khảo sát các kỹ thuật dạy môn biên dịch tại khoa tiếng anh trường đại học tây nguyên

6 ABSTRACT This project aims to investigate the classroom techniques currently used for teaching translation and the teachers and students’ views on the effectiveness of those technique

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-HOANG KHANH BAO

EXPLORING CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT AT TAY NGUYEN

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HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

HUE, 2010

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere

Author Hoang Khanh Bao

It is an honor for me to extend my special thanks to all the staff, especially, the teaching staff at Hue College of Foreign Languages Without their help and encouragement, I would not have accomplished my thesis

My special thanks would also go to the teachers and students who have participated in this project Without their assistance, I would not have been able to collect valuable data for the project

I owe deeply my family, especially my parents, my wife, and my brother, whose continuous encouragement, support, and love has helped me pass through insurmountable difficulties during my project

Finally, I would like to show my gratitude to all my classmates whose

encouragement and support have helped lift up my spirits during the time I

conducted this study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1 Background of the Study 7

1.2 Aims of the study 10

1.3 Scope of the study 10

1.4 Significance of the study 10

1.5 Structure of the study 10

2.1 Introduction 12

2.2 Background: Language students and the translation market 12

2.3 Issues on translator training 16

SUBCOVER PAGE ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

LIST OF TABLES 4

LIST OF FIGURES 5

ABSTRACT 6

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 7

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 12

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2.3.1 Today’s translators’ required knowledge and skills 16

2.3.2 Current teaching methods and techniques used for teaching translation 18 2.3.3 Translation teaching in Vietnam 22

2.4 Chapter summary 24

3.1 Introduction 25

3.2 Research site 25

3.3 Research approach 25

3.4 Research methods 26

3.4.1 Classroom observations 26

3.4.2 Interviews 27

3.5 Participants 27

3.6 Data analysis 28

3.7 Conclusion 28

4.1 Introduction 29

4.2 Findings and discussions 29

4.2.1 Classroom techniques currently used by teachers in translation class 29

4.2.1.1 Teaching materials 29

4.2.1.2 Teaching techniques and methods 34

4.2.1.2.1 Classroom arrangement 34

4.2.1.2.2 Activities students involved 36

4.2.1.2.3 Teachers and students’ roles 38

4.2.2 Teachers’ and students’ views on the current classroom techniques 40

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 25

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29

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4.2.2.1 Teachers’ knowledge about the social requirements of today

translation profession 40

4.2.2.2 Teachers’ views on the current classroom techniques 42

4.2.2.3 Students’ knowledge about the social requirements of today translation profession 43

4.2.2.4 Students’ views on the current classroom techniques 43

4.3 Chapter conclusion 46

5.1 Introduction 48

5.2 Summary of findings 48

5.2.1 Classroom techniques currently used by translation teachers at Tay Nguyen University 48

5.2.2 Teachers’ and students views on the current classroom techniques 50

5.3 Suggestions 51

5.3.1 For teachers 51

5.3.2 For students 52

5.3.3 For administrators 53

5.3.4 For future researcher 54

5.4 Conclusion 55

APPENDICES CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 48

REFERENCES 57

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Excerpt from the Curriculum for BA in English 30 Table 4.2: Excerpt from translation course outline 31 Table 4.3: Summary of key findings 45

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ABSTRACT

This project aims to investigate the classroom techniques currently used for teaching translation and the teachers and students’ views on the effectiveness of those techniques at Tay Nguyen University

Qualitative ethnographic approach was used for this study The research methods consisted of classroom observations and follow-up interviews Observations of six translation class sessions taught by two teachers were conducted These observations were followed up by in-depth interview with the same teachers Additionally, interviews were conducted with eight students representing the student population in those classes

The results show that the translation teachers tend to employ traditional approach to teaching translation characterized by assigning translation tasks, then providing correction based on ready-made samples without developing students’ strategies for translation This model of teaching was viewed by both teachers and students as ineffective because it failed to prepare students with the necessary strategies and self-learning skills

