A Functionalist Study Of Errors In English Translations Of Chinese Texts For Introduction Of Tourist Attractions

Tourism as a fast growing tertiary industry is exerting great impact on the economic and cultural development of a country, and it is an important channel of cross-cultural communications between peoples with different cultural backgrounds. In recent years, the international tourism industry in China has been developing rapidly, with more and more foreign tourists visiting China, and this demands high quality Chinese-English translations of tourism texts, which is now an important aspect of China’s translation industry and translation studies. C-E tourism translation serves as a window for introducing Chinese national history and culture to the outside world, and well-done English translations of tourism texts means much to the growth of China’s international tourism industry.The author’s preliminary survey of some English translations of Chinese tourism texts shows that there exist many problems, which cause difficulty in conveying intended information to foreign tourists and the target readers, and even misunderstanding on the part of foreign readers, and thus have a negative influence on China’s tourism development and Chinese international image. Therefore, it is necessary for us to investigate and study the tourism translation texts in the light of some translation theories and assess the translations with regard to translation errors so that the translation quality of tourism translation may be improved.Shandong, as a major tourism province in China, has quite a lot of tourist spots and attractions, and according to the statistics in September2010, it boasts85national4A and above tourist attractions (including three5A national tourist attractions), which offer ample supply of tourism texts and their English translations. In this project, the object of study is the English translations of the Chinese texts for general introduction of the national4A and above tourist attractions in Shandong province. The key research questions of this research project are:what is the current situation of the English translations of Chinese texts for general introduction of tourist attractions of the national4A and above tourist attractions in Shandong province like? What translation errors are troubling those English translated texts? How are those errors characterized in the translated texts? On the basis of the research results, some suggestions for translation improvement will be put forward. The basic procedure of this study is as follows:in the light of the Skopos translation theory, especially its definition and classification of translation errors, the chosen English translation texts as the object are analyzed with regard to their translation errors and their underlying reasons by adopting both qualitative and quantitative research methods, and on the basis of the analysis, some translation strategies and suggestions for the improvement of the translations are put forward. This research may be helpful in understanding the features and forms of tourism translation errors, and it may also be conducive to enhancing awareness of reducing translation errors and improving translation quality, thus making the tourism industry more competitiveness to some extent. Therefore, this research attempt is of some academic and practical value.The main findings of this study are as follows:of those English translations offered by the national4A and above tourist attractions of Shandong, though there are some satisfactory translations, many translations are troubled by various errors of pragmatic, cultural, and linguistic kinds, which show themselves in such forms as incoherent conceptual conveyance, illogical reasoning, hardly understandable expressions, ungrammatical linguistic structures, and unacceptable uses of words, as well as technical troubles. These errors reflect the problems in work style, sense of responsibility, and linguistic performance on the part of the translators (and the initiators of the translations), who are inadequate in their mastery of the translation purpose, principles, understanding of the target readership, and in linguistic competence for the purpose of translation.On the basis of the research results, the author proposes some measures possible for improvement of the stats quo of the tourism translation in Shandong, which mainly include more rigorous implementation of relevant national standards, greater play to be given to the professional translators, more efforts to be made in investigating and analyzing the Chinese original texts, the English texts of similar types, and the values and life habits of the foreign tourists, and more attention to be paid to the technical side of translation. Better English translations of the Chinese tourism texts will surely promote the development of the tourism industry in Shandong and in China.