Students' errors in business

translation: causes,
consequences and implications
TEACHING TRANSLATION
AND INTERPRETING 4
TTI 2014
University of Lodz, Poland
28-29 November 2014

Iwona Sikora
Czstochowa University of Technology
University of Applied Sciences in Nysa

Plan of the presentation

1. Error analysis and its applications in translation
2. Defining linguistic errors and translation errors
3. Classifications of translation errors
4. Business translator competence and market requirements
5. Business translation competence as a multicomponential
construct
6. Overview of a student translation assessment form
7. Students translations error analysis typology of most
common errors
8. Potential causes of students translation errors
9. Improvements and implications for the translation course
program

Error Analysis

Error analysis is a systematic study of learner's performance,

which attempts to examine and classify learner's errors,
explain the potential causes for their occurrence, account for
their linguistic and psychological origin and understand the
cognitive processes allowing learners to construct linguistic
knowledge in second language acquisition.

Contrary to contrastive analysis (CA), error analysis (EA) does

not perceive errors as signs of failure and examples of negative
interlingual interference which should be eliminated but rather as
manifestations of universal learning strategies and
indicators of learners progress in language learning
process.

With EA a shift in research from teaching perspective to

learning perspective, from contrastive analysis to cognitive
psychology.

Applications of Error Analysis

Error analysis by providing some insight into the
nature of the learning process and causes of
learners errors has been a useful tool with diverse
applications in:

Second language acquisition (SLA)

Pedagogies of language teaching
Translation and interpreting
Bilingual lexicography
Intercultural communication

Error Analysis in Translation

What are the applications of error analysis in
translation and interpreting?
ERROR ANALYSIS
can serve as a constructive teaching tool
(both in SLA and in translation and interpreting
teaching)

it provides THREE-DIRECTIONAL FEEDBACK :

Implications for translation student
Implications for translation teacher
Implications for syllabus designers

Error Analysis in Translation

THREE-DIRECTIONAL FEEDBACK TRIANGLE

Error Analysis in Translation

THREE-DIRECTIONAL FEEDBACK TRIANGLE
1. Implications for translation student

evidences these areas on which students need to focus.

informs about the gravity of translation errors in relation

to translation purpose, client, specifications, etc.

draws students attention to various aspects and levels of

translation quality.

indicates sensitive translation quality points important

from the perspective of translation market agents.

indicates students progress.

informs about the development of the student's

linguistic competence in relation to other translators
subcompetences.

informs about the development of the overall students

translation competence.

Error Analysis in Translation

THREE-DIRECTIONAL FEEDBACK TRIANGLE
2. Implications for translation teacher

provides insight into learner's learning system as

errors partially reveal the cognitive processes.

indicates the potential causes of students errors.

informs about the overall students translation

competence (linguistic, information mining,
instrumental, thematic, translation, etc.).

diagnoses students deficiencies and indicates

areas and abilities which need improvement

(e.g. greater focus on correct grammar/spelling, translation skills,

information mining skills, using ICT for translation purposes,
verification of terminological data, etc.).

provides insight into the influence and significance of

language transfer in the translation process.

Error Analysis in Translation

THREE-DIRECTIONAL FEEDBACK TRIANGLE

3. Implications for syllabus

designers/teaching process

provides valuable feedback for translation teaching

pedagogies.

indicates which course components are underdeveloped

and need to be improved.

suggests modifications in the teaching methods (less

focus on ICT, streamlining CAT tools into the teaching process)
and course organization.

indicates which translation subcompetences need to be

developed during the translation course.

points to translators skills, translation subcompetences

and translation quality issues which should be
incorporated into the course program or which should
receive greater emphasis in the teaching process from the
perspective of translation market agents.

Defining errors
General definition of error:
error is a violation of norms/deviation from the accepted
standards
Error in second language teaching/acquisition
a deviation from a system of linguistic norms or rules
orthographic errors

interlingual/transfer
errors

punctuation errors

intralingual/develop
mental errors

syntactic errors

lexical and semantic errors

morphological errors
lexical and semantic errors
stylistic errors
s

Defining translation errors

TRANSLATION AS A NORM-DRIVEN BEHAVIOR
Translation norms determine:
which kind of translation behaviour is considered to be correct and
which kind of texts are accepted as translations in a particular culture
at a particular period of time. (Toury 1980: 57)

TRANSLATION ERROR:

linguistic-textual norms (lexical, stylistic, syntactic choices)

document production norms

translation norms

equivalence norms

social norms

professional norms (professional behavior)

expectancy norms (target community expectations)

Defining translation errors

If we define a translation as the production of a
Target Text (TT) which is based on a Source Text (ST),
a translation error arises from the existence of a
relationship between two texts.
Translation is a communicative situation which
involves a sender, receiver, time, place, purpose of
translation, as well as ST and TT background and
cultural norms. Translation errors occur because
something has gone wrong during the transfer
and movement from the ST to the TT.(Hansen
2010: 385)

