RSUSSH 2020
IN20-155 Translation Strategies at Word Level Applied by 4th-Year English Majors, Rangsit University
Presenter: Pawarisorn Somsin
Rangsit Univeristy, Thailand
Abstract
This study aimed to explore translation strategies at word level applied by fourth-year English majors, Rangsit University. The samples were four short stories translated from English into Thai by four 4th-year students who enrolled in ENG491 Independent Study (I.S) and completed their independent study in the academic year 2018. Four short stories included Take is Sake, The Wise Old Weaver, The Magic Forest, and The Bremen Town Musicians collected in Elder Tales: Stories of Wisdom and Courage from Around the World authored by Keding (2008). Among four stories, a total of 90 data were found to use Baker (1992)’s translation strategies. The data were analyzed based on eight translation strategies suggested by Baker (1992). The results revealed that the strategy that displayed the highest frequency was translation by omission (25.55%), followed by translation by paraphrase using a related word (21.11%), translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word (16.67%), and translation by using a more general word (13.33%). The frequencies of translation by cultural substitution, translation by using a more neutral/ less expressive word, and translation by using a loanword or loanword plus explanation were not much different, 8.89%, 6.67%, and 6.67%, respectively. Translation by illustration was hardly used by the students (1.11%).
Citation format:
Somsin, P.. (2020). Translation Strategies at Word Level Applied by 4th-Year English Majors, Rangsit University. Proceeding in RSU International Research Conference, May 1, 2020. Pathum Thani, Thailand.QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Dear Mr. Pawarisorn Somsin,
It is my privilege to have witnessed a very sophisticated research study. I'd also like to thank you for this well-prepared presentation. The study itself is not only useful for those in the teaching field, but also very insightful for a number of aspiring translators out there since translation strategies must be kept in mind in order to be aware of the most appropriate to be employed during the translation process. This led to a number of questions which I'd like you to elaborate:
1. What are the reasons behind the selection of these four short stories? Have you employed any statistical randomness when it comes to the selection?
2. Apart from Baker (1992) which was chosen to be the framework of your analysis, could you please provide some other scholars in the field?
3. What are the practical applications based on your results in the context of language classroom or translation class?
Best regards,
Tony
Answer for Q1: In each term, very few students are eligible for conducting an IS on translation since they need to meet the requirements of the course. In addition, there are not more than 4 Thai teachers who are always assigned to supervise 'translation' students, so the selection methods were:
1) one story from one student from one supervisor was selected;
2) each short story selected was more than 3 pages long.
Answer for Q2: You can conduct further studies using the frameworks of Newmark or Tida and Taber.
Answer for Q3: As I discussed in the final part of the proceeding, teachers need to focus more on translation skills due to the necessity of translation in future careers. Teacher may select Thai texts with Thai cultural terms from any sources and have students figure out how to replace those terms using translation strategies as suggested in this proceeding.