A study on english vietnamese translation of the primary education texts in the primary education for disadvantaged children project in vietnam

Translation strategies and translation procedures 10 CHAPTER II: TECHNICAL TERMS OF THE PEDC PROJECT II.1 Background knowledge of the Primary Education for Disadvantaged 16 Children PEDC

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

BÙI THỊ HUYỀN TRANG

A STUDY ON ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF THE PRIMARY

EDUCATION TEXTS IN THE PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR

DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN PROJECT IN VIETNAM

CÁCH DỊCH ANH-VIỆT VĂN BẢN GIÁO DỤC TIỂU HỌC CỦA DỰ ÁN GIÁO DỤC TIỂU HỌC CHO TRẺ EM CÓ HOÀN CẢNH KHÓ KHĂN Ở VIỆT NAM

M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

CODE: 602215

Hanoi - 2010

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

BÙI THỊ HUYỀN TRANG

A STUDY ON ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION OF THE PRIMARY

EDUCATION TEXTS IN THE PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR

DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN PROJECT IN VIETNAM

CÁCH DỊCH ANH-VIỆT VĂN BẢN GIÁO DỤC TIỂU HỌC CỦA DỰ ÁN GIÁO DỤC TIỂU HỌC CHO TRẺ EM CÓ HOÀN CẢNH KHÓ KHĂN Ở VIỆT NAM

M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

CODE: 602215SUPERVISOR: Dr LE HUNG TIEN

Hanoi - 2010

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

I.2.3 Translation strategies and translation procedures 10

CHAPTER II: TECHNICAL TERMS OF THE PEDC PROJECT

II.1 Background knowledge of the Primary Education for Disadvantaged 16 Children (PEDC) Project

II.3 Classification of technical terms of the PEDC Project according to their 18 structural features

II.3.1 Single terms and neologisms 18

CHAPTER III: THE TRANSLATION OF TECHNICAL TERMS OF THE

PEDC PROJECT

III.1 The present context of translating the technical terms used in the 28 materials of the PEDC Project

III.1.3 Some problems facing the translators and readers 30 III.2 The common strategies and procedures used in the translation of 31 technical terms of the PEDC Project

III.2.1 Translation of terms which are names of intervention initiatives of the 31 PEDC Project

III.2.2 Translation of the simple terms by transference procedure 38 III.2.3 Translation of the compound terms by transposition procedure 40PART C: CONCLUSION

1 The groups of terms and translation strategies and procedures used to 48 translate them

3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research 50

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Like other countries in the world, the education sector in general and the primary education cycle

in Vietnam play an important role in the society The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)has implemented many education projects at all education levels These education projects areconducted by the cooperation and financing of the GOV and donors from many foreign countriessuch as the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Canada… Foreign languages,especially English are used widely; therefore, translation of English materials into Vietnameseplays an important role to those projects Thanks to good translation, all the national andinternational members of project teams can well understand and effectively cooperate with eachother However, the translators often face many troubles with technical terms and languagestructure, particularly in finding suitable equivalence in translating English technical terms used inthe project materials into Vietnamese

The Government of Vietnam (GOV) has made a commitment to universal, high quality basiceducation for all in its education laws, poverty alleviation programs, and 2005-2010 strategies Ithas also committed internationally to achieving Education For All (EFA), the MillenniumDevelopment Goals and the Convention of the Rights of the Child This is one part of the rationale

of the GOV to run projects and try to reach many of the un-reached students who do not go toschool Over the last ten years Vietnam has successfully met its initial Universal PrimaryEducation (UPE) goals However, the country still has an unfinished primary education agenda inthe provision of access to education for un-reached children and the improvement of educationquality in the overall system This unfinished agenda involves ensuring that all children have theopportunity to attend a school that meets minimum standards in terms of space, curriculum,materials and personnel qualifications

One of the education projects implemented by MOET is the Primary Education for DisadvantagedChildren (PEDC) Project in Hanoi, Vietnam with financing from (i) the InternationalDevelopment Association (IDA), (ii) bilateral grants from various foreign donors includingAustralian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA), British Department for International Development (DFID),Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD) and (iii) the Government ofVietnam

The translation of the technical terms in the material of the PEDC Project is controversial Thereare strong arguments among translators about how to deal with the specialist vocabulary or thetechnical terms: explaining in other words or translating into Vietnamese Experience shows that

explaining a new technical term in a longer group of words to a large class of non-English majors

is almost impossible for the involvement of more complicated words in the explaining groups ofwords Translating the terms into Vietnamese is more time-saving and comprehensible; however,translating terms of a specialized field is not a pleasant and easy task for the translators In theirefforts to translate the terms, they may fail to give proper equivalents due to their lack ofknowledge, cultural context and exposure in the field As a result, different translators may havevarious translations for the same term and in no way can they agree on one “unified andstandardized” equivalent

In the hope of finding a proper solution to the problem of translation of the terms in the materials

of the PEDC Project, and in the hope for some suggestions that can be of some use to those whoare responsible for translating the technical terms of the PEDC Project; the author would like tocarry out the study to answer the questions: what are some of the more problematic technicalterms, what are the common strategies and procedures used in the translation of the technicalterms of the PEDC Project in Vietnam?

2 Aims of the study:

(i) To collect the English technical terms in the materials of the PEDC Project and to study theirmain features in terms of characteristics and structural patterns and work out the similarities as well

as the differences between English terms and their Vietnamese equivalents

(ii) To suggest the strategies and procedures that may apply to the translation of technical terms ofthe PEDC Project and to suggest some implications for translating technical terms of the PEDCProject

3 Scope of the study

The study is confined to the investigation into English – Vietnamese translation of technical terms

of the PEDC Project The major aspects to be considered are their classification, structuralpatterns and their translation

4 Methods of the study

To accomplish this study, firstly, we will go through a number of materials on translation andterminology to build up a theoretical background for the research

Then as stated in the aims and scope of the study, the writing is based on the review of many types

of materials of the PEDC Project in order to collect and group the English terms and theirVietnamese equivalents for description, analysis, comparison and induction From typicalexamples of English terms and their Vietnamese equivalents; we can find the similarities anddifferences and draw out the strategies and procedures used in the translation of technical terms ofthe PEDC Project The main method is contrastive analysis

We also conduct discussions and interviews with colleagues (translators of the PEDC Project),specialist translators and readers (National consultants and Vietnamese stakeholders of the PEDCProject) to find out the tendency for better and more preferable strategies and procedures.

