DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF COMMENTARIES AND EDITORIALS ON THE SAIGON TIMES OF THIRD – YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT

Tài liệu đề cập đến lí thuyết về khái niệm, quy trình, kỹ năng biên dịch. Đặc điểm và khó khăn khi biên dịch các bài bình luận, xã luận trên trang The Saigon Times. Đề xuất các giải pháp giúp sinh viên và người học khắc phục, cải thiện và nâng cao kĩ năng biên dịch.

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH

- -

GRADUATION PAPER

DIFFICULTIES IN ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

OF COMMENTARIES AND EDITORIALS ON THE SAIGON

TIMES OF THIRD – YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT

UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, 2021

ABSTRACT

English is the most popular language in the world There are 146 countries use English and Vietnam as well Vietnam is one of the countries which use English as the second language and as a result, English has adopted as one of the most important subjects in many schools Importantly, the four English skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing are essential for all English learners of all ages In addition, a high skill that also plays a crucial role is translation People use translation

to exchange information, news, culture, literature, science, art, economy, commerce and many other fields Translation also facilitates communication and broadens the horizons of people from different cultures Recognizing the importance of translation, the subject of translation has become a basic subject for students of the English Faculty at Thuongmai University in particular and universities in general

In fact, translation is an advanced skill, so it is not an easy subject for learners to learn and practice Therefore, as a student of English majored at Thuongmai University, after 4 years of learning and having experienced a wide range of difficulties in studying translation the researcher decided to choose the research topic “Difficulties

in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries and editorial on the Saigon Times of third-years English majored students at Thuongmai University” This study aims primarily at showing the reasons and the common difficulties encountered by students of the English majored Based on these difficulties, the researcher also proposes some solutions with the hope of helping students gain experience to improve and enhance their translation skills

The real data is collected by the researcher through three data collection instruments: questionnaires, translation exercises and interviews The research results show the appreciation of the importance of English majoring students' translation skills and the need to improve this skill

The researcher hopes that the new findings of the study will be useful not only for students majoring in English at the Thuongmai University, but also for all students and people who have a great interest in learning English

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the time from the beginning of the graduation paper to the present, I have received directly or indirectly the attention, advice and help of my supervisor, teachers and friends around

First of all, I would like to express my deepest thank to my supervisor Nguyen Thi Xuan Phuong, M.A for her constructive, advice, comments, suggestions, assistance

as well as motivation and enthusiasm which were decisive factors to the completion

of my study

I also would like to send my gratitude towards all lecturers at Thuongmai University for their efforts and dedication to teaching valuable knowledge and conveying experience

Last but not least, I would like to take the opportunities to send my appreciation for the cooperation from my friend and participants who gave support to help me conduct the surveys Thanks to their help, my graduation paper could be completed and successful

During the time of doing the graduation paper, I had some shortcomings and my knowledge was still limited Therefore, I would like to receive more comments and advise from my supervisor and teachers

Thank you sincerely!

Hanoi, 24th December, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES, DIAGRAMS AND FIGURES vii

