Luận Văn The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp năm 2012
Đề tài: The difficulties and suggested solutions in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese


TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Scopes of the study 2
4. Methodology of the study 3
5. Design of the study . 4
PART B. DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Background of the study
. 5
I. Literature review . 5
1. Overview of tourism 5
1.1 Definition of tourism . 5
1.2 History of tourism 5
1.3 Type of tourism . 6
1.3.1 Eco-tourism 7
1.3.2 Mass tourism . 7
1.3.3 Cultural tourism 7
1.3.4 Adventure travel 8
1.3.5 Epicurean tourism 8
1.3.6 Rural tourism . 8
2. Overview of terminology . 9
2.1 Definition of terminology 9
2.2 Features of terminology 10
2.2.1 Accuracy . 10
2.2.2 Systematicality 11
2.2.3 Internationality . 12
3. Norms of Vietnamese terminology . 13
4. The importance of translating tourism term from English into
Vietnamese . 14
5. Translation errors 15
5.1 Definitions of translation errors . 15
5.2 Typology of errors . 16
5.3 Impacts of errors . 17
5.4 Etiology of errors 18
II. The difficulties in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese
1. On linguistic aspects 18
1.1 At word level . 18
1.1.1 Loss of connotative meanings . 18
1.1.2 Rigid use of the part of speech . 21
1.1.3 Plural form . 22
1.2 At phrase level 23
1.2.1 Noun phrase . 23
1.2.2 Word order . 24
1.3 At sentence level 25
1.3.1 Passive voice 25
1.3.2 Relative clause . 26
1.3.3 Time adverbial 27
1.3.4 Order of importance vs. order of time . 27
1.4 Linguistic untranslatability . 28
2. On cultural aspects . 29
2.1 Translation of idioms and fixed expressions . 29
2.1.1 Simile . 30
2.1.2 Metaphor 30
2.1.3 Proverb . 31
2.2 Translation of implications and classic references 32
Chapter 2: Methodology . 33
2.1 Material 33
2.2 Data analysis and results . 33
2.2.1 Results for translation procedures at word level . 33
2.2.2 Results for Translation Procedures at Phrase Level . 37
2.2.3 Results for Translation Procedures at Sentence Level 42
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions 46
3.1. Subjective clauses 46
3.1.1 Insufficient language competence 47
3.1.1.1 Insufficient target language (Vietnamese) competence 47
3.1.1.2 Insufficient source language (English) competence . 48
3.1.2 Inadequate cultural background 49
3.2 Objective causes 50
3.2.1 Linguistic differences between English and Vietnamese 50
3.2.2 Cultural differences 51
3.3 Overcoming linguistic problems
. 51
3.3.1 Choose the right word 51
3.3.2 Choose the right structure 52
3.3.2.1 Transpositions . 52
3.3.2.2 Replacements 52
3.3.3 Dealing with linguistic untranslatability 52
3.4 Overcoming cultural problems . 53
3.4.1 Cultural s substitutions . 53
3.4.2 Dealing with cultural untranslatability . 53
3.4.2.1 Free translation 53
3.4.2.2 Borrowing 54
Part C: CONCLUSION 55
APPENDIXES . 56
REFERENCES 61


PART A. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
It is generally believed that translation plays a key role in the universalisation of
human knowledge. It helps improve international understanding, socio-cultural
awareness, professional communicative activities, implementation of
technologies, and so much more. However, the practice of translation has
long been criticized for being, more than often, unsatisfactory or even
incorrect. This seems to evoke an immoderate distaste for translators; yet it has
its own reasoning. Certainly, almost no translation is perfect even when the
general message is conveyed. This is due to the many linguistic and cultural
differences between one language and another. And during my university, I am
especially interested in the field of tourism that is, as for me, implicit tremendous
challenges, and difficulties in terms of language. I always look forward to having
a chance to go inside the world of tourism language, discover and resolve
translation obstacles set by tourism terminology. However, tourism is a huge
topic that holds thousands of concepts and has a range of thousands of terms.
In most cases, tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries that
delivers a travel experience, including transportation, accommodations, eating
and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses, activity
facilities and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups
traveling away from home. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) claims that
tourism is currently the world largest industry with annual revenues of over $3
trillion dollars. Tourism provides over six mi llion jobs in the United States,
making it the country's largest employer. In the recent years, Vietnamese‟s needs
to travel abroad are up-coming. Travel firms have reported that the number of
travelers booking tours for May holiday still has increased by 20-30 percent in
comparison with the same period of the last year.
Tourism translation allows travel agencies, tour operators, hotels and other
businesses to reach out to potential customers around the world. From websites
to brochures, magazine advertisements and more, there are many ways for
tourism-related businesses to promote themselves. By translating these materials
into multiple languages, tourism businesses can ensure that they reach as many
potential customers as possible.
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So for maximum effect, however, tourism businesses can‟t rely on any basic
translation – they must be able to present their material in a clear, comprehensive
and attention-catching manner.
Therefore, I come up with a smaller topic and expect to deal with it in details
within my Graduation Paper, which is “The difficulties and suggested solutions
in translating tourism terms from English into Vietnamese”.