Data collection: The technical terms to be studied will be taken from a number of materials of the

PEDC Project such as training materials, manuals, monitoring and evaluation reports However,within the scope of the study, only typical terms with high frequency of occurrence are selected

5 Significance of the study

This study can, hopefully, offer some references that can be useful to those who are responsiblefor translating the technical terms of the PEDC Project and other projects and help them to getmore knowledge about translation methodology in general and about terminology translation inparticular On that basis, they can find out the most suitable strategy and procedure to translatetechnical terms, which may help them to improve the quality of their work This study also helpsthe author to extend the existing knowledge on this section, and successfully fulfill her task as atranslator and cope with difficulties in daily work Moreover, the author also provides suggestionsfor the further studies on English – Vietnamese translation of the PEDC Project However, thisstudy is conducted within the PEDC Project in Hanoi, Vietnam using only some kinds of materialswith technical terms of this project If the research can be applied to other primary educationprojects in Vietnam utilizing other kinds of primary education materials, such as written or spokenmaterials from meetings including speech and conversation, it may be possible to get a morecomprehensive view of this field and the overall answer to the problem stated in the study

6 Design of the study:

This study consists of the three parts with the three main parts, a bibliography, and a number ofappendixes

Part A: Introduction

The introduction gives rationale for the study; it also outlines the aims, scope and methods of thestudy

Part B: Development

The development consists of three chapters

Chapter I: Theoretical background

This chapter provides the theory of terminology and translation

Chapter II: The technical terms of the PEDC Project

This chapter discusses the typical features of the technical terms of the PEDC Project and their structural patterns

Chapter III: The translation of the technical terms of the PEDC Project

This chapter studies the present context of the translation of the technical terms of the PEDC Project; strategies and procedures applied in their translation Part C: Conclusion

The conclusion summarizes the strategies and procedures as well as comments on themThe appendixes give examples of different groups of terms

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

As the study focuses on the translation of technical terms of the PEDC Project, the theoreticalbackground of this study would be a review of issues relevant to the thesis topics: terminology,characteristics of terminology, translation, technical translation, translation procedures and thetranslation of terminology

I.1 Terminology

I.1.1 Definition

Definition of terminology has been proposed up by many linguists to establish its structure andmeaning “Dictionary of Linguistics Terminology” (1997) mentions fifteen (15) definitions ofterminology One of those definitions is given by Russian authors in “Russia Encyclopedia”(1976: 473 - 474): “Terminology is a word or a combination of words that denotes the concept in

a specific area Terminology is a specialized and restricted expression on things, phenomena,characteristics and the relationship in specific profession”

Many Vietnamese linguists such as Do Huu Chau, Nguyen Thien Giap…also provided definitions

of terminology Do Huu Chau (1998) claims “Terms are specialist words used within a scientificfield, a profession or any technological field” To identify a technical term, he (1981) states

“Scientific and technical terminology consists of lexical units used to denote phenomenal objects,activities…in industrial technologies and natural or social sciences”

Nguyen Thien Giap (1981) defines it as “a section of special lexis of a language It consists offixed words or groups of words which are accurate names of concepts and subjects belonging todifferent specialized fields of human beings”

Those definitions, from different times and by different people, all indicate that there exist

“special words in specialized fields or branches of human knowledge” There are, therefore, termsused in Mathematics, physics, commerce, medicine, economics, linguistics…which should bedistinguished from ordinary words

I.1.2 Distinction between terms and words

Baker (1998) suggests “Terms differ from words in that they are endowed with a special form ofreference, namely that they refer to discrete conceptual entities, properties, activities or relationswhich constitute the knowledge space of a particular subject field”

Further important differences between terms and words are as follows:

(i) Terms have special reference within a particular discipline whereas words function in general reference over a variety of subject fields

(ii) Terms keep their lives and meanings only for as long as they serve the system of knowledge that gave rise to them

In other words, terms together with words and proper names constitute the general class of lexicalitems Names refer individually to object and people; words refer arbitrarily to general conceptswhile terms refer deliberately to specific concepts However, the boundary between terms andwords is not a clear cut i.e many terms become ordinary words when they are closed to daily lifeand used with high frequency, and many words become terms when they are used in specializedfield

I.1.3 Characteristics of terminology

Many linguists including Do Huu Chau (1981), Nguyen Thien Giap (1985), Luu Van Lang (1998)share the idea that terminology possesses three important characteristics: accurate, systematic andinternational

I.1.3.1 Accurate

A term needs to be accurate and clear because basically it reflects an exact concept of a science If

a term is of absolute accuracy, people never mistake one concept for another Once a word hasbecome a term, it no longer has connotational, emotional meaning; it also loses itspolysemousness, synonymousness, and autonymousness In short, terminology necessarily works

on the principle that “one concept has only one term for it, and one term indicates only oneconcept” This relationship is called the one-to-one equivalence between a concept and a term

I.1.3.2 Systematic

Any field of sciences has its own limited system of concepts, which are named by a system ofterms Therefore, each term has its own position in the system of concepts and belongs to aterminological system The value of each term is determined by its relationships with other terms

in the same system As a result, a term loses its value when isolated from its system In short, aterm has to be a dependent member of its system

I.1.3.3 International

Terms are used internationally because they are special words expressing common scientificconcepts to people of different languages Therefore, it is useful to agree on terms to be usedamong languages in order to push up the development of science The international links insciences result in a number of terms, which are present in many different languages For example,video, radio, hydrogen, telephone…are found in French, German, English and Vietnamese…withlittle difference in form

To conclude, the above mentioned contents are essential characteristics of terminology in general.However, according to Lang (1998) terminology in Vietnamese needs to have two morecharacteristics: national and popular.

I.1.3.4 Popular

Terminology needs to be popular or close to the language of masses Sciences are to serve themasses, to make the masses involve in scientific fields and at the same time bring the knowledgeand benefit to them The language, especially terminology, used in scientific materials should not

be complicated or comprehensible to a limited group of upper or intellectual class In fact,terminology ought to be popular, i.e easy to understand, easy to remember and easy to use

I.2 Translation theory

I.2.1 Definition of translation

It is undeniable that translation plays an important role in our life According to Kelly (1968),without translation, there is no history of the world Up to now, there have been so manydefinitions of translation Here are some examples

Barkhudarov (1975) defines translation as “the transformation of a speech product in onelanguage into that of other language, keeping the content (or meaning) unchanged”

In his own words, Catford (1965) says that translation “is the replacement of textual material inone language (source language) by equivalent textual material in other language (targetlanguage)”

Meanwhile, Hartman and Stock (1972) defines translation as “the replacement of a representation

of a text in one language by a representation of another equivalent in a second language”

Translation, in Wilss‟s word (1982), “is the procedure which leads from a written source languagetext to an optimally equivalent target language text, and which requires the syntactic, semantic, stylistic and text pragmatic comprehension by the translator of the original text”

The most specific definition is one by Larson (1984):“Translation is the work of transferring the meaning of a text or part of a speech from one language into another Translation consists of

studying in the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation and cultural context ofthe source language text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning and then reconstructingthis same meaning, using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in thereceptor language and its cultural context”.

