| 摘要: | 本研究旨在探討以英語為外語的臺灣大學生在中文指示稱代詞「這」和「那」英譯過程中的認知現象。過去的文獻多半強調指稱代詞「這」和「那」有多重的句法功能，對它們在譯文中功能的對應上，缺乏實證上的探究。若要對學生在翻譯學習上有所助益，學生不可不知道中英指稱代詞上功能的差異性。
因此，本研究從三方面探討中譯英過程中，指稱代詞功能的轉換。研究議題有三，一是學生在英譯中文指示稱代詞「這」和「那」時，如何在一個有上下文的語境呈現這兩個指代詞的英文譯法。二是瞭解學生在英譯含有「這」和「那」的句子時，所產生的翻譯問題。三是瞭解學生在翻譯時對原文的理解和考量最後的英譯的認知過程。
本研究從兩個方向收集語料。一是來自47位以英語為外語學習的臺灣大學生對含有「這」和「那」語詞的故事段落進行翻譯。二是透過學生「邊譯邊說」(Think-aloud)的翻譯技巧以及「回想訪談」(retrospective interview)的影音記錄，經過轉錄後，以質的分析方式呈現學生的翻譯思考過程。
研究結果顯示出學生的翻譯和文獻裡中文及英文的近指詞「這」(i.e., this) 使用的頻率皆高於遠指詞「那」(i.e., that)，有同樣的結果。此外，在將「這」和「那」譯為英文譯文時，這兩個指稱示代詞最常用作回指語境中剛剛提到的名詞組。同時，最常使用的功能以回指和修飾為主。雖然如此，「這」和「那」的字面翻譯反映出當學生對中文及英文指示稱代詞在功能上的不對稱性的認知不足，以致於英譯的句子缺乏上下文連貫性、句型錯誤、以及意思偏離原文。
這些缺失進一步從學生的口述自己如何理解「這」和「那」在上下文所指稱代替的意義以及採用何種翻譯策略來解決翻譯上的問題，可一窺究竟。也就是，學生口述以及回想自己的翻譯過程顯示出學生所擁有的個別語言能力及使用翻譯技巧的偏好。這樣的發現對翻譯教學有重要的意義。那就是若能幫助學生及早認清自己的翻譯認知模式及盲點，便能進行有效率的教學，讓學生發揮自己的翻譯潛能。
This study attempts to examine how EFL learners translate a Chinese source text (ST) that contain demonstratives zhe “this” and na “that” into the English target text (TT). Discussions on zhe “this” and na “that” have provided much insight on their sentential functions. However, there is an empirical gap in addressing the issue of how demonstratives are realized in translation. If a translation course aims to facilitate student translators’ learning, students should be made aware of these functions especially in a contrastively cross-linguistic course of study.
In view of this, three research questions raised in this study include (a) the translation features students tend to use when they translate zhe and na; (b) the types of translation problems concerning the use of zhe and na, if any, students tend to have; (c) the explanation students offer about their own translation process of demonstrative zhe and na.
Data collected for analysis come from two sources. One is the written translation product generated by forty-seven participants; the other is the taped data which are collected via Think-aloud technique and retrospective interviews. The data is subject to qualitative analysis.
Demonstrative features displayed in students’ English translation product indicate that proximal this has a higher frequency use than the non-proximal that. A result agrees with corpus-base finding in English demonstratives and coincides with a distributional fact of higher distribution of zhe than na in Chinese. Two feature values that stand out in the realization of functions in English translation are acting as an anaphoric reference and a syntactic modifier. Additionally, the way students translate demonstratives lends weight to a speculation about the literal translation strategy students tend to adopt as well as their low awareness of the multifunctions demonstratives have A lack for such an awareness further results in translation problems such as textual incoherence, structurally inadequate paratactically-based English sentences, and meaning deviation.
Finally, findings from the verbalizations on translation process generated via Think-aloud technique identify seven broad categories of strategies that three TAP participants adopt to help themselves come to a decision on how to treat demonstratives in translation. Moreover, the verbalizations from the retrospective interviews indicate as well that students do possess individual combination of abilities and strategies. Therefore, findings from the present study do contribute to an explanatory power and a pedagogical capacity. That is, this study throws light on what capacities and what strategies are activated by students and what others can be used to achieve better results. Students, thus, can improve their output if they understand their translation process better and start reflecting on them. |