2. Aims of the study
The primary aim of the Graduation paper is to give students of Engli sh,
the would-be translators:
- An overview of the frequently seen types of mistakes in English - Vietnamese
translation on tourism terms that may make their translations unnatural and
incomprehensible so that they are fully aware of and able to avoid them.
- Finding causes of translation unnaturalness and then suggesting some possible
strategies to overcome the problems.
The Graduation paper touches upon a field of study that is still rather insufficient
in Vietnam so its targeted subjects are mainly students; nevertheless, al l people
who are interested in tourism translation work can consider it a useful reference
helping improve their translating skills.
3. Scopes of the study
The term translation can be understood in two ways. In broader term,
translation is the process of converting words from one language to
another (International Translation Bureau™, 2003). According to this definition,
it includes interpreting as the conversion of spoken words from one
language into another. However, what this Graduation paper looks at is
translation with its narrower definition, concerning only the written words.
And in this Graduation paper, I will concentrate on analyzing about linguistic
and cultural aspect to recognize the mistakes causing unnaturalness when
translate tourism terms from English into Vietnamese.
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4. Methodology of the study
In a bid to write a good Graduation Paper, it is vital for me to start on the right
track and carefully outline a sound and effective method of doing a research .
A descriptive method of research was used to collect data, find possible solutions
for the existing translation problems of selected tourist guidebooks and draw
conclusions of the study. Therefore, the present study tried to find the cases of
inappropriate translation procedures used for cultural elements in these books
based on a functional theory of translation.
First, in data analysis, the tourist guidebooks of travel firms and their English
translations were compared at word, phrase, and sentence leve ls to find examples
of different translation procedures used for cultural elements. The above
mentioned examples were listed in separate tables.
Next, considering the basic underlying principles of the cases of inappropriate
translation procedures were found among those listed in previous part.
Then, the percentage of different translation procedures and their inadequacies
were listed in separate tables and pie charts.
After that, in the discussion part, the reasons for inappropriate translation
procedures used for cultural elements were given based on communication
theory and cooperative principle which are closely interwoven.
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5. Design of the study
The present study is organized in 3 parts:
Part A: Introduction
Introduction states Rationale, Aims, Scope and Methods of the study.
Part B: Development
This part is subdivided into three chapters:
Chapter 1: Background of the study
This chapter is background of tourism, terminology, norms of Vietnamese
terminology, the importance of translating touris m term from English into
Vietnamese and Translation errors.
Chapter 2: Methodology
This chapter is analyzing translation procedures to find inappropriate ones used
for cultural elements in tourist guidebooks.
Chapter 3: Findings and discussions
In this chapter, discussion the reasons and suggested solutions to overcome the
common errors.
Part C: Conclusion
The Conclusion which gives the reviews of the study, limitations of the study
and suggestions for further study.
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PART B. DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
I. Literature review
1. Overview of tourism
1.1 Definition of tourism
“Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places
outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for
leisure, business and other purpose”.
(http://www.tugberkugurlu.com/archive/definintion-of-tourism)
Three criteria are used simultaneously in order to characterize a trip as belong to
tourism. The displacement must be such that:
It involves a displacement outside the usual environment: this term is of utmost
importance and will be discussed later on;
Type of purpose: the travel must occur for any purpose different from being
remunerated from within the place visited: the previous limits, where tourism
was restricted to recreation and visiting family and friends are now expended to
include a vast array of purposes;
Duration: only a maximal duration is mentioned, not a minimal. Tourism
displacement can be with or without an overnight stay. We shall discuss the
particularity of in transit visits, from a conceptual and statistical point of view.
1.2 History of tourism
The earliest forms of leisure tourism can be traced as far back as the Babylonian
and Egyptian empires. A museum of “historic antiquities” was open to the pub lic
in the sixth century BC in Babylon, while the Egyptians held many religious
festivals attracting not only the devout, but many who came to see the famous
buildings and works of art in the cities. The local towns accommodated tourists
by providing services such as: vendors of food and drink, guides, hawkers of
souvenirs, touts and prostitutes.
From around the same date, Greek tourists travelled to visit the sites of healing
gods. Because the independent city-states of ancient Greece had no central
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authority to order the construction of roads, most of these tourists travelled by
water, hence seaports prospered.
The lands of the Mediterranean Sea produced a remarkable evolution in travel.
People travel for trade, commerce, religious purposes, festivals, medical
treatment, or education developed at an early date.
Guidebooks became available as early as the fourth century BC, covering a vast
area of destinations, i.e. Athens, Sparta and Troy. Pausanias, a Greek travel
writer, produced a noted “description of Greece” between AD 160 and 180,
which, in its critical evaluation of facilities and destinations, acted as a model for
later writers. Advertisements, in the form of signs directing visitors to wayside
inns, are also known from this period. However, under Romans rule is where
international travel became first important. With no foreign borders between
England and Syria, and with the seas safe from piracy due to the Roman patrols,
conditions favoring travel had arrived. Roman coinage was acceptable
everywhere, and Latin was the common language. Romans travelled to Sicily,
Greece, Rhodes, and Troy, Egypt and from the third century AD, to the Holy
Land.
1.3 Types of tourism