A Report On The Translation Of Capability Maturity Model (Excerpt) Under The Guidance Of Functional Equivalence Theory

The source text of the translation report is excerpted from Capability Maturity Model,which is published by CMMI(Capability Maturity Model Integration)Institute.This model is a software capability maturity assessment standard that has been promoted around the world,and it is used to guide the process improvement of software enterprises.Capability Maturity Model belongs to English of Science and Technology(EST)text,and taking it as translation material can improve the translator’s ability to translate EST texts.This practice is largely influenced by the functional equivalence theory proposed by Eugene Nida,an American translator and theorist.Contrary to formal equivalence,functional equivalence does not seek formal similarity between the source and target text,but the appropriate equivalence in contents of both source text and target text.Nida’s functional equivalence theory is aimed at enabling target language readers to have the same reading experience as the source language readers to the maximum extent.The author of this report analyzes and evaluates his translation methods and effectiveness from three aspects:the lexical level,the syntactic level and the textual level.It is found that functional equivalence at the lexical level can be achieved effectively through literal translation and speech conversion,to solve difficulties in translating technical terms,abbreviations,and nominalizations.At the syntactic level,functional equivalence can be achieved through voice conversion and split translation to solve difficulties in translating passive voices and long sentences.At the textual level,functional equivalence can be achieved through addition and cohesive devices so that difficulties in translating references and logical coherence could be solved.This translation report consists of five chapters.The first chapter is a brief introduction to the source text and the significance of the report.The second chapter introduces the functional equivalence theory and its application.The third chapter describes translation procedures,including preparation,use of tools,and quality assurance of translation.The fourth chapter is case analysis guided by functional equivalence theory.The fifth chapter is a conclusion,which includes the summary and limitations in the translation process.