An Error Analysis of Tense Errors in English Major Undergraduates’ Translations

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.211020.130How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Error Analysis, Tense, Chinese-English Translation, Interview, Questionnaires

Abstract

Tense errors in translation works are of great importance because it affects the transmission of the original texts and plays a big part in research of Second Language Acquisition. The authors of this article used the method of Error Analysis to analyze errors of tenses in translation works of English major undergraduates from China. Then, they conducted interviews with 3 students who provided their works and made a questionnaire to deeply explore causes of errors. The authors found that the target students still made errors about tense even if they have a better command of English and are aware of the difference between Chinese tenses and English tenses. Six possible reasons are demonstrated: (1) different tense morphological features; (2) lack of adverbial of time; (3) difficulties to contextualize; (4) translators’ misunderstanding about tenses; (5) translators’ habits and preferences; (6) overlaps of concepts between some tenses. The acquisition of tenses in English is related to both the transfer between Chinese and English and students’ learning experience. Inefficient correction methods should be highlighted because it is difficult for students to find errors in tenses themselves. However, self-study still serves as the most common and effective way for them to learn more about tenses.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Xinran Li
AU  - Yutong Zhao
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/10/21
TI  - An Error Analysis of Tense Errors in English Major Undergraduates’ Translations
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences (ICPRSS 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 58
EP  - 64
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211020.130
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.211020.130
ID  - Li2021
ER  -