TABLES AND DIAGRAMS vii

FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Previous studies 2

1.3 Aims of the study 6

1.4 Research Subjects 6

1.5 Scope of the study 7

1.6 Research methodology 8

1.7 Organization 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 11

2.1 Overview of English-Vietnamese translation 11

2.1.1 General introduction 11

2.1.2 Definition of translation 11

2.1.2 Process of translation 11

2.2 Translation methods 12

2.2.1 Word-for-word translation 13

2.2.2 Literal translation 13

2.2.3 Faithful translation 14

2.2.4 Semantic translation 14

2.2.5 Adaptation 14

2.2.6 Free translation 15

2.2.7 Idiomatic translation 15

2.2.8 Communicative translation 15

2.3 Difficulties in translation 16

2.3.1 Title translation 16

2.3.2 Proper name translation 17

2.3.3 Acronym translation 17

2.3.4 Terminology translation 17

2.3.5 Choosing words that appropriate the style and context 17

2.3.6 Cultural differences between regions and countries 18

2.4 Overview of Editorials and Commentaries 18

2.4.1 Editorials 18

2.4.2 Commentaries 18

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 20

3.1 Description of the Respondents 20

3.2 Results from the survey questionnaires 20

3.2.1 Students’ attitude towards translation skills 20

3.2.2 Discovery of common Translation difficulties made by English majored students at Thuongmai University 23

3.2.3 Reasons and suggested solutions for the students 28

3.3 Translation exercises 30

3.4 Results from the interviews 34

3.4.1 Interview question 1……… 34

3.4.2 Interview question 2……… 35

3.5 Summary 36

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 37

4.1 Limitations 37

4.2 Recommendations 37

4.2.1 For Thuongmai University and English Faculty 37

4.2.2 For lecturers 38

4.2.3 For students 38

4.2.4 For further studies 40

CONCLUSION 41

REFERENCES i

APPENDICES iii

APPENDIX 1: Questionnaires iii

APPENDIX 2: Translation exercises……… vi

APPENDIX 2: Interview questions vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

WHO World Health Organization Tổ chức y tế thế giới

WTO World Trade Organization Tổ chức mậu dịch quốc tế GDP Gross Domestic Product Tổng sản phẩm quốc nội

LIST OF TABLES, DIAGRAMS AND FIGURES

TABLES AND DIAGRAMS

Table 3.1: The number of students encounter difficulties in the first

Figure 3.3: The amount of time the students spend on practicing

Figure 3.5: Student’ assessment of the difficulty in the translation of

Figure 3.6: Frequency of encountering difficulties when translating

Figure 3.7: The way students deal with new words or phrases when

Figure 3.11: Causes affecting on translating commentaries and editorials

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale

English has evolved over a period of more than 1,400 years, becoming the third largest language after Chinese and Spanish However, it is the most popular and the most learned "second language" in the world According to Edward Finnegan,

“Though Chinese is spoken by a greater number of people, English is spoken around the globe and has wider dispersion than any other language" (1989) Some linguists

have conceived of the "extended reach of English is undeniable and unstoppable” (Fishman, 2000) They even define that “English is the most important language in

the world” (2005)

Nowadays, when international integration takes place strongly, English shows its position and importance are clearer than ever English is becoming a global language and has all aspects of life such as economy, politics, culture, society, education, medicine, science, and technology, etc

In the global climate, the importance of English cannot be denied and ignored Education today focuses on teaching English to all levels with the goal of making English a compulsory subject in the educational program system That is the reason why most schools from kindergarten to high school now teach in English Especially universities and colleges also have regulations on English certificates for graduates such as TOEIC, IELTS, TOEFT, B1, C1, etc In the business environment, English

is obviously a crucial language Therefore, companies often prioritize recruiting students with English ability along with required academic results Realizing the great advantages and prospects that English brings such as easy access to the world, broadening knowledge, and especially finding a good job, many students are attracted and choose these language majors every year

In English Faculty at Thuongmai University, besides the 4 basic skills listening, reading, speaking, writing, students are trained in advanced majors and one of them

is Translation and students mainly practice translating English-Vietnamese commentaries and editorials on The Saigon Times However, Translation is an advanced subject that requires a lot of skills, and students have never studied in high

school It can be said that this seems to be a new subject, many students have not adapted and have the right skills and methods, leading to many difficulties and bad results Besides, the difficulty in translating may be affected by the students' attitude, positivity, and hard work

After nearly 4 years of pursuing this major, I have noticed that the students faced a lot of difficulties in their translation learning process In practice, translation exercises, and tests, they encounter many obstacles such as technical jargon, complex sentence structure, inappropriate style, etc These causes lead to undesirable results for many students While the requirements for English standards in the recruitment

of the companies are very high, especially foreign companies Many English specialized students face a lot of pressure when looking for a job because of the strict requirements From the reality mentioned, students can consider the seriousness of having “difficulty in translation” and seriously evaluate their skills Thereby, each individual has more motivation to improve their translation ability, promote their career opportunities in the future

