Prof.

de limba engleza Iordache Mihaela

Scoala cu cls. I-VIII Scundu

The importance of technical translations and teaching them to students

In recent years there has been an increasing amount of technical texts to be

translated into Romanian from English and from English into Romanian due to the
growing number of economical relations between our country and the members of the EU
and not only.
Translation can be integrated in the larger field of semiotics which is the science
that deals with the sign system, sign process and sign functions. These principals were
stated for the first time by the French linguist Saussure, who regards language as a system
of signs which in their turn convey ideas. The process of conveying the sign system of a
language into another language is called translation.
Susan Bassnett formulates one of the most technical definitions of translation. The
translation involves the rendering of a source language text into the target language
making sure that the surface meaning of the two will be preserved as closely as possible,
but not so closely that the target language structures will not be seriously distorted.
The main problem of translations whether there is a full equivalence or not. There
is not a perfect synonymy between terms used in different languages. We can distinguish
three types of translation texts: scientific-technological, institutional-cultural and literary
texts. The difficulties encountered by sci-tech translators lie in the source language
neologisms, the lack of certain appropriate technical terms in the target language and the
variety of semi-synonymous technical terms. This is the case of French language where
the linguists have invented a series of new terms for the English equivalents. They feared
that there were too many English neologisms introduced and their language would
become suffocated by them. These new words introduced were mainly technical terms
from the field of computer science.
The problematic nature of translation only becomes apparent when the transfer of
meaning obviously fails and communication is prevented. Probably everyone who has
stayed in another country and language region has experienced failed communication in
the form of misunderstandings in situations of daily life. The Babylonian language chaos
creates barriers to communication. The success of technical communication in an
international context depends on translation. Increasing internationalization and in
particular theof unification in Europe raise the question of the status of the transfer of
meaning and the act of translating with a new urgency. Translation-orientated work in the
field of terminology represents a desideratum of research in adult education. Up to now it

has mainly been conducted by supranational organizations; UNESCO in particular has

made endeavours in the field of international language standardization (cf. Titmus et
al. 1 979). Against the backdrop of the European process of integration, work in the field
of multilingual terminology in adult education is becoming more urgent all the time. This
is verified by the terminologies which have been published recently (cf. CEFEDOP
1996). However, they are restricted in the main to vocational training, because this is
where business and politics generate a mounting call for a standardization of terminology
in Europe. Every examination of adult education in another language and culture area is
to a particular extent confronted with the problems of translation and terminology . The
importance of teaching technical features such as weighs and measurements conversions
is a basic element in these types of translations. Wrong or misleading translations can
cause real problems when handling different machines.
One of the easiest way to teach and help students translate different technical texts
is by showing them graphs or images where they can identify the main parts of an engine
for example. People usually respond better to visual stimuli because they really see the
components and not only imagine them.
Students ere given the task to describe the given images, first without the
technical support and afterwards using also the text. This task has been both successful
with students and teachers too. The students think that these sorts of activities facilitate
learning of specific terminology and boost creativity.
This is one example of the method of translating a scientific text with the help of
an image and of a text. The students are asked to describe the picture below without
looking at the technical details given into the text attached to it. This is an image of the 4stroke internal combustion engine. If the teacher notices that the students have a hard
time in describing rhe image he should try to use their previous knowledge and try to
determine students to use a technical terms dictionary in which there are appropriate
definitions. After answering the teachers questions and trying to describe as well as they
can the image the students are asked to read the text to be translated carefully paying
attention to the technical words used in the text. An important part in translating technical
texts is the use of an appropriate dictionary.
Here is an example of teaching translations of scientific text:
This is an animated computer drawing of one cylinder of the Wright brothers' 1903 aircraft
engine. This engine powered the first, heavier than air, self-propelled, maneuverable, piloted
aircraft; the Wright 1903 Flyer. The engine consisted of four cylinders like the one shown above,
with each piston connected to a common crankshaft. The crankshaft was connected to two
counter-rotating propellers which produced the thrust necessary to overcome the drag of the
aircraft. The brothers' design is very simple by today's standards, so it is a good engine for
students to study to learn the fundamentals of engine operation. This type of internal combustion
engine is called a four-stroke engine because there are four movements, or strokes, of the
piston before the entire engine firing sequence is repeated. The four strokes are described below
with some still figures. In the animation and in all the figures, we have colored the fuel/air intake
system red, the electrical system green, and the exhaust system blue. We also represent the
fuel/air mixture and the exhaust gases by small colored balls to show how these gases move
through the engine. Since we will be referring to the movement of various engine parts, here is a
figure showing the names of the parts:

From the methodological perspective of this perspective of translating texts there

are three stages one may follow:
-detailed observation of the image in relation to the text;
-selection of relevant aspects to be described and establishing a logical order of
presentation;
-describing the image.
The description should consider the following aspects:
a) minimizing orality markers: we have, we can see
b) choosing simple grammatical structures
c) considering the relevance of incorporating forms and references to colour
(depending on the addressee)
d) tackling with care forms based on visual elements: it can be observed, as
shown, as seen
e) concision and precision in choosing the lexical elements to be used
f) using specific terminology related to the object or concept represented
g) going from the more general aspects to the specific ones.
.
Bibliography:
Ducrastel, Philippe and Robert Waller (1979), Pictorial illustrations in
instructional texts
Bassnett, Susan, Translation Studies, revised edition, Routledge, 1988
Bantas, Andrei; Croitoru Elena, Didactica traducerii, ed. Teora, Bucuresti, 1998
www. grc.nasa.go