VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ---------- PHẠM THANH TÂM DESIGNING A SYLLABUS OF TRANSLATION MODULE 1 FOR COLLEGE ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE TEACHER-TRAINING SECTION OF HOA LU UNIVERSITY (Xây dựng chương trình chi tiết học phần Dịch 1 cho sinh viên Cao đẳng sư phạm tiếng Anh tại trường Đại học Hoa Lư, Ninh Bình) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi - 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ---------- PHẠM THANH TÂM DESIGNING A SYLLABUS OF TRANSLATION MODULE 1 FOR COLLEGE ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE TEACHER-TRAINING SECTION OF HOA LU UNIVERSITY (Xây dựng chương trình chi tiết học phần Dịch 1 cho sinh viên Cao đẳng sư phạm tiếng Anh tại trường Đại học Hoa Lư, Ninh Bình) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Lê Hùng Tiến, PhD.
Hanoi - 2015 i CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I hereby declare that this thesis is a presentation of my original research work. Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussions. The work was done under the guidance of Assoc. Le Hung Tien at University of Languages and International Studies-VNU.
Ha Noi, 2015 Pham Thanh Tam ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am greatly indebted to Mr. Le Hung Tien, my supervisor, to whom I wish to extend my sincere gratitude for his guidance, constructive criticisms, valuable suggestions and encouragement, without which the thesis might not have been completed. I would also like to express my gratitude to Management Board of the Post-graduate Department, University of Languages and International Studies – VNU for their helpful support. Special thanks are due to all the English staff, especially translation teachers and 40 English-major students of English teacher training section at Hoa Lu University for their contribution to the data collection and their constructive suggestions for this research.
Finally, I owe the completion of this study to my beloved family for their endless support, patience and understanding. iii ABSTRACT Nowadays, translation plays a significant role in modern FL teaching and learning. It has not only been used as a traditional aiding tool to teaching foreign languages, but the ‘fifth’ language skill, together with the four skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, to help develop learners’ language competence. In order to enhance students’ English proficiency, this study was conducted to design a translation syllabus for the English Teacher-training section of Foreign Languages and Informatics Department of Hoa Lu University.
The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion. The Introduction states the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, scopes, methods and the design of the study. The Development which is the main part of the study consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 reviews literature on some fundamental features translation, syllabus design, and needs analysis.
Chapter 2 takes into consideration such questions as the teaching and learning situation at HLU, the background of the study’s subjects, and the needs analysis conducted to the translation teachers, and the English majors of English Teacher-Training Section with instruments of questionnaires and interviews. The results of the needs analysis provide the basis for the translation syllabus which is proposed in Chapter 3. The Conclusion summarizes the study, points out its limitations and gives suggestions for further research. The proposed syllabus is expected to meet students’ needs as well as the training objectives of HLU and will make contribution to the improvement of English learning and teaching at the university.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT. iii TABLE OF CONTENT. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATION. vi LIST OF TABLES.
Aims and objectives. Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Design of the study.
3 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. An overview of translation. Definition of translation. The use of translation in teaching FLT.
Translation as the fifth skill in FLT. The role of translation as the fifth skill in FL teaching and learning. Application of translation in FL teaching and learning. An overview of syllabus design.
Translation syllabus design. Grammar-based syllabus. Culture-based syllabus. Text-based syllabus.
Topic-based syllabus. Choosing an appropriate type of translation syllabus. Steps to design a syllabus. 17 v CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY.
The teaching staff of the English section. Instruments for collecting data. Interviews with translation teachers. 32 CHAPTER 3: DESIGNING A TRANSLATION SYLLABUS MODULE 1 FOR COLLEGE ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE TEACHER-TRAINING SECTION OF HLU.
Aims and objectives of the translation syllabus. Sequencing the content and the tasks in the syllabus. Selecting the content. Designing tests for the translation course.
The proposed translation syllabus for College English majors at HLU. Suggestions for further study .VI vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT: English Language Teaching FL: Foreign Language FLT: Foreign Language Teaching GE: General English HLU: Hoa Lu University L1: First Language L2: Second Language SL: Source Language ST: Source Text TL: Target Language vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Rationale In the age of globalization and international integration, translation has been considered to be a crucial skill in foreign language acquisition. Other than a traditional method of teaching foreign languages of the past, it is currently considered to be “characteristically purposed as a profession” (Candlin, 1991).
