论中国翻译教材建设之理论重构(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：陶友兰

出版社：复旦大学出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

论中国翻译教材建设之理论重构试读：

前言

在翻译研究日益多元化的今天，翻译教材建设问题逐渐引起了翻译界国内外学者的关注。在国外，对教材的研究主要是探讨外语教材的设计、选择和使用，代表性学者有Jack C.Richards,Brian Tomlinson,Alan Cunningsworth,Cay Dollerup等。具体到翻译教材（特别是英汉、汉英翻译教材）方面的研究，几乎没有一本专著来专门研究，只有一些相关的零星说法，散见于Peter New-mark,Don Kiraly,Brian James Baer,Geoffrey S.Koby,James Holmes,Jeremy Munday,Andrew Chesterman等人的著述中。到目前为止，笔者查询到唯一的1篇论文是讨论翻译教材编写方面的，作者是俄罗斯的Dina Nikoulitcheva（2002）。她从实际运用方面来看待翻译理论研究的发展，并探讨如何将这一思路体现在翻译教材编写之中，提倡将口译教材和笔译教材分开编写。这一观点对中国英语专业口笔译教材建设很有借鉴意义。

在国内，主要研究成果有：张美芳的《中国英汉翻译教材研究（1949—1998）》，主要是对国内翻译教材进行分类，并进行评论；桂文泱的硕士论文《翻译教材的选择与评估》，从教学使用角度提出一些选择和评估标准；穆雷的《中国翻译教学研究》一书中谈到了翻译教材概况和教师使用教材的反馈意见；文军的《翻译课程模式研究》一书讲到翻译教材建设的重要性；刘和平的《口译理论与教学》提到口译教材的编写情况；杨承淑的《口译教学研究：理论与实践》讲到如何编选口译教材问题。关于翻译教材研究方面的论文，查询中国期刊网可以发现从1980年到2008年刊登在主要外语类核心期刊上的论文共计28篇，主要是对现有翻译教材的使用和评价。其中，关于翻译教材建设理论以及对策问题，代表性的论文有刘季春的《调查与思考——谈建立我国翻译教材的新体系》，王建国的《功能翻译理论与我国的翻译教材建设》，蔡进宝的《西方语篇分析理论对我国高校英语翻译教材建设的启示》；雷大有的《谈高校外语专业翻译课的教材建设》，屈春芳等的《论高职高专翻译教材的开发与建设》，杨晓荣的《翻译教材中理论的进入途径探讨》，宋达的《关注现代主义文学汉译：提升翻译教材质量的另一条途径》；冯建中的《口译教材的统编化及其指导原则》等。另外，译界其他学者如罗进德、郭著章、何刚强、许均、罗选民、冯庆华、王大为、梅德明、黄忠廉、屠国元等都对翻译教材有过不同视角的阐述。

但是，随着教育环境的改变，教学理念的更新，近年来国内翻译研究特别是应用翻译研究得到了快速发展。作为翻译研究这座“学术大厦”中不可缺少的重要组成部分，翻译教材建设也需要进一步开拓和创新，翻译教材构建模式和理论架构也需要不断丰富和发展。

本书从跨学科角度出发，主要用定性的途径，通过宏观与微观、历时与共时相结合的方法，包括查阅文献资料、发放翻译教材编写调查问卷、考察市场和学生需求、个案访谈和课堂观察等手段，运用比较法、归纳法和推理法对所取得的信息材料进行论证和总结，从多重角度来论考察1980年到2008年期间我国英语专业本科生翻译教材的建设问题，对良好的传统与行之有效的翻译原则加以继承性发展，将翻译理论与研究和相关教学理论、心理学理论、交际学理论、可读性理论以及营销学理论结合起来，以便建立具有中国特色的、系统性翻译教材建设理论。所以，本研究可以被视为翻译研究的一种补充或延伸，也是对相关跨学科理论的丰富和发展。同时也希望对挑选翻译教材、翻译实践和翻译教学等方面有所裨益。

引言部分主要阐明本研究的重要性和必要性，界定一些重要的概念，介绍研究方法和全书的主要内容架构。

在简要地回顾了中外翻译教材研究之后，本书第一章对翻译教材建设进行重新定位，首次提出翻译教材建设应纳入霍尔姆斯的应用性翻译研究范围，从而确立其重要性和很强的实践性，进一步推动我国应用性翻译理论的发展。

教材建设离不开宏观理论的指导。第二章梳理了五条基础理论：（1）运用德国翻译“目的论”，提出根据用户需求编写专题化的翻译教材，翻译教材的内容甚至可以包括目的语的写作模式；（2）交际学理论为编写翻译教材中广义上的翻译策略提供了理论依据，翻译的目的是为了进行成功的交际；（3）教育学和心理学理论指出，教材建设必须“以人为本”，教材要提供足够的空间和自由让教师和学生产生互动，教材内容要根据学生的“认知图式”来设计；（4）可读性理论启示编者要考虑读者的实际水平和教材的真实性；（5）市场理论为教材的包装和推销提供了很好的引导。当然，对比语言学理论是指导翻译教材建设的最基本理论之一，但由于本书着重于教材建设理论的重构，所以就不对此进行赘述。

教材在编写的过程中，会受到很多因素的影响。第三章分析了以下几个主要因素：教学大纲、翻译教师、学生、语言学理论、翻译理论以及社会文化因素等。

要编写出理论与实践相结合、具有高屋建瓴气度的智慧型教科书，第四章论述了具体编写翻译教材的思路：编者要做细致的教材需求分析，明确翻译教材的标准，灵活掌握相应的编写方式，遵循一定的编写原则，运用教育学、心理学等跨学科理论来融合教材的三个要素如翻译理论、翻译方法和技巧以及翻译练习等。如何有效地编写翻译教材，提出翻译教材发展观是本书的重点之所在。

理论研究的出发点和归宿是指导、分析和解决实际问题，因此第五章运用本书梳理的一些理论来审视国内外现有的翻译教材，提出进一步改进意见，并预测翻译教材的未来编写走向。

结论部分论述本研究的局限性和可能潜在的研究课题。本书集中论述的是翻译教材建设的理论建构，还有很多方面值得进一步探索，如翻译专题教材研究、口译教材研究、翻译教材的评估与选择、翻译教材的编写与语料库的应用以及翻译教材和高科技的整合等等。

从社会实用性角度看，本书论述的虽然是英语专业本科生英汉汉英笔译教材建设问题，但其中所涉及的理论、原则和方法，部分也适用于其他层次、其他语种的翻译教材编写。

本书是在笔者博士论文的基础上修改、充实而成的。部分章节已经在国内外学术刊物如Perspectives:Studies in Translatology，《外语界》、《上海翻译》等期刊上发表。

在攻读博士学位、撰写博士论文的过程中，我一直得到导师何刚强教授的悉心指点和亲切的鼓励。在此，谨向他致以真诚的谢意！此外，感谢黄勇民教授、王建开教授、沈黎教授对我的论文初稿提出了宝贵修改意见；感谢刘靖之教授、郭建中教授、张春柏教授、邵志洪教授、张美芳教授和郭宝仙副教授对我的鞭策和鼓励，并为我提供了许多有用的材料和写作上的支持；感谢学界教授、专家在百忙之中接受我的问卷调查，并细心回答了我的疑问，使我深受启发。他们是：陆谷孙教授、郭著章教授、吴冰教授、陈宏薇教授、杨晓荣教授、刘和平教授、毛荣贵教授、李德凤教授、朱徽教授、柯平教授、刘季春教授、黄忠廉教授、魏志成教授、冯伟年教授、谈峥教授、梁正溜教授。复旦大学外文学院已退休的孙骊教授、巫漪云教授、夏仲翼教授、薛诗绮教授、黄关福教授、李荫华教授等，他们年岁已高，但依然一丝不苟地填写我的问卷，并根据自己学习翻译的丰富经历亲自回答我提出的诸多问题，他们的回答是一笔具有珍藏价值的精神财富。感谢我在美国纽约州立大学的同学、现任美国马里兰大学国际部主任Ginny Rossin女士审读了全文，并从英语读者的角度提出了不少有益的修改意见。

最后，感谢复旦大学外文学院的领导和同事在论文出版上所给予的帮助和支持，感谢复旦大学出版社唐敏女士和责编施胜今女士，她们的热情支持和辛勤劳动使本书得以如期付梓。感谢复旦大学外文学院07级研究生江吉娜同学帮我仔细校对了全文。感谢我教过的和没有教过的学生帮我完成了调查问卷。感谢我的家人对我学业的支持和无私奉献。

煌煌的知识殿堂，是由众多杰出的大家和无数普通的耕耘者共同搭建、默默支撑的。本书所论述的文字，浅薄和粗陋之处在所难免，权当抛砖引玉，以期方家斧正。陶友兰2008年8月于复旦书馨公寓

Abbreviations

L2:second language

TEFL:Teaching English as a Foreign Language

ESL:English as a Second Language

ESP:English for Specific Purposes

SL:Source Language

ST:Source Text

TESOL:Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

TL:Target Language

TT:Target Text

TTBS:Teaching of Translation as a Basic Skill

TTPS:Teaching of Translation as a Professional Skill

CLT:Communicative Language Teaching

Introduction

0.1　Background of the study

The stimulus for the present study derives from the belief that textbooks can be taken as a starting point for improving the efficien-cy of translation teaching in China,consequently training more qual-ified translators and interpreters.

Practically speaking,translation textbooks are flourishing in China.The statistics gathered by Professor Fan Shouyi（2003）show that more than 1，000 translation textbooks and related books were published between 1949 and 20031.However,a lot of low-quality translation textbooks are repeatedly produced.As Li Defeng（2006）commented，“the existing translation textbooks lack originality,cop-ying the rigid patterns of old textbooks.They are still the product of traditional pedagogy.Moreover,they are overly market-driven.”2 And Luo Xuanmin（2002）pointed out that“most textbooks are test-driven and there are only few textbooks in a real sense,but they still need improvement because old-fashioned ways of explanation and rigid exercises fail to enliven the class and motivate the learners into active participation（Luo 2002:58）”.As the survey 3 has revealed，78.9% of translation teachers complain that they cannot find a satis-fying translation textbook to be used in their teaching practice,and 84.6% students are not satisfied with their textbooks.Therefore,some measures should be taken to reform or redesign the established translation textbooks.

In addition,with so many translation textbooks available,users become puzzled about how to choose a proper coursebook for their own purposes,since they have no idea of what the criteria of a good translation textbook should be.

These challenges did arouse the attention of some translation scholars and they have made related studies of translation textbooks.For example,Professor Zhang Meifang published a book titled Eng-lish/Chinese Translation Textbooks in China（19491998），which is considered the only works on translation textbooks up to the pres-ent.Other published articles on the study of translation textbooks are primarily empirical subjective evaluations of certain textbooks in a limited and narrow field,and lack academic depth and analysis.

Theoretically,there are still many issues to be explored.These include what the status of translation textbook compilation in transla-tion studies is,what should be included in the theoretical framework of systematic compilation of translation textbooks,what major fac-tors are influencing the compilation of translation textbooks,what constitute the principles of developing translation textbooks,and how to dynamically compile a core translation textbook,to name a few.

To meet these challenges,this interdisciplinary study intends toanalyze the existing Chinese translation textbooks that are considered to be successful to varying degrees in the practice of teaching,to de-velop the traditional effective principles of guiding the compilation of translation textbooks,and to try to set up a new theoretical framework of compiling translation textbooks.This is an attempt to explore theo-retical insights for practical guidance.This research takes translation textbooks（English-Chinese and Chinese-English translation textbooks targeted at undergraduate English majors）published in the last 28 years as the objects of study,with the goal of designing a good translation textbook that is both academically oriented and user-friendly.

0.2　Definition of some terms

For better elaboration,it is necessary to define some terms,such as“textbooks”，“translation textbooks”，“linguistic compe-tence”，“translation competence”，“translation teaching”and“teaching translation”.（1）Textbooks

What is a textbook?In Modern Chinese Dictionary,the defini-tion is“a book that is designed according to the teaching syllabus,especially for students to study and review（1998:639）”.The Ox-ford Illustrated Dictionary,defines a textbook as a“manual of illus-tration in any branch of science or study,work recognized as an au-thority（1962:879）”.The Encyclopedia Americana,gives the defi-nition of a textbook in this way，“in the strict sense of the term,atextbook is a book that presents a body of knowledge in an organized and usually simplified manner for purposes of learning（1989:563）”.

It can also be said that textbooks“provide the core materials for a course.A textbook aims to provide as much as possible and is de-signed so that it could serve as the only book which the learners nec-essarily use during a course（Tomlison 1998:ix）”.No teaching-learning situation can be said to be ideal until it has its relevant text-books.The textbook is frequently the most important teaching tool because it can determine not only what will be taught but also how it will be taught.

Textbooks are the most convenient means of providing the structure that the teaching and learning system requires.They are not simply everyday tools for teachers,but an embodiment of the aims,values and methods of a particular teaching or learning situation（Hutchinson 1987）.

