A Study of Reading & Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/Scientific Translation to Students of English Major

Transcription

1 真 理 大 學 人 文 學 報 第 二 期 頁 民 國 93 年 3 月 A Study of Reading & Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/Scientific Translation to Students of English Major Yaling Chen Instructor, Department of Foreign Languages & Literature, Aletheia University Chester Tzi-Yi Kuo Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Physics, National Central University Abstract The purpose of this research is to investigate reading & writing strategies in the teaching of technical/scientific translation to students of English major. Related literature is reviewed and reading & writing strategies, currently widely used in the science class of elementary and middle schools abroad but in an experimental stage in the elementary schools of Taiwan, is studied in an English- Chinese translation class context, and promoted for several reasons. Additionally, we have conducted a survey on students of English major in Aletheia University, collecting data that is likely to affect the real implementation of reading and writing strategies. In assessing students summary writings, we reviewed existing literature, and adapted Lin, Su-Wen s an evaluation rubric of science summary writing including six criteria as a quantitative assessment instrument. They are: theme, scientific concept, creative association, text organization, specialized terms, and word/grammar correctness. Moreover, suggestions are made regarding the set-up of related class in technical writing or translation in the curriculum of general education or English programs. Lastly, the authors call for the importance of equipping students with technical/scientific translation skill to meet the growing needs of modern society. Keywords:

2 176 真 理 大 學 人 文 學 報 Reading and writing strategies, technical and scientific translation, technical writing, general education 讀 寫 策 略 應 用 於 科 技 英 文 翻 譯 教 學 之 研 究 陳 雅 齡 真 理 大 學 外 國 語 文 學 系 專 任 講 師 美 國 華 盛 頓 州 社 會 局 授 證 口 譯 員 郭 子 毅 國 立 中 央 大 學 物 理 系 研 究 所 博 士 候 選 人 開 元 法 律 專 利 事 務 所 科 技 專 利 經 理 摘 要 本 篇 研 究 探 討 如 何 應 用 讀 寫 策 略 於 科 技 英 文 翻 譯 之 教 學 作 者 先 對 國 內 外 相 關 文 獻 作 整 理, 經 研 究 發 現 讀 寫 策 略 在 西 方 國 家 的 中 小 學 相 當 盛 行, 而 當 今 台 灣 中 小 學 卻 仍 然 處 於 實 驗 階 段 作 者 並 在 真 理 大 學 外 文 系 翻 譯 課 上, 做 了 一 次 問 卷 調 查, 嘗 試 比 較 正 規 外 文 系 學 生 和 假 日 班 學 生 在 實 行 讀 寫 策 略 下 可 能 面 對 的 各 種 困 難 調 查 結 果 後 決 定 採 取 六 種 衡 量 學 生 科 技 寫 作 的 標 準, 它 們 是 主 題 科 學 概 念 聯 想 組 織 專 門 術 語 文 法 研 究 並 發 現 : 1. 假 日 班 學 生 與 正 規 班 學 生 皆 認 為 科 技 常 識 不 足 為 執 行 讀 寫 策 略 最 重 要 的 困 難 2. 較 多 假 日 班 學 生 認 為 大 學 通 識 教 育 提 供 他 們 科 技 的 概 念 與 常 識 3. 較 多 假 日 班 學 生 擔 心 作 文 能 力 的 不 足 最 後 我 們 建 議 大 學 增 開 科 技 英 文 寫 作 相 關 課 程, 以 適 應 當 今 翻 譯 潮 流 關 鍵 詞 : 讀 寫 策 略 科 技 翻 譯 科 技 論 文 寫 作 通 識 教 育

3 A Study of Reading and Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/ Scentific Traslation to Students of English Major Introduction As a result of a growing amount of information transfer and need of technical/scientific writers worldwide, the definition and role of technical writer has changed significantly over the past 90 years. Today, the technical writer often has a major input into the development of a commercial product, and is well recognized for his or her contribution. In Taiwan, where originally engineers wrote all technical documentation, today trained technical writers, who may or may not have technical backgrounds, write the majority of the documentation accompanying their company s products. In a survey on the technical writing profession in Taiwan, Chiou, Hsiao-Fang (2002) has indicated that although a majority of companies (68%) surveyed ask personnel in engineering or marketing departments to create or translate technical documentation, there is a great percentage of other companies that hire professional technical writers who don t have any technical background but hold a bachelor s degree in English, to take charge of the technical writing. Naturally, in promoting technical communication, we already have had some studies and books aimed at engineers. But what we desperately need now, is to investigate a teaching method to help non-engineering students, especially students of English majors, to become trained technical/scientific translators. Traditionally, students of humanity hold a repellent attitude toward science classes; most of them admit that they either disliked or did poorly in math and science class prior to entering university. While most translation workshops aimed at engineers have a clear focus on elevating engineers English writing skill, most translation classes aimed at students of non-engineering majors without technical background, have typically focused on teaching specialized vocabularies in science and engineering for translation from English to Chinese or Chinese to English. Yet, according to the Central Regional Educational Laboratory, U.S.A., to achieve a certain level of scientific literacy, teachers should direct students to experience a high order thinking process - to think meaningfully about issues/problems in science and synthesize gathered information. Students of English majors predominantly study to be translators, writers, or interpreters for business groups and government organizations (Tegtmeier and others, 1999), but up to now, the real English technical writing course has not been taught in many of the colleges in Taiwan, despite courses

