VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
********************* ĐINH THỊ HÒA COMMON ERRORS IN VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION
MADE BY ENGLISH TRANSLATOR TRAINEES AT NUI PHAO
MINING COMPANY LIMITED

Những lỗi phổ biến trong dịch Việt-Anh của phiên dịch Tiếng Anh mới ra
nghề tại Công Ty TNHH Khai Thác Chế Biến Khoáng Sản Núi Pháo M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60140111
Hanoi, 2014
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES


I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “Common errors in Vietnamese-English translation
made by English translator trainees at Nui Phao Mining Company Limited” is the result
of my own research for the degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and
International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The thesis has not been
submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions. I agree that the origin of
my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research.

Hanoi, 2014 Đinh Thị Hòa ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


especially in Vietnamese-English translations. The aim of this study was therefore to
investigate the common errors in Vietnamese-English translations of English translator
trainees. In order to achieve this, a case study with 10 English translator trainees working
at Nui Phao Mining Company was carried out to find out the most common errors in
Vietnamese-English translations. They were inexperienced English translators with only
some months to 2 years experience in an English translator role. The data of this study
collected from 30 Vietnamese-English translations of these English translators and the
questionnaires distributed to them. In addition, the interview questions also were used to
get further information for the study from 4 experienced English translators who have had
many years in translating and directly helped English translator trainees review their
translations. Results from errors analysis of 30 Vietnamese-English translations,
questionnaires and interviews showed that English translator trainees often made errors in
using of preposition, word forms, word orders, verb tenses, lexical choice and omission
errors. The study also investigated the causes leading to these errors and the ways to void
them as well as to improve translation skills for English translator trainees via
questionnaires and interview. Finally, some suggestions and recommendations are given
for English translators trainees as well as English learners to make their Vietnamese-
English translations become more perfect and professional. iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii

2.2.1. Setting of the study 17
2.2.2. Participants 17
2.3. Data collection 18
2.3.1. Data collection instruments 18
2.3.1.1. The Vietnamese-English translations analysis 18
2.3.1.2. The questionnaire 18
2.3.1.3. The interview questions 18
2.3.2. Data collection procedures 18
2.3.3. Data analysis procedures 19
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 20
3.1. Personal information of the participants 20
3.1.1. The first group of participants 20
3.1.2. The second group of participants 22
3.2. Difficulties of English translator trainees in translating Vietnamese-English text22
3.3. Common errors on Vietnamese- English translation made by English translator
trainees working at NPMC 23
3.3.1. Overall results from Vietnamese-English translations analysis, questionnaires
and interviews 23
3.3.2. Linguistic errors 25
3.3.2.1. Misuse of prepositions 25
3.3.2.2. Misuse of verb tenses 28
3.3.2.3. Misuse of sentence structure 28
3.3.2.4. Misuse of word orders 29
3.3.2.5. Misuse of word collocations 29
3.3.2.6. Misuse of word forms 30
3.3.3. Translation errors 30
3.3.3.1. Addition or omission 30
3.3.3.2. Distorted meaning of source text 32
3.3.3.3. Too literal translation or too free translation 32
3.3.3.4. Lexical choice 33
vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EA: Error Analysis
ETT: English translator trainee
EET: Experienced English translator
ESL: English as a second Language
L2: Second Language
NPMC: Nui Phao Mining Company
ST: Source text
TL: Target language
1
Background of questionnaire participants
20
2
Kinds of text of Vietnamese-English translation
22
3
Topics in Vietnamese-English translation
21
4
The background of interview informants
22
5
Difficulties in Vietnamese-English translation
22
6
Common errors found in 30 Vietnamese-English
translations
24
7
Errors in using of preposition of each ETT
26
8
Errors in lexical choice of each ETT
33
9
Causes of translation errors
35
10
The ways to improve translation skills

learners can not avoid making errors in the process of translating. Especially, trainee
English translators who have just graduated from university without experience and skills,
they have to face with many difficulties in translating in the real contexts/situations and
they cannot avoid making errors in their translation works.The problems are mainly due to
the differences in linguistic systems and languages. As put by Baker (1992: 20-21) "Errors
and problems in translation mostly result from the non-equivalence between the source and

2

target languages". Ervin and Bower (1953) stated that linguistic problems in translation
may arise: 1) from differences in the meanings of words, 2) from differences in syntactical
differences, and 3) from differences in the cultural context of the readers or hearers.
In Vietnam, many studies have been carried out on error analysis in English learning;
however, there have been few studies using this type of analysis to analyze learner‘s errors
in translation especially Vietnamese- English translation.
For all the reasons above, the researcher decided to choose the study ―Common errors in
Vietnamese-English translation made by English translator trainees at Nui Phao Mining
Company Limited‖ which aims at finding out the most common translation errors in
Vietnamese-English translation of English translator trainees working at NPMC and then
investigating the causes of these errors and finally suggesting the ways to avoid them as
well as the ways to improve translation skills. It is a strong belief that the study will be a
useful reference helping to improve translation skills for not only English translator
trainees at Nui Phao Mining Company but also all Vietnamese people who are interested in
translation work and really want to become an expert translator. It is also expected that this
study will contribute the good material for all teachers teaching English translation and all
students majoring in English especially those who are in the course of English translation.
2. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
 finding out common errors in translating Vietnamese into English of English
translator trainees at NPMC.

