TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH HEALTH AND MEDICAL IDIOMS INTO VIETNAMESE a STUDY BASED ON ESP MATERIALS AT a UNIVERSITY OF NURSING

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HA NOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS Field: English Language Code: 8220201 TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH HEALTH AND MEDICAL IDIOMS INTO VIETNAMESE: A STUDY BAS

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HA NOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HA NOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A THESIS Field: English Language Code: 8220201

TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH HEALTH AND MEDICAL IDIOMS INTO VIETNAMESE: A STUDY BASED ON ESP MATERIALS AT A

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report

entitled “Translation of English heath and medical idioms into Vietnamese: A

study based on ESP materials at a university of nursing” submitted in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2018

Vu Thi Thu Phuong

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Dr Tran Thi Thu Hien

Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I am indebted to Dr Tran Thi Thu Hien for her scholarly knowledge, wholehearted supervision, invaluable guidance and constructive critical feedback Without her instruction, this thesis would not have been completed

My thanks then go to colleagues who have inspired, encouraged and supported me during the time I worked on this research

Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family and beloved friends for their love, care and encouragement

ABSTRACT

In the every work of communication, nurses are required to have certain understanding of a number of health and medical idioms Nursing students, however, find it hard to study and translate such idioms due to various factions Conducting an investigation on students’ translation through their ESP materials

is beneficial in building a big picture of English health and medical idioms and their translation in Vietnamese The researcher of the study selected English health and medical in ESP matierials for nursing students, then put them into the translation tasks done by three hundred second year nursing students at Nam Dinh Univeristy of Nursing This study employed quantitative methods by analyzing data collected from translation tasks assigned for nursing students; and supporting in-depth interview The translation tasks included ten parts that were assigned to nursing students after each ESP class After each week, the researcher interviewed some of the students about procedures and strategies used

by them The in-depth interview was used to clarify some of the students’ procedures, strategies and common errors revealed during their translations of English health and medical idioms into Vietnamese The findings of the study showed that the students applied only some procedures taught in ESP module and their common errors were word by word translation and cultural translation Based on the findings, some suggestions were made for both teacher and the students The teachers often remind the students about the translation procesures and strategies taught in the first week; provide the students more tasks for more understanding and correct transltion; clarify the translation procedures and certain cultural knowledge

Contents

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 1

1.3 Research questions 1

1.4 Methods of the study 2

1.5 Scope of the study 2

1.6 Significance of the study 2

1.7 Organization of the study 2

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Translation 4

2.1.1 Definitions 4

2.1.2 Translation equivalence 4

2.1.3 Translation strategies and procedures 9

2.1.3.1.Literal translation 10

2.1.3.2.Transference 11

2.1.3.3.Naturalisation 12

2.1.3.4.Cultural equivalent 12

2.1.3.5.Functional equivalent 12

2.1.3.6.Descriptive equivalent 12

2.1.3.7.Synonymy 13

2.1.3.8.Through-translation 13

2.1.3.9.Shift or transpositions 13

2.1.3.10.Modulation 14

2.1.3.11.Componential analysis 14

2.1.3.12 Others 14

2.2 Idioms 15

2.2.1 Definitions of an idiom 15

2.2.2 Characteristics of idioms 17

2.2.3 Types of idioms 21

2.3 Technical translation and translation of health and medical idioms 24

2.3.1 Technical style 25

2.3.2 Translation of medical and health idioms 25

2.5 Summary of chapter 29

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 30

3.1 Setting 30

3.2 Participants 31

3.3 Research method 32

3.4 Data collection instruments 33

3.5 Data collection proceures and analysis 35

3.6 Chapter summary 35

Chapter 4: TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH HEALTH AND MEDICAL IDIOMS INTO VIETNAMESE: A STUDY BASED ON ESP MATERIALS AT A UNIVERSITY OF NURSING 36

4.1 Procedures and strategies used by the nursing students in translating health and medical idioms in ESP materials 36

4.1.1 Literal translation 37

4.1.2 Cultural equivalent 37

4.1.3 At word level 38

4.1.4 Above word level 40

4.1.5 Translating a source language idiom with a non-idiomatic expression 40

4.1.6 Translating a source language idiom with a target language idiom 44

4.1.7 Translating a source language idiom literally 48

4.1.8 Translation by paraphrase 50

4.2 Common errors of translating health and medical idioms in ESP materials 51

4.3 Implication 56

4.4 Chapter summary 57

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 59

5.1 Recapitulation 59

5.2 Limitations of the study and further studies 60

REFERENCES 61

APPENDIX 1: TRANSLATION TASKS 66

APPENDIX 2: LIST OF ENGLISH HEALTH AND MEDICAL IDIOMS 73

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Translation has become an activity of enormous importance in recent decades

We live in an increasingly internationalized world where ever-growing numbers of individuals are in continuous contact with foreign cultures and languages both in their professional lives as well as in more informal contexts, usually via mass media The more internationalized the world becomes, the greater the importance of translation and qualified translators also grows Translation allows us to overcome cultural and linguistic boundaries and enables communication between different cultures Translation is, thus, an extremely topical issue in today's multicultural and multilingual world

Since translation has become increasingly important on both national and global level, it is definitely a subject worth a closer study Obviously, there is a wide range of topics which could be investigated in terms of translational aspects The present study focuses on the translation of one of the most fascinating and innovative aspects of language: health and medical idioms Nowadays nursing students have a range of ESP materials that cover health and medical idioms And they are not very good at translating these idioms as the health and medical idioms seem rather new to them That’s why the researcher di this study with the hope of investigating the common errors made by nursing students and giving suggestions

to help them have skills in translating health and medical idioms

1.2 Aims of the study

The study aims at studying the translation of English health and medical idioms made by nursing students at a university of nursing

- What are common errors made by nursing students in translating English health and medical idioms into Vietnamese?

