A Report On The E-C Translation Of Constructing Knowledge Together(Chapter Two) From The Perspective Of Systemic Functional Linguistics

The translation practice report is based on my translation of Chapter Two in Constructing Knowledge Together.The book is edited by Canadian educators Gordon Wells and Gen Ling Chang-Wells.It is a collection of applied research articles of pedagogy including seven chapters.Chapter Two is written by Gordon Wells that mainly demonstrates the importance of talking in teaching and learning.As an academic work,the source text is precise in words,clear in semantic logic and systematic in content.The report consists of four parts including translation task introduction,translating process,case analysis and conclusion.Under the theoretical framework of meta-functions theory in Systemic Functional Linguistics(SFL)proposed by Halliday(1968),the report discusses the key points and difficulties in translation.It concludes that the semantic choices of technical terms and polysemous words are determined by their fields and contexts.The ideational meaning of long complex sentences is interpreted through transitivity process and logical system in clauses,and different translation methods like literal translation,reorganization and insertion can be adopted in translating long complex sentences.Modality and mood system reflect the interpersonal meaning of the source text,and the translation strategy like elucidation can realize the interpersonal function in target text.The Theme-Rheme progression mode of the clauses embodies the textual meaning,and the textual function is achieved in target text by using the translation skills such as omission and conversion of subjects.Through the whole translation practice,the translator starts from fundamental issues including language nature,process,similarities and differences and aims to achieve the balance between source text and target text in ideational,interpersonal and textual function as far as possible.She realizes that although SFL is not a special theory for translation,it has good applicability to the translation of pedagogical works.Finally,the translator hopes this translation practice report can provide references to other similar translation practices.