To sum up,in this book,a textbook refers to a standard book containing information on a subject used in the classroom by students and teachers for educational purposes.（2）Translation textbooks

As the definition of textbook indicates,a translation textbook is a book that presents a body of translation knowledge in an organized and usually simplified manner for the purpose of learning.It can be one volume,or can be designed in a series of multiple volumes.It used to be a common practice for teachers to cover a set number of pages or units each week.The text materials would provide the con-tent of the course as well as the teaching schedule for a whole semes-ter or year.

Generally speaking,a translation textbook,different from a translation monograph that focuses on a certain specific theme rather than general knowledge,should possess the following features:1）it is mainly used as a teaching tool for pedagogical purpose；2）it is systematically organized to reflect the main principles governing translation operations；3）it tends to be comprehensive，“extending from general principles to guidelines,suggestions and hints（New-mark 1988:9）”.It should incorporate translation strategies,explica-tions of similarities and differences of at least two languages as well as a large number of translation exercises covering various topics；4）it should be informative,operative,and enlightening,leaving e-nough space for the users to improve on their own.

In this study,a translation textbook cannot be just treated as a book for students to study and review,but a medium to present a-chievements of translation studies and the main body of knowledge about language.Sometimes,the words like“coursebook”and“teaching materials”are used interchangeably in this book.（3）Linguistic competence vs.translation competence

Linguistic competence,a concept identified by Noam Chomsky（1975），refers to the level of knowledge of a given language neces-sary for a speaker to be able to produce an infinite number of novel sentences.

Bachman offers a hierarchical model of language competence.In this model,language competence is first divided into two broadcategories of organizational competence and pragmatic competence.Organizational competence consists of grammatical competence—“the knowledge of vocabulary,morphology,syntax,and phonolo-gy/graphology”（1990:87）and textual competence—“includes the knowledge of the conventions for joining utterances together to form a text”（1990:88）；whereas pragmatic competence contains il-locutionary competence—how we use words to do things in the world and socio-linguistic competence—“enables us to perform lan-guage functions in ways that are appropriate to that context（1990:94）.”

Shei thinks that Bachman's model seems to cover the aspects of linguistic competence except for the ability to use collocations and other prefabricated units of word combinations,which seems sub-sumed under neither by the grammatical competence nor by the tex-tual competence.Shei suggests that“one likely solution would be to change grammatical competence to lexical-grammatical competence,which would then correctly exhibit at least equal importance of lexis with grammar in one's language competence（2002:20）.”

As for translation competence,a more comprehensive model can perhaps be inferred from practical（as opposed to research-orien-ted）work like that of Sofer's,who proposes ten requirements for professional translators（1998:3337）:

1）A thorough knowledge of both SL and TL；2）A thorough“at-homeness”in both cultures；3）Keeping up with the growth and change of the language and being up-to-date in all of its nuances and neologisms（self-updating）；4）Always translating from another lan-guage into one's native language；5）Being able to translate in more than one area of knowledge（content knowledge）；6）Having the facility for writing or speaking and the ability to articulate quickly and accurately,either orally or in writing；7）Developing a good speed of translation；8）Developing research skills,being able to ac-quire reference sources essential for producing high quality transla-tion；9）Being familiar with the latest high-tech developments；10）Always checking to see what kind of potential one's language specialty has in a given geographic area.

The above ten points constitute Sofer's“essential criteria for de-veloping a translation career”（1998:36）.Though the majority of them refer to the translator's personal ability ranging from linguistic competence to cultural awareness to technological skills,some of them are pragmatic concerns rather than the inherent qualities of the translator（e.g.points 4，7 and 10）.

In Christina Schäffner's opinion,translation competence is com-posed of the following six competences:

1）linguistic competence,i.e.knowledge of the languages con-cerned,comprising communicative competence and meta-linguistic competence；

2）cultural competence,i.e.general knowledge about histori-cal,political,economic,cultural,etc.aspects in the respective countries and communities；

3）textual competence,i.e.knowledge of regularities and con-ventions of texts,genres,text types,including typographical regu-larities；

4）domain/subject specific competence,i.e.knowledge of the relevant subject,the area of expertise；for specialist translators,this amounts to a working knowledge of the domain；

5）（re）search competence,i.e.a general strategic competence with the ability to resolve problems as prerequisite for decision-mak-ing；knowing where to（re）search（parallel texts,background infor-mation,Internet,corpora,people……）

6）transfer competence,i.e.the ability to produce target texts that satisfy the demands of the translation task,including（a critical attitude to）the use of（electronic）tools,the ability to negotiate and collaborate with other translators and subject matter experts to ac-complish the task at hand,i.e.the ability to handle the social as-pects of the translation event（2000:1012）.

In a word,translation competence includes knowledge（know-ing what），plus skills（knowing how），and plus ability to reflect（knowing why）.

As is shown,the boundary between linguistic competence and translation competence is not clearly cut.We might say the lexical-grammatical competence,textual competence,and socio-cultural competence are the same core shared by the two.

But translation competence entails something else,such as re-searching competence—knowing how to research and using refer-ence materials；monitoring competence—knowing how to evaluate one's progress and edit one's translation drafts；hi-tech competence—catching up with the latest high-tech developments,and；content-knowledge competence—knowledgeable in many aspects of humanlife etc.For a translation trainee without the reasonably accom-plished linguistic basis（the common core），the translation specific parts of competence might be of no use.However,during the trans-lation and L2 learning activities,the two subsets of competence are closely interrelated and facilitate mutual development.“Translation develops three qualities essential to all language learning:accuracy,clarity,and flexibility.It trains the learner to search（flexibility）for the most appropriate words（accuracy）to convey what is meant（clarity）.”4“While translation serves to test and refine the learner's competence in L2，the advancement in linguistic competence,on the other hand,helps to shape the learner's performance,i.e.to pro-duce better translation.”（Shei，2002）

Incorporating all of the elements mentioned,we now have a model of competence specifically for translators as second language 5learner,as in Figure 01（adapted from Shei's figure，2002:24）（4）Translation teaching vs.teaching translation

Teaching translation used to be an indispensable part of TEFL.Translation has been regarded as an important means of foreign lan-guage learning,a teaching or learning method,with which to deepen understanding of the source text or to demonstrate the learner's un-derstanding of the original passage.Later on,translation training is treated as a separate entity aiming to produce professional translators on top of its role in TEFL.The concept of“teaching translation”and“translation teaching”was first put forward by the Canadian scholar Dr.Jean Delisle in 1981.Such concepts drew some Chinese scholars'attention and even triggered heated discussions.6 In order toFigure0-1　A model of translation competence for second language learners（a）Linguistic translation vs.professional translation

This is a distinction made by Liu Heping,a scholar from Bei-jing Languages University.Linguistic translation is for the purpose of foreign language learning and acquiring linguistic competence,and it stops at the level of linguistic competence；professional trans-lation,on the other hand,seeks textual equivalence in meaning,with the purpose of training for translation skills on the basis of lin-guistic competence.Comprehension of the original is the foundation of professional translation,the purpose of which is to translate,to communicate,and to exchange information.Professional translation begins only after acquiring foreign language competence and de-mands appropriate cognitive knowledge and sophisticated thinking.In a word,the two not only have different functions and effects,but also different modes of thinking（Liu 2000:4243）.

According to Professor Simon S.C.Chau,there are three sta-ges for the education of professional translation；namely,training of practitioner's bilingual abilities,training of practitioner's bicultural awareness and training of practitioner's sensitivity,and meaning transference and creative capacity for producing attractive prose.（b）TTBS vs.TTPS

In his book entitled Translation Teaching:Practice and Theo-ry,Professor Liu Miqing divided translation teaching into two types:1）TTBS—teaching of translation as a basic skill which is regarded as a test of language proficiency or one of the didactic procedures；2）TTPS—teaching of translation as a professional skill which is a part of career plan（Liu 2003:71）.The former is to improve students'linguistic competence while the latter focuses on students'translation skills and competence.

As is known to all,bilinguals are not necessarily good translators.There is a gap between good bilinguals and good translators,which should be bridged and filled by a translator training program.This is what Professor Yu Guangzhong mentioned as one goal of translation teaching—imparting the special adjusting ability to translator trainees（Mu 1999:116）.

As for TTBS,Liu holds the idea that linguistic competence should be trained with a view of a holistic language:linguistic com-petence is based and accompanied by thinking.Translation should be added as the fifth ability,a kind of art,the transfer of learning at ahigher level since translation is considered a necessary device to measure the total quality of foreign language teaching,individual learner's language proficiency,cultural awareness and logical think-ing ability.

For TTBS,teachers are supposed to regard translation as a sup-portive,complementary and testing means of reading and writing,which renders reading,writing and translating in an active interac-tion state.The main principles students should learn include 1）translation is the transference of meaning；2）meaning is determined by context；3）content,form and effect are interdependent；and，4）translation is a purposeful activity（Liu 2003:9091）.

TTPS is a very complicated undertaking that entails five compo-nents:1）translation practice in which students receive guidance in translation skills and theoretical thinking；2）translation theory in which students are taught epistemology,axiology and methodology systematically；3）ancillary course and lectures（optional）via which students acquire specialized knowledge in translation and familiarize themselves with relevant subjects such as literature and aesthetic,cross-culture studies,linguistics,communication,cognitive science etc.；4）research and dissertation；5）internship through which students get hands-on experience in authentic situations as profession-al translators（Liu 2003:93）.

Thus,teaching translation,as a means of teaching foreign lan-guage,intends to improve the learners'linguistic competence while translation teaching,as a professional career,attempts to improve the learners'professional translation competence.

0.3　Description of methodology

This study adopts a qualitative approach to researching relevant issues in designing translation textbooks from both synchronic and di-achronic perspectives.In a macroscopic sense,the compilation of textbooks should be set in a holistic societal environment.By com-paring the past and present of translation textbooks,some merits and demerits of these textbooks can be revealed；by comparing transla-tion textbooks in China and in some western countries,some features and desired improvements in designing Chinese translation textbooks are analyzed for reference.

In a microscopic sense,this study intends to bring about an in-novative approach to designing a new model for compiling transla-tion textbooks,some of the measures including literature review,questionnaires for end-users,inquiring into the demands of the mar-ket,case interviews and classroom observations.All data are dis-cussed and summarized using contrastive,inductive or inferential a-nalysis.

0.4　Organization of the contents

The introduction introduces research backgrounds,defines im-portant concepts and explains research methods as well as the struc-ture of the book.

Chapter 1　is a general survey of translation textbook studies athome and abroad,pointing out that the study on compiling transla-tion textbooks should be added under the applied theories in Holmes'map.

Chapter 2　asserts that,among other things,there must be some basic theories that support the compilation of translation textbooks.First of all,skopos theory should be taken into account to rethink the selection of translation textbooks'content；second,communicative theories should be employed to guide the compilers on how to com-pile the translation strategies in translation textbooks；third,theories in educational psychology should have a positive implication for translation textbooks to be user-friendly；fourth,since textbooks are compiled for learners/readers to use,readability theory reminds compilers to take users into consideration,and offers good insights into the selection of materials；and last but not least,marketing theo-ries are worth studying because they can give more guidance as to how to package and promote a translation textbook on the market.

Chapter 3　analyzes major factors influencing the compilation of translation textbooks.Generally speaking,there are six primary fac-tors:teaching syllabus,teachers,students,achievements in linguis-tic and language studies,development in translation theories,and social and cultural factors.First,an effective teaching syllabus must be set up in order to serve the compiling of translation textbooks；second,the background of teachers and students and the users of textbooks would decide what should be covered and how to teach and study the textbooks；third,achievements in linguistic and lan-guage studies are always directly or indirectly reflected in translationtextbooks,leading the compilers to be aware of the application of linguistic studies into the translation textbooks；fourth,new develop-ment in translation theories could help to enrich the content of trans-lation textbooks；and finally,social and cultural factors would have much effect on the selection and the layout of translation textbooks.

Chapter 4　discusses a new approach to developing translation textbooks.When the compilers decide to compile textbooks,they need to conduct needs analysis so that they can keep clearer purposes in mind and achieve higher social values.They should have a clear picture of the criteria of translation textbooks in their minds before they start writing the textbooks；they should be clear about what kind of approach is suitable for designing the textbooks by referencing principles and theories from relevant disciplines；and,they should also select up-to-date materials and make their products user-friendly and market-oriented.Most important of all,tentative suggestions on how to integrate translation theories,translation strategies and trans-lation exercises into the textbooks are elaborated in this chapter.

Chapter 5　reviews translation textbooks published in the West and China,analyzing their strengths and weaknesses while presen-ting some suggestions for translation textbook development in China.

The conclusion summarizes the main ideas of this book,point-ing out the limitations of this study as well as predicting future trends of translation textbooks in China.With economic globalization and the information explosion,translation is becoming increasingly im-portant in cross-cultural communication,and paperback translation textbooks tend to be combined with electronic textbooks,creatingdynamic pedagogical tools for translation training and teaching that will become more directional and user-friendly.Some potential re-search possibilities are also discussed.