Still there is another way of classifying translation types, i.e from Larson‟s viewpoint As a giventext has both form and meaning, there are, according to Larson (1984), two main kinds oftranslation, i.e literal translation and idiomatic translation The former, which attempts to followthe form of the source language, is form-based, while the latter is meaning-based, which makeevery effort to communicate the meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of thetarget language

To sum up, different linguists define translation from different points of view, they; however,share the same notion of translation, i.e when translating a text, its message (i.e meaning) must

be fully conveyed Moreover, the translated text must also be accepted in the target language interms of form, structure and culture

I.2.2 Translation equivalence

Equivalence can be considered a central concept in translation theory; many theorists definetranslation in terms of equivalence relation Pym (1992) has even pointed to its circularity:equivalence is supposed to define translation, and translation, in turn, defines equivalence Hereare some elaborate approaches to translation equivalence:

Nida (1964) distinguishes formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence as basic orientations ratherthan as a binary choice: (i) Formal equivalence is achieved when the source language (SL) andtarget language (TL) words have the closest possible match of form and content; (ii) Dynamicequivalence is achieved when the SL and TL words have the same effect on their effective readers.Newmark (1988a) terms Nida‟s dynamic equivalence as “equivalence effect” or “equivalenceresponse” principle: “the overriding purpose of any translation should be to achieve “equivalenceeffect””, i.e to produce the same effect (or ones as close as possible) on the readership of thetranslation as was obtained on the readership of the original” (Newmark 1988a) He also seesequivalence effect as the desirable result rather than the aim of any translation except for twocases: (i) if the purpose of the SL text is to affect and the TL translation is to inform or vice versa;(ii) if there is a pronounced cultural gap between the SL and TL text

Koller (1979) considers five type of equivalence: (i)Denotative equivalence: the SL and TL wordsrefer to the same thing in the real world; (ii) Connotative equivalence: this type of equivalenceprovides additional values beside denotative value and is achieved by the translator‟s choice ofsynonymous words or expressions; (iii) Text – normative equivalence: the SL and TL words are

used in the same or similar context in their respective languages; (iv) Pragmatic equivalence: withreadership orientation, the SL and TL words have the same effect on their respective readers; (v)Formal equivalence: this type of equivalence produces an analogy of form in the translation byeither exploiting formal possibilities of TL, or creating new forms in TL.

I.2.3 Translation strategies and translation procedures

Just as it was mentioned in the aims of the study, the main purpose of the study is to find out thestrategies and procedures used in the translation of the technical terms of the PEDC Project Inthis part, we will review some theoretical background on these factors Newmark (1988b) pointsout the difference between translation methods and translation procedures He writes that, "Whiletranslation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used for sentences and thesmaller units of language" (p.81)

I.2.3.1 Literal translation

Newmark (1981b) approaches literal translation by distinguishing it from word-for-word and to-one translation: “Word-for-word translation transfers SL grammar and word order, as well asthe primary meanings of all the SL words, into the translation” This translation is supposed to beeffective only for brief simple neutral sentence One-to-one translation is a broader form oftranslation in which each SL word has a corresponding TL word, but their primary meanings maydiffer Literal translation goes beyond one-to-one translation It ranges from one word to oneword; through group to group; collocation to collocation; clause to clause; sentence to sentence

one-I.2.3.2 Transference

As Newmark (1981b) puts it “Transference is the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text as

a translation procedure It is the same as Catford‟s transference, and includes transliteration,which relates to the conversion of different alphabets The word then becomes a „loan word‟”.Normally the translator has to decide whether or not to transfer a word unfamiliar in TL, which inprinciple should be a SL cultural word The names of SL objects, interventions, devices, processesthat are imported into the TL culture should be, in principle, creatively, preferably translated, ifthey are neologisms, although brand names have to be transferred However, in the media, theexperts are more likely to transfer words whether the translators like it or not

Words and expressions that are normally transferred are: names of all living and most deadpeople; geographical and topographical names including newly independent countries except forthose which already have recognized translations; names of periodicals and newspapers, titles ofun-translated literary works, plays, films, names of private companies and institutions, public ornationalized institutions, street names, addresses…

Cultural words in regional novels and essays are often transferred to give local color, to attracttheir reader, to give a sense of intimacy between the text and the reader In non-literary texts, thesame words should be translated if they are likely to remain in the TL culture.

Semi-cultural words, in principle, should first be translated, and if necessary the transferred wordand the functional equivalence can be added in brackets until the translator is confident thathis/her readership recognizes and understands the word

According to Baker (1992), translation by the use of loan words is used not only because theconcepts are unknown or not lexicalized in the TL culture Sometimes loan words are used notbecause they have no equivalence in TL but because they sound more modern, smarter and highclass The loan word can be followed by an explanation and then can be used on its own whenrepeated several times in the text However, there are arguments for and against transference: theargument in favor of transference is that it shows respect for the SL country‟s culture; theargument against is that it is the translator‟s job to translate, to explain

I.2.3.3 Shifts or transpositions

“A „shift‟ (Catford‟s term) or „transposition‟ (Vinay and Darbelnet) is a translation procedure involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL.” (Newmark 1981b) There are four main types

or by a subordinate clause

(iii) The third type of shift is the one where literal translation is grammatically possible but maynot accord with the natural usage in the TL In this type of shift the translators often give theirpreferred translations which may be suitable in certain context or may merely be a matter of taste.(iv) The fourth type of transposition is the replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a grammatical structure

There are other transpositions which appear to go beyond linguistic differences and can be

regarded as general options available for stylistic consideration

To conclude, transposition is the only procedure which is concerned with grammar, and which is made intuitively

I.2.3.4 Cultural equivalent

This procedure is an approximate translation where the translator translates a SL cultural word by

a TL cultural word The translation uses of these approximate equivalents are limited because theyare not accurate, but they can be used in general texts, publicity and propaganda, as well as forbrief explanation to readers who are ignorant of the relevant SL culture A great advantage ofapproximate cultural equivalents is that they have a greater pragmatic cultural equivalents is thatthey have a greater pragmatic impact than culturally neutral terms; they are important in drama asthey can create an immediate effect However, the main purpose of this procedure is to support orsupplement another translation procedure in a couplet

I.2.4 Technical translation

I.2.4.1 Definition of technical translation

Newmark (1981) differently distinguishes technical translation from institutional translation

“Technical translation is one part of specialized translation; institutional translation, the area ofpolitics, commerce, finance, government etc, is the other.” He goes on to suggest that technicaltranslation is potentially non-cultural and universal because the benefits of technology are notconfined to one speech community The terms in technical translation, therefore, should betranslated On the contrary, institutional translation is cultural, so, in principle, the terms aretransferred unless they are concerned with international organization

Sofer (1991) approaches technical translation by distinguishes it from literary translation “Themain division in the translation field is between literary and technical translation” According tohim, literal translation covers such areas as fiction, poetry, drama and humanities in general and isdone by writers of the same kind in the target language, or at least by translators with the requiredliterary aptitude Meanwhile, technical translation is done by a much greater number ofpractitioners and is an ever-growing and expanding field with excellent opportunities

To define it he writes “One way of defining technical translation is by asking the question, doesthe subject being translated require a specialized vocabulary, or is the language non-specialized?

If the text being translated includes specialized terms in a given field, then the translation istechnical.”

