Translation Teaching In China--With Emphasis On Translation Teaching For English Majors

Translation is required as a compulsory course for English majors in many colleges and universities in China. In the era of globalization and informationalization, China is in an urgent need of translators. It goes without saying that it is translation teaching that shoulders the task to train high-qualified translation personnel for the society.The purpose of this study is to give an outline of translation and translation teaching in China in the past, at present and in the future, and in the hope of promoting translation teaching in China. This thesis consists of five parts. Chapter 1 is a chronological review of translation and translation teaching in China. Translation is defined followed by a short history of translation practice and theory as well as translation teaching. Finally, the importance of translation and its close relation to translation teaching are discussed. Chapter 2 concerns the present situation of translation teaching in China. By comparing two articles, Current Situation and Reform on Translation Teaching in China (庄智象, 1992) and A Survey of the Studies of China's Translation Teaching for Undergraduates in the Past Decade (袁斌业, 2003), which are about the development of translation teaching in China with ten years in between, and by analyzing two books written by Mu Lei (穆雷, 1999) and Zhang Meifang (张美芳, 2001) as well as the materials on translation teaching between 1999―June 2003 collected by us, the characteristics of the present situation of translation teaching in China are generalized in such aspects as the concepts of translation teaching, translation textbooks, translation teaching methods and scientific researches on translation and translation teaching. Chapter 3 expounds the four problems existing in translation teaching. They are (1) lack of unanimous agreements on the interpretation of The Syllabus for English Majors (2000); (2) too much attention is paid to translation techniques in some textbooks; (3) product-orientation is somewhat overstressed; and (4) researches on translation tests are far from enough to be dealt with. Chapter 4 is the main body of the thesis, suggesting that attention should be paid to the following points: (1) General translation theory vs. the "basic translation theory". It is believed that the "basic translation theory" should be adopted to guide the practical teaching and the criteria and principles of making the theory of this kind are presented. (2) Technique-oriented vs. strategy-oriented textbooks. Three differences in compiling textbooks between Mona Baker and some Chinese compilers are illustrated and her strategy-orientation is considered to be worth following in order to make learners to have a better command of translation with these strategies.(3) Product-oriented approach vs. process-oriented approach. The limitations of product-orientation and the advantages of process-orientation are explained, followed by a sample of process-orientation designed by us. (4) Translation test design. Testing and teaching are closely interrelated. Based on the previous researches, "a good test" is summed up and advice is also given in detail on the criteria, the procedures and the principles in developing a good translation test. Finally, an attempt is made to devise a sample for this kind of test. It is concluded in Chapter 5 that the cultivation of high-qualified translators depends heavily on the effectiveness of translation teaching. So teachers of translation should constantly learn translation theories, particularly translation teaching theory, go into deep research into all aspects of translation teaching, try to identify the problems existing in teaching programs, textbooks, teaching methodology and translation tests, etc. so as to resolve them. Only in this way can the translation teaching cause in China be developed more prosperously. There are three appendixes to the thesis. Succeeding Mu Lei's and Zhang Meifang's researches, some articles and textbooks on translation from 1999 to Jun...