Vietnamese english translation errors by the fourth year english majors at bac lieu university

PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY - TA THI KIM OANH VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION ERRORS BY THE FOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT BAC LIEU UNIVERSITY MASTER THESIS Major: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr HOANG QUOC BINH DUONG, December 2018 I DECLARATION The thesis entitled ―Vietnamese-English translation errors by the fourth-year English majors at Bac Lieu University‖ is conducted under the supervision of Assoc Prof Dr HOANG QUOC I declare that the information reported in this paper is the result of my own work, except where due reference is made The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted to any candidature for any other degree or diploma Tạ Thị Kim Oanh December, 2018 II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my deepest and heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, my teacher Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Quoc who gave me invaluable inspiration, support, devotion, and careful guidance as well as patience through the whole course of my research He is very enthusiastic, responsible and principled supervisor Before I had begun to the research, he offered me a schedule to follow He devoted his precious time to read and give me perceptive feedback as well as comments and suggestions on the previous drafts of each chapter Without him, the current study could not have seen the light Secondly, I am deeply indebted to my teacher Dr Nguyen Hoang Tuan for his initial ideas of the research topic, invaluable advice and great help My sincere thanks will be surely dedicated to all my lecturers of the Master program for their profound knowledge, whole-hearted instructions and great enthusiasms I cannot complete the research without support from my fellow friends in the MA‘s program at Thu Dau Mot University Therefore, I would like to thank them for their comments and suggestions which contributed to the improvement of the paper My thanks are due to my beloved students in the English Linguistic class 8DTA at Bac Lieu University (BLU), who involved in my experiment Without their assistance, my study could not have been conducted I am also grateful to my colleagues at the English Division, BLU, who gave me good conditions during the time I followed the M.A course All of their help meaningfully contributed to the completion of my study in the master program Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my husband, who was always by my side when I was in difficulties and gave me mental support as well as great encouragement and motivation during my M.A program III ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore the translation errors made by the English majors in translating Vietnamese into English To analyze the data, the researcher used both descriptive qualitative and quantitative research method and used error analysis procedure The participants of this study consist of English teachers and 40 English majors from the fourth-year in the academic year of 2017/2018 The main goal of this research is to find out common errors in Vietnamese-English translation made by students of Bac Lieu University, the teachers‘ perception as well as students‘ perception towards the causes of these translation errors The results from the study indicates that the students make grammatical errors, lexical errors, and spelling errors Based on the findings and discussion of the result, the researcher concludes that the students still face difficulties in using vocabulary and grammar Key Words: Translation, translation error, grammar error IV TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III ABSTRACT IV TABLE OF CONTENTS V LIST OF TABLES VIII LIST OF CHARTS IX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims of the study .3 1.3 Limitation of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Research questions 1.6 The organization of the research 1.7 Chapter summary CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theory of translation .5 2.1.1 Definition of translation 2.1.2 Translation equivalence 2.1.3 Translation methods 2.1.4 Translation strategies 2.2 Factors affecting translation process 15 2.2.1 Cultural factor 15 2.2.2 Mother tongue factor 16 2.3 Errors in foreign language learning .17 2.3.1 Definition of error 17 2.3.2 Translation errors 18 2.3.3 Classification of errors 18 2.3.4 Errors and mistakes 22 2.3.5 Definition of error analysis .22 2.4 Common errors in translation 22 2.4.1 Grammatical error 22 2.4.2 Vocabulary errors 23 V 2.5 Review of related research 25 2.6 Chapter summary 27 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 28 3.1 Research design 28 3.2 Research participants 28 3.2.1 Teacher participants .28 3.2.2 Student participants 28 3.3 Population and sample 29 3.4 Instruments and procedures 29 3.5 Technique of data analysis 31 3.5.1 Collection of samples .32 3.5.2 Identification of errors 32 3.5.3 Classification of errors 32 3.5.4 Explanation of errors 32 3.5.5 Evaluation of errors 32 3.6 Validity and reliability 33 3.6.1 Validity .33 3.6.2 Reliability 33 3.7 Chapter summary 33 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 Findings 34 4.1.1 Results from the questionnaire 34 4.1.2 Results from the interview to the teachers 46 4.1.3 Results collected from the assignment and test papers 48 4.2 Discussion of result 62 4.3 Summary of major findings 65 4.4 Chapter summary 66 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .68 5.1 Conclusions .68 5.2 Suggestions .70 5.1.1 Suggestions for Teachers 70 5.1.2 Suggestions for the students 71 5.1.3 Suggestions for further research 72 VI 5.3 Chapter Summary 72 REFERENCES 73 APPENDICES 76 VII LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 The students‘ attitude towards translation subject 34 Table 4.2.Students‘ feeling of learning translation 35 Table 4.3 Translation subject supports their language learning 36 Table 4.4 Difficult type of translation texts 37 Table 4.5 The difficulties of the English translation skill 37 Table 4.6 The students‘ difficulties in translating Vietnamese-into-English texts 38 Table 4.7 The students‘ mistakes in translating Vietnamese-into-English texts 39 Table 4.8 The students‘ thought of choosing texts to translate by themselves whether effective or not 39 Table 4.9 The students‘ learning grammar points 41 Table 4.10 The amount of self-study time per week 41 Table 4.11 The amount of self-study time per day 42 VIII LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1 Topic of translation texts which the students are interested in 40 Chart 4.2 Type of translation texts 43 Chart 4.3 How to solve problems 44 Chart 4.4 What to to improve translating skill 44 Chart 4.5 The students‘ frequency of using reference books 45 Chart 4.6 The students‘ thought of the factors which help their translating Vietnamese-to-English texts 46 Chart 4.7 Types of translation errors 49 Chart 4.8 Types of grammatical errors 50 Chart 4.9 Distribution of lexical error types 60 IX LIST OF ABBREVIATION BLU: Bac Lieu University SL: Source Language TL: Target language L1: The first language L2: The second language L3: The third language L4: The fourth language EFL: English as a Foreign Language X Appendix D: RESULTS OF STATISTICS OF QUESTIONNAIRE Question Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 disagree 2.5 2.5 5.0 agree 27 67.5 67.5 72.5 strongly agree 11 27.5 27.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question Frequency Valid strongly disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 12.5 12.5 12.5 disagree 27 67.5 67.5 80.0 neutral 5.0 5.0 85.0 agree 15.0 15.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 5.0 5.0 5.0 disagree 5.0 5.0 10.0 neutral 11 27.5 27.5 37.5 agree 19 47.5 47.5 85.0 15.0 15.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question Frequency Valid strongly disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 10.0 10.0 10.0 disagree 22 55.0 55.0 65.0 neutral 20.0 20.0 85.0 agree 5.0 5.0 90.0 86 strongly agree 10.0 10.0 100.0 Question Frequency Valid strongly disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 15.0 15.0 15.0 disagree 20 50.0 50.0 65.0 neutral 22.5 22.5 87.5 agree 12.5 12.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 5.0 5.0 5.0 neutral 10.0 10.0 15.0 agree 21 52.5 52.5 67.5 strongly agree 13 32.5 32.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 10.0 10.0 12.5 26 65.0 65.0 77.5 22.5 22.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 agree strongly agree Total Question Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 10.0 10.0 12.5 23 57.5 57.5 70.0 agree 87 strongly agree 12 30.0 30.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 100.0 Question Frequency Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Percent disagree 12.5 12.5 12.5 neutral 15 37.5 37.5 50.0 agree 19 47.5 47.5 97.5 2.5 2.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question 10 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 disagree 5.0 5.0 7.5 neutral 12.5 12.5 20.0 agree 21 52.5 52.5 72.5 strongly agree 11 27.5 27.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 11 Frequency Valid strongly disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 14 35.0 35.0 37.5 agree 21 52.5 52.5 90.0 10.0 10.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question 12 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 15.0 15.0 17.5 32 80.0 80.0 97.5 agree 88 strongly agree Total 2.5 2.5 40 100.0 100.0 100.0 Question 13 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 5.0 5.0 7.5 agree 27 67.5 67.5 75.0 strongly agree 10 25.0 25.