1.4 Methods of the study

This study emplpyed quantitative method by analyzing data collected from translation tasks assigned for nursing students and in-depth interview The researcher could draw some conclusions on their procedures and strategies as well

as their common errors in translating English health and medical idioms into their mother tongue

1.5 Scope of the study

The study focuses on finding procedures, strategies, and common errors made

by nursing students through exploring their ESP materials Other studies aim at finding out other issues of using ESP materials with students of other majors are out

of the scope of this study

1.6 Significance of the study

Theoretically, this research can, to some extend, contribute to the field of translation by providing suggestions about how to treat language-specific elements (in this case health and medical idioms) in translation

Practically, this study may help professional translators discover new, creative means for translating problematic language-specific expressions as well as to encourage them to be innovative and creative This study is also a good reference for both teachers and students in teaching and studying English health and medical idioms

1.7 Organization of the study

The study is designed into five chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction presents rationale of the study, aims and objectives of

the research, research questions, research methods, scope of the research, significance of the research and organization of the resreach

Chapter 2: Literature Review summarizes, synthesizes and reviews critical

points of relevant published works Concepts that are mentioned in the theoretical background of interpreting include: translation, idioms, technical

translation.Besides, research related to the study conducted in and out of the country are also be reviewed

Chapter 3: Methodology explains the methods used in the study, the setting,

data collection instruments, data collection procedure and analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and discussions works with procedures, strategies, and

common errors made by nursing students found from data collected and analysed

Chapter 5: Conclusion recapitulates the main findings of the research which

resolve the two research questions, limitations of the study as well as suggestions for further research are also proposed

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Translation

Today, translation plays a key role in promoting the development of science and technology of developing countries in general and Vietnam in particular since it helps transfer and convey scientific knowledge written in languages of the developed and high-tech countries

2.1.1 Definitions

Interest in translation is practically as old as human civilization, and attempts

to define it have been made by different names at different times Scholars have proposed to refer translation as:

“Translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences” (Bell, 1991:5)

Sharing the view about equivalence, many other liguists agree that translation

is the replacement of a representation in one language by that of an equivalent text

in another language

Besides, translation can also be viewed as a foreign version of the original text; it is "a written communication in a second language having the same meaning

as the written communication in a first language.” (WordNet, 2003)

In short, translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the sense of

a text in one language - the source text - and the production of another, equivalent text in another language - the target text The goal of translation is to establish a relationship of equivalence between the source and the target texts (that is to say, both texts communicate the same message), while taking into account the various constraints placed on the translator (These constraints include the grammatical rules of the source language, its writing conventions, its idioms and the like.)

2.1.2 Translation equivalence

The concept of translation equivalence has been concerned as long as the history of translation since it postulates the relationship between the source

language and the target language In other words, equivalence is the central as well

as one of the most ambiguous concepts in translation studies Obviously, different ways to interpret translation equivalence resulted in various types of it such as content equivalence, stylistic equivalence, formal equivalence, functional equivalence, textual equivalence, communicative equivalence, etc

Much of the modem discussion about equivalence starts with Nida’s advocation of dynamic equivalence (which is achieved when the SL and the TL words have the closest possible match of form and content) against formal equivalence Namely, he is for a translation which is natural TL as close as possible

to the source text and which has as far as possible the same effect on the TL receivers as the source text had on the SL receivers

Equivalence is also Koller’s staring point In his book (Chesterman ed., 1989:100), Koller differentiates more types and sets out to clarify some of the confusions surrounding equivalence According to Koller, there are 5 factors which can be argued to play a relevant role in the specification of equivalence types, they are: the extralinguistic content transmitted by a text, the connotations transmitted by means of the word choice, the text and languag e norms for given text types, the receiver to whom the translation is directed and the certain formal-aesthetic features of the SL text As a result, he classifies the

5 following types of equivalence:

- Denotative equivalence: Both the SL and the TL words denote the same object

or event in the real world In the achievement of denotative equivalence, the translator needs to describe the potential equivalence relation between the SL and the TL, together with the textual factors that determine the choice of a given equivalent in any specific case He also needs to analyze correspondences of different types in order to achieve referential identity between SL and TL unit Here, lexicon is the central area of concern since languages are at their most productive to account for ever-changing and expanding communication needs and aims

In his study, Le Hoai An (2005:4) introduces the following sub-types of denotative equivalence:

■ One-to-one: There is a single expression in the TL for a single expression in the SL

■ One-to-many: There is more than one expression in the TL for a single SL word

■ Many-to-one: There is more than one expression in the SL but there is only a single expression in the TL which is equivalent to them

■ Many-to-many: There is more than one expression in the SL and these expressions equal to more than one equivalents in the TL

■ Whole-to-part/ Part-to-whole: A TL expression is only equivalent to part of the concept designated by a single expression in the SL, or the equivalent in the TL has a broader meaning than the concept in the SL

■ One-to-zero: There is no expression in the TL for a single expression in the

SL

Denotative equivalence is a typical type of specialized language; especially, one-to-zero equivalence has caused a lot of controversy and difficulties in the translation of English health and medical idioms

- Connotative equivalence: This type of equivalence indicates that individual expressions in the textual context not only have a denotative meaning but additional values are transmitted as well And a single denotative meaning can be interpreted

in various ways To achieve this, the translator has to characterize the connotative dimensions of individual languages (that are connotations of speech level, connotations of determined social usage, connotations of geographical relation or origin, connotations of medium, connotations of stylistic effect, connotations of frequency, connotations of register, connotations of evaluation, and connotations of emotion, etc), to analyze their features and structural elements and then relate these

to the connotative dimensions of a given target language It is apparent that connotative equivalence is a language entity that, on the one hand, makes it various and diverse, on the other hand, brings complexity Fortunately, connotative equivalence plays a relatively light role in the translation of English health and medical idioms since languages for specific purposes focus on defined and

definable terms and the content of the concept is the most decisive factor An English health and medical idiom concept or an English health and medical idiom term is only considered comprehensible if it is viewed on the basis of the system it belongs to

- Text-normative equivalence: This type of equivalence is relationship oriented to features of text types In order to achieve it, the SL and the TL words are used in the same or similar contexts Particularly, the description and correlation of lexical and syntactic norms of selection and speech usage in particular text types are important goals of a translation theory oriented the SL and TL Thus, in theory, translation does not change pragmatic function but probably alter some style features of the text

- Pragmatic equivalence: The achievement of pragmatic equivalence means translating a text for a particular readership For example, a legal text must be translated or exactly edited to make it comprehensible to not only the legal experts but also the general readers In this case, the TL text does not follow the usage norms and the text must be translated in such a way that it can reach the comprehension of the intended readers The case of translating the text for a particular readership may result in deviating from the requirements of text-normative, connotative or even denotative equivalence From that point of view, translation theory should define the communicative conditions appropriate for different reader groups in different language-pairs and texts, and establish the principles and procedures whereby pragmatic equivalence can

be achieved

- Formal equivalence: To achieve this type of equivalence in a TL is to produce an “analog of form” in translation by either exploiting the formal possibilities of creating new forms in the TL Here, in the translation process, possibilities of formal equivalence with the respect to categories such as rhyme, verse forms, lexis, syntax, styles and structures are analyzed and manipulated in such a way that they bring about the target language an aesthetic effect which is analogous to the expressive individual character of the source text

