Sci—tech C—E Translation Under the Guidance of Skopostheorie

【Abstract】Scientific C-E translation， as part and parcel of the translation field， plays an important role in the internationally scientific and technological exchange and receives a high value from all the periodicals， which highlights the academic quality of our nation. Therefore， some urgent issues such as how to achieve communicative function of translation， what kind of translation theory can give guidance to translation practice， and how to improve the quality in scientific C-E translation confront researchers and scientific and technological workers.

【Key words】Skopostheorie； effective communication； coherence

1. Skopostheorie

Skopostheorie is the most influential German functionalist approach and has the following rules： skopos rule， coherence rule and fidelity rule. The skopos rule， the highest rule among the three rules， points out the translation action is decided by the translation purpose. In other words， translation will carry out in the target language situation， and therefore the purpose of translation decides the process of translation. As a result， the source text only provides information during the translation in accordance with the Skopostheorie. The translator should employ proper strategies and methods to rewrite the source text to conform to the purpose of translation.

2. Summary of the Translation Practice

2.1 Translator in the Translation Process as a Participant

From the perspective of skopostheorie， a translator is obviously familiar with the translation process and makes sure the translation task entrusted can be carried out and the translation can be output in the translation process. The translator should get to know translation objective and translation brief， analyze whether the objective can be achieved or not， whether the translation brief can be accepted and practiced or not before setting about translation. The source text author tends to set his goals by the journal whose impact factor is significantly higher than his own thesis level. The translator asks the source text author to copy or download two or three papers in the related field from the intended journal， and then study research results from the international counterparts together to affirm that our study level has met or exceeded their level or standard and deserves translating.

2.2 Accurate Expression of the Source-text Authors Mind for the Purpose of Effective Communication with the Target Language Readers

According to what skopostheorie defines translation action， Chinese-English translation for scientific paper is a written speech intercommunication. The translator must take responsibly for the effective communication between the source language author and the target language readers. Therefore in real translation， the translator should weigh his words of the target language， making the target language readers understand what the source language author meant， otherwise ineffective communication， even misunderstanding may bring about a rejection. The expression is different in accordance with different background facts， data and the ST author understands， so it is necessary to disclose the ST authors attitude and the extent of his own views.

2.3 Proper Handling of the Source Text to Achieve the Discourse Cohesion and Coherence

Academic text， different from other texts， is oriented to express scientific fact， explain experimental data and present watertight logic. From a communicative perspective， academic text， apart from expression of fact and logical thinking， is of its particular social function to persuade readers by means of accurate logic expression or to have a discussion with the readers. Therefore， translation for scientific text will only be complete， easy and coherent after taking into account coherence at the language level and information integrity in the communicative purpose. As a coordinator between the ST author and the TT readers， the translator should make efforts to construct the communicative context for a scientific paper to reach the coherence.

3. conclusion

Translation， a very difficult task， requires a translator to have a strong sense of responsibility， copious knowledge and rigorous attitude. As we all know， translation is not just a transformation of two languages. The translator should make great effort to constantly update their knowledge and improve the translation quality to eventually achieve the accuracy and coherence.

Reference：

[1]Bian，Jianhua.Discussion about Skopos Theory—four Internet talks with Professor Christiane.Nord[J].中國翻譯，2006a（1）：44.

[2]Munday，J.Introducing Translation Studies：Theories and Applications[M].London and New York：Routledge，2001.

[3]卞建華，崔永祿.功能主義目的論在中國的引進應用與研究（1987-2005）[J].解放軍外國語學院學報，2006b（3）：82-88.

作者簡介：王洋（1979-），陜西咸陽人，咸陽師范學院外國語學院講師，主要研究方向為科技英語筆譯。