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 14 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 10.0 10.0 12.5 agree 23 57.5 57.5 70.0 strongly agree 12 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 15 Frequency Valid neutral Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Percent 17.5 17.5 17.5 agree 22 55.0 55.0 72.5 strongly agree 11 27.5 27.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 16 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 disagree 2.5 2.5 5.0 neutral 10.0 10.0 15.0 89 agree 18 45.0 45.0 60.0 strongly agree 16 40.0 40.0 100.0 Question 17 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 disagree 7.5 7.5 10.0 neutral 11 27.5 27.5 37.5 agree 22 55.0 55.0 92.5 7.5 7.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question 18a Frequency Valid neutral agree strongly agree Total Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Percent 17.5 17.5 17.5 24 60.0 60.0 77.5 22.5 22.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Question 18b Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 2.5 2.5 2.5 neutral 2.5 2.5 5.0 agree 25 62.5 62.5 67.5 strongly agree 13 32.5 32.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 19a Frequency Valid strongly disagree disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 37 92.5 92.5 92.5 7.5 7.5 100.0 90 Question 19a Frequency Valid strongly disagree disagree Total Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Percent 37 92.5 92.5 92.5 7.5 7.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Question 19b Frequency Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Percent strongly disagree 5.0 5.0 5.0 disagree 15.0 15.0 20.0 neutral 13 32.5 32.5 52.5 agree 16 40.0 40.0 92.5 7.5 7.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question 19c Frequency Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Percent disagree 20.0 20.0 20.0 neutral 10 25.0 25.0 45.0 agree 16 40.0 40.0 85.0 15.0 15.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question 20a Frequency Valid strongly disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 19 47.5 47.5 47.5 disagree 17.5 17.5 65.0 neutral 15.0 15.0 80.0 agree 17.5 17.5 97.5 strongly agree 2.5 2.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total 91 Question 20b Frequency Valid strongly disagree Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 7.5 7.5 7.5 disagree 13 32.5 32.5 40.0 neutral 13 32.5 32.5 72.5 agree 15.0 15.0 87.5 strongly agree 12.5 12.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 20c Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent disagree 17.5 17.5 17.5 neutral 12 30.0 30.0 47.5 agree 14 35.0 35.0 82.5 17.5 17.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 strongly agree Total Question 20d Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent strongly disagree 17.5 17.5 17.5 disagree 22.5 22.5 40.0 neutral 10 25.0 25.0 65.0 agree 20.0 20.0 85.0 strongly agree 15.0 15.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total 92 Question 21a Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 2.5 2.5 2.5 seldom 7.5 7.5 10.0 sometimes 14 35.0 35.0 45.0 usually 17 42.5 42.5 87.5 always 12.5 12.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 21b Frequency Valid seldom Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 7.5 7.5 7.5 sometimes 16 40.0 40.0 47.5 usually 15 37.5 37.5 85.0 always 15.0 15.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 21c Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 2.5 2.5 2.5 seldom 12.5 12.5 15.0 sometimes 13 32.5 32.5 47.5 usually 18 45.0 45.0 92.5 always 7.5 7.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 21d Frequency Valid seldom Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 10.0 10.0 10.0 19 47.5 47.5 57.5 usually 20.0 20.0 77.5 always 22.5 22.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 sometimes Total 93 Question 22a Frequency Valid seldom Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 5.0 5.0 5.0 sometimes 16 40.0 40.0 45.0 usually 18 45.0 45.0 90.0 always 10.0 10.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 22b Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 2.5 2.5 2.5 seldom 2.5 2.5 5.0 sometimes 12 30.0 30.0 35.0 usually 19 47.5 47.5 82.5 always 17.5 17.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 23a Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent seldom 10.0 10.0 10.0 sometimes 7.5 7.5 17.5 usually 23 57.5 57.5 75.0 always 10 25.0 25.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 23b Frequency Valid seldom Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 7.5 7.5 7.5 sometimes 20 50.0 50.0 57.5 usually 10 25.0 25.0 82.5 always 17.5 17.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total 94 Question 23c Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent sometimes 17 42.5 42.5 42.5 usually 23 57.5 57.