Based on the findings, it is recommended that the teachers need to explore alternative methods for teaching translation, which could prove more useful The university leaders need to create and fund training events relating to translation teaching

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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

It is undeniable that translation plays a significant role in human communication It has been proved through the history that translation can be traced back to the year

3000 BC (Newmark, 1988) and the need for it increases day by day due to the social development and the demand for mutual understanding between peoples in the world It has recently become so effervescent an activity that the twentieth century has been called the “age of translation” (Jumpelt, as cited in Newmark, 1988) or

“reproduction” (Benjamin, as cited in Newmark, 1988) Furthermore, the globalization entails an increasing demand for translations thanks to the increase in international relationship, trade, and tourism According to Allied Business Intelligence, the revenue of the world market in translation was US$11 billion in

1999 and supposed to be worth US$20 billion in 2004 (Sprung, 2000) The European Commission even values translation market at over US$30 billion annually, and estimates its growing rate at 15 – 18 percent per year (Anobile, 2000)

In an attempt to depict the panorama of the world demand for translation in the research on Globalization and the Translation Industry in Saudi Arabia, Fatani (n.d) stated:

In fact, the world market in translation, already thought to be worth in excess of

£10 billion a year, barely satisfies a fraction of the demand created by a global economy

In Vietnam, the recent open-door policy and the integration into the World Trade Organisation have undoubtedly given impetus to the economic, political, cultural, and social exchange with foreign countries all over the world, which, as a consequence, has also created favourable opportunity for the development of the translation market It is estimated that of 600 recruiting advertisements there are about 15-20 seeking for translators and interpreters, three times higher than the

be trained”, the training program and methods need to gear students to knowledge and skills essential for their future profession as translators

In many countries in Europe, North America, and Australia, there have been professional training programs appropriate with the requirements of respective translation markets (Hoang, 2007) In parallel with the program, the training methodology has also shifted with the aim of providing students with knowledge of translation theories and processes, skills (such as documentation techniques, terminology, use of tools, computer resources, etc.), and areas of specializations for translators such as law, economics, medicine, etc.(Aula.int, 2005)

In Vietnam, although the translator training at undergraduate level has also been implemented in several colleges and universities as in Hue, Ho Chi Minh, and Hanoi, normally, translation is one of the subjects embedded in the undergraduate foreign language program of some other institutions and the teaching of translation still receives little attention In most institutions, translation teaching is taking place informally without either “clearly-defined curricular” (Gabr, 2001) or “proper training methodology” (Gabr, 2001) The amount of time spent on acquiring the knowledge and skills for translation is limited as it is used for linguistic and cultural aspects of the two languages (Thang, 2007) Of all the factors affecting translation teaching in Vietnam at present such as lack in materials and unsystematic syllabus design, traditional teaching method is also a problem worth considering (Thang, 2007)

The English Department at Tay Nguyen University started its training undergraduate in TESOL in 1996 However, translation teaching has recently been

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launched since the training of undergraduate in English language began in 2005 Beside the deficiency in materials, methodology is seen as the most problematic issue to teachers in the Department as most of them are young and inexperienced in translation as well as in translation teaching Currently, the translation teaching in the department based on the so-called “trial-error and arbitrary teaching methods” (Caminade and Pym, as cited in Aula.int, 2005)

From the above mentioned about translation teaching in Vietnam in general and at Tay Nguyen University in particular, it could be inferred that the teachers are unable to keep track with global changes of the market demand as well as training methodology As a result, the students will be unable to function as professional translators because they are encompassed by unauthentic and old materials and lagging teaching methods, thus are not well equipped with required knowledge and skills in accordance with the changing market demand

Despite the reality that a well-design and systematic curriculum is one of the key factors ensuring success in translator training, it is believed that appropriate teaching methods in which techniques employed for teaching the subject effectively also have no small contribution to taking shape of the required knowledge and skills for students’ future performance in translation