Chapter 1　A Survey of Translation Textbook Studies

1.0　Introduction

In the field of translation studies,the study of the compilation of translation textbooks,though not treated as a topic of high inter-est,has still attracted increasing attention of scholars at home and a-broad.The goal of this chapter is to offer a brief overview of transla-tion textbook studies in the West and in China.

1.1　Translation textbook studies in the West

In western countries,research in this field has been conducted by scholars including James Holmes,Jeremy Munday,Andre Ches-terman,Cay Dollerup,and Dina Nikoulitcheva.

In 1972，James Holmes put forward the concept of“translation studies”and the map of“translation studies”in his landmark paper“The name and nature of translation studies（Holmes 1988/2000）”，stating that translation studies is made up of two branches:pure the-ory and applied theory,with the latter encompassing translation training,translation aids and translation criticism.Later on,Holmes'map was modified by Jeremy Munday（2001），who repositioned textbooks under the branch of translation training—course design.

Andrew Chesterman（1994）had explored the teaching princi-ples behind the translation textbooks.In his article“Karl Popper in the translation class”，Andrew Chesterman applied Karl Popper's model of four stages to the translation process.Kopper's model is a universal model for research and development,education,and per-sonal growth.Kopper thinks improvement in thinking and scientific knowledge occurs in four stages:P1（problem 1）—TT（Tentative Theories）—EE（Error Elimination）—P2（Problem 2）.Chester-man suggests that TT may stand for Target Text or rather Tentative Target Text.Thus,he proves it is necessary to go through EE stage—the revision stage for creating an edited version of the translation,P2.In this context,Popper's model can be understood in an educa-tional sense,which implies that if we build a textbook around the Error Elimination stage and analyze the typical translation mistakes in both languages,students using this textbook can reach a higher level of understanding and proficiency and then their translation compe-tence could be gradually improved by learning from mistakes.

Cay Dollerup also offers some insights into textbooks designing by putting forward the concept of“generations”.He argues that in Europe，“one factor crucial to translation teaching is a natural evolu-tion of a foreign-language teaching tradition at a national level.Thisevolution normally spans at least three or four generations:the pio-neers must appreciate the need to learn the foreign language in order to pass on the language knowledge to the next generations,whose command becomes increasingly better.In turn the second generation train pupils who will go to foreign countries and learn foreign tongues to perfection，……and only the fourth generation will go in for full-blown research including Translation Studies（Dollerup 1996:22）”.Thus,the first generation teachers tend to be propo-nents of word-for-word translation；and second generation teachers will be on a literal translation,but there will be more deviation from the slavish word-for-word procedure；for the third generation,their translation will stress fluency,and may well be on a sentence-by-sentence level.

Keeping this concept in mind,the compilers will take the users and their proficiency of foreign languages into consideration and try to avoid writing a textbook that is outdated from the very beginning；for as Dollerup puts it，“starting as foreign-language learners,students not only move from first or second generations and have at-titudes characteristic of these‘generations'……but,in relation to their teachers,should ultimately end up one generation ahead”（Dollerup 1996:23）.In other words,the question of“generations”affects the literature one uses.It also implies that teachers of transla-tion have to be more competent with the foreign language before they are qualified to write translation textbooks of their own.

In her article“Making Translation Textbooks”，Dina Ni-koulitcheva examines the development of theories of Transla-tion Studies from the perspective of their practical application in making textbooks for teaching translation and interpretation at the university level.She believes that“most textbooks on translation should cover the whole sphere of applied translation studies……Textbooks between any two languages should deal equally with both（written）translation and with（oral）interpreting,so it is advisable to publish the materials in two different books（Ni-koulitcheva 2002:251）”.Thus，“The general task of a textbook on translation between two languages must be related to the needs of two societies,the modes of translation one can expect,and the gen-eral level of translation teaching and studies in two countries（Nikou-litcheva 2002:252）”.

1.2　Translation textbook studies in China

In China,recent years have witnessed a large number of works on translation which have flooded the market.The majority of these are translation textbooks,ranging from comprehensive elementary translation textbooks,business translation textbooks,translation text-books of science and technology,to interpretation textbooks.An in-complete survey by the author shows that about 150 translation text-books between English and Chinese were published between 1949 and 19987.From 1999 to 2008，about 100 translation textbooks be-tween English and Chinese appeared on the market.8 However,little corresponding significance has ever been attached to studies on trans-lation textbooks.From 1949 to 1994，only 6 articles about transla-tion textbooks were published in Chinese Translators Journal,indis-putably the most authoritative academic periodical in the country9.The author also conducted a survey of main Chinese periodicals from 1994 to 2008 and the result indicates that there are 60 articles focu-sing on the topic of translation textbooks，22 of which are basic sub-jective evaluations of some textbooks10.A thorough study of these articles reveals that most of them discuss or examine translation text-books from very limited perspectives in a narrow field.

In spite of this,there are scholars who have shown their con-cern about this study.From the 1980s on,Dr.Zhou Zhaoqiang at Hong Kong Baptist University has been making a comparative study on the adaptations and compilation of translation textbooks as well as on translation works in the mainland,Hong Kong and Taiwan.Later on,Professor Zhang Meifang（2001）made a macroscopic categori-zation and comparison of the existing translation textbooks in China,illustrating the merits and demerits with some concrete examples and figures.Her research work resulted in a book titled English/Chinese Translation Textbooks in China（19491998），which is considered the only book in China that study translation textbooks in a systemat-ic way.The topic of designing translation textbooks is also discussed in the book Research of Translation Teaching in China,published in 1999，written by Professor Mu Lei.This same topic is explored from different perspectives by the translation scholars such as Luo Jinde,Luo Xuanmin,Xu Jun,Guo Zhuzhang,Tu Guoyuan,Guo Jianzhong,Fang Ping,Fang Mengzhi,Feng Qinhua,Huang Zhonglian,He Gangqiang,Mei Deming,Wang Dawei and WenJun11.Professor Liu Jichun published a paper12 calling for the estab-lishment of a new system of Chinese translation textbooks by compa-ring traditional Chinese translation textbooks with those from Eng-land.It is suggested that more attention be given to the design of Chinese-English textbooks in this new era.13 These studies have made valuable contributions to the study of translation textbooks.

1.3　Comments on the related studies both at home and abroad

Due to the different concepts of translation textbooks,the west-ern scholars have only touched upon the making of translation text-books to varying degrees.Individualized teaching materials are high-lighted in the West,so there are not so many translation books that can be considered as the textbooks in a real sense.Literature reveals that there has been no specific,systematic study about compiling translation textbooks in the west up to now.

In China,however prosperous as translation textbooks are,studies of translation textbooks in China have not been given any im-portance to until Zhang Meifang published her works titled English/Chinese Translation Textbooks in China（19491998）.After the book was published in 2001，many scholars came to realize the research potentials in translation textbooks.As appendix 2 shows，42 articles on translation textbooks were published from 2001 to 2008.Such an increase is really encouraging.

However,a careful study of these articles may unmask someproblems in the researches:first,they mainly make comments on an established translation textbook with the combination of their own experiences,which is a little too empirical and less convincing；sec-ond,there are only 5 papers discussing the specific designing strate-gies.And these strategies are subjective and from limited horizons；third,as for how to reform and compile new-model translation text-books in the new century,only 9 papers offer some global guiding principles,and these are either too abstract or too general to be real-ized.The previous achievements in this aspect have been conducted by such researchers as Lei Dayou（1995），Liu Jichun（2001），Ju Zuchun（2001），Wen Jun（2002），Qu Chunfang（2003）and Wang Jianguo（2004）.14 These studies are indeed of some help to guide the making of translation textbooks in China,but they are not sys-tematic,providing limited theoretical insights into developing new effective translation textbooks and feasible and specific approaches for application.Zhang Meifang's study analyzes the existing translation textbooks and offers some suggestions for compiling a series of trans-lation textbooks,however,without providing specific principles on how to compile an individual textbook.

This study is intended to be an extension and specification of all these studies,hopefully producing effective guidelines for the compil-ation of new-model translation textbooks in the new century.

1.4　The positioning of translation textbook compila-tion

The significant roles of textbooks have been recognized by both teachers and students.A number of functions of textbooks have long been established and well known:

1）A textbook is an important tool in implementing a syllabus.When compilers begin to design a textbook,they make decisions a-bout issues such as audience,language skills,proficiency levels and expected goals.Only a syllabus can guide them in setting their main principles.Textbooks must be harmonious with the syllabus they are to serve.Their roles are to aid the learner and the teacher to accom-plish the task set for the course（Cunningsworth 1996:14）.

2）Textbooks offer valuable input for classroom lessons.Text-books can be a useful resource for both teachers and learners by ser-ving as a script in the form of texts,activities,explanations and so on（Krashen，1982；1988；Hutchinson and Torres，1994；Ellis，1999）.

3）Textbooks function as a framework or guidance to both teachers and students.The ready-made materials in the textbook make the teaching task easier and more convenient because teachers do not have to rush for materials themselves；students can use the textbooks to review,to preview and learn on their own by having a sense of clarity,direction and progress that the textbooks offer（Woodword，2001）.

4）Textbooks can provide confidence and security.Since quali-fied textbooks are usually written by specialists and have been edited and revised several times before publication,they are reliable and valid.They provide a safe map to target learning and teaching.

Then what are the functions of translation textbooks?It is obvi-ous that they act as a complementary teaching tool for improving students'translation competence.In the modern sense,translation textbooks serve not only as a medium of imparting knowledge about translation,but also the medium through which students learn how to get to know the world by forming a correct value system and a carri-er through which teachers can reflect on their creative and individual-ized teaching.Besides the functions of general textbooks mentioned above,the functions of translation textbooks depend primarily on how teachers and students use the textbooks for a designated pur-pose.

As Cunnningsworth（2002）has suggested,textbooks“can take on a new role,as an‘ideas bank'，a source of practical examples of ideas for teaching and an inspiration stimulating teachers'creative potential（2002:139）”.Therefore,translation textbooks can serve as a resource to spark the enthusiasm of readers to use their own cre-ative talents in adapting their textbooks when they find it to be neces-sary.（2）The positioning of translation textbook compilation

Since translation textbooks can exert great influence on transla-tion teaching and training,what is the position of translation text-book compilation in the field of translation studies?

Translation activities have a long history,but translation as an academic discipline is new.In his seminal article“The Name and Nature of Translation Studies（1972）”，James Holmes made the founding statement.The article placed scholarly studies of translationon a map and provided a conceptual scheme that identified and inter-related many areas in Translation Studies,envisaged the future disci-pline,and stimulated its establishment.Holmes'map is presented on the next page（from Toury 1995:10）.Since the field and the activi-ties in Translation Studies are very dynamic,the map has been modi-fied ever since to allow for the emergence of new sub-branches that fall within Translation Studies（e.g.，Lambert，1991；Snell-Horn-by，1991；and Toury，1995）.

In view of the information and technology explosion,Jere-my Munday added an“applied”part to the map of Translation Studies in 2001.Munday argues that attention has been shifted to the applied practice of translation.This is shown in Figure 12.Figure1-1　Holmes'basic“map”of Translation StudiesFigure1-2　Munday's interpretation of Translation Studies

Munday's modification illustrates how Translation Studies is becom-ing more specific.With the rapid development of technology and in-formation sciences in the 21st century,technical applications will in-creasingly exert greater influence on translation practice and theory.Munday broadens the scope of Translation Studies so as to include psychological,educational,and sociological elements,in addition to purely linguistic features.

In China,Zhang Meifang（2000）comments on Holmes'map in the light of Chinese Translation Studies.She calls upon scholars to widen their research by paying attention to Descriptive Translation Studies and applied translation.In 2003，Liu Miqing published Translation Teaching:Practice and Theory,in which he elaborated on Holmes'map（Figure 13）.Figure1-3　Liu's interpretation of Translation Studies

Liu emphasizes the history of translation and argues that this field should be included in the framework of Translation Studies；second,he stresses that interdisciplinary theory should be used,since Trans-lation Studies may gain from other disciplines such as linguistics,culture studies,and communication；third,he expands the scope of applied theory and claims that it should be a key component,since translation is a practical activity concerned with communication be-tween two languages and two cultures.Therefore,he splits“applied theory”into three branches:（a）translation teaching studies，（b）value theory,and（c）realization theory.Value theory includes translation criticism and translation policy,and realization theory is sub-divided into procedure studies,methodology studies,and strate-gy studies.

Figure 13 suggests that translation teaching studies are a branch of applied theory.Holmes discusses translation teaching:“Actually,the teaching of translating is of two types which need to be carefully distinguished.In the first case,translating has been used for centu-ries as a technique in foreign-language teaching and a test of foreign-language acquisition……in the second case，……translating is taught in schools and courses to train professional translators（Holmes 1975:77）.”

In the last few decades,these two fields have become popular in China.Since the 1980s,English learning has received a high pri-ority,and under that context of language acquisition,translation is considered an effective means for improving proficiency in English.Mu Lei has commented that“ever since 1978，formal and official translation teaching has developed rapidly in Chinese Mainland（Mu 1999:16）”.