4 178 真 理 大 學 人 文 學 報 labeled English for Special Purposes or English for Science and Technology. On the other hand, as indicated in many reports and books on translation, translation itself is a writing process and a translator s most important skill is writing in the target language. (Brockbank, 2001). In Taiwan, as English is an acquired language since middle school years, college teachers including those of English department often spend quite a great deal of time and efforts correcting students bad writing habits. In teaching technical/scientific translation to students of English majors, there is therefore a need to employ a teaching method which combines the curricular goal of both literary training and scientific literacy. 2. Literature Review In the science class of elementary and middle schools abroad, instead of giving pure instruction, foreign teachers tend to employ a teaching method called reading and writing strategies to reach the dual curricular goal of science and literature. Foreign students thus take a more initiative role than students in Taiwan throughout the learning process. Fortunately in Taiwan, a few researchers have started to notice the advantages of reading and writing unison. For example, in 2003 Lin, Su-Wen has once conducted two instructional cycles of reading and writing strategies in the sixth grade of elementary school; Hung, Wen-Dong (1997) has repeatedly claimed the benefits of reading different types of scientific/technical texts as a part of high order thinking process in constructing students background knowledge. Reading & writing strategies are beneficial to students of science classes in elementary and middle schools. According to literature review, there are the following advantages: a. By employing reading & writing strategies in science class, students think meaningfully about a topic and synthesize gathered information. Instead of being instructed, students engage in scientific/technical reading and construct knowledge based on different starting scheme (Hung, 1997). The learning experience and learning results of each student are therefore distinct from each other. b. Based on a certain set of quantitative assessment criteria, students repeatedly get feedback from teachers about their writing projects. Students receive training in

5 A Study of Reading and Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/ Scentific Traslation to Students of English Major 179 both literary writing and scientific literacy. Additionally, according to Hung, there are three kinds of factors involved in the process of reading comprehension. They are: a. readers factors: individual background, ability, and motivation. b. text factors: Text types, characteristics, structure, and readability. c. situational factors: Interaction, time, mood, and occasion of reading a text. In assessing students summary writings, Lin, Su-Wen in 2003 edited an evaluation rubric of science summary writing as a quantitative assessment tool. During her research period, students did four science summary writings. The first and last writings were analyzed as the pre- and the post- tests, while the second and the third writings were practices. Her evaluation rubric contains six criteria, which are: a. theme b. scientific concept c. creative association d. text organization e. summary words f. word/grammar correctness Lastly, to help students achieve their utmost in the high order thinking process to construct background knowledge said to have a lasting effect, all researchers agreed on the benefit of providing as much guidance as allowed to keep students on the right track. 3. Survey In November 2003, the authors conducted a survey in the translation classes at Aletheia University to investigate students backgrounds, attitudes, motivation, and anticipated difficulties in reading sampled scientific/technical texts and writing summary reports. The survey has been designed with four categories of questions with an aim to: a. verify the prior presumption that basic difference between engineering writers and students of English major is short of background knowledge ;

6 180 真 理 大 學 人 文 學 報 b. check if there exist individual differences related to readers, text, and situational factors; c. compare any possible differences between students of two categories - regular English program and weekend program. Specifically speaking, the questionnaire lists questions including: a. students background, prior knowledge of technical/scientific field. b. whether the curriculum of general education at Aletheia University provides students with a general knowledge of scientific/technical field. c. preference of sampled texts, narrative or expository texts. d. anticipated concerns or difficulties in writing a summary report, including (1) terminology (2) not knowing any reference resources or subject experts to turn to (3) short of background knowledge (4) lack of interest (5) poor English language capabilities (6) poor Chinese language capabilities 4. Discussion Of the 119 students surveyed in the regular English program, there are 105 students who graduated from high school, 13 students from vocational schools, and 1 student transferred from a junior college. When asked if the courses of general education at Aletheia University provide a general knowledge of scientific/technical field, 76 students (57%) disagree whereas 52 students (43%) agree. 30 of them (25%) prefer to read sampled expository texts and then submit a summary writing, while 89 of them (72%) prefer sampled narrative texts. Among the major difficulties in writing a summary report, 84 of them (71%) list short of background knowledge as one of the major difficulty, followed by not knowing any reference resources and subject expects to turn to (75, 63%), terminology (68, 57%), and poor English language capabilities (59, 44%) on the list. Of the 37 students surveyed in the weekend program, 36 of them graduated with non-english majors. 22 of them (59%) agree that the courses of general education at Aletheia University provide them a general knowledge of technical/scientific field; 15

