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 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23306343.2015.1014081

Teaching translation with a model of multimodality

Meifang Zhang*

Department of English, University of Macau, Macao, China

For translator training, different models could be used as points of departure. In our
practice in translation teaching in the past years, a model of multimodality was used
and proved to be relatively effective. Multimodality in this research means a
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combination of theory and practice, a combination of written and audiovisual teach-

ing materials, a combination of classroom and online study platform as well as a
combination of the teachers guidance and students participation. This paper focuses
on one of the translation courses offered to translation students at the University of
Macau. Reisss text typology and the Skopos Theory are used as the theoretical basis
for the students practice inside and outside the classroom. The paper discusses the
role of norms and conventions in functional translation as well as other related
factors that may determine the translators decision-making. It also discusses the
feasibility and implications of the multimodality model for translation teaching in
wider scope.
Keywords: translation teaching; multimodality; functionalist theories; decision-making

1. Introduction
Traditionally, teachers in China (and perhaps in other parts of the globe as well) relied
very much on one book, usually a translation textbook, to teach one whole course of
translation. The Chinese tradition of relying on translation textbooks can be traced back
to as early as the 1950s, of which Loh Dian-yangs two-volume textbook Translation:
Its Principles and Techniques (1958) is a case in point. Lohs earlier version of the text-
book (the unpublished version) was rst used at Shanghai St. Johns University, and
then with the approval of the Chinese Ministry of Education in 1956, it was used in the
Chinese Military School of Foreign Languages (Loh 1958, Foreword). Since its publica-
tion in 1958, Lohs textbook had set up a model for designing ChineseEnglish transla-
tion textbooks in China, and consequently for translation teaching. The terms Loh used
for translation methods and the structure of the textbook had been widely adopted in
later translation textbooks, such as that by Zhang et al. (1980) and that by others
(Zhuang 1999; Zhou 2000; Ye 2001; Li 2004). Like Lohs textbook that got ofcial per-
mission to be used in foreign language teaching, the translation textbook by Zhang
et al. was recommended by the Chinese Ministry of Education for use in colleges and
universities in the Chinese mainland, and it has been very popular among translation
students since the early 1980s up to the late 1990s (see Zhang and Pan 2009).
Previous studies (see Zhang 2001; Tao 2013) show that in China, a typical tradi-
tional translation textbook may contain the following contents: a brief introduction of
Chinese translation history; a brief description of principles for translation and the

*Email: mfzhang@umac.mo

2015 Taylor & Francis

 2 M. Zhang

process of translation; a chapter on similarities and differences of the Chinese and

English languages and cultures; and several chapters about translation strategies and
methods, with a lot of examples from published literary works and their translations.
Although some teachers might also nd extra exercises from other textbooks for stu-
dents to do, the traditional teaching mode was simple and singular, i.e. translation teach-
ing mainly relied on printed textual materials from textbooks. What all students had to
do was to read the source text, check difcult parts or terms in the source text with the
dictionary, and then translate the text, according to their own understanding, into the tar-
get language. Very rarely did they ask for what and where the translation was to be used
and who were the target readers.
Nowadays, however, the situation of translation teaching in China, like that in many
other places in the world, is totally different. Multimodal translation teaching has
become a common practice in many translation programs. The term multimodality, in
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its most basic sense, refers to the mixture of textual and audiovisual modes to create
meaning. Bezemer and Kress (2008), two scholars on multimodality and semiotics,
observe that students understand information differently when text is delivered in con-
junction with a secondary medium, such as image or sound, with when it is presented
in alphanumeric format only. They consider Bernsteins notion of recontextualization
useful in two distinct and connected senses socially and semiotically because they
draw a viewers attention to both the originating site and the site of recontextualiza-
tion (Bezemer and Kress 2008, 169).
Multimodality has evolved along with technology. This evolution has created a new
concept of learning, a collaborative context keeping the students in relationship with
each other and with the teacher. The concept of collaboration in the multimodal teaching
environment is different from the traditional concept of cooperation which mostly had
to meet face to face. With the help of technology, the teacher and students, students and
their peers, can have very quick transmission of information and interaction via the
internet or via different e-systems for teaching and learning.
In this paper, multimodality in translation teaching means the combination of theory
and practice, the combination of written and audiovisual materials for the class, the
combination of classroom and online study platform, as well as the combination of the
teachers guidance and the students participation and interaction. The focus of the pre-
sent study falls on one of the translation courses we offer to undergraduate translation
students at the University of Macau, the title of which is Translation for the Media.
The functionalist theories, especially Reisss text typology and the Skopos Theory, are
used as the basic principles for the students translation decision-making. Other
theoretical concepts, such as register analysis, foreignization and domestication, are also
applied when appropriate.

