i MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

HOANG KHANH BAO

EXPLORING CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES
FOR TEACHING TRANSLATION IN
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT AT TAY NGUYEN
UNIVERSITY

MA THESIS IN EDUCATION

FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND
METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH TEACHING
CODE: 60.14.10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: PHAM HOA HIEP, D.Ed.

HUE, 2010
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GIÁ
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NGI HNG DN KHOA HC:
TIN S PHM HOÀ HIP

HU, 2010
ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings
discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not
been published elsewhere. Author
Hoang Khanh Bao iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis would not have been possible without the encouragement and
whole-hearted assistance of many people.
Firstly, I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Pham Hoa Hiep,
whose encouragement, guidance, and support from the initial to the final level has
enabled me to overcome many difficulties and develop my research skills.

ABSTRACT 6
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 7
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 12

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2.3.1. Today’s translators’ required knowledge and skills 16
2.3.2. Current teaching methods and techniques used for teaching translation.18
2.3.3. Translation teaching in Vietnam 22
2.4. Chapter summary 24
3.1. Introduction 25
3.2. Research site 25
3.3. Research approach 25
3.4. Research methods 26
3.4.1. Classroom observations 26
3.4.2. Interviews 27
3.5. Participants 27
3.6. Data analysis 28
3.7. Conclusion 28
4.1. Introduction 29
4.2. Findings and discussions 29
4.2.1. Classroom techniques currently used by teachers in translation class 29
4.2.1.1. Teaching materials 29
4.2.1.2. Teaching techniques and methods 34
4.2.1.2.1. Classroom arrangement 34
4.2.1.2.2. Activities students involved 36
4.2.1.2.3. Teachers and students’ roles 38
4.2.2. Teachers’ and students’ views on the current classroom techniques 40
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 25


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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Excerpt from the Curriculum for BA in English 30

Table 4.2: Excerpt from translation course outline 31
Table 4.3: Summary of key findings 45

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Socio-constructivist Classroom 21

Figure 5.1: Cycle of Translation Progamme Design and Development (Gabr,
2000, 17) 546

ABSTRACT
This project aims to investigate the classroom techniques currently used for
teaching translation and the teachers and students’ views on the effectiveness of
those techniques at Tay Nguyen University.
Qualitative ethnographic approach was used for this study. The research methods
consisted of classroom observations and follow-up interviews. Observations of six
translation class sessions taught by two teachers were conducted. These
observations were followed up by in-depth interview with the same teachers.
Additionally, interviews were conducted with eight students representing the
student population in those classes
The results show that the translation teachers tend to employ traditional approach to

£10 billion a year, barely satisfies a fraction of the demand created by a global
economy
In Vietnam, the recent open-door policy and the integration into the World Trade
Organisation have undoubtedly given impetus to the economic, political, cultural,
and social exchange with foreign countries all over the world, which, as a
consequence, has also created favourable opportunity for the development of the
translation market. It is estimated that of 600 recruiting advertisements there are
about 15-20 seeking for translators and interpreters, three times higher than the
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number of 4-6 in comparison with those seeking for teachers on Vietnamworks.com
– the biggest website for job seekers in Vietnam (Hiep and Huong, 2007).
With such demands for translation, the way how translators are currently trained is
one of the issues that should be highlighted. As Pym (1998) stated, “the market
demand for translations is often cited as a determinant on the way translators should
be trained”, the training program and methods need to gear students to knowledge
and skills essential for their future profession as translators.
In many countries in Europe, North America, and Australia, there have been
professional training programs appropriate with the requirements of respective
translation markets (Hoang, 2007). In parallel with the program, the training
methodology has also shifted with the aim of providing students with knowledge of
translation theories and processes, skills (such as documentation techniques,
terminology, use of tools, computer resources, etc.), and areas of specializations for
translators such as law, economics, medicine, etc.(Aula.int, 2005).
In Vietnam, although the translator training at undergraduate level has also been
implemented in several colleges and universities as in Hue, Ho Chi Minh, and
Hanoi, normally, translation is one of the subjects embedded in the undergraduate
foreign language program of some other institutions and the teaching of translation
still receives little attention. In most institutions, translation teaching is taking place
informally without either “clearly-defined curricular” (Gabr, 2001) or “proper

