中国英语学习者母语文化翻译能力及其影响因素研究

An Investigation of Chinese Undergraduates’Ability to Translate Chinese Cultural Items into English and Predictors of Such Ability

中国的大学英语教学长期以来注重培养学生目的语文化交际能力,忽视了外语教学中母语文化的作用。本研究调查了一所重点大学82名非英语专业本科生用英语翻译表层、中层和深层中国文化内容的能力,结果发现学生表层文化翻译能力尚可,但中层和深层文化翻译能力严重不足。与学生文化翻译能力显著相关的是他们的文化知识储备和对母语文化在外语学习中重要性的意识。这些结果对跨文化交际教学和外语教学均有重要启示。

College English teaching in China has long focused on importing cultures of English countries while neglecting to enhance students’English competence in home culture.The present research aims to investigate Chinese non-English major undergraduates’competence in translating Chinese cultural items into English and the significant predictors of such competence.With a test and a questionnaire as research instruments,this study was conducted to assess 82 undergraduates’ability to translate three different levels of Chinese culture-specific items into English and explored the factors which might have affected the students’home culture translation ability.The results show that the participants did well in translating the surface layer cultural items,but their performance in sub-surface and deep layer culture translation tasks was far from being satisfactory.It was also found that students had positive attitudes towards Chinese culture and were willing to learn to express Chinese culture in English,but their English learning motivation in general was not strong enough,and they were not given much input on Chinese culture in their English class.Students’Chinese cultural knowledge and their awareness of the importance of learning Chinese culture in English were found to be the two significant factors that can predict their performance in the translation tasks.These findings have implications for the teaching of culture and cross-cultural communications in EFL classes.