Besides, some other linguists also view translation equivalence in four

To sum up, the requirement of translation equivalence is to preserve the qualities and features of the original text However, it is apparent that the idea of total equivalence is a chimera Texts in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (i.e fully or partially equivalent) because languages are different from one another To shift from one language to another is to alter the forms of the language As a matter of fact, there is no absolute synonymy word in the same language needless to say between the languages Thus, to achieve translation equivalence means the SL content, form, style, function, etc must be preserved or at least the translation must seek to preserve them as far as possible

An extremely interesting discussion of the notion of equivalence can be found

in Baker (1992) who seems to offer a more detailed list of conditions upon which the concept of equivalence can be defined She explores the notion of equivalence at different levels, in relation to the translation process, including all different aspects

of translation and hence putting together the linguistic and the communicative approach She distinguishes between:

- Equivalence that can appear at word level and above word level, when translating from one language into another Baker acknowledges that, in a bottom-

up approach to translation, equivalence at word level is the first element to be taken into consideration by the translator In fact, when the translator starts analyzing the

ST s/he looks at the words as single units in order to find a direct 'equivalent' term

in the TL Baker gives a definition of the term word since it should be remembered that a single word can sometimes be assigned different meanings in different languages and might be regarded as being a more complex unit or morpheme This means that the translator should pay attention to a number of factors when considering a single word, such as number, gender and tense (ibid.:11-12)

- Grammatical equivalence, when referring to the diversity of grammatical categories across languages She notes that grammatical rules may vary across languages and this may pose some problems in terms of finding a direct correspondence in the TL In fact, she claims that different grammatical structures

in the SL and TL may cause remarkable changes in the way the information or message is carried across These changes may induce the translator either to add or

to omit information in the TT because of the lack of particular grammatical devices

in the TL itself Amongst these grammatical devices which might cause problems in translation Baker focuses on number, tense and aspects, voice, person and gender

- Textual equivalence, when referring to the equivalence between a SL text and a TL text in terms of information and cohesion Texture is a very important feature in translation since it provides useful guidelines for the comprehension and analysis of the ST which can help the translator in his or her attempt to produce a cohesive and coherent text for the TC audience in a specific context It is up to the translator to decide whether or not to maintain the cohesive ties as well as the coherence of the SL text His or her decision will be guided by three main factors, that is, the target audience, the purpose of the translation and the text type

- Pragmatic equivalence, when referring to implicatures and strategies of avoidance during the translation process Implicature is not about what is explicitly said but what is implied Therefore, the translator needs to work out implied meanings in translation in order to get the ST message across The role of the translator is to recreate the author's intention in another culture in such a way that enables the TC reader to understand it clearly

2.1.3 Translation strategies and procedures

Translation strategies and procedures, to some extent, are not very different

since they both express the idea that the way the translator approaches the text and tries his best to have a good and effective translation

As far as translation strategies and procedures are concerned, Newmark (1995) has proposed the following translation strategies and procedures:

2.1.3.1 Literal translation

Peter Newmark (1995:68) believes literal translation to be the basic translation procedure, both in communicative and semantic translation He is for the idea that literal translation is correct and must not be avoided if it secures referential and pragmatic equivalence to the original

In his book (1995:69), Newmark distinguishes literal translation from for-word and one-to-one translation In word-for-word translation, SL grammar, word order and primary meanings of all the SL words are transferred into translation This type of translation is normally effective only for brief simple neutral sentences Besides, one-to-one translation is a broader form of translation, in which each SL word has a corresponding TL word but their primary (isolated) meaning may differ Newmark also argues that one-to-one translation is more common than word-for-word translation since it normally respects collocational meanings, which are the most powerful contextual influence on translation

word-Literal translation ranges from one word to one word, collocation to collocation, clause to clause to and sentence to sentence And it is important to note that the longer the unit, the rarer the one-to-one equivalence relationship

However, above the word level, literal translation becomes increasingly difficult It is the only correct procedure if the SL and the TL meaning correspond,

or at least correspond more closely than any alternative It means that the referent and the pragmatic effects are equivalent In other words, the word not only refers to the same object or event but also has similar associations and appears frequently in this type of text What is more, the meaning of the SL word is not affected by its context in such a way that the meaning of the TL does not correspond to it As a general rule, the more specific or technical a word the more it is free from the context (Newmark, 1995:70)

Inevitably, the less context-bound the technical terms, the more likely a literal translation; so together with the needs of technology development and transfer today, there is always a proper place for literal translation as one of the most important procedures in a good translation

In addition to literal translation, Newmark (1995:81) proposes other translation strategies and procedures as follows:

2.1.3.2 Transference

Transference is the process in which the translator decides to use an SL word for his text in TL; the word then becomes a loan word Generally, the names of SL cultural objects or concepts related to the small group of culture should be transferred and imported into the TL community and they should be creatively, preferably and authoritatively translated Particularly, most neologisms, brand names have to be transferred Translators tend to transfer cultural words to give local colours, to attract readers or to give a sense of intimacy between the text and the reader - the sound or the evoked images sometimes appear attractive These words, if they are likely to remain in the TL culture, have to be finally translated in non- literary texts

In principles, the names of all living and nearly all dead people, geographical and topographical names including newly independent countries, names of periodicals and newspapers, titles of yet untranslated literary works, plays, films, names of privates companies and institutions, names of public or nationalised institutions, street names, addresses are normally transferred from the SL into the

TL In all these cases, a correspondence type of readership is assumed and where appropriate, a culturally neutral TL third term (a functional equivalent) should be added

However, problems may be caused by semi-cultural words, i.e abstract mental words which are related to a particular period, country or individual As a general rule, these words should first be translated with transferred words and the functional equivalents are added in brackets, until the translator can assure that the readership recognises and understand the words Unluckily, such terms are often transferred

because they are untranslatable; but the translator’s role is to make people, to some extend, understand the ideas by this or that way Thus, the argument against transference is that it is the translator’s job to translate and explain why those who are in favour of transference think that it shows respect for the SL country’s culture

be weighed against function in order to gain translation effect

2.1.3.7 Synonymy

Synonymy is intended in the sense of a near TL equivalent to an SL word in a particular context where precise equivalent may or may not exist This procedure is applied when economy precedes accuracy in the translation of a text Namely, it is used for a SL word when there is no one-to-one equivalent, the word is not important in the text (e.g adjectives or adverbs of quality which in principle are less important than other components of a sentence.)