As a teacher of English with deep interest in translation, I believe that exploring classroom techniques currently used in translation classes can be a significant basis for the development of more effective techniques which then will contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning translation Inspired by this, I chose to conduct my research on current classroom techniques for teaching translation in English Department at Tay Nguyen University I hope my research will make some contribution to the improvement of teaching and learning translation at my university

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1.2 Aims of the study

This project seeks to investigate what classroom techniques are currently used in the translation classes at Tay Nguyen University and how effective these techniques are

in view of the teachers and students Based on the findings, suggestions are given for development of more effective techniques

This project particularly aims to answer the following questions:

1 What classroom techniques are currently used by teachers in translation classes at Tay Nguyen University?

2 How do the teachers view these techniques in terms of effectiveness?

3 How do the students view these techniques in terms of effectiveness?

4 What suggestions are given to develop more effective classroom techniques?

1.3 Scope of the study

This study was conducted in the English Department of Tay Nguyen University The data were thus necessarily limited in scope, and could not be generalized to other contexts

1.4 Significance of the study

The project helps gain information about what techniques were currently used for translation classes and how effective these techniques were in view of teachers and students On the basis of the findings, suggestions were given to develop more effective techniques to enhance the teaching and learning of translation in English

Department at Tay Nguyen University

1.5 Structure of the study

This study comprises five chapters:

Chapter I – Introduction – has provided some background that lead to the research The aim, scope, and significance of the study are also included in this section

Chapter II – Literature review - will present the theoretical background of the study

It focuses on the teaching of translation and its current issues

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Chapter III will describe the research methods employed in this study

Chapter IV – Findings – will present the data and discuss the results of the study Chapter V – Conclusion and Implication – will summarize the findings and offer some implications for teaching translation and suggestions for further research

2.2 Background: Language students and the translation market

Hiep and Huong (2007) note that taking into consideration the issues of the students and the market demands is of the decisive factors in translator training Therefore, an overview of what and how language students have been trained so far and to what extent the translation market needs are significant contributions to the study

According to Pym (2002), since the mid-twentieth century the world has witnessed the coming into being of series of translator training institutions in different areas of the world, notably, in Western Europe and North America As estimated by Caminade and Pym in 1995and Harris and Kingscott in 1997 (cited in Pym, 2002), the institutions might reach the number of approximately 300 In order to give the explanation to this phenomenon, Pym (2002) assumes that it is generally because of the economic exchange and the globalization which are animatedly taking place throughout the world However, Pym (2002) believes that the translator training programmes are “context-specific” as they are dependent on the specific situation of

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community translators and interpreters Thanks to the globalization, Asia, especially, the Pacific Rim has also been marked as a region of rapid development

in translator training (Pym, 1997)

Despite such worldwide effervescence, translator training is still believed to include several problematic issues Mossop (2003) argues that “translation schools are inherently limited in what they can do to prepare students for the workplace…” (Cited in Translator Training & the Real world: Concrete Suggestions for Bridging

http://accurapid.com/journal/23roundtablea.htm)

In fact, except for some famous institutions in Western Europe with their long history specialized in translation training, mostly the translator training programmes are offered in foreign language institutions – a model that can be seen in many of Asian countries and even in the Eastern Europe Thus, most of the time in the four

or five-year University level courses students are supposed to be provided with access to the consolidation of language skills, and promotion of the awareness of cultural differences Even in the United States, where the formal translation education has relatively been well-developed, the translator training programmes are also criticized to involve the students in acquiring the second language, and courses in translation theory are considered to provide students with knowledge of what and why the translators are doing (Pym, 1997)

