An Action Research Of Scaffolding On The Reduction Of Pragmatic Failure In C-e Translation

Scaffolding instruction,based on constructivism and zone of proximal development(ZPD)theory,has become more mature in the application of English reading and writing teaching.Therefore,the researcher applied it to English translation teaching,aiming at investigating its application effects on the reduction of students'pragmatic failure in C-E translation.The hypothesizes are as following:first,scaffolding instruction has positive effect on the reduction of pragmatic failure in C-E translation;second,scaffolding instruction is highly accepted among students;third,scaffolding instruction helps changing the original rigid translation class environment.The research makes a 16-week,4 rounds of action research on 38 non-English major students from one vocational college in Zhejiang Province.In the process,C-E translation test,questionnaire and teaching diary are used as research tools to collect data.From five factors of vocabulary,grammar,sentence pattern,cultural background and teaching method,qualitative and quantitative analysis are done.It reveals that:First,scaffolding instruction has significant effect on the reduction of students' pragmatic failure in C-E translation.Their average score of translation has improved from 9.72 to 11.58.Both pragma-linguistic and socio-pragmatic failure have greatly improved,except for vocabulary.Second,the acceptance of scaffolding instruction is not significant.Last,scaffolding instruction could help change the traditional rigid class atmosphere.The research proves the effectiveness of scaffolding instruction on English translation teaching.Although there are still some drawbacks in the study,it can inspire more researchers to make further studies relating to scaffolding instruction.