VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ______________________________ NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG A STUDY ON THE TRANSLATION OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT TEXTS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE Nghiên cứu việc dịch văn bản quản lý hành chính giữa tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt M. Minor Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 602215 HA NOI, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ______________________________ NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG A STUDY ON THE TRANSLATION OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT TEXTS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE Nghiên cứu việc dịch văn bản quản lý hành chính giữa tiếng Anh và tiếng Việt M. Minor Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 602215 Supervisor: Assoc. Lê Hùng Tiến (PhD) HA NOI, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Aim of the study. Scope of the study. Method of the study. Design of the study.
3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1. Equivalence in Translation. What is a good translation. Administrative management texts review.
11 CHAPTER II: GENERAL FEATURES AND REQUIREMENTS IN VIETNAMESE ADMINISTRATIVE TEXTS 1. Reason for Guiding Official Letters. Features of formal-legal text style. General features of language and structure.
15 CHAPTER III: A STUDY ON TRANSLATION OF GENERAL LEXICAL AND STRUCTURAL FEATURES IN GUIDING OFFICIAL LETTERS BETWEEN VIETNAMESE AND ENGLISH 1. General content layout and lexical features .1 Translation of lexical features in Beginning part .2 Translation of lexical features in Developing part .3 Translation of lexical features in Ending part. Translation of typical structural features. 24 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.1 Nominalization and extended nominal groups .2 The use of Passive voice .4 Run-together sentences and Stringy Sentences.
36 APPENDICES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com -1- PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale The development of translation study goes hand in hand with the rapid growth of globalization, international business, cross cultural communication, science and technology. The need of translation for multi-purposes such as business, tourist, official documents (contracts, treaties, correspondence, textbooks…), the exponential increase in technology - patents, specifications, documentation -, the attempt to bring and transfer new technology to developing countries… require written translation rather than oral translation, in other words, interpretation. Obviously, translation has made great contributions in International communication and played a vital role in human society.
In current economic background when Vietnam enters WTO with chances and challenges, with opening mechanism and preferential policies, our country is a potential and healthy investment environment attracting more and more foreign groups, multinational companies and organizations. In coordination with foreign investors, we would make full use of their advance in technology and strong finance, our young generations would have chance to gain experience and work in high challenging environment. Their business activities would create more jobs to our Labor resource with high earnings for better life. The most importance, their investment is a great contribution to our development, our national economic growth.
However, foreign investors must understand thoroughly and obey our laws and regulations, mechanism and policies to operate business effectively and legally. In this case, Administrative management text is an indispensable tool in guiding foreign investors doing business legally. In order to meet the demand of the globalization trend, there require skilled, professional translators. Translators are intermediates between foreign companies and our Governmental agencies and authorities.
If there is available translation of administrative management texts, the promulgation of laws and regulations is much easier; however, if there is no available translation, the translator role would be of great importance. In many cases, when foreign companies need express their opinions, proposals and suggestions to high levels but they do not have their separate administrative department, the translator has to do two tasks at the same time - composing and translating administrative texts. In order to have an effective and persuasive administrative text to address administrative procedures conveniently and quickly, the translator must use their administrative text composing skill and professional LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com -2- translation skill. However, most translators face with serious problem that they have no comparison between Vietnamese Administrative management texts and English original administrative management texts.
They manage to translate Administrative management texts by themselves according to previous translated ones. This means more thorough studies on this matter are necessary. Such studies would find out similarities, differences and typical features in translation of those kinds of texts and would improve translation quality. Aim of the study The study aims at presenting some typical features of Administrative management texts in terms of lexical, structures and requirements of composing content.
These findings would be helpful in translation of those kinds of texts from Vietnamese to English and vice versa. Hopefully, this study then would be used as a ground for further suggestions, if any, to improve translation quality. Scope of the Study Administrative management texts involve in all activities in human lives from politics, education, economy, culture… These texts, therefore, vary in forms, functions and purposes. One common feature of these texts is to help our Government manage and control human activities to work and live in freedom but under the legal-frame, current standard and Vietnamese Laws and regulations.
The study would focus on Guiding Official Letters which normally used in Business activity as part of administrative management texts. The data are collected randomly to increase the objectivity and accuracy of those findings. Method of the study The main research method of this study is Comparative Analysis with the following activities: - Collecting Vietnamese Administrative Management texts in which Guiding Official Letters account for a large proportion, supporting data and its available translations issued and translated by reliable sources such as Governmental Ministries, LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com -3- agencies, local authorities… which have similar features to form the database for analysis with high accuracy and clarity in content and structure. - Analyzing Vietnamese Administrative Management texts to find out difficulties and typical features in translation process between English and Vietnamese and vice verse.
