MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY BUI HUONG GIANG 443028 ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF LEGAL TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING COURSES AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY GRADUATION THESIS Hanoi - 2023 MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY BUI HUONG GIANG 443028 ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF LEGAL TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING COURSES AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NHAN THUC CUA SINH VIEN NGANH NGON NGU ANH VE KHOA HOC BIEN PHIEN DICH PHAP LY TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LUẬT HÀ NỘI Major: Legal English GRADUATION THESIS SUPERVISOR Nhạc Thanh Hương, MA. Hanoi - 2023 DECLARATIONS I hereby state that I: Bui Huong Giang, 443028, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the University relat- ing to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper de- posited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and re- search, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Supervisor's confirmation Researcher's signature M.
Nhac Thanh Huong Bui Huong Giang ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my wonderful supervisor, Ms. Nhac Thanh Huong, for her enormous support towards my research with great patience, devotion, unwavering advice, pro- found insight, and experience. I have managed to overcome various obstacles and finished this thesis thanks to her constant, inspiring guidance, and en- couragement throughout the writing process. Besides, my sincere thanks go to all the members of the Thesis Com- mittee, the teachers who work hard and fair to evaluate this research of mine, give insightful comments and questions, as well as provide me with detailed feedback to help my future studies.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the administrative personnel and staff members of Hanoi Law University and particularly the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages for their generous assistance. Last but not least, | am indebted special thanks to my family and close friends who have been supportive and caring throughout the journey with their unconditional love, understanding and kindness. I am much obliged to my fellow 4430 classmates and 4429 for the tremendous amount of advice and cooperation to support me in the writing and survey process. ABSTRACT Legal translation and interpreting is considered to be one of the most challenging in the translation industry due to its distinctive features related to legal field.
Although legal translation and interpreting has gained a great con- cern among educators and researchers in recent years, a few institutions offer such kind of courses to learners. At the same time, there has little research on challenges in the process of legal translating and interpreting as well as the stakeholders’ viewpoints. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of the Legal translation and Interpreting courses at Hanoi Law Uni- versity from the English-majored students' perspectives via survey question- naires and in-depth interviews. From the research data of 98 students, a criti- cal evaluation was carried on finding out students' perceptions on different aspects of the courses, including the necessity, the benefits, and the suitability of the Legal translation and Interpreting courses, the difficulties they encoun- tered throughout the courses, the teaching methods and activities applied in the courses as well as their expectations to improve the courses.
This study provides some important findings that the majority of the students were satisfied with the quality of the courses, yet complex nature of Legal English, insufficient English proficiency, and translation and interpret- ing competence were their biggest challenges. In the light of these findings, the author also suggested some viable recommendations for both students and teachers with a view to improving the courses in the future. ili TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATIONS i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLES viii INTRODUCTION 1 1. Rationale for the study 1 2.
Aims of the study 2 3. Scope of the study 2 5. Significance of the study 3 6. Organization of the study 3 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1.
Concep(s of legal translation and legal interpreting. Concepts of legal translation 5 1. Definition of legal translation 5 1. Classifications of legal transÏation.
Requitenicnts of legal trafiSIRHDIÏ susassssenosioatodsiodigstgsaaig01080 538g 7 1. Concepts of legal interpreting 8 1. Definition of legal interpreting. Classification of legal Interpr€ting.
Reg0ieiieiS öF1S6ä] Ii6ifEHHE saiosxsssssditiddlgusweuwone 9 1.3 The relation between legal translation and legal interpreting. The importance of LTI courses in legal education. Previous studies on LTI 13 1. Summary 14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.
Data collection instr t 16 2.1 Procedures of Data Collection 17 2. Data from questionnaires 17 2. Data from interview 18 2. Procedures of Data Analysis 18 2.
Summary 20 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Students' views towards the necessity, benefits and suitablity of LTI courses 21 3. Students' views towards the difficulties encountered throughout the LTI courses 28 3. Students' views towards teaching methods and activities applied in the LTI courses 34 3.
Students’ expectations to improve the LTÌ €0UFS€S. Recommendations for the student 42 4. Recommendations for the teaClerS. Summary of the main findings 45 4.
Limitations of the study 46 4. Suggestions for further research 46 REFERENCES H APPENDICES Appendix I: Survey Questionnaire Appendix II: In-depth Interview XI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HLU : Hanoi Law University LSP : Language for Special purposes LTI : Legal translation and Interpreting SL : Source language TL : Target language LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLES List of figures: Figure 1. Self-assessment of respondents' English proficiency Figure 2. Relationship between Nunan's elements of task List of tables: Table 1.
Learners’ perspectives on the necessity of the LTI courses Table 2. Learners’ perspectives on the benefits of the LTI courses Table 3. Learners’ perspectives on the suitability of the LTI courses Table 4. Difficulties arise from characteristics of legal English Table 5.