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 24a Frequency Valid sometimes Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 12.5 12.5 12.5 usually 25 62.5 62.5 75.0 always 10 25.0 25.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 24b Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent seldom 2.5 2.5 2.5 sometimes 7.5 7.5 10.0 usually 24 60.0 60.0 70.0 always 12 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 24c Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent seldom 7.5 7.5 7.5 sometimes 22.5 22.5 30.0 usually 20 50.0 50.0 80.0 always 20.0 20.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total 95 Question 24d Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 2.5 2.5 2.5 seldom 2.5 2.5 5.0 sometimes 20.0 20.0 25.0 usually 24 60.0 60.0 85.0 always 15.0 15.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 24e Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent seldom 5.0 5.0 5.0 sometimes 17.5 17.5 22.5 usually 12 30.0 30.0 52.5 always 19 47.5 47.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 25a Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent seldom 10.0 10.0 10.0 sometimes 20.0 20.0 30.0 usually 17 42.5 42.5 72.5 always 11 27.5 27.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 25b Frequency Valid never Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 7.5 7.5 7.5 seldom 14 35.0 35.0 42.5 sometimes 15 37.5 37.5 80.0 usually 15.0 15.0 95.0 always 5.0 5.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total 96 Question 25c Frequency Valid never Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 7.5 7.5 7.5 seldom 14 35.0 35.0 42.5 sometimes 12 30.0 30.0 72.5 usually 10 25.0 25.0 97.5 always 2.5 2.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 25d Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 5.0 5.0 5.0 seldom 12.5 12.5 17.5 sometimes 17 42.5 42.5 60.0 usually 15 37.5 37.5 97.5 always 2.5 2.5 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 25e Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent seldom 10.0 10.0 10.0 sometimes 15.0 15.0 25.0 usually 26 65.0 65.0 90.0 always 10.0 10.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 Total Question 25f Frequency Valid sometimes Percent Valid Percent 15.0 15.0 97 Cumulative Percent 15.0 usually 17 42.5 42.5 57.5 always 17 42.5 42.5 100.0 Question 25g Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 2.5 2.5 2.5 seldom 10.0 10.0 12.5 sometimes 17.5 17.5 30.0 usually 13 32.5 32.5 62.5 always 15 37.5 37.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 26 Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent never 5.0 5.0 5.0 seldom 7.5 7.5 12.5 23 57.5 57.5 70.0 usually 15.0 15.0 85.0 always 15.0 15.0 100.0 40 100.0 100.0 sometimes Total Question 27: Grammar Frequency Valid first Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 20.0 20.0 20.0 16 40.0 40.0 60.0 third 17.5 17.5 77.5 fourth 2.5 2.5 80.0 fifth 15.0 15.0 95.0 sixth 5.0 5.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 second Question 27: Vocabulary Frequency Percent Valid Percent 98 Cumulative Percent Valid first 22 55.0 55.0 55.0 second 12 30.0 30.0 85.0 third 5.0 5.0 90.0 fourth 2.5 2.5 92.5 fifth 2.5 2.5 95.0 sixth 5.0 5.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 27: Mother tongue Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent first 5.0 5.0 5.0 second 2.5 2.5 7.5 third 22.5 22.5 30.0 fourth 13 32.5 32.5 62.5 fifth 15.0 15.0 77.5 sixth 22.5 22.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 28: Context Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent second 7.5 7.5 7.5 third 22.5 22.5 30.0 fourth 20.0 20.0 50.0 fifth 14 35.0 35.0 85.0 sixth 15.0 15.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 27: Bacground knowledge Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent first 22.5 22.5 22.5 second 2.5 2.5 25.0 third 22.5 22.5 47.5 99 fourth 14 35.0 35.0 82.5 fifth 12.5 12.5 95.0 sixth 5.0 5.0 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 Question 27: Topic of the source text Frequency Valid Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent second 17.5 17.5 17.5 third 10.0 10.0 27.5 fourth 5.0 5.0 32.5 fifth 20.0 20.0 52.5 sixth 19 47.5 47.5 100.0 Total 40 100.0 100.0 100 ... Vietnamese students of English major by Bac Lieu University Therefore, this research that entitle ? ?Vietnamese- English translation errors by the fourth- year English majors at Bac Lieu University? ?? is purposed... out the common errors in Vietnamese- English translation by fourth- year English majors at Bac Lieu University In addition, exploring the way to avoid the errors in order to make Vietnamese- English. .. Word-for-word translation Adaptation Literal translation Free translation Faithful translation Idiomatic translation Semantic translation Communicative translation 2.1.3.1 Word-for-word translation This