At present,many English departments offer courses in translation and interpreting.And translation departments were offically established in Chinese Mainland in 2006.Up to the year of 2007，a complete translation pedagogical system has been set up at institutions and universities,ranging from BA program（1972 in Hong Kong，2006 in Chinese mainland），MA program（2003），MTI（master of Translation and Interpreting）pro-gram（2007）to Ph.D program（2003）in translation and interpre-ting.Translation has been recognized as an independent academic discipline in China and thus translation teaching and translator train-ing are put on the top of the agenda.

As Holmes put it，“translator training has raised a number of questions that fairly cry for answers:questions that have to do pri-marily with teaching methods,testing techniques,and curriculum planning.It is obvious that the search for well-founded,reliable an-swers to these questions constitutes a major area of research in ap-plied translation studies（Holmes 1975:77）.”Today,at the begin-ning of the 21st century,these questions are becoming crucial to Translation Studies in many parts of the world,not only in China.But the fact that China has joined the World Trade Organization and hosted the 2008 Olympic Games and will host the 2010 World Expo clearly boost its need for professional translators and interpreters.At present,China has more than 40，000 professional translators and in-terpreters,but this figure is far too low to meet the demands of the market.Hence,there is a pressing need to produce high-quality translators and interpreters.The case of China commands interest as a paradigm for many emergent nations that are in the process of ente-ring today's globalized market place.

Some of today's translators and interpreters are university gradu-ates who majored in foreign language.Today,universities and insti-tutions are not the only ones trying to meet the demand；there are currently three large-scale national qualification tests for English-ori-ented translators and interpreters15.For instance,from June 1995 on,four institutions organized the Shanghai Intermediate and Ad-vanced Interpretation Certificate Test.According to the official data from the website（http://www.shwyky.net），more than 320，000 people from all over the country attended the exam for a certificate,and within the last thirteen years,about 30，000 people have received accredited certificates.Such certificates can also be issued by other national bodies.

One way of obtaining the certificate is by taking training clas-ses.One challenge students and particularly trainers face,is the choice of appropriate textbooks.The training of high-quality transla-tors,interpreters and teachers,demands high-quality textbooks which,in turn,affect the teaching methods used.The nature of the textbooks ties up curriculum design and the entire system of testing.

In recent years,the estimated number of translation textbooks published in China has increased prodigiously.However,translation textbook studies are largely ignored in the scholarly area of Transla-tion Studies.From 1994 to 2005，the number of articles on trans-lation textbooks rose to thirty-one（Tao 2005），which still means that such studies are limited compared to the wealth of textbooks published.I believe that in the present epoch,Trans-lation Studies must be viewed in a global framework and that translation-textbook studies should be seen as an emerging em-pirical field that can be tackled in a larger social context,enlar-ging the scope of application and enriching the content of Trans-lation Studies.

This is why I propose that the study on textbooks compilation should occupy a key place in the framework of Translation Studies,as indicated in Figure 14.Figure1-4　Tao's interpretation of Translation Studies

1.5　Conclusion

By reviewing the development of translation textbook studies in both China and western countries,we may find that the related stud-ies on translation textbook compilation need to be furthered and deepened.In particular,a systematic study of the principles and ap-proaches on how to compile a translation textbook is a must for Chi-nese translation studies.

With the flood of translation textbooks coming on the market,the study of translation textbooks is becoming more necessary and ur-gent.By adding the compilation of translation textbooks in the ap-plied theory of Translation Studies,this book attempts to reconstruct the translation textbooks and explore their new functions and poten-tial applications.In modern times,translation textbooks are increas-ingly meeting new challenges and their content and models are influ-enced by many factors such as social politics,economy,foreign pol-icies,teaching syllabi,teaching methods,students'level and theo-retical achievements in translation.Therefore,translation textbook compilation,either in China or in western countries,should be tack-led in a larger social context in the 21st century,and the textbooks should be user-friendly,humanity-oriented and multi-directional.No matter how these textbooks are developed,the designing of them is,more or less,guided by the following basic theories,which are to be detailed in chapter 2.

Chapter 2　Basic Theories Supporting the Making of Translation Textbooks

2.0　Introduction

Positioned in the framework of Holmes'map,the making of translation textbook is guided by many interdisciplinary theories.A successful making of translation textbooks owes much not only to skopostheorie,communication theory and psycho-educational theo-ries,but also to readability theory and marketing theories.

2.1　Skopostheorie

2.1.1　A brief introduction of skopostheorie

Skopostheorie,put forward by Hans J.Vermeer（1972），is a theory of purposeful action,which defines translation in a different way from equivalence theory.It claims that translation is a transla-tional action and it is determined by its skopos.The skopos rule reads as follows:translate/interpret/speak/write in a way that ena-bles your text/translation to function in the situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function（Vermeer 1989a:20；Nord 2001:29）.In this sense,the purpose of translation justifies the translation proce-dures and strategies.The translation skopos is actually decided by the initiator or the person playing the role of initiator（who might al-so be the translator）.Obviously,the skopos often has to be negotia-ted between the client and the translator.Clients do not normally give the translator an explicit translation brief and all the decisions such as how to go about their translating job,what translation strate-gy to use or what kind of translation to choose will depend entirely on the translator's responsibility and competence.

Then how does the translator deal with the source texts?In Ver-meer's opinion,any text is just an“offer of information”（cf.Ver-meer，1982）from which each receiver selects the items they find in-teresting and important.So“a target text is an offer of information formulated by a translator in a target culture and language about an offer of information formulated by someone else in the source culture and language（Nord 2001:32）”.The translator's task is to“pro-duce a text that is at least likely to be meaningful to target-culture re-ceivers（ibid）”.The target text should conform to the standard of“intra-textual coherence”（Reiss and Vermeer 1984:109ff），which is called the“coherence rule”.It specifies that a translation should be acceptable in a sense that it is coherent with the receivers'situa-tion（Reiss and Vermeer 1984:113）.The relationship between the target text and the source text is called by Vermeer as“inter-textualcoherence”or“fidelity”.This fidelity rule is dynamic because in the case of the skopos rule,inter-textual coherence exists between the source and target text,but the form it takes depends both on the translator's interpretation of the ST and on the translation skopos.In-ter-textual coherence is considered subordinate to intra-textual coher-ence,and both are subordinate to the skopos rule.What the transla-tor is trying to do is to seek a functional equivalence on the text level and preserve“invariance of function between source and target text”.In the process of interpreting the source text,Reiss states that text typologies can help the translator specify the appropriate hierar-chy of equivalence levels needed for a particular translation skopos（cf.Reiss and Vermeer 1984:156）.

Skopostheorie has launched a new wave of translation studies.First,it frees people from the rigid definitions of faithful translation and shifts from the traditional source-text orientation to the target-text orientation；second,skopostheorie offers new explanations for some translations that are considered inappropriate or inadequate.It de-thrones the ST and regards it as source information formulated by the author,so what the translators need to do is to express the informa-tion in the form of smooth,conventional TT.Translation should not be bound too much by the ST and needs to conform to the purposes of translation or to meet the requirements of the clients；thirdly,it is pragmatic,practical and culture-oriented.It takes the needs and ex-pectations of the addressees or prospective receivers of the target texts into consideration,fulfilling the communicative functions of translation；while at the same time,it respects culture specificity.Skopostheorie favors cultural assimilation,since the texts are transla-ted for a certain purpose for the receivers in target language.Due to cultural differences,translation may take some adaptations to some extent or even rewrite the original texts,aiming at functional equiva-lence.Fourth,as Gentzler（2001:71）put it，“in comparison to other translation theorists……the functionalist theorists have done the most to empower translators,elevating them to equal status with au-thors,editors,and clients,entrusting them to make appropriate,ra-tional decisions that best realize the intended cross-cultural communi-cation（Gentzler 2001:71）”.Skopostheorie sounds good according to what Vermeer has claimed,but it has also received a lot of criti-cism from different perspectives（Newmark 1991:106；Pym 1996:337）.

Skopostheorie does shed some new light on translation theories,although it was limited to German-speaking circles at the beginning.In recent years it has received more attention.Just as Nord predic-ted，“functionalist ideas about translation teaching are increasingly accepted in Eastern Europe（Nord 2001:135）”.Functional transla-tion can even“help change power relations in modern societies（ibid）”.It has new vitality in spite of some flaws that need further development.

2.1.2　Skopostheorie and the making of translation textbooks

Applying skopostheorie into the field of translation textbook compilation,we may obtain the following insights:（1）Translation textbooks should denote that the scope of trans-lation should be enlarged.In other words,the concept of translation is much broader than it used to be.

Looking through the traditional English-Chinese translation text-books（such as Zhang Peiji's English-Chinese Translation Course）as well as some modern E-C translation textbooks（such as Ke Ping's English-Chinese＆Chinese-English Translation Course），we find that the definition of translation almost exclusively focuses on the source text with a view to the equivalence between the two langua-ges,without mentioning other macro factors such as cultural,ideo-logical and manipulating elements involved in the process of transla-tion.

However,in practice，“In view of skopostheorie,if‘transla-tion workers'only do some translation in a narrow sense,many translation tasks will turn out to be a failure；if translation teachers just teach students to do translation in a narrow sense,students will not be capable of doing real translating work after graduation……（Zhang 2004:121）”.Therefore,a translation textbook should clari-fy that translation is more than a one-to-one transfer between the two languages.During the process of translation,a variety of subjective and objective factors will be counted in deciding what forms are ac-ceptable and to what extent the translation should be limited.

In Nord's opinion，“Translating means producing a functional text in a lingua culture T（=target text）that is needed for specific communicative purposes by processing the information given in a previous text produced in a different lingua culture S（=source text）.A translation can be considered functional when it fulfills theintended communicative purpose as defined by the client or commis-sioner in the translation brief.Translation can make the communica-tive behaviors smoother that are otherwise impossible because of the linguistic and cultural barriers（Nord，1991）”.In Vermeer's termi-nology,a translation is“a new offer of information in the target cul-ture about some information offered in the source culture and lan-guage（Reiss and Vemmeer 1984:76）”.

Thus,translation should be understood in a broader sense.It should be pointed out in translation textbooks that translation covers whole translation as well as partial translation.Partial translation re-fers to all translation activities that are done by strategies of expan-sion,adaptation,condensing,explaining,complementing,integra-ting and transforming（Huang 1997；1999）.

Skopostheorie,which is culture-oriented and comprehensive,mentions that translation is a trans-cultural action or communication across cultural barriers.So there must be various culture-specific concepts of what constitutes translation or a translational action.When textbook writers take pen to paper,they should keep in mind that culture and translation are closely related to each other and some cultural knowledge is expected to be presented in the textbook.

Thus,skopostheorie develops new space for the concept of translation and offers theoretical supports for translation in a macro-scopic sense.Targeted at different users,the textbook should take the responsibility of clarifying what is a real translation and what should be covered in translation,which will inevitably be of great significance to the prospective translators or translation learners.（2）Translation textbooks should advocate multi-dimensional translation criteria,and various translation strategies should be adopt-ed in translation practice.

In our English Chinese or Chinese English translation text-books,the usual practice is to put forward a translation criterion at the beginning of the book.My research of almost all of these text-books shows that only one translation standard is presented for the readers and users.For example，“faithfulness"，“expressiveness"and“elegance"（“信"，“达"，“雅”）or“faithfulness”and“smoothness”（“忠实”，“通顺”）are regarded as the general stand-ard to evaluate a translation.By the 1990s,some translation text-books（Fan Zhongying's textbook is a case in point）regard“func-tional equivalence”or“equivalent effect”as the standard,but the actual principle to follow is still within the limits of“faithfulness”and“smoothness”.In fact,this is not always the case in real trans-lation.Using only one standard to judge a translation tends to be un-fair and incomplete.

An awareness of the requirements of the skopos,Vermeer maintains，“expands the possibilities of translation,increases the range of possible translation strategies,and releases the translator from the corset of an enforced—and hence often meaningless—lit-eralness（qtd.in Shuttleworth and Cowie 1997:156）”.The transla-tor thus becomes a target-text author freed from the“limitations and restrictions imposed by a narrowly defined concept of loyalty to the source text alone（Schäffner 1998:238）”.

Skopostheorie holds that,pedagogically,translation errors canbe pragmatic,cultural,linguistic and text-specific.As long as the ultimate function can be achieved，“grammatical and lexical mis-takes can be tolerated to a certain degree unless they seriously block comprehension（Nord 1997:74）”.Thus,a top-down approach is feasible to deal with translation errors；first to solve pragmatic er-rors,and then to solve cultural and linguistic problems respectively according to the influence they have on the function of the target text.

Therefore,translation textbooks should clarify that the transla-tion criteria should be multi-dimensional,adjusting themselves ac-cording to texts,readers,translation briefs and translation purposes.As Vermeer stated，“the end justifies the means（Reis and Vermeer 1984:101）”.As a result,various strategies and skills are allowed to be employed for the ultimate purpose,including“abridged transla-tion,edited translation,condensed translation,summary,reviews,translating and reviewing,paraphrase,rewriting（Huang 2000:6）”16.