2. Applying functional theories to text analysis

In translation teaching, what kind of literature is to be included and which model is con-
sidered more suitable for use depend very much on the aims and objectives of the
course being taught. In fact, a course like Translation for the Media could be consid-
ered quite general as well as specic. It could be considered general because it covers
all kinds of texts released via the media, such as advertisements, public notices, news
reports and other types of journalistic writings. It could be considered specic because
it is written in the course description that this course aims to train the third-year students
to improve their skills in rendering different types of texts for intended readers.
 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 3

Therefore, it is necessary that all teaching materials should come from actual use. This
is not a difcult issue because Macao is an international tourist city, in which Chinese,
Portuguese, English, and other languages are used in everyday communications, and
translated texts are seen everywhere and needed in almost every aspect of life. What is
more important and helpful for translation teaching is the selection of a suitable, work-
able theoretical model so as to enable students to learn happily and effectively.

2.1. Related theories

In the translation process, the rst step is usually the analysis of the source text to be
translated. In order to train students ability in text analysis and enable them to better
understand different factors related to translation decision-making, we decided on using
Reisss text typology theory (1977/1989), Nords (1997) further classication of the text
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types, as well as Vermeers Skopos Theory as the theoretical foundation. Both Reiss
and Nord put forward their view points out of their translation and teaching experience
and for the purpose of translator training; therefore, their concepts of text types and text
function analysis are considered useful to translator training and translation teaching in
general.
Based on Karl Bhlers (1990) three-way categorization of the functions of lan-
guage, Reiss (1977/1989) distinguishes three text types according to the main functions
of the text: informative, expressive and operative. According to her (Reiss 2000,
3048), the informative type is mainly employed to represent facts, information, knowl-
edge, viewpoints, etc. Its language dimension is logical and the focus of the text is the
content instead of the form. Plain prose should be adopted to transmit the full referen-
tial or conceptual content of the source text in translation, without redundancy and with
the use of explication when required. The expressive text type is mainly used to express
the senders attitude, with an aesthetic language dimension, and the text focuses are the
sender and the form of the text. Reiss suggests that identifying methods should be
used to transmit the aesthetic and artistic form of the source text, while the translator
should adopt the standpoint of the source-text author. With the dialogic dimension, the
operative text type is reader and effect oriented because it aims at making an appeal to
the text receiver. Reiss suggests that the adaptive method should be employed to elicit
the desired response in the target text receiver and to create an equivalent effect among
them. In general, Reiss emphasizes the importance of recognizing the chief function of
a text, as the transmission of the predominant function of the ST is the determining
factor by which the TT is judged (1977/1989, 109); therefore, the translator should
adopt suitable translation strategies according to different text types and their
corresponding text functions.
Nord (1997, 3945) prefers the term appellative rather than Reisss operative. She
provides a detailed categorization of the appellative function and further divides the
appellative function into three subcategories: direct appellative, indirect appellative
and poetic appellative. The direct appellative function is usually realized through
imperative sentences or rhetorical questions; the indirect appellative function is often
realized by adopting language with referential or expressive functions or via stylistic
means. The poetic appellative function, as its name suggests, realizes the texts appellative
function through poetic writing, such as poetry or prose. Nord (1997, 42) explains that

The appellative function is receiver-oriented. Its rather like a dart that has to hit the center of
the board to obtain a good score. While the source text normally appeals to a source-culture
 4 M. Zhang

readers susceptibility and experience, the appellative function of a translation is bound to

have a different target. This means the appellative function will not work if the receiver
cannot cooperate.

Vermeer takes Reiss ideas of text function and Holz-Mnttris translational action
model to develop what is known as the Skopos Theory. According to Vermeer, the TT,
which is called the translatum by Vermeer, must be functionally adequate, and the
translator must know why a ST is to be translated and what the function of the TT will
be (see Munday 2012, 122). Nord summarizes that in Skopos Theory, The end justi-
es the means (Nord 1997, 29).

2.2. Applying theories to text analysis

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Can the above-mentioned theories be applied in translation practice, especially in text

analysis in EnglishChinese translation? This is what many translation teachers have
been concerned with. In the past few years, we have applied the functionalist theories in
translation teaching and research, and come up with some encouraging observations: (1)
the text typology theory is helpful in analyzing functions of the target text in a more
objective way; (2) it is valuable for the translator to understand linguistic features of
texts with different functions; (3) it is useful for the translator to adopt suitable strate-
gies and methods to produce a translated text for intended readers. In the following sec-
tion, some translation examples from the course will be presented to illustrate the above
three observations.