translations and distributed to English translator trainees to provide more data for the
study.
6. Design of the study
The study is separated into three main parts:
Part A: Introduction- provides rationale, the aims and research questions of the study,
scope and general structure of the study also are specified in this part.
Part B: Development- includes three chapters:
Chapter I: Literature review- states the theoretical background in relation to the topic of the
study including previous studies in the world and Vietnam.
Chapter II: Methodology- presents participants, setting of the study and data collection
which consists of providing data collection instruments, data collection procedures and
data analysis procedures.

4

Chapter III: Findings and discussion- offers findings drawn from data analysis, then
discuss the pedagogical implications for both teachers and students who are involved in
English translation studies.
Part C: Conclusion-summarizes the key issues in the study, points out the limitations and
provides some suggestions for further study.
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
language is acquired or learned; for learners themselves, it gives them resources in order to
learn.
Corder (ibid), argues that "what has come to be known as error analysis has to do with the
investigation of the language of second language learners." One of the main aims of error
analysis is to help teachers assess more accurately what remedial work would be necessary
for English as a Second Language (ESL) students preparing for an English Language test,
so as to help students avoid the most common errors.
Error analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that focuses on the errors learners make. It
consists of a comparison between the errors made in the Target Language (TL) and that
Target Language itself.
1.1.2. The significance of error analysis
Error Analysis is significant in the process of teaching and learning second language
because it reveals to us -teachers, syllabus designers and textbook writers of what the

6

problem areas are so that we could design remedial exercises in accordance with these
errors and focus more attention on the‗trouble shooting‘ areas.
Corder (1967) also states that learner‘s errors can ―provide to the researcher evidence of
how language is learned or acquired, what strategies or procedures the learner is employing
in the discovery of the language. He also indicates the usefulness of error analysis in three
respects: the researcher or linguist, to the teacher and to the learner himself. While analyses
of learners‘ errors provide insights into the nature of language, especially into the innate
nature of the learner‘s system, they provide more insights into the process of language
teaching and learning.
Corder, (1974) verifies error analysis has two objects: one theoretical and another applied.
The theoretical object serves to ‗elucidate what and how a learner learns when he studies a
second language.‘ And the applied object serves to enable the learner ‗to learn more
efficiently by exploiting our knowledge of his dialect for pedagogical purposes‘
According to Ancker, (2000), making mistakes or errors is anatural process of learning and

learning influence the performance of a later activity. Transfer of training is the influence
of prior learning on performance in a new situation.
(3) Strategies of second language learning. This is an attempt to develop linguistic and
sociolinguistic competence in the target language.
(4) Strategies of second language communication. This consists of attempts to deal
with problems of communication that have arisen in interaction.
(5) Overgeneralization of the target language (TL) linguistic material. This happens
when a second language leaner applies a grammatical rule across all members of a
grammatical class without making the appropriate exception.
In addition, Brown (1980:173-181) classifies sources of error into, 1) interlingual transfer,
that is the negative influence of the mother tongue of learner, 2) intralingual transfer, that
is the negative transfer of items within the target language. In order words, the incorrect
generalization of rules within the target language; 3) context of learning, which overlaps
both types of transfer, for example, the classroom with its teacher and its materials in the
case of school learning or the social situation in the case of untutored second language
learning. In a classroom context the teacher or the textbook can lead the learner to make
wrong generalization about the language; 4) communication strategies. It is obvious that
communication strategy is the conscious employment of verbal mechanisms for
communicating an idea when linguistic forms are not available to the learner for some
reasons.
 Causes of errors
Norrish (1983:21-26) classifies causes of error into three types that is carelessness, first
language interference, and translation.

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Another expert who discusses the sources of error is Richards in Schummann and Stenson
(1978 : 32) in his article ―Error Analysis and Second language Strategies‖ . He classifies
sources of errors into (1) interference that is an error resulting from the transfer of
grammatical and/or stylistic elements from the source language to the target language; (2)

