Function and Application of Descriptive Translation Studies 1 Introduction

　　The intention of this study is to explore possible advantages of Descriptive Translation Studies as in its application in translation practice and translation analysis.

　　Since early 20th century, translation studies gradually broke away from the marginal status within other related disciplines and established itself as an empirical science. From then on, schools of thought have kept coming out and each claims its legitimacy for existence. Among these schools is Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS).

　　DTS approaches translation from an empirical perspective. Translation is viewed to be a social activity having significant importance in the receiving culture and for the target community. Therefore, translation is dealt with beyond the linguistic realization and language comparison, and is incorporated in social and cultural context.

　　My attention was first directed to DTS by its peculiar characteristic of observation, description and explanation. The subject is whatever happens in translation practice, from the determination of prospective function of translation to the process of translator’s choice of strategies, brainstorming and the revision, to the final product making appearance in the target community.

　　The method of DTS is basically descriptive. The prescriptive tendency and the problem-solution pattern is abandoned. Translation phenomena are noted down. With accumulated data, some underlying truths about translation will come out which will prove to be instructive not only for theoretical probe but also for applied translation practice. I will apply this descriptive method in the case study of this thesis.

　　A convenient tool has been set up to conduct DTS. “Norm” is operative at every stage of description and explanation. Function, process and product and their relationship as well are skeletal structure of what constitute descriptive studies. Translation phenomena are accounted for with the help of norm.

　　The case taken in this thesis is the Chinese classic The Dream of Red Mansions. Two English versions translated respectively by Yang Hsien-yi and David Hawks are compared and observations are made in regard to their translation approaches.

　　In this regard, my observations are limited to several aspects, I hope in-depth observation and explanation will done in light of DTS.

　　英語(yǔ)論文開(kāi)題報(bào)告范文

　　系別：外語(yǔ)系 專(zhuān)業(yè)：英 語(yǔ) 所選題目名稱(chēng)：

　　English Idioms and Their Cohesive Function

　　課題研究現(xiàn)狀：

　　English idioms are an important part of the English vocabulary. The general tendencies of present-day English are towards more idiomatic usages. Halliday and Hason (1976) pointed out that there are three functions of English idioms (ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function). Another scholar, Fernando C. (1996), also made valuable contributions to the understanding of idiomatic expression_r of coherent text, and in the creation of stylistic effects.

　　Chinese linguists like Hu Zhuanglin (1994, 1996), Zhu Yongsheng (1995, 1996, 1997) and Zhang Delu (1994) mainly made contributions to the study of textual cohesion.

　　課題研究目的：

　　This paper is firstly intended to define English idioms and analyze the features of them. It then explores the cohesive function after careful analysis and discussion, attempting to arouse the concern of using idioms appropriately and help readers make full use of the cohesive function for communicating more concisely and idiomatically, thus more effectively.

　　課題研究?jī)?nèi)容：

　　As English idioms are much alive in everyday English, a close look at the function of idioms must be taken. This dissertation includes the following five aspects: 1. Introduction

　　2. A General Study of English Idioms 2.1 The Definition of English Idioms 2.2 Features of English Idioms

　　3. Cohesive Function of English Idioms 3.1 Cohesion

　　3.2 Functional Categories

　　3.3 Cohesive Function of Relational Idioms 3.4 Cohesive Function of Other Idioms

　　4. The Cohesive Function in Terms of Syntax And Pragmatics 4.1 Syntactic Cohesion 4.2 Pragmatic Function 5. Conclusion

　　課題研究計(jì)劃：

　　January 22-March 10: question posing of the research and collection of materials March 11-March 25: analysis of the materials and writing of an outline

　　March 26-April 30: completion of the first draft and seeking supervisor’s advice May 1?June 10: refinement of the paper according to teacher’s suggestion

　　June 11?June 22: finalization of the thesis based on the set requirements after the defence