on coffee (ghiền cà phê) To be strong with rock music To be to coffee (ghiền cà phê) To be transparent on these questioned issue To be under the suspicion list To be well-known (làm người ta nhớ) To have a room (có chỗ đứng) To have the upper hand of music (mạnh nhạc) Tought competition Transfer pricing Transfer the price to overseas Uncountable challenges Underlying instinction Underlying unique of their beauty Unprocessed coffee Various levels of difficulties Contresens Faux sens Nonsens Omission Addition Loss of meaning Inappropriate linguistic variation X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 53 APPENDIX TRANSLATION TEXTS IN THE FINAL EXAMINATION TEXT 1: Nói đến cà phê Hà Nội, có người nghĩ đến phố cổ Hàng Hành hay phố nhỏ Triệu Việt Vương, Nguyễn Du… Cũng có đơn giản quán cà phê với tên thật ngắn g n, dễ nhớ: cà phê Nhân, cà phê Giảng, cà phê Lâm, cà phê Nhĩ, cà phê Đinh… Những quán cà phê mộc mạc, giản dị, dễ làm người ta nhớ bắt mắt cách bày biện, hay phong cách phục vụ chuyên nghiệp, đại, mà biết đến nét độc đáo th m tình cảm mà người Hà Thành dành cho Khác với vẻ ồn kiểu cà phê “đá” đất Sài Gòn náo nhiệt, người Hà Nội “sành” cà phê thường trung thành với cà phê “mộc” Tức có hạt cà phê, không rang lẫn, không thêm hương liệu khác Hay nói ơng Nguyễn Trí Hịa, chủ hàng cà phê Giảng (39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân): “Bản thân cà phê cô hoa hậu rồi, không c n trang điểm thêm làm cả!” Nhưng khơng phải cà phê “mộc” giống tất quản, khơng có cà phê Nhân, Nhĩ, Dĩ, Giảng, Đinh, Lâm… có tên tuổi phong cách riêng TEXT 2: Dư luận tập trung ý vào việc số doanh nghiệp (DN) có vốn đ u tư nước ngồi bị rơi vào diện nghi ngờ hoạt động chuyển giá để tránh thuế c n phải tra Adidas Việt Nam, Coca-Cola Việt Nam… Theo ông Tr n Hữu Huỳnh – Phó Tổng thư ký kiêm Trưởng ban Pháp chế VCCI, số trường hợp cá biệt đại đa số doanh nghiệp có vốn nước ngồi Nhưng câu hỏi mà chun gia đặt với doanh nghiệp nhỏ vừa nước gặp mn ngàn 54 khó khăn thời gian qua phát triển được, đơn vị lớn lại liên tục báo lỗ nhiều năm liền “Ở tơi khơng đặt vấn đề có thông đồng quan thuế DN, mà vấn đề lực quan quản lý để minh bạch khúc mắc Có hay không hành vi trốn thuế số doanh nghiệp có vốn nước ngồi? Cơ quan thẩm quyền phải trả lời cho người dân trả lời cho DN nước, bối cảnh h phải cạnh tranh vất vả” – ơng Huỳnh nói TEXT 3: Hà Nội có nhiều quán cà phê xưa có nhiều loại quán nhiều cách uống mà ta chưa biết tới, có cà phê sinh viên Quán cà phê sinh viên lộn xộn ồn Sinh viên ghiền cà phê nên quán chật cứng Con trai uống “đen”, gái uống “nâu” Khói thuốc đốt mù mịt Quanh bàn cà phê h nói chuyện vở, thực tập tiếng Anh, nói chuyện âm nhạc dí dủm h c trị Cà phê sinh viên mạnh nhạc, tất nhạc rock Rock cỡ Queen, nghĩa đinh tai nhức óc Các băng nhạc trữ tình Việt Nam khơng có chỗ đứng loại quán Sinh viên cách mươi năm hiền lành nhiều Đ c sách nói chuyện sách, nghe nhạc cổ điển, hát dân ca quan h , dân ca Nga, Pháp hát trữ tình thịnh hành Nhưng tất chẳng quán cà phê Cà phê cà pháo chuyện người lớn 55 APPENDIX SUGGESTED TRANSLATION FOR VIETNAMESE COLLOCATIONS Vietnamese collocations Tập trung ý English translation To focus one‟s attention on Doanh nghiệp có vốn đ u tư nước Foreign invested enterprises Rơi vào diện nghi ngờ To come under suspicion Hoạt động chuyển giá Price shifting/Price transfer Tránh thuế To evade/dodge tax Trường hợp cá biệt Exceptional cases Doanh nghiệp nhỏ vừa Small and medium sized domestic enterprises nước Mn ngàn khó khăn Numerous challenges/A vast array of difficulties/An immense range of obstacles Đơn vị lớn Big firms/Business giants … Nhiều năm liền Many consecutive/successive years Đặt vấn đề To lay something on the table/To present a matter Cơ quan thuế Tax agencies Cơ quan quản lý Management authorities Minh bạch khúc mắc To address/clarify queries Cơ quan thẩm quyền Responsible/corresponding authorities Cạnh tranh vất vả To compete fiercely against Ghiền cà phê To be addicted to coffee/ to be hooked on coffee 56 Vietnamese collocations English translation Mạnh nhạc With music as its strength Băng nhạc trữ tình Romance music CDs/tapes … Có chỗ đứng To secure one‟s place in/ To have a place in Bài hát trữ tình thịnh hành Popular romance songs Nói đến Regarding Con phố cổ Old streets Con phố nhỏ Small streets Quán cà phê Coffee shops Cái tên ngắn g n, dễ nhớ Short and memorable names Quán cà phê mộc mạc, giản dị Plain and simple coffee shops Làm người ta nhớ To impress itself on people‟s/customers‟ mind Sự bắt mắt cách bày biện Appealing/attractive décor/garnish (food) Phong cách phục vụ chuyên nghiệp, Professional/à la mode service đại Nét độc đáo th m Subtle features Cà phê “đá” Iced coffee Sài Gòn náo nhiệt Bustling Saigon “Sành” cà phê Coffee connoisseur Trung thành với Loyal to Cà phê “mộc” Plain coffee Hạt cà phê Coffee beans 57 ... committed by senior students at the University of Languages and International Studies in their English translation of Vietnamese collocations in the final examination of Advanced Translation At the. .. entitled Translation errors made by senior students at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University in their English translation of Vietnamese collocations in the final. .. collocations made by senior students majoring in English translation and interpreting at the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University (VNU) in their final