Due to the open-door policy and the recent integration into the WTO, the political, socio-economic, and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and many foreign countries has been manifold This, as a result, leads to a great demand for translation The translator training, thus, has been shown much concern Typically, the translator training programmes have recently been integrated in many Vietnamese universities and colleges of foreign languages However, it is regrettable that most of the current translators in Vietnam are considered to lack in knowledge and skills to function as professional translators (Dong, 2007) The lack

in professionalism of Vietnamese translators can be claimed to be partly rooted

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from the training Referring to the training of translators, in the opening speech at the conference on “Translation – Interpretation and Translator – Interpreter Training” held in August 2007 Doctor Tran Van Phuoc – Rector of Hue College of Foreign Languages states:

Many companies wish to recruit university graduates who can offer good quality translation service However, it seems that many students graduating from our colleges and universities lack the necessary abilities and skills to function successfully as translators (In Huong, 2008, p 21)

Indeed, according to Hiep and Huong (2007), without mentioning translation skills, many Vietnamese foreign language students still face a lot of difficulties in language skills

As the training of translators should be targeted to the market, it is necessary that the current requirements of the translation market be taken into consideration

Apart from the knowledge of the two languages and cultures as well as that of the translation theory which are considered important for students to cope with translation jobs, whether these are sufficient for students to act as professional translators in present-day translation market is still in question The more the translation market demand grows in terms of the number of the services, the more professional it requires the translators to be in terms of knowledge and skills Practically, today translation market requires the translators not only to have a good command of both source and target language but also to “bring together knowledge and skills that belong to different disciplines, such as documentation, terminology, desktop publishing, as well as some knowledge of specialized texts” (Aula.int, 2005)

At present, the advances in information and communication technology has great influence on the nature of many professions including translation (Aula.int, 2005) According to Hiep and Huong (2007), almost the translation jobs today involve translators in making use of computer The fact that “most of translation companies

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nowadays require the translators to master computer-aided-translation softwares such as Trados or Wordfast, which help accelerating and ensuring the consistency in the translation process” (Hiep and Huong, 2007, p 75), is considered a life or death matter that guarantees the translators’ survival in the market Today, as the geographical limitation is no longer a big hindrance, “most translation services are offered and supplied through internet” (Aula.int, 2005) The appliance of internet does not simply take effect in exchanging texts between translators and their clients, but also provides translators with an abundant source of terminology which then facilitates the documentation It is believed that without such technological tools, translators may not earn any profits from today translation market (Aula.int, 2005; Pym, 2009)

Knowledge and skills in information technology are not all that today market requires Pym (1998) claims:

Enormous quantities of texts and terminologies are fairly remote from anything like common everyday language, seriously questioning political ideals of "all-purpose" languages This general phenomenon might be called "specialization" Such specialization has several effects on the demand for translations

Along with the socio-economic, cultural, and political exchange as well as the technological transfer, a wide variety of technical-specific texts that need to be translated, thus, emerge To meet such demand of the translation market, it is clear that translators are destined to acquired “knowledge of the material concerned” (Tytler, in Snell-Hornby, 1991)

It can be inferred from the above presented about the students’ background and the translation market that in order to improve the translator training situation it is utmost important to identify today translators’ required knowledge and skills

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2.3 Issues on translator training

2.3.1 Today’s translators’ required knowledge and skills

In addressing the problem of the professional translator of tomorrow, Snell-Hornby (1991) argues that today translators should act not only as “language specialists” but

“all-round experts” as well In order to gain such status it is vitally important that translators should have knowledge, competence, and skills that go hand in hand with the harsh requirements of the market As translation is both a science and a craft (Gabr, 2001), it certainly requires both theoretical and practical knowledge and skills relevant to both language and translation Yet in the scope of this research, the followings are considered key knowledge and skills that a translator should have in order to meet today translation market demand

Firstly, since translation is to deal with language, it is patent that “language competence is essential prerequisite for any translator’s work” (Snell-Hornby, 1991) In order to render meaning of a text from one language to another, translators must have good command of both source and target languages According to Razmjou (2004) language skills are of the factors that constitute a good translator She argues that beside the ability of writing smoothly and correctly in both source and target languages (as writing is the main job of a translator), receptive skills like reading and listening help improve the translator’s “language intuition and make him or her ready for actual translating”

