【作者】 李春慧；

【导师】 周玉梅； 闫文利；

【作者基本信息】 第四军医大学 ， 外国语言学及应用语言学， 2009， 硕士

【摘要】 现代医学科学技术日新月异,国际间学术交流与合作日益频繁,医学英语翻译的重要性愈加突出。许多中外学者从不同角度对如何提高医学英语翻译质量进行了大量卓有成效的研究。错误分析作为应用语言学的一个重要分支,在外语教学与学习中起到了极其重要的作用,并为探索高质量医学英语翻译拓展了新的视角。尽管错误分析已被广泛应用于第二语言写作、口语等领域常见错误的系统研究,但文献检索未见与医学语篇汉英翻译错误分析及策略的相关报道。本研究以汉英翻译为试验手段,基于错误分析方法论,结合功能对等的医学英语翻译标准,对以汉语为母语的中高级英语学习者在英译医学语篇时所犯的常见错误进行识别、归类、描述和分析,系统地探讨了错误的分布特点、规律及潜在原因,并根据分析结果针对性地提出了纠正错误、提高医学语篇汉英翻译质量、实现功能对等的可行性策略。在预实验成功的前提下,我们采用整群随机抽样法,从第四军医大学医学专业一年级硕士研究生中抽取三个班共164名学生作为受试对象,组建了一个样本含量较大的翻译语料库。根据Carl James(2001)错误分类标准,从语言范畴和错误来源两个方面对语料库中200个翻译样本进行了定性与定量、微观与宏观相结合的研究。研究中,借助Excel 2003和SPSS16.0统计软件,使用区组设计资料的方差分析(ANOVA)和最小显著差异t检验(LSD-t)统计学方法对本体、文本和语篇三个层次上错误类型、亚型和子型的分布规律、错误原因及差异进行了相关分析。本研究得出如下主要结果:1)在200个汉译英医学语篇中,共识别出1451个错误。错误在本体、文本和语篇三个层次上均有出现,但出现频率存在明显差异(P<0.05)。文本错误位居首位(1259, 86.77%),其次为语篇错误(132, 9.10%),最后为本体错误(60, 4.13%)。2)在文本错误中,词汇错误(875, 69.50%)的出现频率远远高于语法错误(384, 30.50%),其差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。3)词汇错误中,以语义错误为主(390, 44.57%),其出现频率与词汇冗余(248, 28.34%)和形式错误(237, 27.09%)出现频率差异显著(P<0.05),但词汇冗余和形式错误之间无显著差异(P>0.05)。语法错误以句法错误为主(294, 76.56%),与形态学错误(90, 23.44%)出现频率差异显著(P<0.05)。4)在所识别的错误中,语内错误(843, 58.10%)明显多于语际错误(585, 40.31%)和理解错误(23, 1.59%),三者之间两两比较都存在显著差异(P<0.05)。本研究得出的主要结论如下:1)以汉语为母语的中高级英语学习者在医学语篇汉英翻译时所犯的错误体现在从本体到语篇、从微观到宏观英语语言的各个层次,包括拼写错误、标点混淆、用词不当、语法错误、语篇混乱等,这些错误严重影响了信息的准确传递。因此,在外语学习和教学中应注重语言应用能力的培养。2)词汇和语法是影响医学翻译质量的两大重要因素,也是外语学习者面临的巨大挑战,因此加强词汇语义关系和搭配的习得以及句法规律的掌握极为重要。3)目的语(英语)复杂性及学习者不恰当的学习与交际策略是导致中高级学习者医学语篇汉英翻译错误的主要因素,该结论与Taylor(1975)和王彤福(1984)等学者在其他领域的错误研究结果一致。熟练掌握英语语言规则并深入了解医学英语特点及表达是实现成功翻译的关键。4)尽管语际错误出现频率低于语内错误,母语负迁移(包括语言迁移、思维模式迁移、文化迁移)仍是困扰中国学生的主要因素。在语言习得中,学习者应熟知汉英语言差异,尽量排除母语干扰,学习用英语思维。本研究首次结合错误分析及动态对等理论对医学英语语篇汉英翻译常见错误进行了定性与定量研究,为防止和减少错误的发生提供了理论依据和可行性策略。研究结果将有助于英语学习者,尤其是医务工作者了解医学语篇汉英翻译中的常见错误,掌握医学语篇汉英翻译标准及翻译策略,提高纠错能力,为成功翻译出高质量的医学文献打下坚实基础。此外,本研究可为医学英语翻译和写作教学提供理论参考和实践指导,其成果在医学英语翻译研究领域具有一定的创新性。更多还原