2.2.1. Analyzing text function in an objective way

An objective assessment of the text function(s) provides the precondition for choosing
suitable translation strategies. But the question is how the text functions can be objec-
tively identied. There are different kinds of categorizations of text functions by differ-
ent scholars. We believe that Reisss categorization is feasible as it is developed upon
Bhlers Organon Model, which has been largely referred to and applied in the eld of
linguistics. Michael Halliday makes positive remarks on it, saying that

Bhler was applying a conceptual framework inherited from Plato: the distinction of rst
person, second person, and third person was essentially constructing some kind of a
conceptual framework in non-linguistic terms, looking at language from the outside, and
using this as a grid for interpreting the different ways in which people use language. In all
these interpretations of the functions of language, we can say that function equals use: the
concept of function is synonymous with that of use. (Halliday and Hasan 1989, 1517)

The notions of the rst person, second person and third person mentioned in Hallidays
comments could be understood in this way: in language use, when the language is I
focused (the speaker), expressing subjective ideas, it is expressive; when the language
is you focused, appealing to your (the addressees) reactions, it is operative; when the
language is he/she/they/it focused (the fact), describing or presenting the objective
world, it is representational/informative.
We employ Reisss text typology and Nords further categorization of the appellative
text in our translation teaching at the University of Macau. The notions of I, you, he/
she/they/it have also been introduced. We hope that these theoretical concepts will help
students do better analysis of text types and their functions, and the analysis will lead to
 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 5

better decision-making in adopting translation strategies. Owing to limited space in this

paper, we only include ve examples for analysis. These ve sample texts, which are
selected from a large amount of data for the course, may not all be considered as media
texts, but rather, serve to illustrate different text types for analysis.

(1) The End of Winter

Why does the cake look so tasty? Why do cookies smell so good?
Dont you know they are all my favorites? Cause they are rich in taste.
Why do my clothes seem so tight? Why cant I get into my mini skirt?
Dont you know its the end of the winter? Its time to go on a diet.
(2) Diet and Nutrition
Food is essential for life as it is the source of energy and nutrients. Energy
supports human activities whereas nutrients are vital for growth, repair, health
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maintenance and disease prevention. Imbalanced or poor diet may lead to obe-
sity or specic nutrient deciency. These in turn may increase the risk of a vari-
ety of health problems, such as heart diseases, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes
mellitus, hypertension and some cancers. A balanced diet contributes to good
health. For example, fresh fruit and vegetable consumptions protect against
some forms of cancers. www.info.gov.hk/dh/diseases/ncd/eng/diet.htm
(3) Keep Off the Grass.
(Back Translation: Please dont tread on the grass.)
(4) ,
No Spitting. Maximum penalty $1000
(5) The Marie France BodylineAsias Leading Network of Slimming Centers
Every Marie France Bodyline program can be focused on any part of your
body where stubborn fat persists, so you can shape your body the way you want.
Its quick, its easy and its results really last. With Marie France Bodyline pro-
gram, there is no hunger, no strenuous exercise, no pills and no injections. The
entire process is 100% natural and safe. In as little as 30 min per session, the
Marie France Bodyline program allows you to lose those extra pounds and inches
on specic body parts, for healthier and lasting results. www.mariefrance.com/
why_choose_marie_france_bodyline.htm

Example 1 is an informal type of poem written with the rst person I as the speaker,
a girl who enjoys delicacies during the winter, and now feels the need of going on a diet
because spring is approaching, and she likes to wear her miniskirts. Although the last two
sentences (Dont you know its the end of the winter? Its time to go on a diet.) sound like a
kind of appeal to all young ladies to diet in order to keep t, the main function of the poem
is to express the speakers feelings and attitude; therefore, we regard Example 1 as an
expressive text. Example 2 is a piece of information on diet and nutrition provided on the
website of the Department of Health, Hong Kong Government. The major function of this
text is to provide information, although the purpose of publishing this text is to help Hong
Kong citizens better understand the importance of healthy diet and nutrition. Therefore,
we regard Example 2 as a typical informative text. Examples 3, 4 and 5 are all texts with
an appellative function. The public notice in Example 3 Keep off the grass directly
appeals to the addressee, namely to you. The text function of Example 3 is, in Nords
term, direct appellative. Example 4 is a notice used in public places in Hong Kong.
Written in poetic form, the text is actually intended to appeal to the public to abide by the
health regulations and not to spit in public places. This example is, in Nords term, a
 6 M. Zhang

poetic appellative text. Example 5 is an advertisement for a famous slimming center in