Translation, yet, is not simply a linguistic activity which requires language competence only Since the work of translating takes place in a socio-cultural context, translation is undoubtedly a socio-cultural activity which calls for the translator’s a broad knowledge of the norms and conventions of both source and target cultures (Snell-Hornby, 1991, p11) Razmjou (2004) asserts that in order to better the quality of the translation to a great extent, translators must be aware of culture, customs, and social settings of the source and target language speakers Therefore, a professional translator is not only a bilingual but also a bicultural (if

be translated However, in order to solve the problem of terminology, Pym (1998) believes that it is not necessary that a translator should be highly trained specialist

in the fields concerned In this case Pym proposes that a good translator should have the “skills and contacts to find specific information when necessary” (Pym, 1998) Furthermore, the intrusion of information technology into translation has lately changed the translators’ working environment Scheft (1991) states:

Customers increasingly use communication equipment to provide their source language texts, and they expect the translation to be returned in a similar fashion with the text ready for publication and produced in the specified desktop publishing format (Scheft, 1991, p153)

In the discussion of the “challenges of being a translator on the Eve of 21st century” Houbert (1999) says that today translators have not only to nurture their language skills but also to keep abreast of the information technological advances He metaphorically compares:

These days, hanging around trade fairs and having to admit you are still without your own e-mail address will make you look like a would-be Formula 1 driver cruising around in a second-hand Lada (Houbert, 1999)

Accordingly, it is clear that computer literacy is a must for today professional translators as it not only facilitates the translators’ communication with geographically distant clients and provides them with access to various sources of information (Pym, 1998) but helps translators to make sure their products are compatible with the standards set by clients as well Particularly, those such as word processing, internet, email, computer-aided-translation softwares… would be

According to Searls-Ridge (2000), the knowledge and skills that ensure a translator’s success can briefly be synthesized as follows:

 Fluency in two languages and cultures.

 Good general education in addition to the prerequisite language skills.

 Above-average writing skill in target language

 Excellent computer skills and a willingness to continue to learn new technology.

 Good business skills including marketing, negotiating, pricing, and time management

 Getting along well with others.

 Knowing limitations in all of the area mentioned above.

http://www.seanet.com/~macki/pdf/MadeNotBorn.pdf)

Although it would take time and energy for a translator to gain those knowledge and skills through actual work, it is believed that a sound training programme and appropriate teaching methods surely help initiating the accumulation of the above knowledge and skills Therefore, taking into account the pedagogical issues on translation such as teaching methods and techniques is a good contribution to the preparation for students to function as professional translators

2.3.2 Current teaching methods and techniques used for teaching translation

Although the “veteran professionals”, who were mostly autodidactic, believes that translation can not be taught or learned (Newmark, 1991, p 137), Azizinezhad

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(2006) in responding to the inquiry of the teachability of translation confirms that translation is teachable and that the teacher in teaching translation should bear in mind the truth that he/she is teaching the two different things at the same time – language and translation

Today, the innovation of the educational philosophy is exerting considerable influence on the teaching and learning process The traditional classroom where the teacher, like a vessel of knowledge, pouring down his/her knowledge to the passive students is considered unlikely to create a favourable environment for acquiring practical knowledge and skills Accordingly, the translation pedagogy has also received more attention Translation teaching, however, like translation itself, is a new profession (Newmark, 1991); the quest for the most suitable methods and techniques used for teaching it is, at present, a matter of considerable concern

With respect to translation teaching, there exist different viewpoints on the methods and teaching techniques According to Azizinezhad (2006) in teaching translation for target language learners, it is essential for the teacher to employ the language teaching methods conforming with the methods used for teaching translation as a craft, thus, the techniques should be a sound combination between those for teaching language and those for teaching theoretical and practical aspects of translation Specifically, in parallel with nurturing students’ target language competence, it is required that the teacher should keep his/her students abreast of the skills and techniques for translating