for the development of more effective techniques which then will contribute to the
improvement of teaching and learning translation. Inspired by this, I chose to
conduct my research on current classroom techniques for teaching translation in
English Department at Tay Nguyen University. I hope my research will make some
contribution to the improvement of teaching and learning translation at my
university.
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1.2. Aims of the study
This project seeks to investigate what classroom techniques are currently used in the
translation classes at Tay Nguyen University and how effective these techniques are
in view of the teachers and students. Based on the findings, suggestions are given
for development of more effective techniques.
This project particularly aims to answer the following questions:
1. What classroom techniques are currently used by teachers in translation
classes at Tay Nguyen University?
2. How do the teachers view these techniques in terms of effectiveness?
3. How do the students view these techniques in terms of effectiveness?
4. What suggestions are given to develop more effective classroom techniques?
1.3. Scope of the study
This study was conducted in the English Department of Tay Nguyen University.
The data were thus necessarily limited in scope, and could not be generalized to
other contexts.
1.4. Significance of the study
The project helps gain information about what techniques were currently used for
translation classes and how effective these techniques were in view of teachers and
students. On the basis of the findings, suggestions were given to develop more
effective techniques to enhance the teaching and learning of translation in English
Department at Tay Nguyen University.
1.5. Structure of the study
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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
This chapter aims to present the theoretical background of the study which tries to
picture an overview of the issues on translation market and language students. It
also provides a close look into the issues on translator training in terms of today’s
translators required knowledge and skills, current teaching methods and techniques
used for teaching translation, and translation teaching in Vietnam.
2.2. Background: Language students and the translation market
Hiep and Huong (2007) note that taking into consideration the issues of the
students and the market demands is of the decisive factors in translator training.
Therefore, an overview of what and how language students have been trained so far
and to what extent the translation market needs are significant contributions to the
study.
According to Pym (2002), since the mid-twentieth century the world has witnessed
the coming into being of series of translator training institutions in different areas of
the world, notably, in Western Europe and North America. As estimated by
Caminade and Pym in 1995and Harris and Kingscott in 1997 (cited in Pym, 2002),
the institutions might reach the number of approximately 300. In order to give the
explanation to this phenomenon, Pym (2002) assumes that it is generally because of
the economic exchange and the globalization which are animatedly taking place
throughout the world. However, Pym (2002) believes that the translator training
programmes are “context-specific” as they are dependent on the specific situation of
a particular area.
As for those in Western Europe, which are mostly at university level, place their
emphases on training conference interpreters thanks to the multilingual policies and
in response to the European unification. Whereas, in North America and Australia,

regrettable that most of the current translators in Vietnam are considered to lack in
knowledge and skills to function as professional translators (Dong, 2007). The lack
in professionalism of Vietnamese translators can be claimed to be partly rooted
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from the training. Referring to the training of translators, in the opening speech at
the conference on “Translation – Interpretation and Translator – Interpreter
Training” held in August 2007 Doctor Tran Van Phuoc – Rector of Hue College of
Foreign Languages states:
Many companies wish to recruit university graduates who can offer good quality
translation service. However, it seems that many students graduating from our
colleges and universities lack the necessary abilities and skills to function
successfully as translators. (In Huong, 2008, p. 21)
Indeed, according to Hiep and Huong (2007), without mentioning translation skills,
many Vietnamese foreign language students still face a lot of difficulties in
language skills.
As the training of translators should be targeted to the market, it is necessary that
the current requirements of the translation market be taken into consideration.
Apart from the knowledge of the two languages and cultures as well as that of the
translation theory which are considered important for students to cope with
translation jobs, whether these are sufficient for students to act as professional
translators in present-day translation market is still in question. The more the
translation market demand grows in terms of the number of the services, the more
professional it requires the translators to be in terms of knowledge and skills.
Practically, today translation market requires the translators not only to have a good
command of both source and target language but also to “bring together knowledge
and skills that belong to different disciplines, such as documentation, terminology,
desktop publishing, as well as some knowledge of specialized texts” (Aula.int,
2005).
At present, the advances in information and communication technology has great