A synonymy is suggested when literal translation is not possible and when the word is not important enough for componential analysis

2.1.3.8 Through-translation

The term through-translation refers to loan translation that is usually applied to the translation of the names of international organizations (e.g NATO, UNESCO WHO, etc) that can consist of‘universal’ words which often switch in various languages Normally, through-translation should be used only for already recognized terms

2.1.3.9 Shift or transpositions

Catford uses the terms ‘shift’ and Vinay and Darbelnet use the terms

‘transposition’ (Newmarks, 1995: 85) for the same translation, which involves the change in grammar from SL to TL They divide this translation procedure into four sub-types as follows:

• One type is used when there is a change from singular into plural (e.g

‘software’ is an uncountable noun in English but in Vietnamese it appears in plural form) or in the position of adjectives (e.g ‘the white house’ and ‘nha trang ’) from

in the SL by a grammatical structure in the TL For instance, a complex sentence in the source text may be converted to a co-ordinate sentence or two simple sentences

‘reversal of terms’, ‘active for passive’, ‘space for time’, ‘intervals and limits’ and

‘change of symbols’

Although Newmark (1995:89) finds the above categorisation of modulation unconvincing, he admits that their abundant translation examples are always stimulating

2.1.3.11 Componential analysis

As Newmark (1995:114) states the basic process in translation componential analysis is to compare a SL word with a TL word which has a similar meaning but

is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent

Normally, the SL word is the one that has a more specific meaning and in order to produce a closer approximation of meaning the translator has to add one or two TL sense components to the corresponding TL word

2.1.3.12 Others

Beside the above translation strategies and procedures, there are other types that also work effectively in the translation from SL into TL and vice versa They include recognized translation, translation label, compensation, reduction and expansion, paraphrase, etc

2.2 Idioms

2.2.1 Definitions of an idiom

The term 'idiom' is generally used in a variety of different senses According

to Cacciari (1993: 27), this is due to the fact that idioms are somewhat difficult to define Hence, there is some disagreement over what kind of expressions should be counted as idioms The purpose of this section is to introduce some common definitions of idioms, both by dictionaries and scholars Since scholars have not managed to reach an agreement on the absolutely essential characteristics of idioms,

in this chapter the researcher will only introduce idioms in their most basic definements - in other words, the researcher will try to keep things as simple as possible at this point Because of the complexity of the term, the researcher will first introduce how an idiom is defined in its simplest sense, after which she may move

on to discuss the more specific properties of idioms in greater detail

The Oxford English dictionary (1989: 624) provides five different senses for

the term idiom, of which sense 3a is the most quoted one: "a form of expression, grammatical construction, phrase, etc., peculiar to a language; a peculiarity of phraseology approved by the usage of a language, and often having a signification

other than its grammatical or logical one." The OED definition is worth considering

n in this context, seeing as Fernando (1996: 16) argues that the influence of the

OED definition can be seen in the vast majority of idiom definitions provided by scholars According to Fernando (1996: 95), the popularity of the OED definition is

due to the fact that it captures an extensive range of different kinds of expressions, thus providing a useful framework for categorizing idiomaticity

The Longman dictionary of the English language (1991: 784) seems to be somewhat influenced by the OED definition, as it offers the following three senses

for the term idiom: "the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class; a dialect", "syntactic, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language", and "an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically or especially in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the

sum of the meanings of its elements." The Cambridge international dictionary of

English (1995: 701), on the other hand, provides a more simplified definition of an

idiom, stating that an idiom is a "group of words in a fixed order having a particular meaning, different from the meanings of each word understood on its own."

A number of scholars also seem to accept the OED definition of an idiom in

one form or another Makkai (1972: 122) reserves the term 'idiom' for multiword expressions whose meaning is not predictable from their component parts A definition offered by Fraser (1970, as quoted by Fernando 1996: 8) is fairly similar,

as he defines an idiom as a "constituent or a series of constituents for which the semantic interpretation is not a compositional function of the formatives of which it

is composed." The fact that the meaning of an idiom cannot be deducted from the meanings of its individual components, is therefore in central place in both Makkai’s and Fraser’s definitions of an idiom

Fernando’s (1996: 38) definition of an idiom, on the other hand, is three-fold Firstly, she defines idioms as conventionalized multiword expressions Secondly, she states that idioms are almost always non-literal Thirdly, she determines that idioms are "indivisible units whose components cannot be varied or varied only within definable limits" (ibid.: 30) Conventionality, non-literalness and fixity/unvariability are therefore the cornerstones of Fernando’s definition of an idiom Weinreich (1969: 42), on the other hand, pays attention to subsenses that idioms carry, as he defines an idiom as a "phraseological unit that involves at least two polysemous constituents, and in which there is a reciprocal contextual selection

of subsenses."

Strässler’s (1982) definition of an idiom differs from various other definitions

in respect of its exclusion of expressions which consist of 'a verb plus an adverbial particle or preposition' According to Strässler (1982: 79), an idiom is "a concatenation of more than one lexeme whose meaning is not derived from the meanings of its constituents and which does not consist of a verb plus adverbial particle or preposition." Strässler bases his decision not to include phrasal verbs as idioms on the fact that the second parts of these phrases are semantically empty

2.2.2 Characteristics of idioms

According to Fernando (1996:3), the three most commonly mentioned

characteristics of idioms are their compositeness, institutionalization/conventionality and semantic opacity However, on the basis of the theoretical literature which I

have acquainted myself with, I consider it necessary to complement Fernando’s statement by a few additions In addition to the characteristics outlined by

Fernando, various scholars also seem to define lexical fixity, collocability and semantic unity as the essential characteristics of idioms Furthermore, ambiguity (or disinformation potential) could also be counted as one feature, although it is closely

related to the concept of semantic opacity The researcher will now take a closer look at these characteristics

