Abstract:Translation studies usually put emphasis on the study of translation theories and products while playing down the translation process. Although there are some translation process studies, the testing materials used are mainly of the academic style and hardly of any practical ones.

This study attempts to empirically explore the translation strategies application in the Chinese-English translation process of international sales contracts through think-aloud protocols. Self reports of twelve business English majors are collected and analyzed. The major findings are as follows: (1) Six among the twenty-four translation strategies are mostly applied in the whole translation process. (2) Translation strategies are more likely to be employed in the analysis and reconstructing phases than in the transfer and test phases. (3) There are significant group differentiation of translation strategy implication both in the whole process and the four phases. The upper-level group mostly uses “Employ mnemonic aid” and “Interim selection” while the lower-level group prefers “Source language-target language dictionary search”; and the former uses more strategies in the analysis, transfer and test phases than the latter.

Based on such findings, pedagogical implications are proposed in the hope that greater importance would be attached to translation process teaching and improvement of students’ competence of the sentence analysis and the evaluative attitude towards translation.

Key Words：Chinese-English translation process; translation strategy; think-aloud protocols; Business English Majors

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Significance-1

1.2 Aim and objectives-1

1.3 Organization of the thesis-2

2. Literature Review-3

2.1 Research review of translation strategies in the translation process abroad-3

2.2 Research review of translation strategies in the translation process at home-3

3. Theoretical Framework-5

3.1 Think-aloud protocols in translation process study-5

3.2 Translation strategy indicators of Kiraly’s model-5

4. Research Methodology-6

4.1 Research questions-6

4.2 Participants-6

4.3 Testing material-6

4.4 Procedure-6

4.5 Data collection-7

5. Data Analysis and Discussion-10

5.1 The reliability and validity of the data-10

5.2 The translation strategy mostly applied in the translation process-11

5.3 Translation strategies applied in the four phases of the translation process-13

5.3.1 In the analysis phase-14

5.3.2 In the transfer phase-14

5.3.3 In the reconstructing phase-14

5.3.4 In the test phase-15

5.4 Group differentiation of translation strategy application-15

5.4.1 In the whole translation process-15

5.4.2 In the four phases of the translation process respectively-16

6. Conclusion-17

6.1 Major findings-17

6.2 Teaching implications-17

6.3 Limitations and suggestions for future studies-18

References-19

Appendix A : The Testing Material-21

Appendix B : Strategy Indicators of Kiraly’s model-23

Appendix C : The Post-Translating Questionnaire-24

Appendix D : The Sample of Think-aloud Protocols-25

Acknowledgements-29