Last but not least, the study of “Difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of

commentaries and editorials on The Saigon times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University” will help researchers to review, evaluate,

accumulate valuable knowledge and find out the difficulties that the researcher has experienced At the same time, the researcher also mentioned some solutions with the hope that students can solve difficulties to improve and improve translation skills

1.2 Previous studies

In an effort to find relevant research papers, I discovered a few studies that basically identified difficulties in the translation process, thereby suggesting solutions to help learners improve and improve this skill Similarly, these studies are also useful references for readers Based on the reputation and their experience in teaching and research of the author, I decided to include these references in my graduation paper

 The first article was named “Translation problems and difficulties in applied

translation processes” This study was conducted in 2016 by 3 authors Narcisa

SCHWARZ, Laura-Rebeca STIEGELBAUER, and Diana-Bianca HUSAR at Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Physical Education and Sports The

purpose of this article is to identify and analyze translation difficulties encountered

in the work and then to propose suitable translation strategies and implement processes to achieve accurate translation of the source text in Romanian Furthermore, this study focuses on identifying, classifying, and proposing solutions

to the problems that the translated source text contains

Based on the classification of model translation problems by Christiane North (1991: 158-160), 3 authors analyzed the specific translation problems of the source text with

a brief theoretical overview of each type of translation problem The results indicate main problems and difficulties in translation including Language problems, cultural problems, Textual problems, Pragmatic problems, Difficulties in understanding or comprehension and Linguistic difficulties The analysis of these issues allowed the researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the source text with particular translation difficulties and have the basis to recommend equivalent solutions

 The second study was named “A study on difficulties and strategies in English

- Vietnamese translation of advertising slogans” by author Phan Thi Van Anh in

2011 The author conducts a survey on the situation of English - Vietnamese

translation of advertising slogans of students at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Aims of the study include: providing vital knowledge and significant characteristics of the language in advertising slogans; finding out typical translating tendencies and difficulties that students deal with and proposing solutions and strategies to handle difficulties in translating advertising slogans and to improve translating process

The methods used in the study are Comparative and contrastive methods; Review of published related theories; Analysis and synthesis of selected data; Quantitative and qualitative methods By using these methods combined based on a comparison of different translations of advertising slogans, the author pointed out four factors that cause difficulties in English - Vietnamese translation of advertising slogans: the ability to preserve nuanced meaning, pun, neologism and cultural barrier Later on, the study proposes some technical solutions and translation strategies to help students solve these difficulties and improve this skill Moreover, the researcher also has found out two major translating tendencies: applying the English original slogans

and creatively translating them In addition, the researcher also demonstrates the main theoretical basis of the research related to the concept, process, method, equivalence

of translation

 The third study was named “Survey on translation errors of third-year

students at University of Languages and International Studies, VNU” This study was

conducted in 2017 by the author Do Thuy Hang In this study, the author conducted

a survey on the translation errors of third-year students at ULISH, VNU The purpose

of this study is to point out the causes of translation errors and make suggestions to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the next translation lessons

The author selected randomly 58 students from the Department of Korean Language and Culture The data of the study is their translations of 406 translation exercises from week 1 to week 7 This survey - based is on the translation analysis model of Munoz (2012) & Keshavarz (1993) combining the translation error analysis framework of El Zeini (1994) and the translation error analysis framework of Nguyen Thi Minh Tam et al (2017) With quantitative and qualitative analysis, the author showed the possibility of students getting translation errors by using percentage graphs and analyzing the causes of errors Based on the analysis of translation errors according to 2 factors including content and form, the author points out the most common translation errors that students encounter such as word choice, grammar, style, and pragmatics From the collected results, the author made some pedagogical proposals and solutions intending to improving the quality of teaching and learning translation skills for teachers and students

 The fourth study was named “Khó khăn trong việc học Phiên dịch của sinh

viên chuyên ngành Quan hệ quốc tế” by Hien Le This study carried out a survey on

the current situation of studying the translation of English-majored students at Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam to identify some common problems in the English – Vietnamese translation process in the context of international relations The purpose

of this study is to find and explain these difficulties, and at the same time, provide some methods to help students learn Translation well and gain experience in the future working process

For the purpose of discovering the result, the researcher selected 55 students from 2 classes TA39A and TA39B of the English department at Diplomatic Academy of