【Abstract】 The past several decades have seen tremendous advances in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) translation. In the field of medicine, the perpetual expansion of science and technology necessitates unprecedented worldwide academic cooperation and communication. To follow the latest trend, many scholars have concentrated their efforts on research into translation of English for Medical Purposes (EMP), an integral part of ESP translation. Poor medical translation hinders mutual understanding and the diffusion of scientific knowledge. Error analysis (EA), a branch of applied linguistics and an approach to the analysis of language acquisition, undoubtedly has made great contributions to second language (L2) teaching and learning. Remarkable achievements in this field have not only extended the boundaries of studies on EA but also broadened the scope of medical translation research. Although most previous EA-related researches have been concentrated on EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’writing, speaking, and recently Chinese-English (C-E) translation of public signs, only limited literature has been available on error analysis of C-E translation of medical texts based on an integration of statistical data and exemplifications.Under the guidance of Carl James’error categorization framework and Eugene Nida’s translation theory of functional equivalence, the present research project was intended to identify, classify, describe, and diagnose the common errors in C-E translation of medical texts made by many first-year Chinese graduate students at a medical university. More importantly, we have attempted to provide some strategies for error-correction and functional equivalence of medical translation by investigating a corpus from a range of authentic sources.To attest the feasibility of the present study, a pretest was first conducted in a mini-sized corpus, including 50 medical texts translated from Chinese into English by 25 participants. Then, 164 first-year graduate students were randomly selected as participants using cluster sampling at the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) to establish a translation corpus. In combination with quantitative and qualitative analyses, 200 samples chosen from the corpus at random were investigated in terms of linguistic errors and error causes by Carl James’error classification (2001). The classified errors were computed with Microsoft Office Excel 2003. Block design analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference t test (LSD-t) were performed with SPSS16.0 software for exploring error distribution, frequency and regularity at different levels of language.The major findings of our study were as follows:1) A total number of 1451 errors were detected in the 200 sample translations, of which text errors (1259, 86.77%) took the lead, followed by discourse errors (132, 9.10%) and substance errors (60, 4.13%). Significant differences were found between the three different levels in the frequency of errors (P<0.05).2) As for text errors, grammar errors (384, 30.50%) were heavily outnumbered by lexical errors (875, 69.50%), with a statistically significant difference between them (P<0.05).3) In lexical errors, as compared with verbosity (248, 28.34%) and formal errors (237, 27.09%), semantic errors (390, 44.57%), including confusion of sense relations and collocational errors, ranked first (P<0.05) but no marked difference was observed between verbosity and formal errors (P>0.05). Syntax errors constituted the majority of grammar errors. There was a significant difference between syntax errors (294, 76.56%) and morphology errors (90, 23.44%) in frequency (P<0.05).4) Intralingual errors, which accounted for approximately 58.10 percent of the total, were much more frequent than interlingual (585, 40.31%) and receptive errors (23, 1.59%) (P<0.05).We can draw the following conclusions from our study:1) Some Chinese EFL learners at intermediate or even advanced level still make an overwhelming number of errors in spelling, punctuation, word choice, grammar, and coherence due to their deficiencies in linguistic competence and bilingual communication. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the cultivation of the learners’language competence.2) Lexis and grammar are two crucial factors in C-E medical translation. They present big challenges to EFL learners. It is very important for teachers to help students better understand lexical semantic relations and collocation as well as syntactical rules.3) The identified sources of errors in C-E medical translation are mainly from the intrinsic complexity of English and some Chinese learners’attempts to make false hypotheses about English rules from their limited experience. Our finding is consistent with the previous studies by Barry Taylor (1975), Wang Tongfu (1984) and other scholars. The key to successful translation lies in a good mastery of the English language and the typical features of medical English.4) Although the occurrence of interlingual errors is relatively low, negative transfer from the source language (SL) to the target one remains a major barrier for Chinese learners of English. They should try to understand the differences between Chinese and English languages and avoid mother-tongue interference in English learning and translation.For the first time we have carried out a corpus-based study on medical texts by combining error analysis and translation theory of functional equivalence. The corpus-based error analysis will help Chinese learners, especially medical workers identify the common errors in C-E medical translation and improve their competence in translation. Besides, the analysis and strategies proposed in our study could be used by teachers of medical English to improve their teaching and translators to produce quality translation.更多还原