Hong Kong, the target audience of which is you possibly ladies who want to be slim
and look pretty but are unwilling to suffer hardships by doing physical exercises. The text
of Example 5 does not adopt any imperative sentence like that in Example 3 to make direct
appeal to the addressee. Instead, it introduces to you their bodyline program and its posi-
tive effect. By providing information about the advantages of the program, it indirectly
appeals to the addressee to take action. Therefore, Example 5 is, in Nords term, an indi-
rect appellative text. Generally speaking, the focus of the texts of Examples 3, 4, and 5 is
you and the main function of all the three texts is to call for attention and responses from
the addressee.
However, as Reiss points out that all texts may be multifunctional. A simple text like
Keep off the grass is classied as direct appellative, but at the same time, provides cer-
tain information about where this happens (in or near the grass). It is also expressive
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because the mood of this public notice is unyielding, which conveys the speakers attitude
about what might happen here. Therefore, when we analyze the major function of a text,
we are not excluding other functions possessed by the text, but giving reasons to choose
the proper translation strategies so as to transmit the information appropriately.

2.2.2. Understanding language dimensions of different text types

As it has been mentioned above, the language dimension of an expressive text is
aesthetic. Lets look at Example 1 again for its aesthetic elements. Overall, the poem is
simple in language structure and in a light-hearted and humorous style. Although the
word fat does not appear in the text, the image of a fat girl is vividly portrayed via
questions, such as why do my clothes seem so tight?, why cant I get into my mini
skirt?. The rhetorical devices, such as repetition and parallelism, are employed to create
rhymes and rhythm as well as the stylistic manners. An informative text type has a logi-
cal language dimension and the text is structured primarily on the semantic-syntactic
level (Reiss in Chesterman 1989, 108). Take Example 2 as an instance. The text is
composed of logical declaratives with great coherence. An operative text type, on the
other hand, is dialogic and effect-oriented, aiming at appealing to the addressees
responses. Normally, the direct appellative function can be realized via imperative sen-
tences, such as No Smoking!, Keep off the grass. Whereas, the indirect appellative
function is often realized by adopting language with referential or expressive functions
or via stylistic means. Examples of this kind can be found in the advertisement of
Marie France BodylineAsias Leading Network of Slimming Centres, which sounds
like an introduction to the slimming program, but it loses no time in telling you that
with this program you can shape your body the way you want.

2.2.3. Adopting appropriate translation strategies

The purpose of text analysis is for the translator to understand the major function of a
text and its language dimension so as to adopt appropriate translation strategies. Accord-
ing to Reiss (2000, 34), the affect expressed by an expressive text is far more than
the content narrated in it. The text is doubly structured: rst on the syntactic-seman-
tic level, and second on the level of artistic organization (see Reiss in Chesterman
1989, 109). She believes that an identifying method should be adopted in order to
retain the aesthetic effect in the source text and to reinvent the semantic content of the
source text.
 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 7

The three Chinese versions of the poem The End of Winter (see Table 1) were
translated by the students enrolled in the above-mentioned translation course. TT1 was
translated by a group of students from different places in Greater China; TT2 was trans-
lated by a group of students from the Chinese mainland; and TT3 was translated by a
group of students from Macao. Although the syntax, dictions and even the forms of the
three versions are different, all the three translations managed to preserve the meaning
and the main features of the poem, which are narrative and amusing. With simple, collo-
quial expressions and the rhyme in the verse, all the three groups of translators success-
fully expressed my feelings, affects and attitudes towards the ending of winter and the
approaching of spring. As mentioned earlier in this paper, an expressive text is a piece
of creative work, which means that the translation process often involves the translators
creativity. As a result, the translators identities, as well as his style, are often reected
in the translation. The translations of the poem are good cases in point. TT1 is written
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in Putonghua with a free style, while TT2 is also written in Putonghua, but in a more
strict form with parallel lines. We may assume that only Putonghua speakers can com-
pose the poem in such a form. TT3 contains quite a number of Cantonese features, such
as the colloquial Cantonese expressions ( why, so delicious, is
coming, etc.) and the code-switching phenomenon ( these clothes, go
quickly to). The translators of TT3 explained that their intended readers were Cantonese
readers.
While the main focus of the expressive text is the form and attitude, the main focus
of informative text is the content. The translator should try to transmit the information
of the source text faithfully to the target text. Example 2 can help to illustrate the point.
The title Diet and Nutrition is literally translated into , and so are other
parts of the text (see Table 2).
The main focus of the operative text (including direct appellative, indirect appella-
tive and poetic appellative texts) is the addressee of the text, and adaptive methods
should be employed to translate such texts so as to emphasize the appellative function
in the TT. The term adaptive method, suggested by Reiss, is rather general and vague.
In our understanding, it may refer to adopting different translation strategies and meth-
ods according to different contexts and different translation purposes. For example, No
smoking can be either translated into (literal meaning: Please do not
smoke) to be used in public places or (literal meaning: smoking is prohib-
ited) to be used in places, such as gas stations or other dangerous places. Another case
in point is Example 4. Although it is written in poetic form in Chinese, its pragmatic
function is to warn the public not to spit, rather than to express the authors own feel-
ings. It is common practice for the Chinese to use a poetic form in producing public