Vietnam and collect data by questionnaires and translation exercises After collecting

data, the researcher used two methods: qualitative method to analyze, evaluate and compare the theory and practice of learning translation; quantitative method to convert data to percentage histogram and determine habits of students when

translating The research process of author Hien Le is based on “Research methods

in language learning” (Nunan, 1992) The results of the study have shown that there

are 3 main factors affecting the translation of students: differences in language structure, long sentences and cultural differences, and then propose solutions to solve the problems In addition, the researcher mentions the theory of translation include: definition, basic translation techniques, types of translation and translation process

 The fifth study was named “Solutions for some noticeable problems in the

translation of English – Vietnamese and Vietnamese – English tourism management documents” by author Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong in 2017 The aim of this study is to

find out the most outstanding obstacles in the process of translating necessary tourism management documents Moreover, some useful and effective solutions are proposed

to assist the translator to avoid errors and effectively solve all possible problems This study was conducted based on the evaluation of the translation of 50 pages of Vietnamese tourism management documents in English and 50 pages in Vietnamese The documents of the source language and translation are attached in the appendix of this study The data of this study was secondary data and plays a crucial role for researchers to collect and analyze data for research After collecting data, the researcher used qualitative method to analyze and evaluate carefully the most common problems and difficulties encountered by translators The research process

of author Nguyen Thi Thu Phương is based on knowledge from the EAP writing subject, academic journals and previous researches of scholars

The results of the study have shown that these problems of translation tourism management documents are divided into two main types in terms of linguistic problems and non-linguistic problems These two aspects contain many small internal problems that negatively affect the compilation process After that, the author

recommended some effective solutions to help translators eliminate errors and avoid many problems when translating tourism management documents Moreover, the study also strengthens the basic knowledge of compilation for readers by providing theories, translation methods, problems of translation

The advantage of this research is the contribution of a complete and clear glossary that provides the most accurate translated versions of some difficult terminologies and phrases and acts as an index to help readers find words quickly

The above studies are all valuable references, providing useful information for researchers and readers Although there has not been a comprehensive study of all aspects of translation, they are also really reliable and valuable resources

1.3 Aims of the study

The thesis is conducted to seek the Difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation

of commentaries and editorials on The Saigon times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University Firstly, the researcher will mention the basic knowledge of translation subject, then discover the practical difficulties encountered

by students Finally, the researcher will propose some practical solutions to solve the problem to help students improve their translation skills

More specifically, the study focus on answering 2 questions:

 What are the difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries and

editorials on The Saigon times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University?

 How to help students improve their translation skills?

1.4 Research Subjects

In this study, the researcher will describe some information on the subjects being studied These subjects are difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries and editorials on The Saigon times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University The translation is considered an advanced English technique so students of the English department of Thuongmai University in particular and learners of translation in general have to encounter many difficulties in the process of studying and practicing translation It can be said that translation is a new subject, many students have not adapted or students have not cultivated the

necessary knowledge However, many objective reasons from the nature and characteristics of translation hinder students Therefore, the researcher chooses this object to study and analyze difficulties in translation More detailed is the study of difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries and editorials on The Saigon times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University This research helps teachers and students identify the difficulties that English major students at the Thuongmai University often encounter, thereby having appropriate strategies to limit the difficulties and improve the quality of English teaching

In this section, the researchers selected randomly 40 participants who were students

of the English department, Thuongmai University and studied translation subjects The purpose of this random selection is to help the researcher have an objective view and increase the accuracy of the study

1.5 Scope of the study

With the title “Difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries

and editorials on The Saigon Times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University”, this idea comes from the observation and personal

experience of the researcher after the translation course of the Department of English

at Thuongmai University The thesis researches the reality of difficulties in translation of students at Thuowngmai University The study will focus on analyzing the most basic knowledge of the translation, and find out the most common difficulties that students encounter after collecting information and data from questionnaires, translation exercises and interviews In addition, the researcher can identify the causes that lead to students encountering those difficulties, thereby suggesting some solutions for student interviews