Defining translation errors

The perception of an error depends on the theoretical approach to
translation:
from the perspective of EQUIVALENCE-BASED THEORIES:
an error is regarded as some kind of non-equivalence between
ST and TT or non-adequacy of the TT (Koller 1979: 216).
from the perspective of FUNCTIONAL AND SKOPOS-BASED
THEORIES errors are defined in terms of the purpose of the
translation process and product:
"a failure to carry out the instructions implied in the
translation brief"; or in other words: "If the purpose of a
translation is to achieve a particular function for the target
addressee, anything that obstructs the achievement of this purpose
is a translation error. Nord (1997:73-75)

Classification of Translation Errors

Functionalist Approach to Translation Errors
Functional errors failure to fulfill translation
brief specifications, violation of certain
functional aspects of the translation project.
Absolute errors errors independent of the
specific translation project; violation of
linguistic or cultural rules in a given language.
(Nord 1998, Gouadec 1989)

Classification of Translation Errors

ST-related errors (translation errors
visible only when ST is compared to TT):

opposite sense, wrong sense, nonsense,

addition and suppression
TT-related errors (linguistic errors visible
for the target reader without comparison of
TT with ST):

spelling, vocabulary, syntax, coherence and

cohesion
(Kupsch-Losereit 1985; Delisle 1993; Hurtado Albir 1999;
Tomaszkiewicz & Pisarska 1996, Kozowska 2002)

Classification of Translation Errors

Communicative approach to translation
minimalist definition of translation competence
Translation competence ability to generate a set of
correct and possible translations and the ability to select a
version which suits best a specified purpose and reader of a
given translation
Binary errors clearly wrong solutions (wrong-right
answer)
Non-binary errors possible solutions with varying
degree of adequacy (several possible solutions including
right and wrong answers)
Non-binary errors can be graded along a scale (shades
of grey) and this approach provides more objective standards
for translation assessment
(Pym 1992)

Business Translators Competence

and Market Needs
Market Relatedness of Business Translators
Competence
Translator training undergraduate studies
in business English:
be adapted to translation market requirements,
develop multi-aspectual and multi-componential
translators competence,
focus especially on practical and procedural skills,
educate professionals to respond to the needs of
local economy (but also global international
market).

BUSINESS TRANSLATOR COMPETENCE

AS A MULTICOMPONENTIAL CONCEPT

Student translation assessment form

classification of translation errors
It is based on over a decade of experience as
practicing translators/certified translators on translation
market.
It is motivated by the profile of the business English
specialization educating practicing translation
specialists not theoreticians.
It was created in cooperation with department team
It focuses on practical aspects of translation.
It focuses on customer- and market-relatedness,
i.e. it is a tool for assessment of market-related quality
of the translation product.
It focuses on meeting customer needs and providing
TP in accordance with client's requirements.

Student translation assessment form

classification of translation errors
It draws students attention to specific aspects of
translation product and translation market quality
standards, and indicates areas for improvement.
It was designed for specialized translation classes
(business).
It aids objective assessment of student translations.
It offers a combined approach to translation error
assessment: assessment of overall translation quality
and more detailed assessment based on error analysis.
It assesses a variety of aspects: market-acceptability
(overall quality, translation brief compliance), content-related
(equivalence), linguistic (vocabulary, grammar, style), formal
(layout, format, editing).

Student translation assessment form

classification of translation errors
1. Equivalence errors (equivalence of sense, purpose,
function, effect)
2. Grammatical errors (general and discourse-specific
assessment of form, use, appropriateness)
3. Lexical errors (general and specialized vocabulary
(spelling, use, collocations, appropriateness)
4. Punctuation errors (correctness, language variety use
consistency)
5. Mechanical errors (spacing, indentation, hyphenation,
capitalization etc.)
6. Style and register errors (appropriate style and
register)
7. Layout/format errors (editing, formatting, layout)
8. Customer-relatedness assessment (unacceptable
acceptable)
(author: M. Walczyski)

Student translation assessment form

classification of translation errors
GRADING
Based on Daniel Gouadecs grades:
1. rough-cut
2. fit-for-delivery (with minor improvements needed)
3. fit-for-broadcast (accurate, efficient, an ergonomic)

Grades in the assessment form:

3 acceptable without revisions corresponds to

Gouadec's fit-for-broadcast
2 acceptable after minor revision corresponds to
Gouadec's fit-for-delivery
0 unacceptable corresponds to Gouadec's rough-cut

