On The English Translation Of Public Signs Of Dalian Public Transportation System From The Perspective Of Target Readers' Acceptability

Since there is no uniform standards guiding the translation of public signs and uneven translation quality in Dalian bus and metro transportation,many non-standard translations and inappropriate expressions which do not conform to the habit of English-speaking countries have appeared,such as misuse of words,Chinglish translation,grammar errors and lack of unity and so on.All these problems not only cause inconvenience to foreigners living in Dalian,but also spoil the image of Dalian building up its status as an international city.Therefore,the study of translation of public signs in the bus and metro transportation has a practical significance for Dalian building its status as an international tour city.This paper studies public signs in Dalian bus and metro transportation by using methods of on-site investigation and questionnaire.The author collects 41 Dalian bus routes including 353 bus stations and two metro lines.Additionally,public signs from four Beijing metro lines and three Shanghai metro lines are also collected,which provide some references for analysis on translation errors of public signs of Dalian bus and metro transportation.Furthermore,44 questionnaires on the translation of Dalian metro station names are handed out aiming at people from other countries,which are to make the analysis more valid.At the same time,translation errors of public signs in Dalian bus and metro transportation are analyzed from the perspective of the target readers' acceptability on the basis of Skopos theory and the reception theory.Some suggestions for improvement are put forward in order to build a better Dalian.After the analysis,the author finds that translation errors in Dalian bus and metro transportation are mainly linguistic and pragmatic in nature,such as misuse of words,unnecessary repetition,grammar errors,Chinglish translation,lack of unity and absence of English translation.Considering translation errors,this thesis puts forward some translation strategies such as borrowing,negation,corresponding and omission and so on accordingly based on Skopos theory and the reception theory.Thereby,it is discovered that these theories have a huge significance and the practical value on directing the translation of public signs.