In attempting to introduce a model approach to translation curriculum development targeted to the market and students’ needs, Gabr (2001) confirms that “a sound approach to translation teaching and training ought to employ methods that address theoretical aspects of translation as well as the practical aspects of translating” Seen as that way, the methods he proposed include “passive and active modes of instruction” namely lecture method, discussion, audiovisual methods, experiential methods, role-playing, and computer-based method which, according to Gabr, are considered to not only cover theoretical and practical aspects of translation but

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create favourable condition for both teaching and learning processes While such passive mode of instruction as lecture method tends to promote the teacher’s control and facilitates the conveying of “theories, concepts and procedures” (Gabr, 2001, 5 Selecting teaching method and techniques, para 3), but the role of student and learning process, it can be used in combination with other active modes of instruction, which encourage active learning Discussion, for instance, enhances the two-way interaction between teacher and students; audiovisual method, which provides students with more vivid and enjoyable learning environment by making use of technological tools such as overhead transparencies, films or audiotapes, etc, can be employed to present “dynamic and complex events” (Gabr, 2001, 5 Selecting teaching method and techniques, para 5) Other methods like experiential and role-playing can offer students opportunity for “self-discovery and learning” (Gabr, 2001, 5 Selecting teaching method and techniques, para 7), “analytical and problem-solving skills” (Gabr, 2001, 5 Selecting teaching method and techniques, para 6)

Since the teaching of “purely linguistic aspects” has been replaced by that of

“translation theory and processes, and instrumental skills” (Pym, 1998), the conventional teacher-centered classroom no longer conforms to conveying “the wide range of professional and interpersonal skills, knowledge and competences” that the “translator-in-training” needs to act like a professional translator in “an ever more demanding language mediation market” (Kiraly, 2003) It can be figured out that the methods and techniques used for teaching translation must not only reflect the “translating activities” (Newmark, 1991, p134) such as text analysis, word selection, or finding solutions to the problems of “linguistic and cultural untranslatability” (Gerding –Salas, 2000, The specific approaches, para 3); but help familiarize students with the translators’ real-life activities so that they are well-equipped and confident enough to enter the translation market

Based on the socio-constructivist theories, Kiraly (2003, p 51) proposes that:

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Essential features of social-constructivist educational experiences would include authentic practice in actual professional activities and a collaborative learning environment including not only interaction among students but also the extensive involvement of the students in every aspect of the teaching/learning process

From such a viewpoint, “authentic training” which is described as a combination of classroom instruction and practicum in professional environment where students are exposed to authentic translation materials, activities, and procedures is currently referred to as a new approach to translator education (Hiep and Huong, 2007) In accordance with this approach, the teacher, instead of playing the role of the knowledge distributor, now acts as “a guide or assistant who helps move students from the periphery of the community of the professional translators into the position

of full membership of that community” (Kiraly, 2003, p 29) by providing students with a collaborative learning environment and encouraging them to build up their own knowledge, skills and experience through participating in actual professional activities This type of translation teaching can be illustrated as follows:

Figure 2.1: Socio-constructivist Classroom

Social-constructivist classroom (Kiraly, 2003)

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It can be seen clearly that this translation classroom is not simply a simulation of the real world of professional translators, but move students into the authentic translation environment where students are exposed to the interaction with people from both inside and outside the classroom, learning by acting as real translators and “drawing on the expertise of the teacher” (Kiraly, 2003, p 30) and collecting necessary information from other “human resources” (Kiraly, 2003, p 30) such as clients, author, and experts relevant to the translation assignments