As a matter of fact,our translation textbook writers should put forward multi-criteria for translation instead of sticking rigidly to the linguistic equivalence.Translation is a kind of rewriting.The translator just tries to reorganize the source information to meet the demands of target clients.Take the translation of advertisements as an example.It is similar to writ-ing a parallel text in a target language.Therefore,translation textbooks not only just talk about translation skills,but also deal with the writing strategies in target language and format of a cer-tain target text.Translation textbooks become more inclusive and compilers are faced with more challenges.

Professor Zhang Meifang somehow lamented that“there are no textbooks that include new translation strategies based on the clients'requirements,the function of target text and readers'expectations（2001:151）”.Obviously,this statement has reminded the compil-ers of what they should take pains to do.Fortunately,in 2004，a translation textbook compiled by Professor Fang Mengzhi was pub-lished,and it is guided by skopostheorie.The title is A Coursebook on Pragmatic Translation.Although it calls for still more improve-ment,it does include the elements mentioned above.（3）Translation textbooks should emphasize translators'subjec-tivity and creativity in translating.

Translation textbooks in China usually focus on imparting knowledge,especially emphasizing the transformation of linguistic structures.The subjectivity of translators has seldom been mentioned in the textbook,with the exception of Professor Sun Zhili's textbook（2003）in which he devotes one chapter to“creativity and faithful-ness”.

Focusing on the purpose of translation as the most decisive fac-tor in translation action,skopostheorie emphasizes the role of the translator as an expert in translational action and regards the source text no longer as the“sacred original”from which the skopos（pur-pose）of the translation is deduced,but as a mere offer of informa-tion whose role in the action is to be decided by the translator,ac-cording to the target text skopos specified by the initiator and the ex-pectations and needs of the target readers.The translator is given more freedom and at the same time more responsibility,as Hönig（1998）asserted:“[The translator]may be held responsible for the result of his/her translational acts by recipients and clients.In order to act responsibly,however,translators must be allowed the freedom to decide in cooperation with their clients what is in their best inter-ests（1998:10）”.

The translator has to make critical decisions about how to define the translation skopos and which strategies can best meet the target recipient's requirements.The skopos are determined by seven fac-tors:sender,text-producer,initiator,TT addressee,TT receiver,TT user and translator（see figure 21）.In classroom instruction,some of these roles overlap.In most cases,textbook writers are the real initiators and should be responsible for locating the purpose of translation.Figure2-1　Factors that determine the skopos

Hence,translation textbooks should clarify what roles these par-ticipants should play,and the responsibilities and professional trans-lation ethics of translators.While adhering to the principle of“fideli-ty”，translators cannot do translations at random.（4）Translation textbooks should be user-friendly and needs a-nalysis is a must for textbook compilation.

In accordance with action theory（cf.von Wright 1968，Harras 1978），Vermeer defines human action as an intentional,purposeful behaviour that takes place in a given situation.Thus making transla-tion textbooks is considered a purposeful action,serving teachers as well as trainees.User-friendliness is the compilers'ultimate pursuit.

First of all,the revision of translation teaching methods calls for reforms of translation textbooks.Translation teaching should no lon-ger be seen as a set of rules and instructions prescribed by translation teachers to the students about what strategies will lead to a“good”or“correct”translation and what strategies will lead to a“bad”or“incorrect”one.Understanding the importance of decision-making in translation,translation teachers should try to describe the actual translational decisions made by actual translators under different so-cio-cultural and ideological settings in real life and real situations,and explain the perlocutionary consequences resulting from adoption of such decisions to the students.They should allow the students to select voluntarily between different options they have at hand,re-minding them that they will be responsible for the selections they make.Translation teachers should make it clear to students that ever-y translation has its own purpose determined by its translator,and that they can freely choose the options that best serve their intended aim of translation.Therefore,translation textbooks should offer pos-sibilities for teachers to do so in the process of teaching translation.Secondly,since translation is done for a certain purpose,then what is taught in the translation textbook must conform to the purpo-ses of learners.Different learners come to learn translation with dif-ferent expectations.Thus,compiling different types of translation textbooks is a must according to market demands and different needs.For example,clients such as business enterprises,the press and governments will require translators to do specific translations for them.Therefore,prospective translators should be trained in compli-ance with this demand.The main materials to train a translator should be textbooks.Consequently,the compilers should pay atten-tion to the purposes of different translation needs and compile the re-lated information in the textbook,including different translation strategies,translation criteria and translation challenges.Translation textbooks of legal documents,business files,political and official documents,advertisements and tourist information,and scientific and technical texts should be compiled separately in order to train translators in different fields.

According to skopostheorie,translator training serves the trai-nees with a view to gaining insights into translating some sample texts and translation tasks,hoping to apply such competence to trans-lating similar types of texts.As a result,a translation textbook aims to help trainees develop this translation competence.Then their de-mands and levels should be taken into consideration before the com-pilers start to write the textbook.

In the past,when compiling translation textbooks,compilers used to try to write or compile all the translation knowledge that theysupposed students should know into the textbooks,without thinking about the demands of the users.Inspired by the skopostheorie,com-pilers should do some needs analysis and get a survey of what users expect to have before they decide what to cover in the textbook.The new type of translation textbooks should be people-oriented and pro-vide the related,useful,and practical materials of translation.Hav-ing a better understanding of the demands of translation market and trends of translation research,compilers should write textbooks that cater to the tastes of trainees and stimulate them to develop their translation competence.

In summary,guided by skopostheorie,translation textbooks should be humanistic,practical and student-oriented.The concept of macro-translation is adopted and multiple criteria are employed to judge a good translation.The selection of textbook materials caters to the demands and psychological needs of students as well as teach-ers.Textbook compilers may make textbooks dynamic by continual-ly adapting and revising them to the changing needs of society.

2.2　Communication theory

2.2.1　A brief introduction of communication theory

The Oxford English Dictionary defines communication as“the imparting,conveying,or exchange of ideas,knowledge,informa-tion,etc.”Communication scholars,on the other hand,define communication as the process by which people interactively create,sustain,and manage meaning（Conrad and Poole，1998）.Assuch,communication both reflects the world and simultane-ously helps to create it.Communication is not simply one more thing that happens in personal and professional life；it is the very means by which we produce our personal relationships and professional experiences—it is how we plan,control,man-age,persuade,understand,lead,love,and so on.

Communication theory then becomes the study and statement of the principles and methods by which information is conveyed.Cur-rently there are two major schools of thought among communication theorists.The process school regards communication as the convey-ance of message.It focuses on the encoding and decoding of the message,as well as the channels or media through which a message is delivered.On the other hand,the symbol school stresses commu-nication as meaning generation and exchange through human interac-tion（Yong，2001）.The process school is more favored in transla-tion since translators are usually thought of as“message conveyors”.

2.2.2　Communication theory and the making of translation textbooks

Perhaps the most important observation which the communica-tion theorists have produced for translators is the recognition that ev-ery act of communication has three dimensions:Speaker（or Au-thor），Message,and Audience.The more we can know about the original author,the actual message produced by that author,and the original audience,the better acquainted we will be with that particu-lar act of communication.An awareness of this tri-partite characterof communication can be very useful for translators.

First,the textbook should point out that translation is not just the transference between source language and target language,but that its overriding purpose is to achieve possible“equivalent effect”.Effect is highly appreciated in translation as well as in communica-tion.Therefore,textbooks should be written in a broader range,ex-panding the scope of a good translation in terms of equivalent effect on TL readers as on SL readers.For example,the Chinese greeting“你吃了吗?”can be simply translated into“Hi”or“How are you?”，because the function of the sentence is just to greet each oth-er.The example shows that the work of the translator often involves a great deal of creativity,as well as a wide range of communication skills.Professional translators should give the above issues a serious thought and keep in mind that some texts to be translated have to require“adaptation”or“reader-oriented rewriting”.A full un-derstanding of the source text and accurate rendering in the tar-get language usually cannot satisfy the client and produce a grat-ifying translation.All of this implies that the translator,besides mastering two languages,has to get to be familiar with social customs or conventions in two cultures.Thus,cultural knowl-edge should be included in translation textbooks.

Second,communication theories support that translation text-books should be open-ended,allowing more space for variant trans-lation strategies,even including rewriting and trans-writing as long as smooth communication can be achieved.As a textbook,it should offer all kinds of translation strategies that are employed by transla-tors for different purposes.For instance,in addition to the strategies of translating the whole ST such as conversion,inversion,amplifica-tion,omission,repetition,negation,division and condensation,some other strategies of translating part of the ST or adapting the ST need to be introduced.These strategies can include partial-transla-tion,editing plus translating,translating based on changing part of the ST content,translating and narrating part of the ST content,translating the ST in condensed form,and translating in parallel text.They have been first formerly compiled in Mu Lei's An Elementary Coursebook on English-Chinese Translation（2008）.By being ex-posed to all available strategies,students will come to have a deeper understanding of translation and become more capable of dealing with different kinds of translation work in real life.

Third,whatever kind of textbook is recommended,its foremost function is for teaching.It should be compiled by following the prin-ciple of teaching,and therefore a communicative approach is fa-vored.It should create an interactive learning environment between teachers and students.Thus,the compiling techniques,the materials and teaching methods all depend on how to conduct a smooth com-munication in translation class.

2.3　Psycho-educational theories

The main purpose of making a translation textbook is to offer teaching materials to train students,so the textbook should be suit-able for teaching translation.Therefore,certain theories in educa-tional psychology must be taken into account concerning what should be covered in translation textbooks and how to organize the materials in the textbooks.This study will just focus on cognitive psychology and learning theories.

2.3.1　A brief introduction of related psycho-educational theo-ries

Remembering and forgetting were major topics for investigation in cognitive psychology in the 1970s and 1980s（Wool-folk，1998）.Then what exactly is cognitive psychology?And what does it have to do with the making of translation textbooks?

Cognitive psychology views learning as an active mental process of acquiring,remembering,and using knowledge.It sees people as active learners who initiate experiences,seek out information to solve problems,and reorganize what they already know to achieve new insights（ibid）.In fact,learning in this light is seen as“trans-forming”significant understanding we already have,rather than“simple acquisitions written on blank slates（Greeno et al.1996:18）”.This statement illustrates the difference between cognitive psychology and the earlier behavioral psychology which used to re-gard learners as empty receptacles ready for stimuli-and-reinforce-ment.

Older cognitive views emphasized the“acquisition”of knowl-edge,but newer approaches stress its“construction”（Anderson et al.，1996）.As a champion of the newer approaches,Piaget（1972）concluded that all species inherit two basic tendencies,or“invariant functions”.The first of these tendencies is toward organi-zation—the combining,arranging,recombining,and rearranging of behaviors and thoughts into coherent systems.The second tenden-cy is toward adaptation,or adjusting to the environment.

In his opinion,people are born with a tendency to organize their thinking processes into psychological structures,to which he as-signs the name“schema”.Schemas are the basic building blocks of thinking,referring to personal responses assimilated by experience,attitudes and emotions in the process of constructing an interpretation（Rumelhart，1980；Zukaluk and Samuels，1988）.Schema theory attempts to account for the consistent finding that what readers know affects what they understand.

Woolfolk also believes that two processes are involved in adap-tation:assimilation and accommodation.Assimilation takes place when people try to understand something new by fitting it into what they already know.At times,they may have to distort the new in-formation to make it fit.Accommodation occurs when people are o-bliged to alter existing schemas or create new ones in response to new information（Woolfolk，1998）.

In a nutshell,the constructivist school regards human learning as a process of drawing on previous knowledge（schema），finding connections between existing schemas,or between existing schemas on the one hand and new information on the other,and then chan-ging or expanding existing schemas accordingly.（2）A brief introduction to learning theories

The spectrum of learning theories consists of many disparate ex-planations of how humans learn.The extremes of this spectrum are represented respectively by the Behaviorist and Constructivist theories of learning.The focus of Behaviorism is on the conditioning of ob-servable human behaviors.John B.Watson,the father of Behavior-ism,defined learning as a sequence of stimulus and response actions in observable cause and effect relationships.The behaviorists'exam-ple of classical conditioning demonstrates the process whereby a hu-man learns to respond to a neutral stimulus in such a manner that would normally be associated with an unconditioned stimulus.B.F.Skinner expanded on the foundation of Behaviorism,established by Watson,and on the work of Edward Thorndike,by focusing on op-erant conditioning.According to Skinner,voluntary or automatic be-havior is either strengthened or weakened by the immediate presence of a reward or a punishment.“The learning principle behind operant conditioning is that new learning occurs as a result of positive rein-forcement,and old patterns are abandoned as a result of negative re-inforcement（Belkin and Gray 1977:59）.”Skinner believed that more complex learning could be achieved by this process of contin-gencies and reinforcement“...through successive stages in the sha-ping process,the contingencies of reinforcement being changed pro-gressively in the direction of the required behavior（Skinner 1968:10）”.Behaviorist learning theory served its purpose,and for more than a quarter century,schools and teachers have been creating be-havioral goals and objectives.Curricula have been tightly sequenced according to a belief that the best way to learn is to master small bitsof knowledge and then integrate them into major concepts.Assess-ment practices have tended to focus on measurement of knowledge and skills,with little emphasis on performance and understanding.

