Translation in the EST syllabus

Indice
1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusions
4. Bibliography
5. Appendix

1. Introduction

English influences notably over scientifical and technical terms, so, together with the discovery of the new technical solution, the English word to name it is accepted. On the other hand, Cuban results in the scientific field should be communicated to the rest of the countries and, for this purpose, the English language is the most used all over the world. The future engineer or architect needs to know how to translate because the language flexibility belongs to the field of reason and human sensitivity and it can't be achieved by a "translating machine". This work deepens into translation exercises to get a right reading comprehension and an improvement in writing due to the fact that it is included in the EST Syllabus at Cuban universities.
English influences notably over scientifical and technical terms, so, together with the discovery or the new technical solution, the English word to name it is accepted. On the other hand, Cuban results in the scientific field should be communicated to the rest of the countries and, for this purpose, the English language is the most used all over the world. The future engineer or architect needs to know how to translate based on the fact that the language flexibility cannot be restricted to a mold because it belongs to the field of reason and human sensitivity and this is not possible to be achieved by a "translating machine".
Translation is included in the EST Syllabus at Cuban universities: from English into Spanish due to the reason that the students have" to read authentic texts in books or magazines with the help of dictionaries"and from Spanish into English so as "to reinforce grammar" as well as be able to develop guided writing and, in a lesser extent, free writing. Many times, the teachers do not take into account the advantages of training their students with the two variants and how much they influence in the good achievement of other language skills.
The objective of this work is to deepen into translation exercises to get a right reading comprehension and an improvement in writing.

2. Body

A group of tasks were developed in order to design the translation exercises to attain an acceptable level in this activity from both sides: from English into Spanish and from Spanish into English.
Among these TASKS are:

• -careful REVISION OF THE LESSON PLANS devoted to translation so as to improve the quality of the exercises and the number of lessons
• -analyses of the students' MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN TRANSLATING to determine the topics to be dealt with based on their real needs
• -RECYCLING OF THE STUDIED CONTENTS whenever possible in any lesson
• -SELECTION OF THE SPECIALIZED VOCABULARY needed by the students to translate important concepts of their major in English

After doing this, the exercises were prepared and inserted in different lessons according to the students' level and subjects.
Some of the selected TOPICS were:

• -personal identity
• -passive voice
• -the -ing ending
• -use and omission of the article
• -noun modification
• -initials, among others

they were selected according to Antich's criteria(l98l: ) and to these students' special difficulties based on empirical observation.

Examples of Practiced Exercises are:

• l. From english into spanish:

Objective: familiarization with the concept of pragmatic equivalence and developing of the skill of rendering information in the students' mother tongue while practicing analytic reading.

a. Translation of sentences with special difficulties; some of them included in technical texts, some others prepared ad hoc:

• Housing is a social problem (gerund, omission of the article and noun modification)
• Liz has just received her D.ARCH. degree (use of HAVE, scientific initials and possessive adjective)
• ...providing the inhabitant with more than a minimum of sufficient living environment(-ing forms in different grammatical functions)
• Niemeyer, having assimilated the fundamental principles and the planning technique of Le Corbusier, was able to enrich this required experience by giving to basic forms a new and surprising meaning (idem)
• Civil Engineering deals with many interesting subjects (semi-cognate words)
• The Bachelor degree is obtained when finishing college (false cognate words, passive voice and -ing forms)
• We have had many English lessons this semester (different uses of HAVE)
• When a person was born in Cuba, he is said to be Cuban (infinitive passive voice)
• Masonry construction was revolutionized by the Roman discovery of concrete in the 2nd Century (passive voice, use and omission of the article)

b. TRANSLATION OF SHORT TEXTS AND PARAGRAPHS WITH SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES; SOME OF THEM INCLUDED IN TECHNICAL TEXTS, SOME OTHERS IN GENERAL TEXTS:

• A live language is like a plant in evolution. A word dies and is forgotten and a new word is born in the language. If a group of people who speak the same language are forced to live on a desert island, their children and grandchildren will change the words, expressions, and forms of the language more and more (different methods of translating the passive voice).
• Karl Elliot entered the school of architecture in l983. His major was "Urban Studies and Planning". He attended lectures on that subject regularly. He found it very interesting. His reading on urban planning was intensive. Actually he read all the books available on this topic in the library. Furthermore, he bought all the books related to this subject in every bookshop. He passed his examinations with flyinf colors (that is successfully) and in l988 obtained his B.Arch. degree. However, he did not say good-bye to his campus...(Page 48, Communicating and Reading in English I).
• Dreams can affect human feelings and lack of them can increase anxiety, tension, depression and severe mental diseases. Dream research may well lead to new concepts about health and to new medical treatments using drugs to manipulate dreams (noun modification)
• In order to reduce the total erection time and cost of a multi-story building, continuous (multi-story) columns can be used. This eliminates the work involved in placing one short column on top of another and joining them by welding their steel-covered ends. Multi-story concrete columns are prefabricated in a precasting plant. They are reinforced with butt-welded unspliced bars and are cast lying flat on their wide side. They are transported to the job site and erected in socket-type pedestals (several aspects)
• 2. From spanish into english:

Objective: recalling of many grammatical items already known by the students and translation of short texts or selected sentences for those areas with high contrastive values where interference is more likely to occur.

a. TRANSLATION OF SENTENCES WITH SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES PREPARED ad hoc:

• Tengo veinte anos (use of the verb BE)
• Vivo en Libertad #59, Moron, Ciego de Avila (expressing his/her address)
• La prefabricacion ha contribuido a resolver el problema de la vivienda en Cuba (use and omission of the article, use of the gerund)
• Un buen cimiento es la base del exito en una edificacion (idem)
• Durante siglos se suponia que Cristobal Colon habia sido el primer europeo en cruzar el Atlantico(introductory passive voice)
• La piedra era muy empleada en la antiguedad como material de construccion(use and omission of the article, noun modification, passive voice, gerund)
• Fidel viajo a la ONU (initials)

b.Translation of technical descriptions about the students' projects including specialized vocabulary:

• En la elevacion de esta vivienda se usaron muros de carga con una cubierta de tejas, ladrillo, cemento y granito como principales materiales de construccion (passive voice,

noun modification, gerund, technical terms)

c. Translation of data collected by research in the students' mother tongue about a given topic:

• El actual museo provincial "Ignacio Agramonte" fue primero el Cuartel de caballeria y luego un hotel (for speaking or writing about this)

3. Conclusions

The students who were trained with these types of exercises are in a better position to understand texts and to express their ideas in the foreign language in written form in a higher percent according to the frequency of mistakes analyzed in quizzes and tests, i. e., their writing is much more understandable and accurate, and their reading comprehension is quite acceptable to a greater extent.
As it was stated by Antich (l98l: ), like composition, translation is a skill and an art; it is a profession in itself, and thus requires specialized study and full-time dedication; but the skill element can be developed through practice by architects and engineers. It can considerably improve yhe quality of a person's capacity for translation, provided he consciously tries to develop his linguistic sensitivity at the same time.

Recommendations:
l.To include both types of translations in those lessons that gives the teacher the opportunity to do so, mainly the lessons in which grammar aspects that present special difficulties are studied.
2. To have the students translate some definitions, classifications, etc. of their major including the suggested markers.
3. To devote complete lessons to translation combining it with any other skill .

4. Bibliography

* Antich de Leon, Rosa. English Composition, Editorial de libros para la educacion, La Habana, l98l.
*Alpizar Castillo, Rodolfo. Traduccion y terminologia cinetifica en Cuba, Editorial cientifico-tecnica, La Habana, l990
*Castillo, Mario, et al. Communicvating and Reading in English, Volumes l, 2, 3(for Architecture students),ISPJAE, l990
*English Syllabus for Architecture students, Cuban Higher Education Ministry, La Habana, l998.

5. Appendix

Translation exercises:
Analyze the nouns in the following sentences and determine the use and omission of articles:
l. The history of masonry goes back as far as that of civilization.
2.Bricks were apparently first used around 3 500 B.C. by the people who lived in what is now Iraq.
3.The Egyptians developed a stronger mortar of clay and sand.
4. Masonry construction was revolutionized by the Roman discovery of concrete in the 2nd Century.
5. The moon is far but spatial ships have reached it.
Translate the following sentences into English. State reasons for the use and omission of the articles:
l. La construccion es un factor determinante para el desarrollo de cualquier pais.
2. Las ventanas de madera no son tan duraderas como las de aluminio.
3. La prefabricacion ha contribuido a solucionar el problema de la vivienda en Cuba.
4. Estamos rodeados por el Mar Caribe.
5. Un buen cimiento es la base del exito en una edificacion.
Objective: To practice the use and omission of articles in both languages

 

 

 

Autor:

Clotilde Borras Yero

University Of Camaguey
MAY 2002