Compositeness means that idioms are multiword expressions which function

just like single-word expressions For instance Makkai (1972), Cowie and Mackin (1975), Strässler (1982) and Weinreich (1969) underline that idioms are composed

of a minimum of two words Cowie and Mackin (1975:viii) define an idiom as "a combination of two or more words", Makkai (1972:122) states that an idiom is made up of "more than one minimal free form or word", and Weinreich (1969: 42) concludes that only multiword expressions are acceptable as idioms However, Fernando (1996: 3) also notes that there are some scholars according to whom single- word expressions can also qualify as idioms

Institutionalization, on the other hand, refers to the fact that idioms are

conventionalized expressions (Fernando 1996: 3) The expression must be well- established and conventionally fixed in order to qualify as an idiom Institutionalization is one of Makkai’s (1972) and Fernando's (1996) salient criteria for identifying idioms

Semantic opacity or non-literalness can perhaps be considered as the most

frequently mentioned feature of idioms Semantic opacity means that idioms are often non- literal, which is why their meaning cannot be deducted from the meanings of the individual words of the idiom Hence, the individual words which

make up the idiom do not carry any meaning of their own There is usually very little, if any, connection between the literal meanings of the individual words and the idiomatic meaning of the whole phrase (Fernando 1996: 61) Makkai (1972: 118) states that the meaning of an idiom is not predictable from its component parts, because they are used in a figurative, non-literal sense Non-literalness is also in central place in Strässler’s (1982: 79) idea of an idiom: according to him, the meaning of an idiom cannot be concluded by adding up the meanings of its constituents The meaning of an idiom is therefore hardly ever the sum of its individual parts Semantic opacity seems rather crucial for idioms, seeing as the scholars quoted here are only some of the many who recognize semantic opacity or non-literalness as an essential feature of idioms

Scholars who recognize lexical fixity (or lexical integrity) as an idiom’s

essential feature, are for instance Cowie and Mackin (1975), Strässler (1982) and Fernando (1996) According to Fernando (1996: 30) idioms are "indivisible units" whose constituents do not usually allow much variation Those idioms which can be modified, can only be modified within certain limits and they have only a limited range of possible variants (ibid.) Cowie and Mackin (1975: ix) consider lexical integrity as the most characterizing feature of idioms: more often than not an idiom cannot be altered in terms of its structural composition, i.e it should not be possible

to break the unity of the expression by replacing the idiom's components by some other components

However, Cowie and Mackin (1975: xii) simultaneously acknowledge that there are, as always, exceptions to the rule: some idioms do allow internal variation

to some extent or substitution of a word by another word It should be noted that the possibility of variation depends heavily on the idiom in question Some idioms cannot undergo even the simplest substitutions, deletions or other variations, whereas others may freely allow the possibility of some internal changes The point,

in any case, is that the vast majority of idioms are invariable to a greater or lesser extent, i.e they do not allow internal variation the way "normal", non-idiomatic

expressions do Fernando (1996: 43) concludes that these constraints on word replacements and word order are an important difference between idioms and non-idiomatic expressions

Collocability is also mentioned in some idiom characterizations, though not as

frequently as the above-mentioned characteristics Collocability refers to the tendency of words to co-occur In fact, idioms have come to existence precisely because of this tendency Fernando (1996: 31) points out that collocability very often gives rise to idiomatic expressions, but obviously not all of these expressions become idioms According to Weinreich (1969, as cited by Fernando 1996: 7), the co-occurrence of words is a feature which is present in both collocations and idioms, but in an idiom this co-occurrence of words results in "a special semantic relationship", which separates them from collocations

The sixth feature of idioms which is mentioned rather often in theoretical

literature is semantic unity Although idioms are nearly always multiword

expressions, they sometimes function as single semantic units This concerns especially phrasal verbs According to Cowie and Mackin (1975: ix), this semantic unity makes it possible to substitute a verb + particle construction for a single-word

verb which has the same meaning; for instance the idiomatic expression take off can

be matched by a non- idiomatic synonymic expression mimic Cowie and Mackin

(ibid.) therefore stress that idioms are "units of meaning" - a fact that distinguishes them from non-idiomatic expressions, which consist of distinct meaningful components

One last feature of idioms which came up a couple of times in the theoretical

literature, was ambiguity or disinformation potential According to Weinreich

(1969: 44), ambiguity is one of the most fundamental features of idioms: this ambiguity arises from the fact that the constituents of an idiom have literal equivalents in other contexts In addition, in Makkai’s (1972) definition of an idiom this ambiguity is in extremely central place Makkai (ibid.: 122) claims that true idioms must carry disinformation potential (i.e be ambiguous), and this is one of his salient criteria for identifying idioms Makkai (ibid.) argues that idioms are often

subject to "a possible lack of understanding despite familiarity with the meaning of the components." In Makkai’s view this 'disinformation' occurs when the composition of the idiom leads the individual to understand the expression in a logical but erroneous way

However, all scholars do not readily accept this 'disinformation potential' as a criterion for establishing idiomaticity Cowie (1983, as quoted by Fernando 1996: 6) argues that this ambiguity which Makkai talks about is highly improbable in practice, because "the literal senses of idioms do not survive alongside their figurative ones in normal everyday use." In other words, people tend to first understand the figurative meaning of idioms rather than their literal meaning Also Tabossi and Zardon (1993:146) claim that it is the figurative meaning of an idiom which becomes available first, rather than the literal meaning of the phrase In addition, Fernando (1996: 6.) argues that an adequate contextualization considerably minimizes the possibility of disinformation potential, which is why disinformation potential is relatively unlikely to occur Furthermore, "situational

improbability, as in rain cats and dogs, is yet another factor working against

disinformation" (ibid.) Whereas disinformation potential therefore seems unlikely

to occur when the listener is a native speaker, the researcher would argue that for non-native speakers the possibility of understanding the idiom in an erroneous way does exist

In conclusion, it could be said that idioms are quite multifaceted and complex

in their very nature Consequently, also the characterizations of idioms have been equally versatile and varied Scholars have attempted to approach idioms from different viewpoints, hence various different characterizations exist It seems rather difficult, if not entirely impossible, to determine what are the absolutely essential characteristics of idioms that differentiate them from non-idiomatic expressions - after all, there are nearly always exceptions to the rule Idioms differ in their degree

of fixity and opaqueness, for instance, which is exactly why clear-cut criteria for establishing idiomaticity cannot really be offered As Cacciari (1993: 31) points out,

it seems reasonable to adopt the view that idiomaticity is rather a matter of degrees

in which the literal and figurative idioms are the ultimate extremities This continuum includes a variety of expressions with varying degrees of figurativeness

or fixity, for instance

2.2.3 Types of idioms

According to Fernando (1996: 35), idioms can be grouped into three

sub-classes: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms A pure idiom is a type of