Since the late 1980s,however,researchers have been building an understanding of learning that grows out of cognitive and develop-mental psychology.The new“constructivist theory”，recognized as a unique learning theory in itself,focuses on the motivation and abil-ity for humans to mentally construct meaning of their own environ-ment and to create their own learning.Learning is a question of mo-tivating an individual to attach new meaning to past cognitive experi-ences.Constructivists（Dewey，1916；Piaget，1950；Bruner，1974；Vygotsky，1978）believe that all humans have the ability to con-struct knowledge in their own minds through a process of discovery and problem-solving.The fundamental beliefs have been generally summarized as follows.Constructivist theory:

●emphasizes learning and not teaching

●encourages and accepts learner autonomy and initiative

●sees the learner as creatures of will and purpose

●thinks of learning as an active process

●encourages learner inquiry

●acknowledges the critical role of experience in learning

●nurtures the learner's natural curiosity

●takes the learner's mental model into account

●emphasizes performance and understanding when assessing learning

●bases itself on the principles of cognitive theory

●considers how the student learns

●encourages the learner to engage in dialogue with other students and the teacher

●supports co-operative learning

●involves the learner in real world situations

●emphasizes the context in which learning takes place

●considers the beliefs and attitudes of the learner

●provides the learner the opportunity to construct new knowl-edge and understanding from authentic experience

The constructivist classroom presents the learner with opportuni-ties to build on prior knowledge and understanding to construct new knowledge and understanding from authentic experience.Students are allowed to confront problems full of meaning because of their re-al-life context.In solving these problems,students are encouraged to explore possibilities,invent alternative solutions,collaborate with other students（or external experts），try out ideas and hypotheses,revise their thinking,and finally present the best solution they can derive.

2.3.2　Psycho-educational theories and the making of transla-tion textbooks

The relevance of constructive psychology to textbook making is that,first of all,compilers,publishers and editors need to find out what learners already know,and then offer them what they want by building on their existing schemas and helping them see connections between old knowledge and new.Learner research in the form ofsurvey,needs analyses,reference skills review and other interactions between the editor and user is absolutely necessary.So translation textbooks should be user-friendly and try to create a good context in which teachers and students can have efficient interactions.The users'subjectivity should be taken into consideration when a textbook is compiled.

The sequencing of materials will also follow the cognitive rules.Generally speaking,the bottom-up method is adopted to organize the materials so that learners can grasp them more easily.A compiler who happens to be a psychological expert can put the materials in a proper place because they are good at guessing the learners'psycho-logical activities.In particular,in designing translation exercises,cognitive principles are suggested to be followed（see pp.227230）.

As for the making of a translation textbook,behaviorism and constructivism should be combined.For example,based on behav-iorism,the compilers may take the traditional approach to offer as many examples as possible for learners to practice so that they can gradually improve their translation abilities；guided by constructiv-ism,compilers may choose to give new materials that can activate the learner's prior knowledge as well as relate to the real world.The materials should be task-based and can invite the learners'interest,motivating them to construct new ideas and acquire authentic experi-ences.Many educators believe that the best way to learn is by hav-ing students construct their own knowledge instead of having some-one construct it for them.In other words,students will learn best bytrying to make sense of something on their own with the teacher as a guide to help them along the way.

2.4　Readability theory

2.4.1　A brief introduction of readability theory

The theory of“Readability”was first developed in the 1920s by English speakers to study the factors that make a text readable or the ways of judging materials or texts to see if they are easy or difficult for a certain group of readers.Later on,this term grew to encom-pass more comprehensive meanings concerning both reader factors and text factors,which are called respectively“inside head factors”and“outside head factors”by Zukaluk and Samuels（1988）.The two factors are closely related to each other.Without the potential reader it is not likely to tell if a text is easy or not,and vice versa.Readers will get discouraged and frustrated when what they read is beyond their abilities.Readability matches materials to readers and makes sure that the right book reaches the hands of the right person at the right time（Gilliland，1972）.

To assess readability,the first and foremost factor is the reader（Gilliland，1978）.It is generally admitted that people do not read equally well and any individual learner will not read in the same way and understand in the same way as others（Gray and Leary，1972）.Individuals show great differences in their reading interests,attitudes and motivations,as well as their intellectual capacity and priorknowledge.It has already been established that the interest and moti-vation of the reader play significant roles in determining how the reader reads a book（Gilliland，1972；Harrison，1980；Davison，1988）.As Gilliland（1972）put it，“interest”refers to the“enjoy-ment”and“pleasurable feelings”one gets from reading,to satisfy his curiosity for information or to fulfill his sense of achievement in solving problems.The more interest the reader demonstrates in a text,the more highly motivated he/she becomes and the higher effi-ciency of learning it brings about,as reading a textbook is a reader-text interaction.Interests of readers can be focused on several vari-ants such as the size of a book,the design of the cover,the layout of the contents,the illustrations,the topics,and even the price.Kinds of motivation may include passing exams,getting academic credits,attaining better jobs and high salaries.Nevertheless,inter-esting and practical contents should be given more attention,for they may give rise to different levels of stimulus in students'motivation.As research（McRae，1991；Carter，1996）indicates,stimulus en-courages readers to bring their world knowledge,cultural back-ground,personal experience and interest to the text.

Besides interest and motivation,prior knowledge of the reader also counts in assessing the readability of a textbook.It is inevitable that readers decode the meaning of a text by using their prior knowl-edge,categorized as“schemata”that are usually influenced by such factors as race,age,sex,degree of education,cultural background and even parents'occupation.Prior knowledge triggers readers to make inferences and to fill in missing information.Readers recallwhat is stated as well as anticipate what is likely to follow（Kintsch and van Dijik，1978）.

Reader factors such as interest,motivation and prior knowledge cannot be clearly separated,nor can they be measured by formulae.Although they are equally as important as any linguistic features,they are highly subjective and can be at best only partly accurate.

Text factors refer to the actual language used in the material,as its influence on readability has long been recognized.According to Harrison（1980），they can be categorized as six broad headings:legibility of print,illustration and colour,vocabulary,conceptual difficulty,syntax,and organization.Zukaluk and Samuels（1988:136）also added“adjunct comprehension aids”to this list.“Adjunct comprehension aids”include statements of objectives in a text,and task design by asking lower and higher order questions（McRae，1991）.To sum up,factors to be studied in the extended readability can be summarized in the following figure,adapted from Zhongshe Lu（2003:127）.Figure2-2　Factors that influence readability（2）Significance of readability

The subject of readability should be of interest and value to a number of people（Gilliland，1972）:writers/composers,publish-ers,readers,teachers and librarians.It can provide more objective standards or guidelines in assessing the difficulty of a text since it as-signs a numerical value to linguistic variables.

Readability measures are useful because they can indicate the relative difficulty of instructional material,and that the selection of instructional materials can be done more effectively by using reada-bility information.Dreyer（1984），warns professors that instruction-al difficulties can result when a substantial mismatch occurs between an individual's reading ability and the readability level of a selected textbook.Razek and Cone（1981）found that material that required an unusually high level of effort on the part of the reader to obtain the desired information will cause frustration and anger and will tend to make the reader adopt a negative view of the entire class or train-ing program,and possibly the professor or instructor as well.There-fore,readability levels and information are useful because they can help ensure that students are given material written at the proper level of difficulty（Fry，1968）.Professors seldom inquire about the read-ability level of the text（Spinks and Wells，1993）.Many professors may be unaware of the importance of readability or may simply as-sume that publishers have already taken readability into account.In fact,there are a wide range of readability levels between texts,so it is hard for the publishers to get the exact readability information.Professors,however,have access to this information in the class-room,so they can better select texts that will benefit their students.Since some books could be chosen for either undergraduate or gradu-ate courses,it seems particularly important that professors know which textbooks best parallel the reading level of the class.

Readability makes a difference in instruction.If the text has an appropriate readability level,students are more likely to read the text before coming to class.If students have read the material prior to coming to class and the text is understandable,student learning will be enhanced.In addition,instructors will be able to cover the mate-rial in less time and spend more time on additional material or ad-vanced projects of interest to the class.If,however,the chosen text is too difficult,students are less likely to read the text in its entirety or to understand it on its own.The instructor then will have to labor harder to ensure that students learn the materials,spending less time on more rewarding,lesson enhancing examples.Professors should be aware of appropriate criteria for textbook selection and should in-clude readability as one of these criteria.

On the other hand,texts should not be so easy as to lull the students into apathy or complacency.Textbooks must challenge students,but they must also present key concepts and material at an appropriate level.Professors should ask for the readability level of textbooks as they make their selection decisions.Publishers should also have this information available and clearly communicate these levels to their sales representatives as well as to instructors.Selection of an appropriate textbook should be one of the items used in student evaluations of instructors.

With the advent of custom publishing,professors should requirepublishers to furnish readability scores for each chapter,case or reading from a given text.Then the professor could select those chapters with appropriate readability levels to be combined for cus-tom publishing.

Textbooks should be interesting and logically organized；they should meet the needs of a particular course,and use an appropriate vocabulary level,with sentences of a general length and structure to promote understanding of the text material.Professors in all disci-plines need a valid,reliable framework to guide textbook selection.Readability is one element of such framework.Future research should incorporate readability information along with other textbook selection criteria.

2.4.2　Readability theory and the making of translation text-books

Applying readability theory into the making of translation text-books is another good and necessary criterion for compilers.It can provide at least three insights in terms of texts and readers:

First,compilers and publishers should target a certain group of learners/readers before compiling a textbook.Only after taking the prospective readers into account can compilers decide the difficulty level and focus of translation textbooks.Reader-centeredness is al-ways compilers'first consideration because textbooks should serve the readers.For instance,for the undergraduates,simpler vocabula-ry,shorter sentences and fewer culturally-loaded passages will be se-lected.More emphasis will be put on the illustration of translationskills.For graduates at the master's level and at the Ph.D.level,more complex words,sentences,and cultural information will be in-cluded in textbooks.The emphasis will be shifted to systematic in-troduction to modern western translation theories and even critical comments on some popular translation theories.

Second,compilers should be experienced teachers and have a good understanding of the students'reading level and knowledge scope.Through years of teaching experience,teachers may use their intuition,their professional judgments as well as pooled judgments to evaluate the readers'psychological activities,their interests,expec-tations and their areas that call for improvement.Consequently,di-rect communication with students and first-hand data raise the likeli-hood that the textbook will be more readable.However,this kind of guesswork is inevitably subjective,with very few empirical proofs.Therefore,its validity and reliability is usually questioned.

Third,the best way to test the readability of translation text-books is to use all of the materials as lecture sheets before formal publication.This means that teachers may select and gather materials based on their intuition and experience,and distribute them to students as lecture sheets；ask them to read these,to do some re-quired tasks,and to give some corresponding responses to the chosen materials.Also,teachers may interview students and design ques-tionnaires to ask for their opinions and suggestions for selecting ap-propriate materials.After being tested in the classroom,the best ma-terials will be singled out and can be used for making a formal text-book.Sometimes such refinement will take several years before thefinal textbook comes into being.A good case in point is described by Professor Feng Qinghua（1995）:

“Compiling a practical translation textbook is a desire I gradual-ly have after many years of teaching translation.This textbook is a final product of many years of translation teaching practice.I have tried many translation methods in the classroom and compile into this textbook those methods that prove to be very efficient and favored by students...It took me two years to compile this textbook,but the selection of materials began six years ago.Taking much effort to collect and screen appropriate materials,I came to draft the textbook in final two critical years.It has been revised and polished time and again and I have fully experienced all kinds of sweet and bitter feel-ings of compiling a textbook.In the process of writing this text-book,my colleagues came to discuss with me about the feasibility and readability of the materials and my students volunteered to ex-change their reflections on what they have learned from those materi-als.As a careful translation instructor,I incorporate what they have said into this textbook,with a view to enriching and verifying the content of this textbook.My sincere hope is that this book can be in-17formative,interesting,inspiring as well as practical and user-friend-ly.”

2.5　Marketing theories

2.5.1　A brief introduction of marketing theories

Recent years have seen a boom in translation textbook publish-ing,as more and more publishing houses have their eyes on those profitable“cash cows”.Marketing theories also contribute to the flourishing of translation textbook publications.

Generally speaking,the so-called“marketing mix”is a frame-work which acts as a guideline for marketers to implement a market-ing plan.It consists of a set of major decision areas that a company needs to manage in order to at least satisfy the consumer needs.Ac-cording to Kotler et al.（1999），the mix is a set of controllable tac-tical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.Hence,in an effective marketing pro-gram all of those elements are“mixed”to successfully achieve the company's marketing objectives.

The traditional marketing mix contains four major elements,the“4 Ps of marketing”.As defined by Kotler et al.（1999）:

1）Product:“Anything that can be offered to a market for atten-tion,acquisition,use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need.It includes physical objects,services,persons,places,organ-izations and ideas.”

2）Price:“The amount of money charged for a product or serv-ice,or the sum of the values that consumers exchange for the bene-fits of having or using the product or service.”