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2.3. Issues on translator training
2.3.1. Today’s translators’ required knowledge and skills
In addressing the problem of the professional translator of tomorrow, Snell-Hornby
(1991) argues that today translators should act not only as “language specialists” but
“all-round experts” as well. In order to gain such status it is vitally important that
translators should have knowledge, competence, and skills that go hand in hand
with the harsh requirements of the market. As translation is both a science and a
craft (Gabr, 2001), it certainly requires both theoretical and practical knowledge and
skills relevant to both language and translation. Yet in the scope of this research, the
followings are considered key knowledge and skills that a translator should have in
order to meet today translation market demand.
Firstly, since translation is to deal with language, it is patent that “language
competence is essential prerequisite for any translator’s work” (Snell-Hornby,
1991). In order to render meaning of a text from one language to another, translators
must have good command of both source and target languages. According to
Razmjou (2004) language skills are of the factors that constitute a good translator.
She argues that beside the ability of writing smoothly and correctly in both source
and target languages (as writing is the main job of a translator), receptive skills like
reading and listening help improve the translator’s “language intuition and make
him or her ready for actual translating”.
Translation, yet, is not simply a linguistic activity which requires language
competence only. Since the work of translating takes place in a socio-cultural
context, translation is undoubtedly a socio-cultural activity which calls for the
translator’s a broad knowledge of the norms and conventions of both source and
target cultures (Snell-Hornby, 1991, p11). Razmjou (2004) asserts that in order to
better the quality of the translation to a great extent, translators must be aware of
culture, customs, and social settings of the source and target language speakers.
Therefore, a professional translator is not only a bilingual but also a bicultural (if

information (Pym, 1998) but helps translators to make sure their products are
compatible with the standards set by clients as well. Particularly, those such as word
processing, internet, email, computer-aided-translation softwares… would be
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helpful electronic tools which ensure the translators long-term survival in today
fast-track market.
Last but not least, since a translator offers his/her services to clients, he/she is
supposed to be businessperson, thus, should have skills to handle his or her
business. To do this, the translator is forced to acquire business skills such as
marketing, negotiation, time management, and fee estimation and charging (Searls-
Ridge, 2000).
According to Searls-Ridge (2000), the knowledge and skills that ensure a
translator’s success can briefly be synthesized as follows:
 Fluency in two languages and cultures.
 Good general education in addition to the prerequisite language skills.
 Above-average writing skill in target language
 Excellent computer skills and a willingness to continue to learn new technology.
 Good business skills including marketing, negotiating, pricing, and time management
 Getting along well with others.
 Knowing limitations in all of the area mentioned above.
(Cited in Searls-Ridge, 2000, retrieved from

Although it would take time and energy for a translator to gain those knowledge and
skills through actual work, it is believed that a sound training programme and
appropriate teaching methods surely help initiating the accumulation of the above
knowledge and skills. Therefore, taking into account the pedagogical issues on
translation such as teaching methods and techniques is a good contribution to the
preparation for students to function as professional translators.
2.3.2. Current teaching methods and techniques used for teaching translation

instruction” namely lecture method, discussion, audiovisual methods, experiential
methods, role-playing, and computer-based method which, according to Gabr, are
considered to not only cover theoretical and practical aspects of translation but
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create favourable condition for both teaching and learning processes. While such
passive mode of instruction as lecture method tends to promote the teacher’s control
and facilitates the conveying of “theories, concepts and procedures” (Gabr, 2001, 5.
Selecting teaching method and techniques, para. 3), but the role of student and
learning process, it can be used in combination with other active modes of
instruction, which encourage active learning. Discussion, for instance, enhances the
two-way interaction between teacher and students; audiovisual method, which
provides students with more vivid and enjoyable learning environment by making
use of technological tools such as overhead transparencies, films or audiotapes, etc,
can be employed to present “dynamic and complex events” (Gabr, 2001, 5.
Selecting teaching method and techniques, para. 5). Other methods like experiential
and role-playing can offer students opportunity for “self-discovery and learning”
(Gabr, 2001, 5. Selecting teaching method and techniques, para. 7), “analytical and
problem-solving skills” (Gabr, 2001, 5. Selecting teaching method and techniques,
para. 6).
Since the teaching of “purely linguistic aspects” has been replaced by that of
“translation theory and processes, and instrumental skills” (Pym, 1998), the
conventional teacher-centered classroom no longer conforms to conveying “the
wide range of professional and interpersonal skills, knowledge and competences”
that the “translator-in-training” needs to act like a professional translator in “an ever
more demanding language mediation market” (Kiraly, 2003). It can be figured out
that the methods and techniques used for teaching translation must not only reflect
the “translating activities” (Newmark, 1991, p134) such as text analysis, word
selection, or finding solutions to the problems of “linguistic and cultural
untranslatability” (Gerding –Salas, 2000, The specific approaches, para. 3); but help