Table 1. Students translations of The End of Winter.

TT1. TT2. TT3.
?
? ?

!
? ?
? ?
? ,
! ?!
 8 M. Zhang

Table 2. Students translation of Diet and Nutrition.

ST TT
Food is essential for life as it is the source of
energy and nutrients. Energy supports human
activities whereas nutrients are vital for
growth, repair, health maintenance and
disease prevention. Imbalanced or poor diet
may lead to obesity or specic nutrient
deciency. These in turn may increase the
risk of a variety of health problems, such as
heart diseases, cerebrovascular disease,
diabetes mellitus, hypertension and some
cancers. A balanced diet contributes to good
health. For example, fresh fruit and vegetable
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consumptions protect against some forms of

cancers. www.info.gov.hk/dh/diseases/ncd/
eng/diet.htm

notices. In order to achieve a poetic form, the author often has to add unnecessary
words or expressions to the text. In Example 4, there are quite a number of concepts
/clauses in the Chinese text. However, except for the two pieces of information
(Do not spit randomly) and ((if you do so) you may be ned
$1000), which are important, other clauses, such as (spitting is dis-
gusting), (spitting will cause diseases), and
(everyone should follow health regulations), can all be omitted from the notice because
all these can be understood by the public. If all information in the Chinese text is trans-
lated directly into English, the English version would sound very clumsy and redundant,
and therefore, weaken the appellative function that it is expected to play. Consequently,
it is justiable to omit all the unnecessary information carried by unnecessary clauses
by using the adaptive methods. The actual English translation in use contains only two
noun phrases No Spitting and Maximum penalty $1000.
When analyzing the text functions in the previous section, we categorized Example
6 as an indirect appellative text because instead of adopting imperative sentences to
appeal directly to the reader to join Marie France Bodyline slimming programs, the
advertisement as a whole mainly provides information about the slimming programs and
effects in declarative sentences. In this case, the fact is stated to attract readers atten-
tion. But the facts described in the text are carefully selected or even purposefully
exaggerated. For example, it says that

With Marie France Bodyline program, there is no hunger, no strenuous exercise, no pills
and no injections. The entire process is 100% natural and safe. In as little as 30 min per
session, the Marie France Bodyline program allows you to lose those extra pounds and
inches on specic body parts, for healthier and lasting results.

It seems every piece of information is very important, and needs to be fully translated.
However, no matter it is a direct or indirect appellative text, its major function is to
attract the text receivers attention, rather than to give pure information for the readers
knowledge or reference (such as that in Example 2). Therefore, the major concern of
the translator in handling such a text would be the appellative effect instead of the con-
tent of the text. Let us take a closer look at the text. The rst sentence, Every Marie
 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 9

France Bodyline program can be focused on any part of your body where stubborn fat
persists, so you can shape your body the way you want, is a narrative one. Instead of
translating it literally into a long declarative sentence, the translator adopted a much
freer, more communicative translation strategy, separating this long narrative sentence
into three clauses: rstly a question ? (Back translation: feel-
ing troubled on the stubborn fat in your body parts?)then an answer
(Back translation: Marie France Bodyline program can help you.), and then
a declarative statement (Back translation:
We provide different slimming programs which will help you lose weight on any part
you want.). Translation methods used here, such as separation and shift of focus, can
be regarded as Reisss adaptive methods. In a word, in order to achieve the intended
effects, the translator is justied in adopting exible translation strategies and methods
when dealing with operative texts.
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3. Combining written and audiovisual materials

