A Translation Report On The 9^th Part Of Teaching In Action---Case Studies From Second Language Classroom

This is a translation report on a methodology textbook named Teaching in Action: Case Studies From Second Language Classroom edited by Dr. Jack C. Richards. This book is a collection of 76 case studies all over the world that describe how language teachers respond to problems they encounter in their teaching. Each case study also describes the context in which the teacher is working at these problems. Following each case study is a short commentary by the teacher educator who reflects on the type of problem the teacher encountered and the teacher’s solution. Part 9 “Teaching Speaking”of this book is chosen as the translation object. The cases focus on action research, a way of exploring teachers’ beliefs, values, perceptions and thought processes. The translator wish the translation can help shape Chinese teachers’ practice not only to improve their quality of teaching, but to provide them with beneficial references to carry out their action research. With the Skopos theory as a theoretical guidance in the translation process, the translator employs instrumental translation strategy and adopts the translation methods, such as extension, conversion, inversion and division to solve the realistic problems in order to convey the original meaning faithfully and make the translation conform to Chinese usage. In the reception of the translation, target language readers are not supposed to have the awareness that they are reading a translation, thus the translation that may achieve the same function as the original one.There are four parts in the report. Part one describes the translation task, including he background and the significance of the task. Part two describes the translation process, including preparations, problems and difficulties in translation, translation theories and strategies. After analyzing the text type of the original, the translator puts forward the strategy to apply instrumental translation from the perspective of the translation purpose and the target language readers. Part three elaborates the process of dealing with difficulties in translation and the translation theory applied in the task. More specific examples are given to illustrate how the translator adopts various translation techniques to cope with the difficulties during the process under the guidance of the Skopos theory. The last part sums up the the problems to be solved and then gives the relevant implications.