3）Promotion:“Activities that communicate the product or serv-ice and its merits to target customers and persuade them to buy.”

4）Place:“All the company activities that make the product or service available to target customers.”

These elements can be used to gain a competitive advantage.The elements are interdependent and any change in one element will have an impact on the overall mix.However,the 4 Ps approach was often criticized in the past.Some critics for example argue that“it oversimplifies the reality of marketing management”（quoted in Jobber 1998）.In the context of services marketing,Booms and Bit-ner（1981）have therefore suggested an extended“7 Ps”approach that contains the following additional“Ps”:

5）People:All people directly or indirectly involved in the con-sumption of a service,e.g.employees or other consumers.

6）Process:Procedure,mechanisms and flow of activities by which services are consumed.

7）Physical Evidence:The environment in which the service is delivered.It also includes tangible goods that help to communicate and perform the service.

To be more exact,all the marketing strategies will be targeted at selling more products to the customers and customer satisfaction becomes the focus of all marketing activities（see figure 23）.

Furthermore,in the context of relationship marketing（to con-sumers）or key-account management（in business-to-business mar-keting），it could be argued to add“partnerships”as an additional“P”to the marketing mix as well.The main reason for this addition would be the growing focus in marketing toward long-term orienta-tion that needs to be considered in most marketing concepts.Market-ing is more than sales；it is how you define your product,promote your product,distribute your product,and maintain a relationship with your customers.It is the set of activities used to（1）get your potential customers'attention；（2）motivate them to buy；（3）get them to actually buy；（4）get them to buy again（and again……）.Figure2-3　The marketing mix（adapted from Palmer，2004）

2.5.2　Marketing theories and the making of translation text-books

Translation textbooks as a specialized academic product,enjoy an incredibly enormous market in China.For example,Mei Deming's An Intermediate Course of Interpretation sells 60，00070，000 cop-ies every year.On one hand,the rapid development of cultural ex-changes between China and foreign countries has led to a large pros-perous market of translation.In 2002，the amount of translation rev-enue reached 110 billion RMB,possibly 200 billion RMB in 2006.According to a survey made by the China Translation Association,in China today,the number of the people doing translating and inter-preting work is about 60，000，but the potential market demand for translators and interpreters will reach 500，000 to 1，000，000.On the other hand,more translation and interpretation centers and depart-ments as well as training centers are being established in the main-land,resulting in an urgent need for authorized and reliable transla-tion textbooks.

As a product for marketing in today's world,the translation textbooks industry has to take some marketing theories into consider-ation.The keys to the success of marketing a product lie in two are-as:a quality product and customer satisfaction.Thus,marketing theories may give the compilers and publishers such insights:

First,the publishers should invite some professional compilers with rich compiling experiences to write the textbooks.The compil-ers are supposed to be experts in teaching as well as in the field of translation and interpretation so that the quality of the textbook can hopefully be guaranteed.Inexperienced hands are inadequate for this job,but sometimes there are exceptions.

Second,both publishers and compilers should perform a needs analysis beforehand and collect feedback on the application of the textbook afterwards.Before a product is developed,the developers should have some idea of its potential market,which means there must be a large demand for the prospective product.Therefore,it is of necessity for publishers and compilers to leave no stone unturned to gather related useful information before they make a decision tocompile a textbook.Based on the users'demands,the textbook will be more tailored to their tastes and can be differentiated in the text-book market.This will also prevent labor loss,which is a common practice nowadays,i.e.the book published is not suitable for being effectively used in the classroom.Another aspect is that the feedback from using the textbook is also of great significance to the compilers and publishers.No published textbook is perfect,so it is always be-ing improved and revised.Therefore,collecting comments on the textbook can freshen and sharpen the mind of compilers,reminding them of what is to be expected and corrected.Compiling a textbook is a dynamic process of iterating towards a perfect product.

Third,the layout of the textbooks should be designed to be us-er-friendly.For the sake of promotion,an attractive physical appear-ance is also an important element.There is no denying that the ap-peal of a textbook lies in its content,but the organization of the chapters,the layouts,the size and type of characters and the like are quite important as well.For example,the traditional size of a text-book is usually 850×1，168，but in recent years the book size has been changed to 787×960，which is more pleasing to the eyes of readers.The length of a textbook is often more than 300，000 bytes.Being too thin implies the inadequacy of information,but being too thick usually scares readers away.Even the title and the cover design count a lot in the making of a translation textbook.Last but not least,a proper price is always a readers'consideration.The esti-mated acceptable price for a translation textbook in China cannot be more than 30 RMB.The principle of cost and benefit has the finalsay in producing a product.

Consequently,when a translation textbook is made,the compil-ers,the editors,publishers and market demand all play a decisive role in deciding whether it is readable,acceptable and presentable to readers.As a result,compiling translation textbooks is a very com-plex task involving a large number of variables,not just the inde-pendent activities of a few professional teachers or scholars.

2.6　Conclusion

All in all,translation textbook development is the result of in-teractions of different theories.Among these theories,skopostheorie and communication theory mainly guide the choice of translation strategies,while readability theory helps determine appropriate ex-amples.Cognitive science and learning theories show the direction of designing materials,and marketing theories offer more hints for the package and promotion of translation textbooks（see figure 24）.In fact,all of the theories are interdependent on each other in the process of making a textbook.Figure2-4　Basic theories supporting translation textbook compilation

Chapter 3　Factors Influencing the Making of Translation Textbooks

3.0　Introduction

The making of translation textbooks takes place in a network of relationships,mainly involving syllabi,teachers,students,linguistic and language studies,translation theories as well as social and cul-tural factors.

3.1　Syllabus

3.1.1　Types of syllabus

A syllabus is not only the guide for the practice of teach-ing,but also the departure point for materials design.The significant position of syllabus in the whole process of teach-ing can be illustrated as follows（adapted from Lü 2003:26）:Figure 3-1　The position of a syllabus in the whole process of teaching

From this figure,we can see that a syllabus is considered the key factor that influences all the other elements.It not only decides the unified goals,contents and assessments,but also determines how textbooks are written,how teachers conduct the teaching task and how students are evaluated.Therefore,it is necessary to study sylla-bus before writing a textbook for instruction.

The term“syllabus”is usually used interchangeably with“cur-riculum”in some academic works,while America and Britain have distinctions between“syllabus”and“curriculum”.In Britain，“syl-labus”refers to the content taught in a specific subject,equal to what“curriculum”covers in America.

Etymologically syllabus means a“label”or“table of con-tents”.The American Heritage Dictionary defines syllabus as the outline of a course of study.A syllabus should contain an outline,schedule of topics,and many more items of information.However,the primary purpose of a syllabus is to communicate to students whatthe course is about,why the course is taught,where it is going,and what will be required of students for them to complete the course with a passing grade.

Nunan（1991）points out that the syllabus mainly focuses on the selection and grading of teaching content.As Dubin and Olshtain（1996）define,the syllabus“is the vehicle through which policy-makers convey information to teachers,textbook writers,examina-tion committees,and learners concerning the program.No matter what its title,of course,it is the content of the document which con-cerns program designers,not what it might be called in a specific setting.For what we are calling‘syllabus'might have the title of‘curriculum'，‘plan'，‘course outline'，or any number of other names（1996:2728）”.In their opinion,it is a document which i-deally describes:

1）what the learners are expected to know at the end of the course,or the course objectives in operational terms

2）what is to be taught or learned during the course,in the form of an inventory of items

3）when it is to be taught,and at what rate of progress,rela-ting the inventory of items to the different levels and stages as well as to the time constraints of the course

4）how it is to be taught,suggesting procedures,techniques,and materials

5）how it is to be evaluated,suggesting testing and evaluating mechanisms（ibid）

Richards（2001）holds that“a syllabus is a specification of thecontent of a course of instruction and lists what will be taught and tested while curriculum development is a more comprehensive process that is used to determine the needs of a group of learners,to develop aims and objectives for a program to address those needs,to determine an appropriate syllabus,course structure,teaching meth-ods and materials,and to carry out an evaluation of the language program that results from these processes（Richards 2001:2）”.

In Chinese context，“syllabus”carries two levels of meanings:on one hand,it refers to the guiding policy made by local or national educational agencies；on the other hand，“it is a list of teaching con-tent.Guided by certain language teaching principles and theories,it outlines a series of language items and organizes them in a certain or-der.Syllabus provides for teachers and students a plan and most ef-fective approach to the ultimate objective（He 2001:1）”.

This book agrees that a syllabus is composed of four elements:objective,content,method and evaluation（Yalden，1987；White，1988；Breen，2001）and the relationship among them is interactive.As for the course of translation,syllabus will indicate what objec-tives should be achieved,what is taught,how to teach translation and assess students after several years of teaching and learning trans-lation.（2）Categorization of syllabus

Since the 1970s,there have been a few mainstream develop-ments in curriculum design.Different types of syllabuses are summa-rized as follows:

1）product-oriented syllabuses:usually consist of lists ofknowledge and skills targets that learners should achieve as the result of instruction.

2）process-oriented syllabuses:focus on learning experiences or learning processes themselves through which language knowledge and skills might be gained.

3）synthetic syllabuses,in which different parts of language are taught separately and step by step so that acquisition becomes a process of gradual accumulation of these parts until the whole struc-ture of language has been built up.

4）analytic syllabuses,according to which learners are presented with chunks of the language which may include structures of varying degrees of difficulty.The starting point for syllabi design is the com-munication purpose for which language is used.

In the past few decades there are also five influential syllabuses,such as:

1）grammatical syllabuses,in which language input is selected and graded according to grammatical notions of simplicity and com-plexity.

2）situational syllabuses,which select language teaching con-tent based on the target situations where the language will be used in the future.

3）functional-notional syllabuses,in which language input is selected and graded according to the communicative functions that language learners need to perform in the future.

4）task-based syllabuses,which usually include various tasks and activities that the learners will undertake in class.

5）content-based syllabuses,in which the content of course-work might be selected in terms of the learners'other academic or school subjects.

To sum up,these syllabuses can be categorized into the follow-ing figure:Figure3-2　Categorization of syllabus（adapted from Cheng Xiaotang 2002:17）

3.1.2　Syllabus and the making of translation textbooks

When the compilers are developing a textbook,they should take a number of different syllabuses into consideration and try their best to combine the syllabuses in an eclectic manner in order to bring pos-itive results.Thus,in teaching translation as a discipline,a flexible syllabus will be designed during different learning stages in specific contexts.Different syllabuses will call for different methodologies and different styles of translation textbooks.When used sensibly and sensitively,a syllabus can provide the support and guidance that cre-ativity thrives on.

Based on the syllabus,the compilers will have clear directions and get to know the expectations and needs of users,and thus choose appropriate materials and styles for the final text.If a prod-uct-oriented syllabus is favored,the compilers should pay more at-tention to the difficulty of grammatical points in choosing translation examples,try to put the sentences in specific contexts and offer more translation versions of functional equivalence.If a process-oriented syllabus is advocated,the compilers should organize the materials in a logical order,which means from the simple items to the more dif-ficult ones,design more tasks for translation learners to accomplish under strict conditions and incorporate texts of different subjects into the textbooks for translation practice.In fact,a good translation textbook will consider both product-oriented syllabuses and process-oriented syllabuses dialectically.

3.2　Teachers

It is said that a good teacher can make good use of a textbook,even an ordinary textbook,but an excellent textbook can be poorly used if the teacher is not qualified.A teacher's main task is not to teach textbooks,but to search for how to teach by using textbooks appropriately.So teachers play an indispensable role in compiling and using textbooks.

3.2.1　The role of teachers

All the work in progress in investigating and researching learn-ing and teaching in the past few decades points to the need for new classroom strategies.These in turn obviously require a new defini-tion of the role of the teacher,who must be concerned with provi-ding an environment that will supply the appropriate sort of intake,and in which the learner can engage in creative interaction.

In modern teaching,the teacher is no longer director of the learning process.Nor are the teachers the mere instrument of the ex-pert who provides a method to be implemented in the classroom.Ac-cording to Littlewood（1981），“The concept of the teacher as‘in-structor'is……inadequate to describe his overall function.In a broad sense,he is a‘facilitator of learning'，and may need to per-form in a variety of roles,separately or simultaneously（Littlewood 1981:92）”.Wright（1987）holds that teachers can play two majors roles in the classroom:to create the conditions under which learning can take place and to impart,by a variety of means,knowledge to their learners.This is illustrated in the following diagram（based on Wright 1987:52）.Figure3-3　Roles of teachers

The functions of management and instruction complement each other.Within these two characterizations of manager and instructor,Barnes（1976）draws up the other hidden roles of the teacher:an evaluator of learners'efforts and contributions,a guide to the“subject”under consideration and how it is learned in the classroom；a resource of knowledge about the subject and the way it is acquired；an organizer of classroom activities and learning tasks.

So Brown suggests in interactive classroom teaching，“it is the teacher's task to assess all the social,psychological,cultural,and linguistic attributes of a learner's discourse and then to provide ap-propriate forms of correction（Brown 1980:7）”.In his opinion,the teachers'roles can be described as having the following five aspects:controller,director,manager,facilitator and resource.