Although we use both audio and visual materials for exercise in class, we only include
visual materials in this paper. This section describes how we use written and visual
materials for translation exercises, and how the visual materials might inuence stu-
dents practice of translation. Exercises in and out of class are mainly of two types, the
rst of which is for the students to translate texts that have not been translated, while
the second type is for the students to correct or improve existing problematic
translations.
Figure 1 is a copy of the news report Beauty and the Feast on the front page of
China Daily on Nov. 3rd, 2005, which tells Guo Jingjings excellent diving performance
at the East Asian Games held in Macao. Although news reports should be informative,
news headlines are often written with various rhetorical devices to express the writers
feelings and attitude and to attract the readership. This one, Beauty and the Feast,
together with the picture, is a typical news headline with an expressive function. We
asked the students to translate this piece of news as one of the group translation projects
and encouraged them to discuss on translation problems via the Moodle. Owing to lim-
ited space in this paper, we are going to discuss the students translation of the news
headline here only.
Based on some discussions, the students understood that in the translation of this
headline, the writers attitude of the event as well as the information of the headline
should be translated. Students group translations are summarized as follows:
(BT = Back translation)

Figure 1. A news title: Beauty and the Feast.

 10 M. Zhang

ST. Beauty and the Feast:

TT1. (BT. Diving Beauty)
TT2. (BT. Diving Lotus GuoJingjing)
TT3. , (BT. GuoJingjing, Mermaid in the Pool)
TT4. (BT. A Charming Diving Beauty)
TT5. (BT. Diving Beautys Brilliant Performance)
TT6. ! (BT. One Dive Crumbled the City!)

Six groups of students produced six different translations of the headline. TT1 to TT4
all focused on the diver Guo Jingjing (Diving Beauty, Diving Lotus Guo Jingjing, Guo
Jingjing, Mermaid in the Pool, A Charming Diving Beauty) and TT5 on her perfor-
mance (Diving Beautys Brilliant Performance), while TT6 focused on the effect of the
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diving (One Dive Crumbled the City!).

The group of students who translated TT6 ! (One Dive Crumbled the
City!) presented in class the process of their translation. Firstly, they analyzed the ST,
Beauty and the Feast, which is a simulation of the lm title Beauty and the Beast. The
lm title is literally translated into . However, with the change of one word,
namely changing beast to feast, the news headline is difcult to translate. In their
Moodle discussion, students ruled out translations such as and .
Although can be said a faithful translation of the ST in literal meaning, it
does not give any hint of Guo Jingjings performance; while has a negative
meaning which may be used to refer to women working at a night club. After some dis-
cussions, they came to an agreement that the translation should reect the strong effect
of Guos outstanding performance in the diving competition. One student came up with
(beautiful girl dived with great effect), but this was immediately
replaced with the suggestion: !. All students in the group applauded this
translation, and the decision was made.
The students explained in class that One Dive Crumbled the City is a domesticating
translation. Their translation was generated from the Chinese idiom (Qing
Cheng Qing Guo = of a woman having breathtaking beauty) that comes from History of
Han Biographies of Emperors Mothers and Wives: At rst sight (of the woman), the
city crumbled, and at the second, the entire country fell. It is widely understood that
the expression One Dive Crumbled the City! is an exaggeration, but almost all the
students in the class agree that it is the best of all translations because the translators
successfully use the exaggerative gure of speech in an attempt to inspire the readers
imagination and to draw their attention to the news story.
Figure 2 contains a news story about Lady Gaga mourning over her dog, which was
downloaded from USA today website dated 2013/10/30 (http://www.usatoday.com/story/
life/people/2013/10/30/lady-gaga-in-mourning-over-her-dog/3314193/); the setting of the
news has been adjusted by the present author to accommodate the space of the paper.
The news story was uploaded to the Moodle, the task page, for the students to translate
within two days. Five groups of students began to read the news story and identify
terms or expressions that needed special attention. Their discussion was recorded in the
Moodle so that the teacher was able to follow and give comments when necessary. Each
group submitted their nal version of the translation to the Moodle, from which the tea-
cher collected the translation.
After collecting the group translations from the Moodle, the teacher would read
them and make comments on them. There are some ways of giving feedbacks to the
 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 11

Example 6. Lady Gaga in mourning over her dog

USA TODAY 12:20 p.m. EDT October 30, 2013

The "puppy" had to be put to

sleep.

