Translation Competence Training of Non English Majors from the Perspective of Eco-Translation

Jin Guo

Xinxiang Vocational and Technical College, Xinxiang, 453000, China

Abstract: This paper investigates into the translation competence of non-English majors in a Chinese mainland Vocational College. It argues that Chinese novice learners as non-English majors have their distinctive translation competence features, which may help teachers and researchers to put forward pedagogy to improve their translation competence. Eighty-two Chinese students aged between 18-22, all as non-English majors were divided into two groups, one being experiment group and the other the control group. The students in the experiment group took 4 weeks of translation instruction and training, after which, the teacher assigned both groups a translation and a journal writing task, which allows them to translate a passage and then ask them to write down what translation techniques ｏｒ standards they have applied and why. This would explain their translation behavior and the development of their translation competence on the continuum. The research results show that Chinese novice learners adopt a sign-oriented and a bottom-up translation approach, which affects their rendering of the ｓｏｕｒｃｅ text. Parallel texts and translation strategy help novice learners to modify their translation work.

Keywords: Eco-translation; Translation competence; Parallel text; Translation journal