Abstract:
Socio-cultural context is an important aspect in the study of language and translation, because the three, namely, context, language and translation are inextricably linked. This paper attempts to discuss the translation of different text types which are functioning in the social contexts of Macao and other areas of China. It tries to deduce about the contexts in which the ST and TT were produced, the purpose for which they were produced, and the target reader for whom they were produced. The study is carried out in the light of functionalist theories of the German School and the Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics. Examples for the analysis are extracted from the database for teaching and research built up by the present author. Case analysis is intended also to show how to apply the functional theories to the practice of English-Chinese translation teaching, and to discuss how the acquisition of competence for text analysis and for translation can be improved through actual translation practice guided by these functional theories.
About the Speaker:
ZHANG Meifang was awarded a PhD degree specializing in Translation Studies from Hong Kong Baptist University (1999). She is currently professor of English and Translation and Coordinator of the MA Programme in Translation Studies at the University of Macau where she also supervises PhD students in Translation Studies. Before she joined the University of Macau, she was Professor in English and Translation in the School of Foreign Languages of Sun Yat-sen University, where she also served as Head of the English Department. She has published extensively on translation and English Studies, including the widely quoted monographs Functional Approaches to Translation Studies and English/Chinese Translation Textbooks in China (1949-1998), and her contributions to different refereed academic journals.
Meifang is Vice President of the Macau Federation of Translators and Interpreters, and council member as well as expert member of the Chinese Translators’ Association, and life member of Hong Kong Translation Society. She also serves on several editorial boards of academic journals. Her main research interests include: Functional Approaches to Translation Studies, Translation for the Media, Translation Teaching and Translator Training, Discourse Analysis, Cross-cultural Studies.