In this section, the contents of the questionnaires, exercises and interviews were limited to issues related to difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries and editorials on The Saigon Times Therefore, the study does not cover all issues related to this skill Second, the interview is aimed only at third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University and problems related to difficulties in translation More specifically, the researcher will focus on common

problems such as translating title, translating proper name, translating acronym, translating terminology, choosing appropriate words, cultural differences

Finally, due to time and knowledge limitations, the researcher can only focus on discovering the most common difficulties encountered by students of the English department of Thuongmai University and cannot delve into all aspects of translation Similarly, the study also only focuses on the most basic knowledge of the Translation module The researcher hopes that this study will be useful to students of Thuongmai exercises University in particular (Difficulties in English – Vietnamese translation of commentaries and editorials on The Saigon Times), students of other universities in general and all those who are having difficulty in translation

1.6 Research methodology

This study carried out a survey on the current situation of translating commentaries and editorials on The Saigon Times The researcher selected randomly forty participants They are third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University The reason for choosing this sample is that the translation exercises of the students of the English department are mainly quoted from the commentaries and editorials of The Saigon Times Moreover, this random selection gives the research the most objective and accurate results

In the process of conducting the research, the researcher used three methods are questionnaires, translation exercises and interviews

Firstly, the researcher created a questionnaire consisting of 12 questions, divided into

3 parts: Students’ attitude, Common Translation difficulties and Reasons & suggested solutions The content of the questionnaire accurately reflects the current situation of English – Vietnamese translation of comments and editorials on The Saigon Times

of students The questions are designed to help the researcher get the results objectively and collect information easily and accurately Each question in the questionnaire has options for participants to choose the answer, and these choices are the basis for the researcher to discover the causes and propose the solutions

Secondly, the researcher will provide 2 translating exercises for the participants to translate These 2 exercises are excerpted from commentaries and editorials in The Saigon Times The content of the first article is the situation of ecommerce logistics

in Vietnam The content of the second article is labor shortages during the covid pandemic

Finally, the researcher used a method of interviewing The number of people interviewed is 4 and each person will be asked 2 same questions The content of the first question is related to the most difficult problems that the students have to face and from there, the second question will draw the most optimal solution to overcome those difficulties Conducting interviews to reinforce the accuracy of the questionnaire and at the same time evaluate the students' attitude to the problem as well as acknowledges the contributions to improve translation skills

After collecting data from questionnaires, translation exercises and interviews, the researcher used qualitative method to analyze and compare the theory and practice of learning translation, quantitative method to convert data to percentage histogram and determine difficulties of students when translating Microsoft Office Excel was used

to assist the researcher in processing the data and excluding inappropriate answers The calculation results will be presented as a percentage chart Based on these data and results collected, the researcher has a basis to make a specific and accurate assessment of the research

1.7 Organization

The study is divided into 4 chapters as below:

 Chapter 1: Overview of the study

This chapter provides an overview of the research, including 7 parts: rationale, previous studies, research objectives, research subjects, the scope of research, research methodology and research organization

 Chapter 2: Literature review

This chapter provides basic theories related to the research

 Chapter 3: Research findings

This chapter presents the results of the study, the data collected will be displayed and analyzed

 Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions

This chapter presents limitations and difficulties in the research, and makes suggestions for further research

The study has 7 subsections including table of contents; list of abbreviations; list of tables, diagram and figure; summary; conclusions; references and appendices

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of English-Vietnamese translation

2.1.1 General introduction

The translation is an advanced skill and is relatively difficult for student when learning English To provide an overview of the Translation subject, chapter 2 deals with the theory, knowledge and basic skills of translation Thereby creating a foundation to explain the difficulties students of the English department of Thuongmai University in particular and English learners in general encounter when translating Because the knowledge of translation is quite extensive, the researcher only provides the knowledge that is suitable for the purpose of the study

2.1.2 Definition of translation

Each linguist expert has a different definition of translation

Newmark (1991: 27) defines translation very succinctly and briefly, “Translation is

the act of transferring the meaning of a stretch or a unit of language, the whole or a part, from one language to another”