To most people, translation is an activity confined to those who have already achieved a high degree of language proficiency. In language teaching, actually, translation is a valuable aid that reinforces the teaching of language skills. It is of great value in sensitizing students to contrasts and comparisons between grammar of their own language and the source language (Bicer, 2002). Translation provides students with a linguistically demanding, mind stretching, and creative exercise.
As a result, offering a translation course to foreign language learners is of great necessity. Recently, translation and EFL are very much integrated through necessity. A survey undertaken by Swell (1996) about the teaching of translation at British Universities indicates that translation courses continue to attract students for “many lovers for language love to translate” (Swell, 1996, cited in Anderman, Malmkjaer at al. In South East Asia and in Latin America, it is quite usual for translation to be incorporated into English syllabuses at university level (Campbell, 2002).
Some universities that adopt translation course in language curriculum to be mentioned could be Toyama University of International Studies (Japan), Wenzao Ursuline University of Language (Taiwan), University of Guyana, etc. In Vietnam, translation is employed as a compulsory subject in foreign language curriculum of many education institutions, ranging from the top-rank ones such as University of Language and International Studies or Hanoi University to the local ones such as Nha Trang University or Hong Duc University. 2 Like many other universities in Vietnam, translation is taught for students of the English Teacher-Training Section at Hoa Lu University (HLU) in the second year. However, in preparing for this course, teachers of the English section face a lot of difficulties due to the lack of teaching materials and an appropriate translation syllabus.
It is a matter of fact that the target students of Hoa Lu University, who are attending three-year program for teachers of secondary schools, possess not-very-high English proficiency. Complicate texts full of technical terms, thus, would be too difficult for them to handle. Since no really suitable published materials are available for the identified needs, teachers have no choice but to provide the materials for the course. Besides, the teaching job is completely left to individual teacher, which means the teachers teach whatever they consider necessary or capable concerning the convenience and availability of materials.
This, consequently, leads to a confusion in the aims and objectives of teaching, which results in the inconsistency in teaching content, methodology as well as evaluation. Being one member of the teachers who are in charge of this challenging task I realized that designing an appropriate translation syllabus is of great necessity and significance given the time allotment of the course and the students’ English proficiency. This is the main reason why the topic “Developing a syllabus of translation module 1 for college English majors in the teacher-training section of Hoa Lu University” is chosen for my thesis. Aims and objectives The study aims at designing an appropriate translation syllabus for the second-year students of English majors at HLU.
To achieve this aim, the following objectives are established: (1) To identify the needs perceived by the teachers, the students toward an appropriate translation syllabus for the target students. (2) To propose a translation syllabus for HLU. Research questions In order to attain the above aims and objectives of the study, the researcher developed the following research questions: (1) What are the students’ learning needs and target needs from the perspectives of the students and the teachers? (2) What is an appropriate Translation Syllabus for HLU? The answer to these questions will help to develop an appropriate translation syllabus for the second-year English majors at HLU. Scope of the study This study is initiated and developed from the urgent need to design an appropriate translation syllabus for the English-major students at HLU.
Within the scope of a minor thesis, this research paper focuses on the designing process itself; only the basic theories related to translation and syllabus design are presented. The study’s major objects are the translation teachers of the English section, and the English-major students at Hoa Lu University. Methods of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed in this study. The quantitative method, which is used to collect data by means of questionnaires, aims at identifying the needs for the translation syllabus from a broad view.
The questionnaires are administered to the English-major students at HLU. Besides, the qualitative method is used to collect in-depth data through interviews with the translation teachers of English section as well as through informal discussions with colleagues. Design of the study The study contains three main parts: Part I – Introduction presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, scopes, methods and the design of the study. Part II – Development, which is the main part of the study, consists of three chapters: 4 • Chapter 1 reviews the literature concerning translation in language teaching, syllabus design, and need analysis.
• Chapter 2 describes in details the study including its background, subjects, instruments for collecting data and the findings of the study • Chapter 3 proposes a translation syllabus for English-major students at HLU Part III – Conclusion offers a summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further research. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. An overview of translation 1. Definition of translation Translation is an activity of enormous importance in our modern world.
Until now, a great number of books and articles have been written about this area of human knowledge. Regarding the question “What is translation?”, there exist many a different perspective over this process. Catford, in his work in 1965, described translation as “the replacement of textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language)”. Very much similar to this definition is that by Hartmann & Stock (1972) where translation is defined as “the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of another equivalent text in a second language”.
To make it more specific, Dubois (1973) claimed translation to be “the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic equivalencies”. Likewise, Nida and Taber (1974) stated that, “translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closet natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”.