Whatever role teachers can play，“they are still trying to find their way toward the role that best enables them to carry out their re-sponsibilities,as defined by the teaching context within which they work（Yalden 1995:58）.”

3.2.2　Teachers,methodology and textbooks

The teacher's role in the class has changed with different meth-odologies prevailing in society.Traditionally,when the grammar-translation method was preached,teachers were regarded as people who commanded the target language and its literature,but did not necessarily speak that language very fluently or accurately.Text-books just contained all the possible useful information about the lan-guage in a systematic way；and teachers were supposed to implement faithfully its contents without any challenges.

Then,when the audiolingual method dominated the teachingworld,the role of teachers changed markedly.Guided by this princi-ple,the teacher put emphasis on performance and had to conduct o-ral repetition drills with the whole class,so the textbook served to provide all the necessary resources for classroom work.

Within cognitive-code theories,teachers are required to be pro-ficient in both native and target languages in order to analyze and ex-plain the difficulties during the learning process.Teachers should be keen observers in order to notice learners'cognitive and learning styles,leading them to undertake suitable language activities.In such cases,textbooks need to take learners into consideration and provide materials according to the needs of learners.

Affective attitudes towards language learning have multiplied the roles of teachers.They are expected not only to explain and solve the learning problems,but also to offer materials beyond the textbook and act as evaluators.Therefore,textbooks should be open-ended and provide some key information on which users can develop further.

3.2.3　Translation teachers and the making of translation text-books

For teachers who teach translation,they“need to distil and syn-thesize,from the range of options available,those which best suit the particular circumstances.To do so requires an open mind,curi-osity and a degree of skepticism（Hutchinson 2002:160）”.They should arm themselves with a sound knowledge of SL and TL,trans-lation theory,transfer procedures,cognition and methodology.Gouadec concludes that“the answer to who should teach translators is quite straightforward:both professionals with a talent for teaching and teachers with good knowledge of the job……that they are sup-posed to train people for（Gouadec 2000:3）”.

Sainz supports a similar view，“I agree with those who think the most adequate and competent teachers at university are those who,apart from their teaching positions,are also practising profes-sionals in the subject they are teaching（Sainz 1994:139）.”Ger-ding-Salas（2000），on the other hand,proposes the following pre-requisites for a competent translation teacher:

1）Comprehension of what translation is and how it occurs

2）Permanent interest in reading various kinds of texts

3）Ability to communicate ideas clearly,emphatically and o-penly

4）Ability to work out synthesis and interrelationships of ideas

5）Capacity to create,foster and maintain a warm work envi-ronment

6）Capacity to foster search and research

7）Accuracy and truthfulness；critical,self-critical and analyti-cal capacity

8）Clear assessment criteria

Gabris adds that translation teachers should attend formal train-ing in language and translation teaching,and should have some sort of certification or accreditation attesting to their ability to translate（Gabris 2000a）.This requirement is also supported by Barcsak，“It seems that teachers must be trained in teaching translation（Barcsak1995:174）.”Harris and DeSimone（1994）argue that the teacher must have both training competence and subject-matter expertise.The first involves the knowledge and skills needed to design and im-plement a training course,the ability to communicate knowledge clearly,mastery of various teaching methods and techniques,good interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate students.Subject-mat-ter expertise,on the other hand,refers to mastery of the subject mat-ter to be taught.

Then when it comes to the development of translation text-books,some factors concerning teachers are worthwhile to study.There is no denying that a good teacher may make a general textbook very useful and efficient while a good textbook may be undermined when in the hands of a less qualified teacher.

Therefore,before making the translation textbook,the compiler should have some expectations of teachers who will use the text-book.Nowadays,educational levels have been enhanced and the majority of teachers have a master's degree either in translation stud-ies or in English language and literature.So the users'expectations are usually set at this level,then individual teaching styles,different personalities and attitudes toward teaching of those teachers should also be taken into account.The ideal compilers should be experts who have good command of translation theories,teaching tech-niques,as well as rich experience in translation and teaching prac-tices.

However good the textbook,it will never be perfect for every teacher's teaching situation.In some respect,it will always need a-dapting,modifying or supplementing.The only limit for this is the teacher's time and imagination.With a little of both most objectives can be fulfilled.

3.3　Students

As the main users of textbooks,students have some say in the development of textbooks.Their aims and expectations,learning strategies and styles will affect the materials selection and organiza-tion.At the same time,individual learner differences such as cogni-tive variables,affective variables,personality variables,learning strategies,learning styles and age differences make a great challenge for textbook compiling,which can never perfectly meet all the needs of all users.

3.3.1　The roles of students

Students'roles are influenced by teachers a lot.The sociologist Roland Meighan（1990）believes that in the teachers'eyes,students can be constructed metaphorically as resisters,receptacles,raw ma-terials,clients,partners,individual explorers and democratic explor-ers.The first three constructs are heavily teacher-dominated while the latter ones involve more active learner participation.

Learning theories also make students perform different roles in learning practice.Behaviorism as a teaching approach is often re-ferred to as directed instruction,usually considered an objectivist theory of learning.Behaviorists think that learning is a change in be-havior and occurs through“reinforcement of successive approxima-tions”.In this case,a teacher is providing the knowledge to the students either directly or through the set up of“contingencies”，u-sing rewards to reinforce desirable behaviors and punishments to dis-courage undesirable behaviors.Students just receive the training pas-sively.

To the contrary,constructivists view learning as the result of mental construction.Students learn by fitting new information to-gether with what they already know.People learn best when they ac-tively construct their own understanding.In constructivist thinking learning is also affected by the context and the beliefs and attitudes of the learner.Learners are encouraged to invent their own solutions and to try out ideas and hypotheses.They are given the opportunity to build on prior knowledge.

No matter what kind of roles students play,the ultimate purpose is to achieve the best learning outcomes.In modern society,learner autonomy is increasingly encouraged in teaching practice.The key i-dea is that education should foster students'capacity for independent thinking and for taking charge of their own learning.With the adop-tion of the communicative approach,learners are expected to assume greater responsibility for their own learning.

3.3.2　Students,methodology and textbooks

Students'roles have taken on different dimensions with the de-velopment of methodologies.When the grammar-translation method was adopted,students were assigned to read,write,translate andmemorize texts.Textbooks were supposed to be authoritative and sa-cred.This has strict requirements on materials selection,presenting learners with a lot of opportunities for unpredictable and negotiable outcomes to activities.Learners become totally dependent on text-books.

The audiolingual view led students to be robot-like learners,who were asked to carry out mechanical manipulations by participat-ing in choral activities under controlled practices.They were spoon-fed with minimal room for failure and exploration.Textbooks were designed to offer all necessary materials,resulting in an abundance of mechanical and predictable tasks that leave little space for error or learners'initiative.Learners tend to be lazy and just follow what textbooks say.

Cognitive-code practices required learners to internalize linguis-tic rules that would be of use to their language development.Learn-ers have more choices and freedom to use language on their own.In this case,textbooks should be learner-oriented and user-friendly,with a view to providing insights and triggering learners'inspiration.

Humanistic-affective educational philosophies favor learner-cen-teredness.Students are expected to be autonomous learners by sol-ving problems effectively and fulfilling tasks as required.Under such circumstances,textbooks are somewhat dethroned and learners take a critical view of using the textbooks.They are not just content with what is said in the textbook,but eager to search for more related ma-terials to complement the textbook.

3.3.3　Students and the making of translation textbooks

As for students majoring in translation or students learning translation,they have a unified objective:to learn how to do transla-tion.Therefore,compilers are expected to do a needs analysis of prospective users before compiling textbooks for them.Needs analy-sis will be elaborated upon in a later chapter.It can be done by de-signing questionnaires or conducting informal interviews and discus-sions.After getting to know what the potential readers want,com-pilers may choose the corresponding materials to meet their practical needs and offer some guidance.

Mossop argues that the university is obliged to teach the student the general skills required by the would-be translator.These are“text interpretation,composition of a coherent,readable and audi-ence-tailored draft translation,research,and checking/correcting（Mossop，2000）”.Laszlo argues that the translator is“one form of language specialist（Gabris，2000b）”.This applies to awareness of style and register as well as bicultural sensitivity.Hence,these skills must be addressed in the textbooks.The notion of cultural awareness is also supported by Krouglov,who is of the view that:“Students have to be taught to identify……social and cultural differences as well as various markers in order to develop their ability to draw the appropriate meaning from the source language text and culture into natural target language text and culture（Krouglov 1996:82）”.

Another skill that must be developed by the student translator is the ability to solve“problems”such as linguistic and cultural“un-translatability”.This skill must be emphasized in the training of thewould-be translator.Student translators at the university education level also need to be introduced to problems commonly encountered in a text and learn how to address them.They need to be introduced to translation strategies that they can use to solve such problems.These strategies are categorized by Chesterman as follows:“（a）syn-tactic strategies such as shifting the word-class,changing the clause or sentence structure,adding or changing cohesion；（b）semantic strategies such as using hyponyms or superordinates,altering the lev-el of abstraction,redistributing the information over more or fewer elements；（c）pragmatic strategies such as naturalizing or exoticiz-ing,altering the level of explicitness,and adding or omitting infor-mation（Chesterman 1996:68）”.

Another important prerequisite for developing a translation ca-reer is the acquisition and development of research skills.Sofer ar-gues that“……a translator must develop research skills,and be able to acquire reference sources which are essential for producing high quality translation.Without such sources even the best of translators cannot hope to be able to handle a large variety of subjects in many unrelated fields（Sofer 1999:36）”.

Gabris（2000a）believes that translation programs should also include a module on research and development of terminology.Students must learn how and where to search for terminology and what to do if an answer is not found.They also need to know how to annotate a text that contains new terminology and how to cover lexical gaps.

Considering individual learner differences,compilers must takedifferent levels of students into account when organizing and choo-sing materials.Textbooks that are either too easy or too difficult will disappoint or frustrate students and even cause readers to lose interest in this subject,so compilers need to have a good understanding of students'comprehensive capabilities to obtain knowledge.Based on students'psychological activities and learning theories,all the tasks and exercise design should be learner-oriented.

In real-life situations,the translator does not work in a vacuum.There are always contacts with colleagues,clients and other profes-sionals for the purpose of finding certain information,solutions,guidance,etc.Laszlo points out that translators should learn how to work in teams as well as alone（Gabris，2000a）.Fostering team spirit in the class will help eliminate fear among peers and will pro-mote cooperation to reach solutions and exchange information.May-oral agrees,saying that“students must be trained for teamwork,sharing translation tasks not only with other translators,but also with professionals in other fields（Mayoral 2000:3）”.So the textbook should offer some teamwork tasks for students to complete together.

At the same time，“An increased degree of learner autonomy,the ability to learn independently,and even to set one's own learning objectives and monitor them,should be encouraged by course books through the provision of material suitable for individual study（Cun-ningworth 2002:106）”.So the textbook can be equipped with a workbook,where individual study material is provided for students to monitor their own progress.

All in all,textbooks“should take into account learner expecta-tion and learning styles and should have a clear role in the learning/teaching process（Cunningsworth 2002:132）”.

3.4　Linguistic and language studies

There is a close relationship between translation and the disci-plines of stylistics,linguistics,logic,rhetoric,information theory,psychology and semiotics.Among these,modern linguistics is un-doubtedly the most closely related to translation studies.In Catford's words,translation is“the replacement of textual material in one lan-guage（SL）by equivalent textual material in another language（TL）（Catford 1965:20）”.And Nida defines translation as“reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the SL mes-sage,first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style（Nida and Taber 1974:12）”.These definitions imply that translation is concerned with a certain type of relationship between languages.Many Chinese translation scholars often use modern linguistic princi-ples as a theoretical basis for the analysis of translation problems.Although there are various branches of modern linguistics relating to translation studies,I choose to focus on the influence of traditional grammar,structural linguistics,functional grammar,semiotics,se-mantics,and sociolinguistics on the compilation of translation text-books in China.

3.4.1　Traditional grammar and the making of translation text-books

Traditional grammar refers to the grammar before the advent of structuralism.It is very important because it is“the most wide-spread,influential,and best-understood method of discussing Indo-European languages in the Western world（Dinneen 1967:170）”.Traditional grammar historically has favored a prescriptive approach over descriptive explanations based on custom.That is,whatever the version,traditional grammar sets forth collections of rules,usually as handbooks or guides,which dictate a correct usage.Often touted as a universally valid set of rules that show how a language ought to be spoken or written,traditional grammar asserts that only certain styles of a language are worthy of study and imitation,primarily lit-erary,scholarly,or religious texts,and that these texts are appropri-ate guides to language use for everyone who wishes to control his language or rise in his society.The language we hear and use out-side of school every day is vernacular,vulgar,and,overall,inade-quate for clear,eloquent communication.In short,traditional gram-mar's lessons seldom,if ever,reinforce the language as humans ac-tually speak it.

In the past,English grammar taught in China often referred to the prescriptive grammar which became prevalent in Europe and the United States in the 18th and 19th century.Its basic point is to pre-

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