According to Hartmann & Stork (1972), “Translation is the replacement of a

representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in

a second language”

In the opinion of Nida and Taber (1982), “Translating consists in reproducing in the

receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message”

These two experts have stated more clearly that translation is closely related to issues

of language, meaning and equivalence

The two terms commonly used in translation are source language and target language

In English – Vietnamese translation, English is the source language, Vietnamese is the target language and vice versa An act of translating is an act of reproducing the meaning of the source language text into that of the target language text

2.1.2 Process of translation

According to Mr Nguyen Quoc Hung, former Director of Distance Education Center

of Hanoi University, in “Hướng dẫn kĩ thuật dịch Anh – Việt (English – Vietnamese

Translation Techniques)” (2005), translators need to take 6 main steps to translate

sentences, paragraphs or text:

 Step 1: Research and analyze documents

When receiving the document to be translated, the translator needs to skim it to grasp the main content of the original text, identify the topic, study the specialization of the document The study and analysis of the document to clearly determine which documents belong to any field in order to translate accurately and ensure the quality

of the translation

 Step 2: Make a translation plan

After having clearly defined the specialty of the translation, the translator needs to have a detailed plan for the translation to achieve the highest accuracy, shorten the translation time and at the same time do not omit details or information The clearer the plan, the more effective the translation will be

 Step 3: Identify new words, terms and sentence patterns

The purpose of this step is to analyze and study new words, difficult words, terminology, idioms, complex sentence patterns to understand and have translated method them to accurate the content of the whole text

 Step 4: Translation activities

Based on the established plan, the translator proceeds to translate each sentence, word, and paragraph in the most accurate and detailed way The translation must stick

to the original text, avoid transcribing, creating, adding or subtracting to change the content of the source language

 Step 5: Check and edit

The translator checks and unifies the wording and format to ensure the translation quality according to the standards Edit and revise the words and sentences in the translation so that the content and style are suitable for the reader's speech and culture

a translation diagram with 8 translation methods: Word-for-word translation, Literal

translation, Free translation, Faithful translation, Idiomatic translation, Semantic translation, Communicative translation and Adaption

2.2.1 Word-for-word translation

Word-for-word translation is a method of directly translating lexical units The translator will convert source language to target language by sequentially translating

"word to word" and "sentence to sentence" The meaning of words and sentences will

be separated regardless of the difference in word order, grammar, context and style

of the two texts This method is only effective when both source and target sentences have similarities in sentence structure between the two languages

With Word-for-word translation, translating each unit of a word and sentence will keep the word order intact and the word culture is translated literally However, the translator only focuses mainly on the source language, ignoring the grammar, context, style and the similarity in sentence structure between the two languages This makes the words of translation out of context, non-grammatical even readers misunderstand what the original text refers to

2.2.2 Literal translation

With Literal translation, the grammatical structure of the source language will be converted to the closest structure of the target language, but the vocabulary is translated in the most common sense, the context is separated but still closely follows the literal meaning This method is only effective when both source and target sentences have parallel sentence structures The literal translation is used during pre-translation to identify the problem

Literal translation method has two features that are quite similar to the Word for word method: words translated singly out of context and words order is almost preserved However, this method does not ignore the context and style of the source and target languages, grammar converted to ‘nearest’ TL equivalent so the accuracy of the translation is higher and it is also easier to be accepted by the readers than Word-for-word translation method

2.2.3 Faithful translation

With Faithful translation, the translation is still relatively close to the original in terms

of grammatical structure to text structure Translators attempt to reproduce contextual meaning accurately within the constraints and limitations of grammatical structure and translation language Cultural words are transferred to the translation intact The feature of Faithful translation method is words translated in context but uncompromising to the target language In terms of form, the translation still contains the grammatical structures of the original source language Grammatical and lexical

‘abnormality’ preserved In addition, cultural words are preserved from the original text to translation