"conventionalized, non-literal multiword expression" whose meaning cannot be understood by adding up the meanings of the words that make up the phrase (ibid.: 35-36) For example the expression 'spill the beans' is a pure idiom, because its real meaning has nothing to do with beans A semi-idiom, on the other hand, has at least one literal element and one with a non-literal meaning (ibid.) 'Foot the bill' (i.e 'pay') is one example of a semi- idiom, in which 'foot' is the non-literal element, whereas the word 'bill' is used literally Finally, literal idioms, such as 'on foot' or 'on the contrary' are semantically less complex than the other two, and therefore easier to understand even if one is not familiar with these expressions (ibid.) However, these expressions do qualify as idioms because they are either completely invariant or allow only restricted variation Fernando (ibid.: 37) admits that it is, of course, difficult to draw a clear boundary between these three idiom types as well as restricted and unrestricted collocations For instance semi-idioms and restricted collocations overlap to some extent

A classification provided by Cowie, Mackin and McGraig (1983: xii-xiii) is similar to that of Fernando’s in regards of the fact that they, too, have classified idioms into three categories on the basis of the degree of opacity in the expressions However, Cowie et al replace Fernando’s literal idioms by figurative idioms, thus

providing the following idiom categories: pure idioms, figurative idioms and restricted collocations (or semi-idioms) Their pure and semi-idioms are the same as

those in Fernando’s classification Figurative idioms overlap to some extent with pure idioms, but in these expressions even the slightest variations or substitutions cannot usually be made (ibid.: xiii) This classification differs from that of Fernando’s also in respect of restricted collocations Cowie et al make no

distinction between semi-idioms and restricted collocations, but classify them under the same category and count them both as idioms Cowie et al (ibid.) argue that restricted collocations differ from open collocations in that they do not allow internal changes

The vast family of idioms can also be approached from more specified viewpoints The diversity of different sorts of idioms makes it possible to examine them from various different perspectives, as one can group them on the basis of their structure, semantics or function, for instance For example lexicogrammatical categorizations have been suggested by some scholars: Carter (1987, as cited in Fernando 1996: 70) gives a categorization based on collocational restriction, lexicogrammatical structure and semantic opacity, whereas Fernando’s (1996: 70-71) classification is based on the degree of lexical variance in idioms Others, such

as Halliday (1985, in Fernando 1996: 72-74), have come up with functional categorizations

On the basis of the function of the phrase, Halliday (1985, as quoted by Fernando 1996: 72) has grouped idioms into ideational, interpersonal and relational

idioms Ideational idioms "either signify message content, experiential phenomena

including the sensory, the affective, and the evaluative, or they characterize the

nature of the message" (ibid.) These expressions may describe actions ('tear down',

'spill the beans'), events ('turning point'), situations ('be in a pickle'), people and things ('a red herring'), attributes ('cut-and-dried'), evaluations ('a watched pot never

boils') or emotions ('green with envy') Interpersonal idioms, on the other hand,

"fulfil either an interactional function or they characterize the nature of the message": they can, for instance, initiate or keep up an interaction between people and maintain politeness (ibid.: 73) These expressions include greetings and farewells ('good morning'), directives ('let’s face it'), agreements ('say no more'),

"feelers" which elicit opinions ('what do you think?') and rejections ('come off it')

Finally, Halliday (ibid.: 74) distinguishes relational (or textual) idioms, which

ensure that the discourse is cohesive and coherent Examples of relational idioms are 'on the contrary', 'in addition to' and 'on the other hand'

Some theorists have come up with more detailed and complicated classifications

for idioms According to Strässler (1982: 42), Adam Makkai’s book Idiom structure in English (1972) is "the most extensive work ever written on idioms", which is why I feel

it is important to take a look at Makkai’s classifications in this context Makkai (1972:

117) identifies, first of all, two major types of idioms: those of encoding and those of decoding, of which the latter are the focus of Makkai’s book Makkai (ibid.) classifies idioms of decoding into lexemic and sememic idioms

Makkai presents six sub-classes for lexemic idioms First of all, phrasal verb idioms are combinations of a verb and an adverb, such as the expressions 'give in' and 'put up' (Makkai 1972: 135) Secondly, Makkai (ibid.: 148) recognizes tournure idioms, which differ from phrasal verbs as they consist of a minimum of three lexons and "have a compulsory it in a fixed position between the verb and the

adverb" Examples are, for instance, 'have it out (with)' and 'have it in for' The third

category, according to Makkai (ibid.: 155), involves irreversible binomials, which

are formulas "consisting of parts A and B joined by a finite set of links" The order

of these expressions is fixed, which is why it cannot usually be reversed (for instance 'dollars and cents', 'here and there' and 'head over heels')

Makkai's (ibid.: 164) fourth category for lexemic idioms is phrasal compound idioms, which refer to expressions such as 'houseboy' or 'lukewarm' Incorporating verb idioms, on the other hand, include expressions such as 'eavesdrop', 'baby-sit', and 'sight-see' (ibid.: 168) Finally, pseudo-idioms include "all lexemic idioms one

of whose constitutes is a cranberry morph" (ibid.: 169) Examples of pseudo-idioms are 'chit-chat' and 'kith and kin'

Sememic idioms also include several sub-classes First base idioms have their

origin in cultural institutions such as American baseball, one example being the

phrase 'never to get to the first base' (Makkai 1972: 172) Idioms of institutionalized politeness, on the other hand, refer to expressions such as 'may I…?' or 'would you mind ?' (ibid.) Thirdly, Makkai (ibid.: 173) distinguishes idioms of institutionalized detachment or indirectness, which include expressions such as 'it seems that ' Idioms of proposals encoded as questions are expressions which are

used to indicate an offer or a proposal in the form of a question, e.g 'how about a drink', or 'would you care to see our new baby' (ibid.: 174)

The fourth category of sememic idioms which Makkai (1972: 175) identifies

is idioms of institutionalized greeting, which include expressions such as 'how do you do?' and 'so long!' Proverbial idioms with a moral are, rather self-

explanatorily, proverbs with a 'moral', for instance the expression 'don’t count your

chickens before they’re hatched' (ibid.: 176) Familiar quotations include common

sayings such as 'there’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned' (ibid.: 177)