It would be too early to jump to conclusions about the current teaching methods and techniques used for teaching translation basing on the above mentioned However, it has revealed a reality that for the sake of shaping the would-be-translators’ knowledge and skills, translation teaching necessitates the employment of methods that help simulating professional translators’ activities Embedded in such methods, techniques used for teaching translation are also diversified in favor of classroom activities such as teamwork, group work, collaboration rather than those used in one-way teacher-students interaction classroom

2.3.3 Translation teaching in Vietnam

Together with the international integration and the socio-economic development, the demands for translation in Vietnam sharply increase Nonetheless, translation training in Vietnam still finds no position on the Asian map of translator training (Huong, 2007) Such situation of translation training in Vietnam is claimed to have its root from the key problematic issues as follows:

Although, translation training has been recently carried out in several big universities and colleges of foreign language, what can commonly be seen in many foreign language schools or departments in the country is that translation is taught

as one of the subject of the whole curriculum for students majored actually in foreign language Graduates from these colleges are often supposed to have the ability to translate while in fact they are not trained to be translators, but stuffed with knowledge of foreign language and culture, and linguistic theories This seems

is a “knowledge transmitter” (Colina, 2003, p52) trying to correct every mistake made by his/her passive students The techniques used in the classroom seems to be monotonous and in conformity with grammar-translation teaching method Colina (2003) claimed that this teacher-centeredness classroom develops neither students’ self-confidence nor translation competence

It appears to be a challenge for translation teaching in Vietnam when Thang (2007) claims that there is shortage of competent staff for teaching translation Mayoral (in Pym, 2003) proposes that “translation teachers are likely to be those who have a degree in translation…and those who have some professional experience as translators” However, it is regrettable that most of the current translation teachers are foreign language teachers and have neither received training in teaching translation nor had professional experience in translating Therefore, it would be difficult for them to employ teaching methods suited to providing students with practical knowledge and skills for translation

Last but not least, teaching materials and syllabus design are considered problematic in translation teaching in Vietnam Thang (2007) asserts that the outdated translation teaching materials do not match the requirements of current translation teaching and the syllabus design does not go hand in hand with the social requirements

In short, it is obvious that the problems confronting translation teaching in Vietnam are enormous In order to improve the situation, it is necessary to find solution to the problem of teaching methods, which then helps providing approach to syllabus

In view of improving the situation of translation teaching, particularly at Tay Nguyen University, this study aims to investigate the techniques currently used in translation classes at Tay Nguyen University and identify the teachers and students’ viewpoints on the effectiveness of those techniques The information gained will be

a crucial base for development of more effective classroom techniques

of those techniques It also aims to provide suggestions for development of more effective techniques

The purpose of this chapter is to present how this study was conducted It includes the description of the research approach employed, the methods used for collecting data, the selected research site and participants, and the data analysis

3.2 Research site

As the purpose of the study was to investigate the translation teaching techniques used by the teachers of the translation section of English Department at Tay Nguyen University, and the teachers’ and students viewpoints on the effectiveness of those techniques, the K2007 class of BA in English was chosen to conduct the research Although, it was relatively easy for the researcher to gain access to the site as the teachers of the translation section were willing to help their colleague The researcher found that it was necessary to explain clearly the purpose of the research

to both the head of the translation section and the two teachers responsible for teaching translation to this class

3.3 Research approach

In addressing the research questions, qualitative ethnographic approach was employed as the main research approach for this study According to McMillan and Schumacher (1993) ethnography is “discovery-oriented” research in which the researcher “seeks to understand people’s constructions – their thoughts, meanings, feelings, beliefs, and actions as they occur in their natural context” (p 407)

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Goetz and LeCompte (1984) defined: “ethnography is an analytical description of social sciences and groups that recreate for the reader the shared beliefs, practices, artifacts, folk knowledge and behaviors of those people in an educational activity” (cited in McMillan and Schumacher, 1993, p 405) Through the analysis of the findings, the ethnographer can develop new concept and/or “derive policy decisions

or instructional innovation” (Genzuk, 2003)