2.2.4 Semantic translation

The translation is almost unconstrained by source language, so it is much closer to the target language than other translations belonging to the semantic group It contains the full meaning of the original, including the meaning that creates the aesthetic value The translation is aimed at readers in the target language, so the style

is smoother and more fluent, less rigid because it depends on the grammatical rules

of the original text The translation also accepts the creations of translators

Unlike the Faithful translation, Semantic translation method is taking into account the aesthetic value of the source language text Translator emphasis on naturalness and flexibility Cultural words are also converted into neutral equivalence in the target language

2.2.5 Adaptation

Adaptation translation is the freest method in the 8 translation methods The translators only keep the theme, context characters in the original text and replace or find culturally equivalent expressions in the source language with content that is culturally appropriate for the target language This creates a friendly, familiar and comprehensive translation for the reader This method is a form of rewriting the original text in a translated language, mainly used for the translation of poetry, songs, and plays

Adaptation translation method is the freest form of translation and more of target language or culture-based interpretation of source language than a translation

2.2.6 Free translation

With Free translation, the translator will break free from the constraints of the source language and use the translated language to express the meaning of the source language in a natural way and in accordance with the context and culture of the target language This method is used to remake the message of the original text with many creations of the translated language Lexical meanings are just bases for semantic analysis and finding messages to translate The application of this method is most accurate for most sentences with complex structures and words especially used for documents of informational genres such as conversations, advertisements This is considered a fairly common translation and also requires the highest foreign language proficiency

In Free translation method, the translator focuses on the content and conveying messages rather than the form and expresses the same content but different grammatical structure Translation is sometimes not at the interlanguage level but at the intercultural level Even translated text is created without the style and appearance

of the original text

2.2.7 Idiomatic translation

With Idiomatic translation, the translator translates ordinary information in the source language into idiomatic information in the target language The translation contains many oral expressions and idioms that the original text does not have The translation

is vivid, smooth, natural and close to the reader in the translated language

The idiom translation reproduces the message of the original text by using idioms and colloquialisms that the source text doesn't have However, this method tends to distort the nuances of meaning using idioms and colloquialisms

2.2.8 Communicative translation

Communicative translation is a translation method in which the translator accurately translates the contextual meaning of the original, creates a translation with acceptable content and form and makes it easy for the reader to understand Cultural elements in the original text are replaced by equivalent others in the translated text This method

is mainly aimed at the message value of the sentence to ensure the "communication"

of the translation and is used to translate texts in the information genre

With Communicative translation method, the translator is reproducing exactly message of the text source language that is appropriate for the content and appropriate for the context, emphasizing naturalness and acceptability for the reader of the text and prioritizing the effectiveness of the message being communicated The target language text accurately displays the contextual meaning of the source language text

to make it easily comprehensible to target language readers

2.3 Difficulties in translation

In the study "Difficulty in learning Translation for students majoring in International Relations at Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam " by Hien Le, the author pointed out the 6 main difficulties in the translation process of students

2.3.1 Title translation

In English, there are titles that directly express the meaning of the text, but some abstract titles make it possible for the translator to understand after reading the entire text In some special cases, titles are incomplete sentences like a noun phrase without any verbs This causes ambiguity for the translator

Second, not understanding the rules for writing English titles is also a barrier in the translation process To translate the title into English, the translator must know the rules of grammar and semantics to understand the content of the article and the author's intentions These rules include:

- Remove articles (a, an, the, etc.), demonstrative pronouns (this, that, etc.), possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, etc.)

 Example:

These Vietnam has firstly met American

=> First meeting for Vietnam and American

- Remove "to be" in passive and continuous sentences

 Example:

The Minister of health is looking at ways to ways to prevent the pandemic

=> The Minister of health’ looking at ways to prevent the pandemic

- Remove "to have" in perfect tense sentences

• Example:

The President has announced a celebration

=> President announce celebration

- Change the tense of the title

2.3.2 Proper name translation

Proper names are often inconsistent and most of them cannot be translated In some cases, the proper name will be preserved, transcribed or accept translated names that are familiar to the target language

 Example:

Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison => Albert Einstein và Thomas Edison

Jasmine rice => Gạo thơm

2.3.3 Acronym translation

The translation of acronyms requires absolute accuracy Translators need to have extensive skills and knowledge, and supplement the explanation for the reader with new words

Acronyms are divided into three types:

- Abbreviation of the proper name (WHO, WTO)

- Abbreviation of convention name (e.g.)