Institutionalized understatements, on the other hand, aim to decrease the

impoliteness of a blunt statement, e.g 'I wasn’t too crazy about it' or 'he wasn’t exactly my cup of tea' (ibid.: 178) The final sub-class of sememic idioms are

institutionalized hyperbole idioms, i.e overstatements which use highly exaggerated

word choices to describe a situation (ibid.) For instance the expressions 'he won’t even lift a finger' to describe laziness or 'cold as a witch’s tit' to describe coldness,

are examples of institutionalized hyperbole idioms

Although Makkai’s classification introduced above might seem relatively broad, there are scholars who have come up with even more extensive classification systems For instance Healey (1968, as quoted by Strässler 1982: 29) has come up with as many as 21 different idiom categories Moreover, Hockett’s (1958: 310) classification is also rather all-embracing, as he has classified for example such expressions as proper names, allusions and abbreviations as types of idioms

2.3 Technical translation and translation of health and medical idioms

Technical translation is obviously a part of specialized translation and it is universal since technology is not developed to please one speech community Newmark (1995:151) takes technical translation as potentially non-cultural while in general institutional translation is cultural Thus, in principle, terms are not always translated; they are actually transferred instead

The profession of translator is born and developed with the rise of technology and the term “technical translator” is used to refer to those who work as staff translators in industry

Moreover, it is terminology that distinguishes technical translation from other forms of translation although as Newmark estimates it usually makes up about 5 to

Later, Newmark (1995:153) argues that the validity of the scale like this is only applied for one or two terms in a few fields thus, he suggests the following level:

• Academic: this consists of transferred Latin and Greek words related to academic papers

• Professional: this refers to formal terms used by experts

• Popular: This implies layman vocabulary, which may include familiar terms However, in some areas, the nomenclature is surrounded by additional obsolete, obsolescent or regional terms so the above categories are of relativity

2.3.2 Translation of medical and health idioms

Translation theorists recognize three different translation strategies for idioms: translating an idiom with a non-idiom, translating an idiom with an idiom, and translating an idiom literally Some, such as Ingo (1990: 247), also count the strategy of translating a non-idiomatic expression with an idiom as one possible strategy Nida and Taber (1969: 106) exclude the literal translation strategy and suggest three translation strategies for idioms: translating idioms with non-idioms, translating idioms with idioms, and translating non-idioms with idioms Nida and Taber (ibid.) claim that most frequently source language idioms can only be translated with target language non-idioms, although they also admit that sometimes

it is indeed possible to match a source language idiom by an equivalent target language idiom Nida and Taber (ibid.) also point out that idioms and other

figurative expressions usually suffer a great deal of semantic adjustments in translation, since an idiom in one language rarely has the same meaning and function in another language as such

The most recommended translation strategy for idioms is translating them with

a natural target language idiom which has the same meaning as the original source language idiom For instance according to Ingo (1990: 246), idioms should always

be translated with a semantically and stylistically corresponding idiom in the target language Bassnett-McGuire (1980: 24), on the other hand, suggests that idioms should be translated on the basis of the function of the phrase: the source language idiom should be replaced by a target language idiom that has the same meaning and function in the TL culture as the SL idiom has in the SL culture Newmark (1981: 8) proposes yet another challenge for the translation of idioms: according to him, the original SL idiom and its translation should be equally frequent in the two languages However, it seems somewhat impossible to carry out this recommendation in practice, since it is rather difficult to estimate the frequency of certain expressions in certain languages

In translation theory in general, literal translation is generally considered to be the worst possible translation strategy - the same seems to apply to the translation of idioms For instance according to Larson (1984: 116), a literal translation of an idiom will usually result in complete nonsense in the target language Also Newmark (1981:125) stresses that idioms should never be translated word for word Ingo (1990: 246) agrees with Larson and Newmark, stating that literal translation of

an idiom is rarely successful, and should therefore be avoided at all costs

Why is the literal translation strategy considered to be such a failed translation strategy, then? Most scholars claim that a literal translation conveys 'foreign' elements into the target language text, which are generally considered unacceptable (Larson 1984: 15) For instance Serazin (1999: 30) argues that the traditional view

in translation theory has been that foreign elements seriously disturb the structure of

a literary work, and Nida (1964: 16) points out that word-for-word translation damages both the meaning and the beauty of the original expression However, the

purpose of this research is also to deliberate if the literal translation strategy could, after all, work in some instances It is quite obvious that a literal translation of an idiom simply does not work in most cases, but on the basis of the research done for this study, it seems that in some cases a literal translation can function rather well What characterizes the theory of translating idioms quite strongly is the view that a great deal of the vividness and style of the source language text is lost when the translator attempts to translate idioms into the target language According to Newmark (1981: 7), there is an unavoidable loss of meaning when the text includes expressions which are unique and peculiar to the source language and culture Idioms represent precisely this 'peculiarity' which Newmark talks about: they are nearly always language-fixed and cannot usually be understood in another language

if translated literally

Nida and Taber (1969: 106) make a clever point by stating that although all translation exercises involve an inevitable loss of a number of idioms (at least in the case of longer texts), some idioms can also be gained in the process As Nida and Taber (1969: 106) put it, "such idiomatic renderings do much to make the translation come alive, for it is by means of such distinctive expressions that the message can speak meaningfully to people in terms of their own lives and behavior."

