A Stduy Of Chinese-English Translation Of Expo Public Signs From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

With the booming socio-economic development and the accelerated pace of opening up of the Yangtze River Delta, international and inter-regional economic communication and cooperation become more and more frequent. Bilingual public signs as the important part of external propaganda are in considerable demands in public places. Therefore, the Chinese-English translation of public signs is in great significance.With the coming Expo 2010 Shanghai China, up to September 23, 2009, there have been 242 countries and international organizations confirmed to participate in the expo. And it is expected that the expo will attract about 70 million visitors. So, the bilingual public signs not only in Shanghai but in the region of the Yangtze River Delta are in urgent need to increase its number and improve its quality as well. However, due to uneven level of translation, as well as the lack of uniform reference standard, there are lots of errors on the Chinese-English translation of public signs such as spelling, grammar, and translation. These errors will definitely fail to facilitate the foreigners'traveling, working and living, and even make them feel confused. Thereby to some extent, these errors destroy the image of the entire Yangtze River Delta region, and affect the social civilization and the process of internationalization. Therefore, the research on the Chinese-English translation of public signs has a great practical value and is of great significance to establish the international image of the Yangtze River Delta, especially to host an exciting, unforgettable World Expo.Skopostheorie stresses the purpose of translation. Through a long process of development, the functionalist translation emerged in the 1970s, forming its own independent theoretical system. The Skopos theory pointed out by Vermeer is the soul of functional theory. He stated that any translation activity has its own purpose, on which a translation establish its own translation method. The target audiences play an important role in determining the purpose of the translation.This thesis is in the theme of public signs under the guidance of Skopostheorie and serves for 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The thesis is divided into six parts. The first part of the thesis is the Introduction including a brief description of the significance of the study, the use of materials and research methods, etc. Chapter One starts with the definition of public sign and analyzes the features and the current research status of the Chinese-English translation of public sign. Chapter Two is the theoretical basis of this thesis which summarizes the development of functionalist translation theories and then describes the Skopos theory and its three basic rules. In Chapter Three, the author discusses the application of Skopostheorie in Chinese-English translation of public signs and introduces the basic procedures of translation and translation brief along with the collected examples to illustrate the current errors and problems in the Chinese English translation of public signs. Chapter Four provides some strategies for the translation of expo public signs. And the last part of the thesis is a conclusion which sums up the discovery of the research and the limitations of this thesis and proposes recommendations for further research.