The two authors, although having different approaches to technical translation, they both view it

as specialized translation with its essential element – “specialized terms”

I.3 Translation of terminology

I.3.1 Role of terminology in technical translation

Newmark (1981) claims “Technical translation is primarily distinguished from other forms oftranslation by terminology although terminology usually only makes up about 5%-10%.” Thisdistinguishing feature may arise from the fact that other characteristics, grammatical feature, such

as passives, nominalizations, third persons, empty verbs, present tenses merge with other varieties

of language However, terminology, especially new terminology is considered the centraldifficulty in technical translation There are some reasons for this challenge: (i) The first reason isthat there are some technical neologisms in the SL which are relatively context-free and appearonly once These neologisms are sometimes not context-bound; therefore; the translator isunlikely to understand them by gradually eliminating the less likely versions; (ii) The secondreason lies in the fact that even standardized terms may have more than one meaning in one field,

as well as in two or more fields Although the purpose of terminology standardization is toestablish a single one-to-one relationship between a reference and its name, there are, in fact,many concepts-words which are notorious for their different meanings in various technologies

I.3.2 Translation of neologisms

As Newmark (1981b) puts it “Neologisms which can be defined as newly coined lexical units orexisting lexical units that acquire new sense are perhaps the non-literary and professionaltranslator‟s biggest problems.” The main reason that leads to the arrival of neologisms is that newobjects and processes are continually created in technology, new ideas and variations on feelingscome to the media and new terms from the social sciences, slang, dialect and transferred wordscome into the main stream of language Newmark (1981b) also proposes twelve types ofneologisms, including old words with new senses, new coinages, derived words, abbreviations,collocations, eponyms (persons, objects, geographical names), acronyms, phrasal wordstransferred words and pseudo-neologisms and he also discusses the translation of particularinstances

I.3.2.1 Old words with new senses

These words are normally non-cultural and non-technical as they do not usually refer to newobjects or processes, and therefore are rarely technological; they are usually translated either by aword that already exists in the TL, or by a brief functional or descriptive term

Existing collocations with new senses are a translator‟s trap This occurs when “normal”descriptive terms suddenly become technical terms and their meaning sometimes hides innocentlybehind a more general or figurative meaning These existing collocations can be cultural or non-cultural; if the referent (concepts or objects) exist in the TL, there is usually recognized translation

or through-translation If the concept does not exist or the TL readers are not yet aware of it, aneconomical descriptive equivalent has to be given

I.3.2.2 Derived words

Newmark (1981b) states “The great majority of neologisms are words derived by analogy fromancient Greek and Latin morphemes usually with suffixes such as – ismo, - ismus, etc naturalized

in the appropriate language” The word-forming procedure is applied mainly to designatescientific and technological rather than cultural institutional terms, the advance of theseinternationalisms is widespread, and these words normally have naturalized suffixes.

As a professional translator, we should bear in mind that there are distinctions between terms with

or without those suffixes to transfer its subtlety nuances of meaning

I.3.2.3 Acronyms

Newmark (1981b) defines an acronym as “the initial letters of words that form a group of words

used (vertiginously)” for denoting an object, institution or procedure as WAC from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries… Sometimes, the acronym

can be specially coined for the text and can be found there, so there is no need wasting timelooking for it in the numerous reference books Besides, there are many cultural reasons why theacronym may or may not be worth transferring depending on the standard contextual factors asreadership, translation prospects…

Acronyms are considered to be an increasingly common feature if all non-literary texts Intranslation, depending on their degree of importance, the acronyms can be translated by a standardequivalent term or a descriptive term if the standard does not yet exist Acronyms which stand forinstitutions and names of companies are usually transferred When a political or socialorganization becomes important, it is common to transfer its acronym and translate its name

I.3.2.4 Abbreviations

Abbreviations are considered to be common type of pseudo-neologisms, probably more common

in some French than in English An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or

phrase, used to represent the whole, as Dr for Doctor, U.S for United States…If the abbreviation

does not coincide in two languages, they are written out in the TL

I.3.2.5 Collocations

New collocations (noun compounds or adjective plus nouns) are particularly common in the socialsciences and in computer languages These terms represent their varying problems as some ofthem do not exist in the TL, therefore, we have to transfer them and then add a functional –descriptive term; otherwise we might create our own neologisms

To sum up, as a translator, we have to account for every SL word, thus be able to guess theword‟s meaning, the linguistic and situation context, the composition of the word in order todecide what type of neologisms it belongs to and what translation procedure is appropriate:transference, transposition, TL derived word, functional, or descriptive term…We should nottransfer SL neologisms in the primary education texts of the PEDC Project, which are evidentlyrecent or devised for the particular SL text; we should be in respect of neologisms

CHAPTER II: TECHNICAL TERMS OF THE PEDC PROJECT

In the Chapter I we have discussed the main features of terminology in general In this chapter, wewould like to give a very brief background of the PEDC project and more importantly, a briefintroduction about the technical terms which are selected from materials used in the primaryeducation field in the PEDC Project

II.1 Background knowledge of the Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children (PEDC) Project

In this part, we only briefly provide general information about the PEDC Project; specific contentssuch as purposes, strategy, approach, description, Institutional Strengthening Teams (ISTs),structure, institutional and implementation arrangements will be included in the Appendix 1

The Government of Vietnam (GOV) has signed up to try to achieve Education for All (EFA) andalso the Millennium Development Goals which include Universalization of Primary Education(UPE) The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is implementing the Primary Educationfor Disadvantaged Children Project (PEDC) with financing from (i) the InternationalDevelopment Association (IDA), (ii) bilateral grants and (iii) the Government of Vietnam

Project scope: The project commenced in late 2003 and will run until the end of 2011 PEDC is

being implemented in the 222 most disadvantaged districts in 40 of Vietnam‟s 64 provinces Thedistricts were chosen on the basis of an extensive survey which ranked districts on a number ofkey poverty criteria

Project overall objective: The objective of this project is to improve access to primary school and

the quality of education for disadvantaged girls and boys Disadvantaged children are broadlydefined as school-aged children who are not enrolled or are at risk of not completing their primaryeducation; children who attend schools that do not meet fundamental quality standards; andchildren with disabilities or children from other highly vulnerable groups, such as street children,migrant children or girls from certain ethnic minority areas

Project Description: The project consists of four components, including (i) Component 1:

Reaching Fundamental School Quality Level (FSQL), (ii) Component 2: Educational initiatives

for groups of highly vulnerable children, (iii) Component 3: National and provincial institutionaland technical support for implementation of FSQL, (iv) Component 4: Project Management.

II.2 Typical features of terminology

The technical terms of the PEDC Project possess typical features of terminology

II.2.2 Systematic

A term takes on a different meaning in the field of primary education This meaning is decided byits relations with other terms in the same system or by its position in the system

Example:

The term “preschool” means “trước tuổi đến trường” when it is combined with the word

“children” in the sentence “The School Readiness program for preschool children has been conducted by the PEDC Project for the last three years” (Dự án PEDC đã thực hiện chương trình Chuẩn bị đến trường cho trẻ em trước tuổi đến trường trong 3 năm qua) But when this term is related to the word “class”, it has different meaning: “preschool class” (lớp mẫu giáo).