You never know exactly what Lady

Gaga's outfits mean, but this one
certainly does seem to reflect her
mood. She added, "I remember her laying

Gaga's distraught over the death of my bed, she knew when I was sad,

her dog, Alice, who was 17, reports or when I was sick. I should have
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People.com. been there. I just pray Alice found

"My puppy Alice died," she her wonderland."

tweeted on Tuesday. "We had to put

her down, cancer ate away at a little
angel. My daddy is so sad; we all
are, lost a member of our family."

Figure 2. A news report for students to translate.

students, one of which is to focus on typical parts with an analysis of the translations
by different groups. Take Example 6 as an example. The translation of the news head-
line is the rst most important thing because the headline is expected to play two major
functions: to give information about the event and to attract the readers (Zhang 2013).
The headline of Example 6 is Lady Gaga in mourning over her dog. The English ver-
sion sounds simple, but the six groups of students produced ve different Chinese ver-
sions (see Table 3). From the students translations, we can see that two groups added
wearing black to their translation (the underlined parts indicated by the present
author). This is possible only with the visual image of Gaga in the news report that they
read online or via the Moodle.
Figure 3 contains two wrong translations which were collected from the mainland of
China. Example 7 is a public notice posted at a riverside somewhere in the mainland of

Table 3. Students translations of the news headline.

ST headline Group translations Back translation
Lady Gaga in mourning G1. Lady Gaga BT1. Lady Gaga feels grief over loss of pet
over her dog dog
G2. Gaga BT2. Gaga wearing black in mourning of
pet dog
G3. Gaga BT3. Pet dog died Gaga extremely sad

G4. BT4. Goddess Gaga wearing black in
mourning of passed dog
G5. BT5. Goddess Gaga in mourning of pet dog

 12 M. Zhang

China, the translation of which is very problematic. The ST reads (Chinese

pinyin: xioxnzhuh), meaning (you must) be careful (so as not to) fall to the river.
But the translator only translated the notice literally word for word, turning into
carefully and into fall to the river. As a result, the translation not only sounds
funny, but goes astray from the pragmatic meaning of the ST. This kind of mistake
could be the result of the translators inadequate ability in English. In order to correct
the mistake and reproduce a target text that can serve the intended function, the students
were advised to take into consideration all related factors such as the contextual factors
and the intended function.
This would have an implication that people are already walking at the edge of the
river bank. But in reality this public notice aims at warning people not to come near this
part of the river bank because it is dangerous. Taking into consideration the text func-
tion/purpose and the picture showing the contextual factors such as the deep water in
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the river and the steep river bank, the students came up with the following translations:

TT1. DANGER!
TT2. Danger. Be careful!

Chinese people are well known for their favor of poetry. No matter what genre they are
writing, they may cite a poem from a famous poet or compose what they are writing in
a poetic form. While Example 4 in this paper is a good case in point, we will examine
more such examples in the following parts.
Example 8 is a public sign being used in a toilet, the text of which reads
, with the Chinese Pinyin: liycngcng, qychngchng. The literal mean-
ing of this couplet is (you) come here in a hurry, and (we would like to request that
you) leave after ushing (the toilet). The main reason for putting these two clauses
together is that they end with repeating characters which have similar sounds
cngcng and chngchng. On the other hand, semantically the combination of
these two lines could create a kind of humor in Chinese. However, the actual translation

Example 7. Public sign posted at a riverside Problematic translation

in China
ST.

TT. Carefully fall to the river.

Example 8. Public sign used in a toilet in Problematic translation

China
ST.

(Pinyin: liy c ngc ng, qy ch ngch ng)

TT. Have to hurry to have flush

Figure 3. Wrong translations for correction/retranslation.

 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 13

of this notice Have to hurry to have ush is completely out of place in English. We
use this wrongly translated notice, among many others, as an exercise for the students,
who were asked to reproduce an appropriate English version for use in the same context
of situation. The students discussed related factors to this public notice, and then came
to realize that although written in poetic form, the function of this short notice is not to
express the authors feeling or attitude like most poems do, but rather, to make an
appeal to the user of the toilet, namely to ush after using the toilet. As a result,
students came up with two translations. TT1. Come in a rush, Go after a ush, and
TT2. Flush after using the toilet. TT1 seems equivalent with the ST in meaning and
in style; however, the translation does not exert the appellative function as it is expected
to play. It sounds like a description of someone going in and going out of the toilet.
Therefore, most students prefer TT2, Flush after using the toilet, which is more
appropriate with regard to the pragmatic function this notice is expected to play in the
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toilet.

Figure 4. Activities that can be organized in the Moodle.