- Abbreviation of term name (GDP, EVFTA)

2.3.4 Terminology translation

Professional knowledge is one of the mandatory criteria for the translation of terminology These are difficult, complex and technical words Text often contains a lot of terms The translator has to look up each term, even each phrase, each word, which is both time-consuming, and sometimes the translation is still wrong

 Example:

Auction-type pricing => Định giá trên cơ sở đấu giá

Break-even analysis => Phân tích hoà vốn

Field hospital => Bệnh viện dã chiến

2.3.5 Choosing words that appropriate the style and context

This issue directly affects the translation process Translators must choose appropriate words and be close to the style and context of the target language to ensure formal equivalence and accurately reflect semantic nuances

 Example:

The key to being good at English is to study and practice every day

The word “Key” is polysemy The meanings of this word include: chìa khóa, một điều cần thiết, phím trên máy tính” However, in this case, the translator relies on the context to choose the second meaning of the word "Key" – “một điều cần thiết” The key to being good at English is to study and practice every day

=> Điều cần thiết để giỏi tiếng Anh là học hỏi và luyện tập hằng ngày

2.3.6 Cultural differences between regions and countries

Each country has a specific characteristic Differences in culture, thinking and standpoint directly affect language the translation process If the translator does not pay attention to cultural factors, it can cause ambiguity and confusion for the reader This is the reason for translators have extensive knowledge of the culture of both source language and target language to get an accurate translation and avoid confusion even show respect for that culture

2.4 Overview of Editorials and Commentaries

2.4.1 Editorials

According to the article “Lần theo dòng sách cũ” by author Nguyen Bui Khiem:

“Editorial is the most important article in a newspaper and expresses the author's stance and opinion on important topical issues”

Editorials are ordinary essays However, it also has some special characteristics In terms of meaning, the editorial clearly states the stance, viewpoint, and expression guidelines and policies of the organizations or countries The editorial style is neat, sharp, succinct, without vulgar jokes However, there are ironic and ironic elements Sentences and paragraphs are short, concise, organized and closely linked

2.4.2 Commentaries

According to the Vietnamese-language encyclopedias: "Commentary is the analysis and evaluation of an issue such as politics, economy, culture, society, technology mass media to propagate, disseminate and persuade readers It mainly applies intelligence and logical thinking to analyze and evaluate Commentary is the means

of the press in particular and the mass media in general when performing the function

of disseminating information"

The commentary creates an overall picture of a certain issue in social life It requires examining those events and phenomena in relation in order to draw general conclusions that guide public perception and action The structure of commentaries

is written in the inductive method and each item is closely linked and dependent on each other

The author can use many different forms and methods such as comparison, contrast, systematization to highlight the subject of the articles The requirements for the style

of commentaries are consistent, clear, logical and emotional The capacity of the commentaries must be short, concise, sentences and paragraphs are closely linked

In short, to have good commentaries and editorials, the writer and translator need to ensure the following requirements such as consistent and coherent style, Special and expressive words, standard and logical grammar, smooth and understandable expression and closely linked structure

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 3.1 Description of the Respondents

Before presenting the survey results of the questionnaires, compilation exercises, and interviews, the researcher summarizes some of the participants' information as

described below The research topic is Difficulties in English – Vietnamese

translation of commentaries and editorials on The Saigon times of third-year English majored students at Thuongmai University, participants were selected randomly

including students of the English department, Thuongmai University and studied translation subject of courses K55N This gives the research the most objective and accurate results

As students majoring in English, all participants had a certain background in English

A common feature of this group is limited translation skills This factor satisfies the topic of the study

3.2 Results from the survey questionnaires

3.2.1 Students’ attitude towards translation skills

a) “Students’ attitude towards the importance of Translation skills”

Because the participants are English students and have had access to English for many years, they have the right perception and positive attitude towards learning English This is a crucial factor in helping students have the right motivation to pursue translation subject

Question 1: What do you think about the importance of Translation?

Figure 3.1: Students’ attitude towards the importance of Translation skills