II.2.3 International

Some terms of the PEDC Project are used internationally Though they may appear in similar ordifferent forms in different languages, they refer to the same concepts that exist in differentcultures

II.2.4 National

Technical terms of the PEDC Project are made up from the material of the language that contains them For example, to denote the age or period when a child normally attends school, English

language uses the term “school-age” whereas Vietnamese uses “tuổi đi học” with its own way of

word formation, spelling, pronouncing and writing

II.2.5 Popular

Many terms of the PEDC Project have become so popular that they are no longer regarded astechnical terms but have become ordinary words used in daily life of the user

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Ban đại diện cha mẹ HS

II.3.1 Single terms and neologisms

Single terms are made up of one word (usually a noun or a verb), and neologisms can be

acronyms, new coinages, abbreviations, collocations

II.3.1.1 Single terms which appear in the form of a verb

One important feature of these terms is that they are not “fixed”, i.e they can appear either in theform of a verb or a noun at different time in the same text or in the same sentence to avoidrepetition Almost all the verbs have their nouns to be used as alternatives

Guide Guidance (sự hướng dẫn)

Another important feature of some of these verbs is that each verb usually goes with (in

collocations) one or two certain nouns Examples of verbs and nouns that go together are:

Upgrade Teaching Assistant Nâng chuẩn Nhân viên hỗ trợ giáo viên

Develop professional activities Phát triển các hoạt động chuyên môn

II.3.1.2 Single terms which appear in the form of a noun

The terms which are nouns (also including the nouns that derive from verbs in 2.3.1.1) can bedivided into subgroups as follows:

Sub-technical terms

Those are words which are not specific to a subject specialty but occur regularly in scientific andtechnical texts These items will be accorded high priority in language program because oneestimate puts the occurrence of sub-technical items in scientific texts almost as high as 80% (Iman1978) in Kenedy and Bolitho (1991)

Some terms of the PEDC Project are ordinary words that lose their “normal” sense and take on thespecialist meaning, e.g the normal sense of “methodology” is a set of methods and principle used

to perform a particular activity while its specialist meaning is “a set of teaching methods”

Other examples:

Upgrading (nâng chuẩn)

Dissemination (tuyên truyền, phổ biến)

Sub-technical vocabulary can prove a problem because words commonly met in General Englishtake on a specialized meaning within a specific or technical context The user may already knowthe general meaning and may be confused when he/she meets in a context with a totally differentmeaning

Highly technical terms

Every subject has its set of highly technical terms, which are an intrinsic part of the learning of the discipline itself To understand these terms, the user may need to understand their theory For

example, a translator translating materials of the PEDC Project will meet such items as curriculum (chương trình học), consumables (đồ dùng cho HS), pilot (thí điểm), trial (thử nghiệm), satellite (điểm trường lẻ), monograde (lớp đơn), multigrade (lớp ghép)…in the course of his/her

studies These highly technical words can be really problematic when the user has relatively little knowledge both of his/her subject discipline and of English.

II.3.1.3 Neologisms referring to newly created concepts

In technology, new objects or processes are invented and created all the time; therefore, there rises

a need for neologisms to name them (primary term creation) These neologisms are initially used

in the culture where the concepts are invented Later, the concepts are transferred to other cultures,and sometimes the original names may be transferred together with the concepts

Vietnamese School Readiness Chuẩn bị tiếng Việt

Vietnamese Language Strengthening Tăng cường Tiếng Việt

Exemplary Inclusive Education Services Mô hình dịch vụ giáo dục hòa nhập mẫu

Fundamental School Quality Level Mức chất lượng tối thiểu

Child Development Record Dữ liệu trẻ thiệt thòi

II.3.1.4 Acronyms in the technical terms of the PEDC Project

Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of words that make up a term or a proper name.Some acronyms of the PEDC Project are:

VSR (Vietnamese School Readiness) Chuẩn bị tiếng Việt (CBTV)

CSF (Campus Support Fund) Quỹ hỗ trợ điểm trường (QHTĐT)

VLS (Vietnamese Language Strengthening) Tăng cường tiếng Việt (TCTV)

EIES (Exemplary Inclusive Education Mô hình giáo dục hòa nhập mẫu

Services)

FSQL (Fundamental School Quality Level) Mức chất lượng tối thiểu (MCLTT)

II.3.1.5 Abbreviations in the technical terms of the PEDC Project

An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole.

Some abbreviations of the PEDC Project are:

DFDP (District FSQL Development Plan) Kế hoạch phát triển MCLTT cấp huyện

DFA (District FSQL Audit) Kiểm kê MCLTT cấp huyện

II.3.1.6 Collocations

In the different texts related to primary education of the PEDC Project, there are some termsinvolved in the arrangement, esp of words in a sentence Some collocations of the PEDC Projectare as the followings:

II.3.2 Compound terms

These are terms which are composed of two or more than two words; these words, which are ofdifferent part of speech, combine together and create terms that have the form of nominal group(Halliday‟s term)

The nominal group

Before examining the terms, which appear in the form of nominal groups, we would like todiscuss briefly the experiential structure of the nominal group

According to Halliday (1985), the nominal group structure contains the Thing (Head noun),preceded by various items including Deictic, Numerative, Epithet, and Classifier, and followed byQualifier:

schoolDeictic Numerative Epithet Epithet Classifier Thing Qualifier

Deictic: the deictic element indicates whether or not some specific subset of the thing is intended.

It can be either specific such as this, that, these, those, my, your, his, her, their…or non-specificlike a, an, each, every, all…

Numerative: the numerative element indicates some numerical feature of the subset: either

quantity (one, two, three…) or order (first, second, third…), either exact (one, two, three…) orinexact (some, few, little…)

Epithet: the epithet, which usually appears in the form of an adjective, indicates some quality of

the subset This can be an objective property of the thing itself, e.g old, long, blue, thin…or itmay be an expression of the speaker‟s subjective attitude towards it, e.g wonderful, excellent,terrible…

Classifier: the classifier indicates a particular sub-class of the thing in question, e.g primary

teachers, ordinary teachers, support teachers, key teachers…Classsifier can be an adjective, e.gordinary teachers or a noun, e.g support teacher

Verbs also enter into the nominal group and function as Epithet or Classifier in one of the twoforms: (i) Present (active) participle, V-ing, e.g teaching, as in teaching aids; (ii) Past (passive, orintransitive active) participle, e.g modularized, as in modularized training

When these forms function as Epithet, they usually have the sense of the finite tense: the presentparticiple means “which is (was/will be)…ing”, and the past participle means “Which has(had/will have)been…ed”

Examples:

A bleeding face (a face which is bleeding)

Modularized training (training which has been modularized)

When these forms function as Classifier, they typically have the sense of a simple present, active

or passive: present (active) “Which…s”, past (passive) “Which is…ed”

Examples:

A stopping train (a train which stops)

Individualized instruction (instruction which is individualized)

Often the participle is itself further modeified and embodies any one of a number of experientialrelations as in a fast-moving train, a school-based manual, child-based teaching…

Sometimes the same word may function either as Epithet or Classifier, with a different in meaning

Examples:

Support = Epithet in support teachers that means “teachers that supports” or support = Classifier

in support teachers that means “teachers classified as a special type of teachers”

Thing: the thing is the semantic core of the nominal group, which may be common noun, proper

noun, or personal noun

Qualifier: the qualifier element follows the Thing and characterizes it The qualifier can be a

relative clause or a prepositional phrase

Technical terms of the PEDC Project in the form of the nominal group

II.3.2.1 Terms consisting of classifier (noun) + thing

A term of this group consists of two nouns, the first noun function as Classifier and helps todistinguish the Thing (the second noun) from other concepts of the same group