Difficulties arise from insufficient translation/interpreting compe- tence and other subjective barriers Table 6. Learners’ perspectives on the teaching methods and activities the LTI courses Table 7. Students’ expectations to improve the LTI courses viii INTRODUCTION In the initial chapter of the research paper, the rationale for the study, as well as its objectives and scope, are outlined. This chapter also serves to identify the research questions, which will serve as a framework for the study.
Rationale for the study Globalization has revolutionized the world by facilitating cooperation and the exchange of ideas among different countries. This has made communication an integral part of modern society, leading to an unprecedented rise in the need for translation and interpreting services, particularly in legal fields. Thus, legal translation and interpreting (LTI) proves to be an important tool in the enhance- ment of the relations between countries in the recent years. As a result, the demand for legal English proficiency as well as translation and interpreting skills has grown.
In order to meet the need for LTI, Hanoi Law University (HLU), one of the leading legal education institutions in Vietnam, has been providing LTI courses for English-majored students for the past ten years. By offering these courses, HLU aims to equip its students with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in this competitive field and become successful legal translators and interpreters. Undeniably, students’ perspectives are crucial in observing and assessing the effectiveness of the course in question. In other words, the understanding of students’ views is indispensable for enhancing the quality of LTI education.
It is due to the fact it provides invaluable feedback on the efficacy of the courses and identifies areas that require improvement. The feedback obtained, obviously, can be utilized to refine course content, materials, and teaching methodologies to en- hance the learning experience. Therefore, a comprehensive examination of the perceptions of English-majored students currently enrolled in LTI courses at HLU is of utmost importance. Although this issue has gained a great concern among local educators, lec- turers, and learners in the legal field, there exists little research on students' per- spectives on the translation and interpreting courses in Vietnam.
Hence, the study aims to fill this gap by investigating the perceptions of fourth-year Eng- lish-majored students towards LTI courses at HLU. Aims of the study The present study aims to e Investigate students’ attitudes to the necessity, benefits and suitability of the LTI courses; e Discover the current difficulties of English-majored students on the LTI courses; e Explore the students’ perceptions on teaching methods and activities ap- plied in the LTI courses. Research questions To accomplish the purpose of the study, this research attempts to answer the following questions: 1. What are the students’ attitudes towards the necessity, benefits, and suita- bility of the LTI courses at HLU? 2.
What are the difficulties that English-majored students have encountered when studying the LTI courses at HLU? 3. What are English-majored students’ attitudes towards the translating and interpreting activities applied in the LTI courses at HLU? 4. Scope of the study The paper focuses on the students' perceptions of English-majored students on LTI courses. In an endeavor to gain an extended perspective, the study is carried out with 98 senior students (K44) of the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages at HLU.
Significance of the study This research holds significant importance for several reasons. First, by scrutinizing the current LTI courses' strengths and weaknesses, the study can provide valuable insights into areas that require enhancement, which is able to help HLU to develop more effective and efficient LTI courses that meet students' expectations and needs. Furthermore, this study provides useful information for other legal educa- tion institutions in Vietnam and beyond. The research findings offer insights into students! attitudes towards LTI courses for other institutions to design or enhance their LTI courses.
In addition, through examining students' perceptions of LTI courses at HLU, the research can add to the understanding of their needs, expectations, and experiences in acquiring legal and translation and interpreting skills. Thus, the results of this paper are expected to contribute to the existing literature on legal English and LTI courses for domestic and foreign researchers. Organization of the study The study consists of three central parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion. The Introduction includes the Rationale, Aims, Research questions, Scope, Significance and Organization of the study.
The Development is segmented into four chapters as follows: Chapter 1: Literature Review provides background knowledge related to the concepts of Legal Translation, Legal Interpreting as well as the importance of LTI Courses for English-majored students. Chapter 2: Methodology sets out three main parts: participants, research instruments and data collection and analysis procedure. Chapter 3: Results and Discussion shows the analytical findings of the survey and a detailed interpreting of the data obtained. Chapter 4: Recommendations provide several suggestions related to the study.
The Conclusion delivers the summary and limitations of the study, as well as certain suggestions for future research. CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Concepts of legal translation and legal interpreting 1. Concepts of legal translation 1.
Definition of legal translation Definitions suggested by legal researchers around the world are diverse regarding the concept of legal translation. Translation is simply defined as the transfer from one language to another. However, it may not be appropriate to define legal translation in this way as it is one of the special purpose translation fields. Sarcevic (1997) states that it is a translation from one legal system into another — from the source legal system in- to the target legal system.
Cintas (2004) describes legal translation as "the act of translating legal texts, such as laws, contracts, court decisions, and other docu- ments, from one language into another, while Cao (2010) ensuring that the origi- nal meaning and context are preserved." Later, Cao (2010) of Griffith University, creates a somewhat coherent, even more rigid definition.