Error Analysis of Students Translations

(lexical and syntactic calques, wrong use of prepositions, grammar mistakes, word-forword translation, stylistic inconsistency, no attention to context)
COMMON ERRORS (PL-EN):
PUNCTUATION:
10,8 billion PLN/10,8 mld zl
polish capital market
, that
wrong spacing, double spacing, wrong use of hyphens and dashes, wrong use of capital letters
GRAMMAR:
- lack of articles, wrong use of articles: The Orlen
- wrong prepositions: in 25 July. I must deal on, pay attention on
- wrong tense: on 25th July Mr. X has taken
- wrong word order syntactic calque: outsourcing it also saves time; all activities take over by
the external companys specialist,
- lack of subject-verb agreement: Most of Europeans admits
- no s in genitive: accountant disease
LEXICAL:
- wrong word detaliczny detail, obsugiwany podmiot handled subject, cel biznesowy
business purpose; Norwegians are less willingly to emigrate; prace ziemne civil works
- wrong collocation/verb pattern: decides to outsourcing
- wrong number: every single institutions
- vocabulary is selected without attention to sentence context
STYLE AND REGISTER:
- inconsistency in the use of tenses or structures: it saves costs related to the employment of
workers, on the cost of their training (should be economize on costs related to and their
permanent training),
- colloquial style: survey made survey conducted
- unjustified changes in style or ways of addressing the reader

Error Analysis of Students Translations

(style, lexical and syntactic calques, wrong inflection,
literal translation, lack of naturalness)

COMMON ERRORS (EN-PL):

EQUIVALENCE:
misunderstanding of the ST: furnish students and instructors with single computer
license udostpni studentom i instruktorom z osobistymi komputerami;
companies can turn their terminology into a corporate asset firmy mog zaczy
swoj terminologi do aktyww spki
GRAMMAR:
wrong inflection/case: udziela Licencjobiorcy niewyczne, niezbywalne licencje;
udziela stacjonarn licencje; doceniamy wkad uczelni w promowaniu programu
syntactic calque: numbers allocated to instructors numerw przydzielonych do
instruktorw
syntactic error: zobowizany do wysania () lub rozpowszechni
STYLE:
wrong or non existing collocations, awkward structures: program moe by
uywany przez wiele komputerw; uytkowanie skada si z: uytkowanie
VOCABULARY:
- wrong collocation/word: uywanie programu do handlowego tumaczenia;
distribute serial numbers from its range (of received numbers) - rozprowadzi nr
seryjny we wasnym zasigu; memoQ jest inteligentym localizatorem otoczenia;
przetrzymywanych kopii programu (przechowywane kopie); poza zezwoleniem firmie
do posugiwania si,
SPELLING: w anexie 1; posiadacz koncesjii; przydzieloncyh; licenji; usunc
PUNCTUATION: lack of commas

Potential causes of students

translation errors
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Insufficient SL and TL linguistic skills problems with style,

sentence structure, inflection and syntactic errors.
Lack of understanding of ST fragment, phrase, lexical item
resulting in mistranslation, loss/distortion of meaning, omissions.
Lack of knowledge (general, extralinguistic) resulting in
inability to identify a specialized term in ST or erroneous form in TT.
SL interference calquing SL sentence patterns and word order
resulting in incomprehensible sentences, loss/distortion of meaning,
lack of naturalness of the TT.
Not enough motivation to search for appropriate vocabulary,
collocations, better expression in terms of style, meaning, context.
Insufficient translation skills lack of familiarity with translation
techniques and strategies allowing to introduce justified syntactic
and semantic modifications to produce a natural sounding TT.
Inability to identify potential translation and terminological
problems in TT due to insufficient general and extralinguistic
knowledge.

Potential causes of students

translation errors
8.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Limited information search skills and limited knowledge

about accessible sources of reliable specialized
information students do not know how to look for
terminological information, use Google translate as a dictionary,
lack persistence in terminological search, frequently use the first
term they manage to find.
Insufficient document production skills editing,
formatting errors, text layout.
Insufficient knowledge of general translation production
technologies (spellchecker, formatting and editing tools)
Limited awareness of translation quality criteria areas
which need special attention.
Little knowledge about translation production process
and translation norms obligatory stages of translation:
checking, revision, final verification.
Limited attention to detail layout, format, spelling,

Implications for Practical Translation Course

(teachers, students, course syllabus)
Identified errors and their potential causes:
They indicate students deficiencies and
translations defects.
They indicate these translation subcompetences
which are underdeveloped and require more
focus.
They inform teacher of special attention areas.
They suggest modifications to syllabus of
translation course.

Implications for Practical Translation Course

(teachers, students, course syllabus)

Implications for Practical Translation Course

(teachers, students, course syllabus)

Implications for Practical Translation Course

(teachers, students, course syllabus)

Thank you for your attention!

Iwona Sikora
University of Applied Sciences in Nysa
Institute of Modern Languages / Section of Business English
Czstochowa University of Technology
Management Department/ Chair of Linguistic Applications in
Management/ Business English
iwona.sikora@slovik.com.pl

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