For example, in the list of technical terms of the PEDC Project, there are many types of teachers(Thing) that can be distinguished from one another by different Classifier that precede them, e.g

resource teacher (giáo viên nguồn), support teacher (giáo viên hỗ trợ), class teacher (giáo viênđứng lớp)…

Community participation Sự tham gia của cộng đồng

II.3.2.2 Terms consisting of classifier/epithet (adjective) + thing

A term of this group consists of an adjective that functions as Classifier and the Head noun

(Thing)

Instructional improvement Cải thiện dạy và học

The classifier can be further modified by another sub-classifier which takes on the form of a noun, or an adjective:

Child Development Record Dữ liệu trẻ thiệt thòi

School Development Plan Kế hoạch phát triển trường học

Educational Innovation Grant Quỹ sáng kiến giáo dục

Professional Development training Tập huấn phát triển chuyên môn

District Equipment Grant Kinh phí mua sắm cấp huyện

Inclusive Education Documentation Văn bản chính sách giáo dục hòa nhập

II.3.2.3 Terms consisting of classifier/epithet (present participle) + thing

In this group, some V-ing function as Classifier, e.g teaching aids = aids which are used inteaching, training manual = manual which is used in training, some function as Epithet, e.g “Ateaching assistant not only helps Grade 1 ethnic minority students learn well in the class but alsomobilize school-aged students to attend School Readiness class” (Nhân viên hỗ trợ GV không chỉ

hỗ trợ HS dân tộc thiểu số lớp 1 học tốt trong lớp mà còn huy động trẻ em trong độ tuổi đếntrường học lớp Chuẩn bị đến trường) In this example, the teaching assistant means the assistant

who assists teaching in the class Still, others can be either Epithet or Classifier when interpreted

in different situations

II.3.2.4 Terms consisting of classifier/epithet (past participle) + thing

Like V-ing participle, some V-en function as Classifier, some function as Epithet Still, others can

be either Epithet or Classifier when interpreted in different situations

Outreached support teacher GV hỗ trợ liên trường

II.3.2.5 Terms consisting of classifier/epithet (noun + past participle “based”) + thing

In the PEDC Project, the past participle “based” can be modified by nouns and create terms like the followings:

Cluster – based training Tập huấn theo cụm trường

Skill – based learning Học tập lấy kỹ năng làm trung tâm

Subject – based training Tập huấn dựa vào môn học

Community-based school maintenance Bảo dưỡng trường học dựa vào cộng đồngTeacher – based methodology Phương pháp dạy học lấy GV làm trung tâm

II.3.2.6 Terms consisting of classifier/epithet (adj + present participle) + thing

The present participles can be modified by adjective and create terms like the followings:

Institutional Strengthening team Nhóm tăng cường năng lực

Inclusive learning environment Môi trường học tập hòa nhập

Institutional strengthening training Tập huấn tăng cường năng lực

II.3.2.7 Terms consisting of classifier/epithet (noun + present participle) + thing

The present participles can be modified by nouns and create terms like the followings:

Problem - solving Mathematics Giải toán có lời văn

Capacity – building training Tập huấn phát triển năng lực

Teacher - training program Chương trình tập huấn GV

Peer – tutoring method Phương pháp hỗ trợ học tập lẫn nhau

Street – working children Trẻ em kiếm sống đường phố

II.3.2.8 Terms consisting of numerative + noun + thing

One - teacher satellite Điểm trường lẻ do 1 GV phụ trách

One - teacher multigrade school Trường học có lớp ghép do 1 GV phụ tráchTwo – grade multigrade class Lớp ghép hai trình độ

II.3.2.9 Terms consisting of thing + qualifier

The qualifiers in terms of this type are usually “of phrases” or “with

phrases” Of phrases

Training of teaching assistants Tập huấn NVHTGV

With phrases

Children with disabilities Trẻ em khuyết tật

Children with hearing impairment Trẻ em khiếm thính

Children with visual impairment Trẻ em khiếm thị

Children with autistic behavior Trẻ em có hành vi tự kỷ

Children with learning difficulties Trẻ em có khó khăn trong học tập

Children with language difficulties Trẻ em có khó khăn trong học ngôn ngữ

Children with intellectual impairment Trẻ em chậm phát triển trí tuệ

In short, we have studied the main features and the structural patterns of the technical terms of thePEDC Project We have also classified and divided them into groups namely single terms andcompound terms Single terms are further grouped into new coinages, acronyms, abbreviations,collocations and there are some subgroups of terms under the head “compound terms”

CHAPTER III: THE TRANSLATION OF TECHNICAL

TERMS OF THE PEDC PROJECTIII.1 The present context of translating the technical terms used in the materials of the PEDC Project

III.1.1 The translators: The translators may be one of the followings:

The translators of the PEDC Project:

The PEDC Project has seven (7) Institutional Strengthening Teams (IST) includingAdministrative Improvement - IST, Instructional Improvement – IST, Planning Improvement –IST, Financial Improvement – IST, Procurement Improvement – IST, Construction Improvement– IST and Community Participation improvement – IST There are eight (8) translators in total ofthe PEDC Project (one translator of each institutional strengthening team and one translator forthe Senior Implementation Advisor who is an American person)

The paradox is that not all translators work for the PEDC Project from the beginning to the end;the change in employment staff leads to more time needed by the new translators to get used withterms of the project The new translators in the initial period cannot fully understand thebackground, general information as well as initiatives, interventions of the project so they canprovide in accurate translation (for example, one translator of the II-IST translated the term

“Teaching Assistant” into “Trợ giảng” for the first time because she didn‟t know that the TAprogram is translated as “Chương trình Nhân viên hỗ trợ Giáo viên” – an intervention of thePEDC Project) Moreover, each translator of an IST has certain professional knowledge andtranslation skills for a field that each IST in charge of such as construction, finance, planning…sosometimes they cannot give correct translation for the terms related to the primary education cyclethat has been mentioned in this study

The translators outside the PEDC Project:

Translators of other primary education projects that are partners of the PEDC Project, translators

of consulting companies which have signed the contracts to conduct the external evaluationreports, longitudinal studies on activities and programs of the PEDC Project They can beFreelance translators, Bachelors of Art, or Masters of Art

Translators who sign the contract to translate materials with the PEDC Project in case that thePEDC Project has a lot of materials translated for such a short amount of time so only translators

of the PEDC Project cannot finish all They can be translation of translation companies, Freelancetranslators, Bachelors of Art, or Masters of Art

Specialists: many written texts have been translated into Vietnamese by:

(i) First, consultants of some non-governmental organizations cooperating with the PEDC Project

in developing teaching and learning materials such as Save the Children, Oxfam UK… Thesetranslators are well-qualified in terms of professional knowledge related to the primary educationcycle and are well-trained in English, however, they don‟t understand clearly some of thetechnical terms involved with interventions and initiatives of the PEDC Project so sometimes theycannot provide the accurate Vietnamese equivalents for these terms

