An Error Analysis of Tense Errors in English Major Undergraduates’ Translations
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.211020.130How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Error Analysis, Tense, Chinese-English Translation, Interview, Questionnaires
- Abstract
Tense errors in translation works are of great importance because it affects the transmission of the original texts and plays a big part in research of Second Language Acquisition. The authors of this article used the method of Error Analysis to analyze errors of tenses in translation works of English major undergraduates from China. Then, they conducted interviews with 3 students who provided their works and made a questionnaire to deeply explore causes of errors. The authors found that the target students still made errors about tense even if they have a better command of English and are aware of the difference between Chinese tenses and English tenses. Six possible reasons are demonstrated: (1) different tense morphological features; (2) lack of adverbial of time; (3) difficulties to contextualize; (4) translators’ misunderstanding about tenses; (5) translators’ habits and preferences; (6) overlaps of concepts between some tenses. The acquisition of tenses in English is related to both the transfer between Chinese and English and students’ learning experience. Inefficient correction methods should be highlighted because it is difficult for students to find errors in tenses themselves. However, self-study still serves as the most common and effective way for them to learn more about tenses.
- Copyright
- © 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Xinran Li AU - Yutong Zhao PY - 2021 DA - 2021/10/21 TI - An Error Analysis of Tense Errors in English Major Undergraduates’ Translations BT - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences (ICPRSS 2021) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 58 EP - 64 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211020.130 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.211020.130 ID - Li2021 ER -