Compensation is therefore a strategy most definitely worth considering Vehmas- Lehto (2002: 41) pays attention to the compensation strategy by stating that it can be used in translation when a source language element does not have an equivalent in the target language: these stylistic losses can be compensated for by adding similar elements somewhere else in the text Also Bassnett-McGuire (1980: 30) argues that "what is often seen as 'lost' from the source language context can be replaced in the target language context" Compensation is therefore one possible strategy for dealing with idioms - and quite an effective one, for that matter This way the rich and lively language use of the original text can be preserved in the translation

Although the compensative strategy has not received a great deal attention within the field of translation theory, Lefevere (1992: 105) claims that most translator do, in fact, use the compensative strategy in some way Lefevere (ibid.) states that a translator relies on the compensative strategy when s/he has not, at some point, been able to reproduce the same effect as the original text, and therefore adds similar features elsewhere, which can be said to be "in the spirit of the original" The compensative strategy is not therefore used only in the case of idioms, but can be applied in order to compensate for other kinds of 'translational losses' as well

2.4 Previous studies

Some studies have already been carried out on health and medical idioms

Earlier studies on this kind of idioms have mainly concentrated on other aspects,

such as Kathryn Ayers (A Study of Idioms in Relation to Language Universals - Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University, 2015) examined how language universals

reveal information about the relationship between culture and language; Lysanets

(Poltava, Ukraine) (Health and disease idioms: a cognitive perspective - Article, 2015” investigated English idioms denoting the human condition in health and

disease It was noted that the semantic structure of idiomatic expressions is motivated by underlying mechanisms of conceptual metaphors The basic conceptual metaphors, reflected in the analyzed lexical material, have been considered The application of achievements in cognitive linguistics is productive in the course of learning a foreign language, particularly in mastering the English idiomology by students of higher medical educational institutions; Helen Miller,

Editor (Idioms of Sámi health and healing - Book, 2015) conducted many interviews

with a Coastal Sámi healer, Nanna, who lived from 1909 to 2002 Dynamics of naming was presented and examples were from the interviews with Nanna, her family and her patients

In this research, the researcher selected English health and medical in ESP matierials for nursing students, then put them into the translation tasks done by

three hundred second year nursing students at Nam Dinh Univeristy of Nursing This study employed quantitative methods by analyzing data collected from translation tasks assigned for nursing students; and supporting in-depth interview Based on the findings, some suggestions were made for both teacher and the students

2.5 Summary of chapter

This chapter has presented the theory of translation, idioms and other previous studies related to the translation of English health and medical idioms made by nursing students at a university of nursing The theory of translation (definition, translation strategies and procedures) and the isioms (definition, types of idioms, technical translation and translation of health and medical idioms) have been made clear in Chapter 2 Briefly, what has been in this chapter is the theoretical background and framework for discussing and finding in Chapter 4

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Setting

The subject of the study was the full time second year nursing students at Nam Dinh University of Nursing (NDUN) The university was established in 2004

on the basis of Medical College of Nam Dinh, formerly known as Nam Dinh School

of Physician founded in 1960 More than 30,000 health workers across the country have been trained up o present NDUN was assigned the target of training plan of full-time nurses and midwives at university and college level with the quantity of 200-300 students per year; and part time student nurses and midwives at university level by the Ministry of Education and Training and Ministry of Health

The mission of Nam Dinh University of Nursing is defined as to develop education - training and scientific research on nursing, midwifery; and sector of health sciences in the direction of training high-quality human resources on nursing, midwifery for improving the quality of people's healthcare and becoming one of the prestigious centers for nursing training inside and outside the country

There are five faculties (Basic Science Faculty, Basic Medicine Faculty, Clinical Medicine Faculty, Nursing-Midwifery Faculty and Public Health); twelth offices and centers (Personnel Office, Academic Affairs Office, Postgraduate Affairs Office, Finance Office, Scientific Research Management Office, Inspection Office, Administration Office, Material Facilities, Management Office, Students Affairs Office, Information Technology Office, Supplies and Equipment Office, International Cooperation Office, Library, Center for Educational Quality Assurance, Center for Cooperation of Science and Technology and Service, Center for Pre-Clinical Practice)

There are more than 4,000 students Since 2010 student nurses from U Dom Xay - Laos have been trained at NDUN (according to the program of cooperation between two provinces of Nam Dinh and U Dom Xay allowed by the Ministry of Education and Training)

There are 314 staffs and lecturers (271 people are regular members and 43 people are irregular members) There are 198 lecturers in which 134 lecturers are postgraduates that make up 67, 7% of the present lecturers

The school strengthens international cooperation with organizations and universities in the area and all over the world such as the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, and Korea

English is one of the subject in the training curriculum regulated by Ministry

of Education and Training For full time nursing students, there are three English Modules for them to study in the first term, the second term and the third term, including:

English Module 1 (4 credits) equips students with basic skills of grammar and vocabulary so they can listen, speak, read and write about the topics related to their daily lives

English Module 2 (4 credits) eequips students with advanced skills of grammar, vocabulary and communication so they can listen, speak, read and write fluently familiar topics, situations close to their daily lives at B1 level according to the European reference framework or level 3 according to Vietnam capacity framework

Selective English Module (4 credits) equips students with basic skills of grammar and vocabulary so they can listen, speak, read and write about familiar topics related to their nursing profession

Full time nursing students study English in the classrooms in the lecture hall The classrooms are equipped with projectors and speakers

Full time nursing students have to study hard for the three English Modules above as they would like to have a better jobs at international hospitals across the country or work abroad at nursing home

3.2 Participants

Nursing students participated in the study were the full time second year students They completed basic English moules in the first and second terms With

their basic English level, they register English selective module in the third term

as the requirement in the training curriculum for higher education They are eager to study English selective module as it is helpful to their future jobs as the nurses There were three hundred full time second year nursing students participated in the study

3.3 Research method

This study employed quantitative method Bryman (2012, p 35) defined quantitative research as, “A research strategy that emphasises quantification in the collection and analysis of data…” It means quantitative research denotes amounting something This research method attempts to investigate the answers to the questions starting with how many, how much, to what extent (Rasinger, 2013) In other words, the method lays heavy stress on measuring something or variables existed in the social world Payne and Payne (2004, p 180) stated that,

“Quantitative methods (normally using deductive logic) seek regularities in human lives, by separating the social world into empirical components called variables which can be represented numerically as frequencies or rate, whose associations with each other can be explored by statistical techniques, and accessed through researcher-introduced stimuli and systematic measurement.” The quantitative research focuses on those aspects of social behaviour which can be quantified and patterned rather than just finding out them and interpreting their meanings the people bring to their own action Another aspect visa-à-vis the quantitative research

is worth mentioning which is positivism that underpins quantitative research Weber (2004) mentioned his colleague, Jorgen Sandberg, who has characterised the positivism that in positivism, person and reality are separate; objective reality exists beyond the human mind; research methods are statistics and content analysis; validity-data truly measures reality; reliability-research results can be reproduced; research object has inherent qualities that exist independently of the researchers Additionally, Bryman (2012) identified positivism as a nomothetic research (which yields law-like or general actions); in positivism, knowledge is obtained from empirical testing (Richardson, 2012) However, interpretivism in qualitative