 14 M. Zhang

4. Using e-learning management systems

Multimodality in this research also means using the online systems for translation teach-
ing. We have been using different e-learning management systems in the past years to
enhance teaching and learning, the general website of which is called WebCourse. Aside
from facilitating the organization of course materials on the website, the WebCourse
platform also provides a wide variety of tools and functions for the learning activities
(see Figure 4) that can be used via the Moodle to teach a course. Examples of tools
include student progress tracking, assignments, student self-evaluation, grade mainte-
nance and distribution, navigation tools, auto-marked quizzes, course calendar, course
content search and much more.
With the e-learning management system, such as the UMMoodle, we are able to
upload all teaching materials and task requirements to this platform, so that students can
reach them wherever they can get access to the Internet. More importantly, this kind of
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e-learning system enables students to interact and cooperate with their peers in doing
translation exercises or translation projects; at the same time, the teacher can easily
check students participation and give comments and help when necessary. Figure 5 is
the page in the UMMoodle showing students participation in the activity. In other
words, the teacher can see what and when each student has done or said in the Moodle.
With the e-learning platform like the Moodle, we nd it convenient to manage stu-
dents translation activities. Figure 6 contains some slides from a group presentation on
the translation of advertisements for hotels in Macao. The Introduction page shows
the common structure for the presentation: (1) Introduction of the project; (2) Related
theoretical concepts to be applied in the analysis and discussion; (3) Case analysis of
their translation of different points or parts that they think are well translated; (4)
Discussion to reect what they have learned from this project and raise questions for
further discussion in the class; and (5) Summarizing the project.

Discussion Started by Group Replies Last post

TIFFANY, LO KIT I
Tiffany, Will, Ivy, Sica, Elise TIFFANY, LO KIT I Group 6 5
Mon, 4 Nov 2013, 11:11 PM

CONNIE, LEONG HO I
Group 4 CONNIE, LEONG HO I Group 4 4
Mon, 4 Nov 2013, 10:07 PM

Miranda, Chloris, Diana, Bobo, BOBO, HUI KA POU

BOBO, HUI KA POU Group 3 8
Esther Mon, 4 Nov 2013, 9:54 PM

IAN, CHEANG KA WUN

Katrina, Karen, Ian, Sandy IAN, CHEANG KA WUN Group 2 7
Mon, 4 Nov 2013, 9:47 PM

ELAINE, MA FONG LENG

Group 5 ELAINE, MA FONG LENG Group 5 6
Mon, 4 Nov 2013, 10:52 AM

PINGPING, HUANG
Jessie, Sanie, Janet, Lydia, PINGPING, HUANG
Group 1 9 PINGPING
Pingping PINGPING
Sun, 3 Nov 2013, 12:53 PM

Figure 5. Students submissions of their nal translations on UMMoodle.

 Asia Pacic Translation and Intercultural Studies 15
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Figure 6. Some slides from a group presentation.

Then how do students view the e-learning management system? Our recent survey
on students opinions on using the UMMoodle shows students generally hold positive
attitudes toward it. Here are some of the comments from the students: it is a good
channel for subject learning and for peer communication, it is convenient to get
access to teaching materials and to share with peers, it enables us to do translation
exercises at home without feeling lonely, but I feel a little nervous because the teacher
is overseeing us any time.

5. Conclusion
In the previous sections of this paper, we have introduced our multimodality practice in
translation teaching at the University of Macau. Unlike the traditional Chinese way of
teaching in which teachers relied on only one textbook for the whole translation course,
the multimodality model makes it possible for the teacher to use relevant theories and a
large amount of both written and audiovisual materials for teaching and learning. While
relevant theories can help students better understand principles and methods in text
analysis and translation, audiovisual materials enable the students to take into considera-
tion the contextual factors in their translation decision-making. Moreover, the multi-
modality model provides a very good platform for students to collaborate with each
other easily and to develop team spirit. Last but not least, learning with the multimodal-
ity model, students are much more active in learning and gradually becoming the center
of the class. Although our discussion only focuses on translation teaching, we believe
that such multimodality methods can be applied to different kinds of teaching and
learning.

Funding
This work was supported by University of Macau [grant number MYRG103 (Y1-L2)-FSH12-
ZMF]. It is part of the interim results of the authors research project Functional Approaches to
Translation Studies: Theories and Applications.
 16 M. Zhang

Notes on contributor
Meifang Zhang is a professor of English and Translation in the Department of
English, University of Macau. Her research interests include translation and
intercultural studies, discourse analysis, media discourse and translation,
translation teaching and translation quality assessment.

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