expressed in one language (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic
equivalencies. (Bell R., 1991).
Translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a
representation of an equivalent text in s second language. (Bell R., 1991).
Translation is ultimately a human activity which enables human beings to exchange ideas
and thoughts regardless of the different tongues used (Antar, 2002: 2). Translation is a
channel through which ideas and cultures pass (Hatem and Mason, 1990: 30).
1.2.2. Errors in translation
1.2.2.1. Definition of errors in translation
Errors in translation are also referred to as defects (Pym 1991), mistranslations(Lauscher
2000) and mismatches (Hatim and Mason 1997). Pym (1992: 281) defines errors as a
manifestation of a defect in any of the factors entering into the two skills of:
• The ability to generate a target-text series of more than one viable term (targetext ' , target
text2, target text3) for a source text.
• The ability to select only one target text from this series.
"Errors in translation mostly result from the non-equivalence between the source and the
target languages. " (Baker, 1992).
Albir (1995 in Waddington 2001) presents s list of possible errors in translations as
follows:
- Inappropriate renderings which affect the understanding of the ST. These are
divided into eight categories: countersense, faux sense, nonsense, addition, omission,
unresolved extralinguistic references, loss of meaning and inappropriate linguistic variation
(register, style, dialect, etc)
- Inappropriate renderings, which affect expression in the TL. These are divided into
five categories: spelling, grammar, lexical items, text and style.
- Inappropriate renderings, which affect the transmission of either the main function
or secondary function of the ST.
1.2.2.2. Categories of translation errors
According to Pym (1991), errors fall into two categories; 'binary' and 'non-binary'. A
binary error, he explains, opposes a wrong answer to the right answer, whereas non-binary

3. Addition.
4. Deviation.
5. Modification.
On the other hand, Mauriello (1992: 64) proposes what she calls a taxonomical list of
abbreviations denoting the most frequent errors in translations at university level.
1. Nonsense (N)

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2. Misunderstanding (M)
3. Tense (T)
4. Structure (Str)
5. Grammar (G)
6. Topology (Top)
7. Overtranslation (Un)
8. Omission (V)
9. Word (W)
10. Form (F)
11. Style (St)
Furthermore, according to Roomy (2006), translation errors can be classified into four
broad types, namely, (i) grammatical errors; (ii) mistranslations; (iii) localization errors,
and (iv) errors of inconsistency.
He also gives more details for the four above errors as follows:
 Grammatical errors would be characterized as errors dealing with the grammar of
the target language, including errors of usage, collocation, syntax and tense.
 Mistranslation errors are simply an oversight or an arrogant act or plain ignorance
on part of the translator.
 The errors pertaining to localization take place due to the fact that the term to be
translated normally does not exist as a concept in the target language.
 Errors of inconsistency could create major problems in certain kinds of translation,

word form. Translation errors include omission, addition, inaccurate rendition of individual
text items, distorted meaning of the source text, too free translation, too literal translation,
pragmatic error, wrong lexical choice.
Comprehension errors: these errors happen when the learners misunderstand the syntax
of a certain sentence of the source text or misread a word and their translations were
accordingly based on a misunderstood source text.
Linguistic errors consist of grammatical errors, syntactic errors, morphological errors,
collocational errors and word form.
Grammatical errors: errors occur in the handling of word structure, including lack of
agreement between subject and verb, incorrect verb tenses or verb forms, incorrect case of
nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, and use of an adjective where an adverb is
needed.[American Translators Association (ATA) Framework for Standard Error Making].
For example:
Vietnamese: ―Anh ta nói chuyện thân mật với tôi.‖
English: ―He talked with me friendly‖. (Incorrect)

13

(Hữu Ngọc, 2009)
The error of this example is the way of using the adjective ―friendly‖. Although ―friendly‖
is suffixed by ―ly‖ but it is an adjective not adverb. Therefore, this sentence should be
translated ―He talked with me in a friendly manner‖.
Syntactic errors: errors made when learners have to handle any items larger than word, i.e.
phrase, clause or sentence (James 1998). Errors in this category include sentence
fragments, improper modification, lack of parallelism, and unnatural word
order.[American Translators Association (ATA) Framework for Standard Error Making].
For example:
Vietnamese: ―Cô ấy là một cô gái rất tốt‖
English: ―She is a girl very nice‖ (Incorrect)
This sentence should be corrected into ―She is a very nice girl‖.

source text, too free translation, too literal translation, pragmatic error, wrong lexical
choice.
Tuan (2006) suggests common errors made by Vietnamese students when translating as in
the following table:
Type of error
Example
Vietnamese
English
Linguistic errors
Lexical errors
Text
a. Kha Luân Bố đã
tìm ra Tân thế giới vào
năm 1842.
b. Tôi đang tìm cuốn
sách.
c. Michael Faraday
đã tìm ra máy phát điện.

a. The New World
was discovered by
Christopher.
b. I am looking for
my book.
c. Michael
Faraday invented the
generator.
Word collocation
a. Đàn chim/ cừu
b. Đàn gia súc/ trâu

(Incorrect).
As strong as a horse
(Correct).

15

Structural errors
Tôi mất mười phút để đi
đến đó.
I go there in ten
minutes. (Incorrect)
It takes me ten minutes
to go there. (Correct)
Style errors

Nếu chúng tôi đặt hang
với số lượng lớn, liệu
doanh nghiệp anh có bán
với giá rẻ không?
If we place substantial
orders, can your
enterprise get us with
soft price?
It is impossible to use
informal style in a
business letter. It should
be ―cheaper price‖
Cultural errors

Áo Dài