(ii) Second, consultants and professors who are Bachelors, Masters or Doctors of Science of Stateagencies under Ministry of Education and Training such as Vietnamese Institute of EducationalSciences, Primary Education Department, Ethnic Minority Education Department… Thesetranslators are well-qualified in terms of professional knowledge related to the primary educationsector but they are not well-trained in English Here seldom are the cases when the translators areexperts of both English and professional knowledge related to the primary education cycle

III.1.2 The readers

In general, the readers of this type of materials are professionals, experts and many belong to one

of the following groups:

(i) National part-time, full-time consultants of the PEDC Project (Masters, Doctors of Science,Associate Professors, Professors) They can be permanent staffs of the Ministry of Education andTraining (MoET) or retired from the MoET before working for the PEDC Project Their major isthe primary education so they have a good knowledge of the specialized field, and are capable ofdealing with primary education issues; however, they are not well-trained in English

(ii) Leaders of MoET (Minister, Deputy Ministers); staffs of agencies, departments under MoETrelated directly to the primary education cycle and the stakeholders of the PEDC Project (Head ofPrimary Education Department, Head of Ethnic Education Department, specialists in the primaryeducation cycle…)

(iii) Specialists, consultants, professors from other primary education projects, consulting

companies, non-governmental organizations…

III.1.3 Some problems facing the translators and readers

Difficulties face by PEDC translators and non-PEDC translators:

Generally, the translations of the PEDC Project terminology in our country is still in its early stageand depending on the background, scope and related aspects of this project so both PEDCtranslators and non-PEDC translators have faced a number of problems

Firstly, the translators‟ training has it owns deficiencies; there have been no translators who areproducts of courses that provide training of technical terms of the PEDC Project Whether a

translator is a specialist in the primary education cycle or English major, he/she is half-trained andneeds to equip for himself/herself the other half of the necessary knowledge.

Secondly, the lack of the list of the PEDC Project terminology also contributes barriers to thetranslation of the terms of this project

Thirdly, another problem arises from the arbitrariness of language with such problems aspolysemy, non-equivalence…For example, theoretically, a terms needs to express one concept,but there are in fact, many terms that refer to more than one concept in the same field, e.g theEnglish term “Teaching assistant” refers to three concepts in Vietnamese: (i) trợ giảng, (ii) trợ lýgiáo dục, (iii) NVHTGV This may create difficulties for translators

Difficulties face by the readers:

(i) They need to explain to translators the specific meaning of technical terms

(ii) They don‟t know whether the translator has faithfully translated the term as expressed (anexample is Teaching Assistant – a term has different ways of translation in Vietnamese depending

on cultural aspects, contexts, background )

(iii) Translators don‟t have enough time to read through carefully to check translation sosometimes the readers can be confused when reading the translation versions (for example, thePEDC Project has the three terms “school sites” (điểm trường), “main school site/main campus”(điểm trường chính), “satellite campus/satellite/satellite site” (điểm trường lẻ) If the translatorsdon‟t check translation including these terms carefully, they can give incorrect information.)

III.2 The common strategies and procedures used in the translation of technical terms of the PEDC Project

III.2.1 Translation of terms which are names of intervention initiatives of the PEDC Project Group 1:

1 The term “Teaching Assistant (TA)” - Nhân viên hỗ trợ giáo viên (NVHTGV)

The approach to education with TA‟s support has been applied in some countries (such asEngland, the United States, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Canada ) The term “TA” has somedifferent equivalents in various countries due to differences in teaching and learning contexts, andcultural aspects as follows: (i) In Holland, TAs work as assistants for teachers and students andthey focus mainly on supporting directly children‟s learning, especially reading and basic skills;(ii) In France, there are „supervisors‟ who have an intention of becoming teachers Basically, theycontribute to supervising students inside and outside the classroom; they also meet parents;

support the students‟ learning; (iii) In Belgium, there are “subsidized contract staffs” that arerecruited to minimize unemployment rate and they can take part in looking after preschoolchildren or assisting the students to learn foreign languages; (iv) In US, a more general term is

used “assistants for education professionals” - “các phụ tá chuyên gia giáo dục” - which shows

those working with and helping professionals The role of these assistants is described specificallyfor each working position; for example: bilingual teaching assistants, bilingual special educationassistants, assistants in charge of looking after children, overtime assistants, teaching/classroomassistants, tutors and many other titles

The above-mentioned contents mention some examples of use of TAs in other countries especiallyAmerica, England, France, Holland, Belgium and Canada They also show the different termsused for TA in different countries, various roles, responsibilities of TAs like teachers who takemain responsibilities of teaching in the classroom while TAs play the key role in increasingstudents‟ learning results under supervision of teachers or help from teachers inside and outside

classroom In these above-mentioned examples, teaching assistant have such Vietnamese equivalents as “trợ giảng”, “trợ lý giáo dục”, “người hỗ trợ giáo dục” hoặc “người hỗ trợ các chuyên gia giáo dục”

The term “Teaching Assistant (TA)” in the context of PEDC project can be identified as

“assistant in teaching”, which means people supporting teachers to teach students in the class Thispossible analysis makes this term have similar equivalent like “Trợ giảng” (Translation of thecompound terms by transposition procedure) but this term is translated “Nhân viên hỗ trợ GV” bythe PEDC Project because this Vietnamese equivalent is suitable for the PEDC project context: TAare ethnic minority people who know ethnic minority languages and can use Vietnamese at localareas They cooperate with teachers, especially Grade 1 teachers and work in accordance withschool managers‟ guidance to provide School Readiness for preschool children; increase thenumber of school-aged children attending class; decrease repetition and drop-out rates, maintainregular attendance; and improve learning results of students, teach students SR lessons in the class

So TA of the PEDC are not only in charge of assisting in teaching students but also other tasks tohelp mobilize school-aged students to attend class Grade 1 teachers are mainly Kinh people whocan speak little mother-tongue of students so TAs help teachers to communicate with students‟parents and community members TAs play an important role because they are regarded as bridgesconnecting school, family and community, which contributes to improving students‟ learningresults But not like other people in charge of TA job as above-mentioned, many TAs of the PEDCProject have limited qualifications: a few TAs finished Grade 1, most of them finished Grade 9,and even some TAs only completed Grade 5 So the term “TA” of the PEDC Project in Vietnamcannot have the same equivalents with other countries in the world

2 The term “TA upgrading” - Nâng chuẩn NVHTGV

Source language: “The PEDC Project Implementation Plan (PIP) states that one result of the

Teaching Assistant initiative is to support those Teaching Assistants that are qualified to besupported to enter a provincial teacher training institution The recent World Bank/donor project

review team gave their full support to the proposal on TA upgrading”

Target language: “Theo kế hoạch thực hiện dự án PEDC, một trong những kết quả của sáng kiến

NVHTGV là giúp đỡ NVHTGV có đủ tiêu chuẩn có cơ hội học tập tại cơ sở đào tạo GV của tỉnh

Đoàn đồng đánh giá của NHTG và các nhà tài trợ gần đây nhất đang xem xét hỗ trợ đề xuất nâng

chuẩn NVHTGV”.