7 A Study of Reading and Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/ Scentific Traslation to Students of English Major 181 of them (41%) disagree. Only 4 of them prefer to read sampled expository texts to submit a summary writing, while 33 of them prefer narrative texts. Among the major concerns or difficulties in writing a summary report, as many as 25 of them (68%) consider short of background knowledge as one of the top three difficulties; 24 (65%) of them list poor English language capabilities ; 19 of them (51%) don t know any reference resources and subject experts to turn to; another 19 of them (51%) place how to use appropriate terminology as the major difficulty. Fig.1 Students of Regular Program 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Narrative Texts Expository Texts Preference of Text Types Fig.2 Students of Weekend Program 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Narrative Texts Expository Texts Preference of Text Types

8 182 真 理 大 學 人 文 學 報 Fig. 3 The Courses of General Education Provide a General Technical/Scientific Knowledge 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Agree - Regular Program Agree - Weekend Program Fig. 4 Major Difficulties - Regular Program 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Background Knowledge Lack of References Terminology Poor English Lack of Interest Poor Chinese

9 A Study of Reading and Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/ Scentific Traslation to Students of English Major 183 Fig. 5 Major Difficulties - Weekend Program 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Background Knowledge Poor English Lack of References Terminology Lack of Interest Poor Chinese Based on these findings, we know most students of regular English program do not feel that they acquire a general scientific/technical knowledge from the current general education of Aletheia University. When asked further, most of them comment them as hard and dry. On the other hand, a majority of students in the weekend program, partly due to their non-english academic background and concurrent working experience in relation to scientific/technical field, feel satisfied with the scientific/technical courses of general education at Aletheia University (59%) Interestingly enough, students of both groups prefer narrative texts, i.e. students of both groups feel more comfortable in acquiring technical/scientific information through news clips, stories, reports, dramas of scientific nature; only a very small percentage of them are ready to acquire knowledge through expository texts. When sample technical/scientific texts are introduced to students of English programs, narrative texts are therefore suggested to account for the most part in the beginning stage to stir up students interests in reading more scientific/technical texts. One last finding is that students of both groups list short of background knowledge as one of the top three difficulties in writing a summary report. Students of weekend program even list poor English language capabilities as the second major weakness to be resolved (24, 65%). It is another evidence that reading and writing strategies which unify the curricular goal of both science and literature class are the right teaching method to be promoted in teaching technical/scientific

10 184 真 理 大 學 人 文 學 報 translation. 5. Adaptation of Reading and Writing Strategies to a Translation Class Context To adapt existing reading and writing strategies to a translation class context, we first review the evaluation tool edited by Lin, Su-Wen in 2003, and feel the need to change summary words to specialized terms. In dong so, students become more attentive to the appearance of scientific/technical terminology in a scientific/technical text and are expected to think meaningfully about each of them in preparation for writing a summary report. Additionally, we feel it necessary to systematically collect and arrange different types of scientific/technical texts. According to the results of the survey, although more students are interested in narrative texts, which state facts or actual experiences in the form of stories, news clips, dramas, and reports, we still need to provide expository texts, the major form of scientific/technical texts, to help students understand the reasons and rules of science theory in constructing more profound knowledge. 6. Conclusion In conclusion, there is a drastic need of cultivating qualified technical/scientific translators. Students of English major, who have the best literary weapon, are the most ideal candidates to educate. Consequently, to achieve such a goal, there is a need of setting up an English technical writing class in the curriculum of general education or English program. In addition, as most students of weekend programs feel unconfident in their English writing skill, we suggest their taking more composition class than the current curriculum requires, to strengthen their writing skill.

11 A Study of Reading and Writing Strategies in the Teaching of Technical/ Scentific Traslation to Students of English Major 185 References Brockbank, Eileen (2001). The Translator Is a Writer. Accurapid Vol 5. No.2. Chiou, Hsiao-Fang (2001). A Study on the Technical Writing Profession in Taiwan: Demand and Competency. Master s thesis, National Kaohsiaung First University of Science and Technology, Graduate Program of Applied English. Hung, Wen-Dong (1997). The Reading Comprehension of Scientific Texts. Science Education, National PingTung Teachers College, Vol 5, p14 p25. Lin, Su-Wen (2003). Teaching students reading/writing strategies to promote their Science writing performance: An action research. Master s thesis, National Taipei Teachers College, Graduate Program of Math and Science Teaching. Tegtmeier, P., S. Thompson, R. Smith, D. L. Scroggs, & S. Dragga (1999). China is hungry: Technical communication in the People s Republic of China. Technical Communication 46:36-41.