With all of the above-mentioned features, by employing this research approach, the researcher conducted an investigation into the current teaching techniques used for teaching translation at Tay Nguyen University, and the teachers’ and students’ views on the effectiveness of the techniques Through a natural description of the translation teaching and learning from the perspectives of the teachers and students, the researcher hoped to develop more effective techniques for translation teaching at Tay Nguyen University

3.4 Research methods

According to McMillan and Schumacher (1993) ethnographic research is interactive research, thus, it is necessary for the researcher to spend relatively extensive time in the site observing, interviewing and recording the processes as they occur naturally

at the selected location In this research, classroom observations and follow-up interviews were employed to collect data

3.4.1 Classroom observations

Classroom observation is often referred to as a “way of gathering information about teaching” (Richards&Lockhart, 1994, p12) In other words, one of the purposes of classroom observation is to describe the instructional practice Therefore, data on the teachers’ practice and the students’ activities were collected via observations (see Appendix 1)

The observations of six translation class sessions taught by two teachers were conducted Before embarking on the first class observation, the researcher was introduced to the students by the teacher in charge of that translation class session

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During the observations, the researcher was an observer and did not take part in any classroom activity At first, the presence of the observer made the atmosphere in the class unnatural, but when the teachers and the students were familiar with it, the researcher found that the atmosphere became more natural during each observation Field notes were written at the end of each observation and shared with the teacher

to check on the accuracy of the researcher’s interpretation about the classroom activities

3.4.2 Interviews

In addition to classroom observations, in-depth interviews with teachers and students were used to collect more data on the participants’ experience and their viewpoints on the classroom techniques The researcher contacted participants, and set up time and place at their convenience for conducting the interviews The interviews involved a total of 10 participants – 2 participants for teacher interviews and 8 participants for student interviews

The questions used in the interview were both open-ended and semi-structured (See appendix 2&3)

All the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese to express full meaning and recorded

tape-3.5 Participants

The participants of this study consisted of two groups The first group included two teachers (female, aged 29 to 35) from the translation section of the English Department They have less than five-year experience in teaching translation The second group included 8 third-year students (6 female and 2 male, aged 19 to 21), who were selected as representatives for the total 54 students from the K2007 class

of BA in English, ranging from the most active to the least active students in the class

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3.6 Data analysis

According to McMillan and Schumacher (1993), the data analysis in qualitative research involves the researcher in an inductive process of organizing data in categories and identifying patterns For this study, the data were analyzed as follows:

First, the researcher read through all the observation field notes and the interview transcripts The data were then organized and categorized into different types Finally, the categories were compared to identify the main patterns that emerged For the sake of the reliability and the trustworthiness of the data collected, the researcher tried to keep the observations as objective and unbiased as possible

4.2 Findings and discussions

4.2.1 Classroom techniques currently used by teachers in translation class

This section addresses the research question “What classroom techniques are

currently used by teachers in translation classes at Tay Nguyen University?” It

bases mainly on the data of classroom observations The emerged themes include teaching materials, and teaching methods and techniques

4.2.1.1 Teaching materials

One of the factors contributing to the success of a training course is the design of the teaching material In fact, teaching material can put “flesh” to the “bone” of a training programme In other word, it is the specification of the goals and objectives set in the syllabus and curriculum In discussing the challenge for today translator training, Hiep and Huong (2007) confirm that even a sound training programme would not be feasible without updated teaching materials and methods

However, like most of English departments and foreign language colleges in Vietnam, translation teaching at Tay Nguyen University is only an integrated course

in the undergraduate curriculum A glimpse at the training programme for BA

students majored in English at Tay Nguyen University (Table 4.1) shows that

although the set goal is to train students to function as translators and interpreters, the programme offers students an extremely general and hasty volume of knowledge and skills

Tên môn h c Name of Subjects

n v

h c trình Number

of Credits

Recently, in light of the new training procedure in accordance with the regulations

of tertiary education on credit training system (issued with the Decision number