- Analyzing available translated texts to find out relevant features. - Consulting linguistic theories, professional opinions and applying relevant theories for analysis and comparison - Basing on analysis and comparison of such data to point out similarities, differences and typical findings between the two languages - Basing on appropriate findings to conclude and make suggestions for further research on translation quality 5. Design of the Study The study takes the following arrangement as its framework. Part A: Introduction Part B: Development Chapter 1: Theoretical Background Chapter 2: General features and requirements in Vietnamese Administrative management texts Chapter 3: A Study on Translation of general lexical and structural features in Guiding Official Letters between Vietnamese and English Part C: Conclusion References Appendices LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com -4- PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.
Translation theories What is translation? There has not been a comprehensive definition for the term of translation so far. Translation theories have been put on hot debates over a long period of time. Translation is a complex process combining knowledge in linguistics, socio-culture, philosophy… Hence, translation is considered as both a science and an art. Major concepts on translation has been variously defined and developed by different perspectives from famous linguists and scholars.
In the book titled Translation and translating published in 1989, Bell states the notion of Translation as ‘the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences (1989:5). Other definition of translation also presented in his book is ‘the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language’ (1989:6). The common feature of the two definitions is in terms of equivalence. From a famous linguist’s viewpoint, Newmark defines that “translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text.” (1995: 5) By ‘the author intended the text’ he means by using another language, translator is pretending to be someone he or she is not.
In addition, Newmark points out matters of concern in translation theory are ‘first, to identify and define a translation problem (no problem – no translation theory); second, to indicate all the factors that have to be taken into account in solving the problem; third, to list all the possible translation procedures; finally, to recommend the most suitable translation procedure, plus the appropriate translation.’ (1995: 9) Despite different perspectives, Bell points out common features shared by translation definitions: the notion of movement of some sort between languages, content of some kind and the obligation to find ‘equivalents’ which ‘preserve’ features of the original. (1989:6) The question need to be uncovered is to what extent the requirement of preserving ‘equivalence’ can be reached in translation process. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Equivalence in Translation In comparison of original texts and its translated texts, the central problem of most attentions is equivalence in terms of content and style.
In The Pragmatics of Translation, Hickey cited Wilson & Sperber’s statement as “The translator will design her translation in such a way that it resembles (the original) closely enough in relevant respect. Closely enough in this case is similar to Bassnett’s view point ‘so as to ensure that 1) the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar, and 2) the structure of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted’ (2002:11). As for Jakobson, the central problem in translation is ‘while messages may serve as adequate interpretations of code units or messages, there is ordinarily no full equivalence through translation. By ‘no full equivalence’ he means each unit contains within itself a set of non-transferable associations and connotations.
Bell finds out that “Texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (fully or partially equivalent), in respect of different levels of presentation (equivalent in respect of context, of semantics, of grammar, of lexis …) and at different ranks (word-for-word, phrase-for-phrase, sentence-for- sentence) (1989: 6) Koller, in his study on Equivalence in translation theory, points out several types of equivalence such as content equivalence (content invariance), stylistic equivalence, formal equivalence, functional equivalence, textual equivalence, communication equivalence, pragmatic equivalence, equivalence of effect… (Chesterman 1989: 100) Also, in Readings in translation theory, the author introduces Koller’s five factors which can be argued to play a relevant role in the specification of equivalence types: - The extralinguistic content: denotative equivalence - The connotations: means of the word choice (especially between synonymous expressions), with respect to level of style (register), the social and geographical dimension, frequency… this is the connotative equivalence (stylistic equivalence) - The text and language norms (usage norms): deals with text-type specific features – text-normative equivalence (stylistic equivalence) - The pragmatic equivalence: the receiver of the text and the person to whom the translation is “tuned” in order to e. to achieve a given effect (communicative equivalence) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com -6- - Formal equivalence: certain formal-aesthetic features of the source language text including word play, metalinguistic aspects, individual stylistic features – kind of equivalence that relates to textual characteristics (1989: 100) From the view point of a famous translation theorist and practitioner whose translation of Bible is well-known worldwide, Nida distinguishes two types of equivalence: Formal and dynamic. (Hatim & Mason 1990:7) - “Formal equivalence ‘focuses attention on closet possible match of form and content between source text and target text. Formal equivalence is, in other words, a means of providing some degree of insight into the lexical, grammatical or structural form of a source text.