3 The term “School Readiness” (SR) – Chuẩn bị đến trường (CBĐT)

According to the technical report by Pamela C.High, MD, and the Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care and Council on School Health, American Academy of Pediatrics,

“School Readiness” is a term used frequently in the in pre-school and kindergarten setting, meansthat a child is ready to enter a social and educationally based environment Moreover, SR is asystematic concept, including a child‟s readiness; school readiness (teachers, TAs, managers…);readiness of parents and communities In other words, the child is ready to start the process oflearning how to do things independently

The term “School Readiness” in the context of PEDC project: This term can be understood as

“readiness for school” which can have the Vietnamese equivalents such as “sẵn sàng đến trường”

or “sẵn sàng đi học” but this term is translated “Chuẩn bị đến trường” within the scope of thePEDC Project The School Readiness (SR) program is a part of the Teaching Assistant initiative,which started in 8 initial provinces in the summer 2007 and has been scal ed – up to 33 provinces

of the PEDC Project up to know This program aims at children living in those communities withnumerous 5 year-old ethnic minority children In such areas, the lack of Vietnamese languageskills actually becomes a barrier to learning in primary classes because there are no kindergartens

in some disadvantaged communities Therefore, the SR program can, even conducted in a shorttime, prepare children for a smooth transition to Grade 1 so that children can start learning withfewer barriers in comparison with those who live in more advantaged areas

4 The term “Fundamental School Quality Level” (FSQL) – Mức chất lượng tối thiểu

(MCLTT)

Source language: “The PEDC Project introduces a new definition about Fundamental School

Quality Level (FSQL) in Vietnam FSQL is the first step to achieve criteria of a national standard school of Vietnam FSQL identifies a series of minimum necessary inputs for provision of high-

quality education in primary school as well as expected outcomes of achieved schools Schools

achieving FSQL will have good initial step in the process of gaining criteria of a national standard

school.”

Target language: “Dự án PEDC lần đầu đã đưa ra khái niệm về Mức chất lượng tối thiểu

(MCLTT) ở Việt nam MCLTT là bước đi đầu tiên trong quá trình đạt được các tiêu chí trường chuẩn quốc gia của Việt nam MCLTT xác định một tập hợp tối thiểu những đầu vào cần thiết cho

việc cung cấp giáo dục có chất lượng tại trường tiểu học và cũng xác định những đầu ra cơ bản

mong muốn các trường đạt được Những trường đạt được MCLTT sẽ có một bước mở đầu tốt đẹp

trong quá trình đạt được các tiêu chí trường chuẩn quốc gia.”

5 The term “District FSQL Grant”(DFG) – Kinh phí MCLTT cấp huyện

Source language: “The District FSQL Grant (DFG) is a PEDC grant to a district to finance some

of the non-construction improvements identified through the District FSQL Audit (DFA)necessary to bring schools up to FSQL standards Available funds over five years total VND425.6 billion (USD 26.6 million) All DFG funds are passed to PPCU, who distribute funds todistricts The objective of the District FSQL Grant (DFG) study is to review the extent andeffectiveness of the DFG activity of the project to date and provide recommendations for potentialmodifications to this activity.”

Target language: “Kinh phí MCLTT cấp huyện là một khoản kinh phí mà dự án PEDC cấp cho

từng huyện nhằm phát triển các hạng mục phi xây dựng được xác định thông qua KKMCLTT cấphuyện, kinh phí này cần thiết trong việc hỗ trợ các trường đạt các tiêu chuẩn MCLTT”

6 The term “Campus Support Fund” (CSF) – Quỹ hỗ trợ điểm trường

Source language: “The Campus Support Fund (CSF) is a decentralized school-level fund with

PTAs and school staff sharing the responsibility for planning and management The purpose of

CSF was to provide resources to be used for improving satellite and main school campuses,

providing flexibility for schools to deal with locally specific issues that impact enrolment,retention, or educational quality, and strengthen the relationship between schools andcommunities”

Target language: “Quỹ hỗ trợ điểm trường là khoản kinh phí được phân cấp đến cấp trường với

sự phối hợp của Ban đại diện cha mẹ HS và đội ngũ nhà trường trong lập kế hoạch và quản lý quỹ

này Mục đích của Quỹ hỗ trợ điểm trường là cung cấp các nguồn lực để được sử dụng nhằm cải

thiện các điểm trường, tạo cho các trường sự linh hoạt trong việc xử lý những vấn đề cụ thể củatừng địa phương mà có ảnh hưởng tới việc nhập học, duy trì học tập hay chất lượng giáo dục, vàtăng cường mối quan hệ giữa nhà trường và cộng đồng.”

7 The term “Inclusive Education” (IE) – Giáo dục hòa nhập

Source language: “The PEDC is working with the MoET in support of inclusive education for all,

including the provision of services for children living with disability to support their accessing,maintaining attendance and successfully completing primary education Based on extensivediscussions and planning with the Primary Education Department at MoET and the World Bank

this effort was modified to develop the National Inclusive Education (IE) Policy, Strategy and Action Plan”.

Target language: “PEDC đang cùng với BGD&ĐT hỗ trợ giáo dục hoà nhập cho tất cả mọi

người, cung cấp dịch vụ cho trẻ khuyết tật nhằm hỗ trợ trẻ tiếp cận trường học, duy trì sĩ sỗ lớphọc và hoàn thành tốt giáo dục bậc tiểu học Dựa trên những thảo luận và kế hoạch chuyên sâu với

Vụ Giáo dục Tiểu học thuộc Bộ và Ngân hàng Thế giới, nỗ lực này đã được củng cố nhằm xây

dựng một Chính sách, Chiến lược và Kế hoạch Hành động Quốc gia về GDHN”.

8 The term “Exemplary Inclusive Education Services” (EIES) – Mô hình dịch vụ giáo dục hòa nhập mẫu

Source language: “With respect of a need to begin to implement model services that would be in

support of the IE policy and strategy development, the Exemplary Inclusive Education Initiative

has commenced in one province in each of the three regions of Vietnam In each of three districts,the draft National Policy and Strategy will be used to guide development of services to supportinclusive education and the progress of this development will, in turn, be used to guide refinement

of the National IE documentation”

Target language: “Liên quan đến nhu cầu bắt đầu thực hiện mô hình dịch vụ hỗ trợ việc xây

dựng chính sách và chiến lược GDHN, Sáng kiến Mô hình Dịch vụ GDHN mẫu đã được khởi

động tại một huyện trong 1 tỉnh thuộc 3 miền ở Việt Nam Tại mỗi huyện, bản thảo chính sách vàchiến lược sẽ được sử dụng làm tài liệu định hướng mô hình dịch vụ nhằm hỗ trợ GDHN và sau

đó, các mô hình này sẽ là nền tảng để có những góp ý, bổ sung cho bản thảo Chính sách và Chiếnlược GDHN”

9 The term “support teacher” – Giáo viên hỗ trợ

Source language: “In a given local area, there will be several regular classroom teachers in

separate schools, trained to work as support teachers Depending on the known needs in the area,

each support teacher will be trained in a different area of specialization In this way, all schools in

the given area will have access to specialist support by teachers who are located nearby and whoare practicing classroom teachers”