Current Situation of English Translation Courses

宋蕾

【Abstract】After 1978， according to the foreign language teaching program and outline requirements which were established by the Ministry of Education， most colleges and universities identified translation as important foreign language professional courses for English majors. But currently， there are still many errors in positioning the teaching English translation at most colleges and universities， and their teaching and research are also at the margins.

【Key words】translation teaching； translation courses； positioning

Over the years， scholars of our translation community have conducted a heated debate about the relationship and differences of translation teaching （Pedagogy of Translation） and teaching translation （Pedagogical Translation） put forward by Jean Delisle.Most scholars believe that the focus of translation teaching is to teach translation skills and knowledge which aims to develop translation professionals. While teaching translation is one of the foreign languages teaching methods， its purpose is to help students master the language points to improve their foreign language skills. Concerned about the differences between the focus of these two concepts， a point which most scholars agreed was that teaching translation refers to the mutual translation of Chinese and English in the foreign language teaching， its demand for translation is relatively lower and it is more suitable for other forms of foreign language teaching which outside of translation specialized courses. But as the teaching objectives， the translation teaching is professional and its demand for translation is relatively higher. As we all know， in our English teaching， teaching translation is mainly used in college English teaching， but rarely used in professional English teaching， it is marginalized in the field of translation， which in turn directly led to the college English translation teaching that have been marginalized in the field of teaching. Firstly， as a programmatic document to guide and check the college English teaching， College English Syllabus has not given enough attention to the translation teaching. There are four major syllabuses in the process of English teaching development in our countrys universities， but the four major syllabuses mainly emphasize on the basic language teaching， that are， emphasizing students listening， speaking， reading and writing skills， while not giving explicit request on the translation ability of students.

1. Unclear Selection of Teaching Plans and Materials

In many universities and colleges， teachers translation lesson plans and materials choices are arbitrary. Translation teaching plans are generally indistinct in various colleges and universities， they just simply summarize the extent of translation abilities that students should achieve， but with no detailed discussion， so teachers can understand and play any English translation plan， the established plans cant really play a guiding role. While the selection and use of translation materials is more chaotic than the English translation plan. The foreign language departments in many colleges and universities set up translation courses in senior grades， but it is difficult to find two schools that use the same textbooks， each school basically uses their own written materials or handouts. Therefore， although each school can play its own strengths and highlight its training objectives， the underlying problem is that this will inevitably lead to confusion throughout the translation teaching. It is difficult to grasp the development of translation teaching as a whole. Also， the teaching materials prepared by schools themselves do not exclude the edit problems and some other special orientation， such as own arbitrariness， market-orientation， lacking of scientific tendency and some other aspects of the tendencies.

2. Unclear Translation Teaching Purpose

Most translations teachers are looking forward to teaching students more translation theory， translation methods and techniques as much as possible in the translation classes， in order to engage students immediately to work on translation after the graduation. Such a desire is good， but we should clearly know that the purpose of translation is to enable students to understand the translation and realize the importance of translation， and via learning the basic translation theory and translation methods to actually master the translation abilities， so that they can lay the foundation for future development. At present， maybe because the purpose of translation teaching is not clear， the translation training methods for students dislocation occurs， and most teachers take translation class as a training class. To conduct and arrange a lot of translation exercises for students， there is no doubt that they are undertaking training and engaging in intensive projects， and wrongly take the beginners of translation as the professional translators who possess quite experience and theoretical knowledge of translation.

3. Rigid and Laggard Translation Teaching Methods

Translation teaching method is one of issues which have been discussed most frequently and it is also one of the biggest divergences in the foreign language teaching for over the years. What kind of translation teaching methods to be used and adopted is a personal problem. The so-called “l(fā)earning is not fixed，” so that the teaching is with no unity. The practical feature of translation decides that the translation teaching methods can be based on to cultivate the students practical ability. Further， the artistic feature of translation requires that the translation teaching methods must respect the students creativity and initiation.

In the past， on the translation classes of college foreign language profession， most of the teachers adopted the traditional mentoring legend style teaching methods. That is， the teachers presented translation theory and translation methods， left some exercises to students， and then checked the reference answer word for word， or used reference sentence to verify translation skills （Liu， 2012）. And even in the translation teaching lessons for graduates in some of English departments， the teachers also just commented on the translation or conduct translation comparison and appreciation， the teachers only briefly explained traditional translation theory， such as the faithfulness， expressiveness and elegance translation theory. It is basically a craftsman-style method to teach， but does not emphasize the theoretical basis and the scientific method， so that students cant grasp the scientific method and greater initiative in the future translation practice. In many universities and colleges， many teachers have neither learned systematic of translation theory， nor have adopted specialized practical training about translation， they just take on the textbooks to repeat the content in the books. The result is only to transfer the translation classes into the comparison and contrast of English and Chinese sentences， or just simple intensive teaching， which leads to the situation that the students can only learn a few words or phrases， or know a few useless translation skills at most.

The rigid and laggard translation teaching methods are very common in most of our colleges and universities. It is a serious impediment to improve the translation quality of teaching， and it is also a big problem to realize the effective cultivation of skillful translation talents. Reform of teaching methods is the primary task of getting out of the trouble in translation teaching and improving translation teaching quality.

4. Students Unclear Learning Situation

There is a long term thinking of Translation need not be taught or Translation does not need to be taught. Many students are influenced by this thinking， and they follow the principle of everybody who knows foreign language would be capable of translation. And in many translation textbooks， a considerable part of content seems to repeat the grammar lesson. It seems that the translation lessons sound that an extension or appendage to the grammar lessons， and it is difficult for most persons to find out what the unique content and status of translation. The presence of these ideas undoubtedly influenced the students awareness of the translation program， and affected the students translation learning attitude..In the survey conducted for students， 34% of students thought that it was not necessary to learn translation in specialty； they considered that they could do well in translation as long as they had good basic of English. Other 46% of students believed that as long as they engaged in translation work after the graduation， they would explore the translation experience in translation practice and learned translation well. Therefore， most students thought that there was no need to study and understand translation theory； it was enough for the teachers to teach them some translation methods and techniques when they were in school. We can well perceive that the thinking of Translation need not be taught or Translation does not need teach had a profound influence and impact on the students.

Since the students are influenced by the thinking of Translation does not need to be taught and the impact of comprehensive English teaching mode， most students believe that after they have mastered some lessons of the word translation and grasp a few tricks， they can perform on stage. They have little interest with the translation process， translation standards， translation principles as well as the relationship among the original， translators and translation， they hope that they could become genuine translators after they graduate from school. The students attitude of seeking quick success and instant benefits inevitably affect the teachers teaching methods and attitudes.

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