ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

KHOA: TIẾNG ANH

BÀI TIỂU LUẬN

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
COMMON ERRORS IN VIETNAMESE - ENGLISH TRANSLATION MADE BY SECOND-
YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Học phần : Phương pháp nghiên cứu khoa học

Sinh viên thực hiện : …………………………..
Mã sinh viên: ……………………………
…………………………..
Mã sinh viên: ……………………………
Nhóm học phần :7
Giảng viên phụ trách : Nguyễn Thị Bảo Trang

1
Huế, tháng 6 năm 2021

2
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the topic
1.2 Significance
1.3 Research problem
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
2.1 Research aims
2.2 Research question
CHAPTER 3. LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 Theoretical background
3.1.1 Translation
3.1.2 Errors
3.1.3 Errors in translation
3.2 Previous studies
3.2.1 Mixed method studies
3.2.2 Quantitative method studies
CHAPTER 4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 Project design
4.2 Participants
4.3 Data collection tools
4.3.1 The questionnaire
4.3.2 The interview
4.3.3 The Vietnamese-English translation test
4.4 Piloting
CHAPTER 5. TIMELINE
CHAPTER 6. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND IMPACT
References ............................................................................................................Page
Appendix ...........................................................................................................Page

3
COMMON ERRORS IN VIETNAMESE - ENGLISH TRANSLATION MADE BY SECOND-
YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

I. BACKGROUND TO THE TOPIC

In the context of globalization and international integration, translation has become a crucial part of various
social fields, such as education, culture, and the economy. From a cultural perspective, "Translation builds
bridges between cultures. It allows non-native individuals to experience cultural phenomena that would

otherwise be too foreign and remote to grasp through their own cultural lens." (Šimurka, 2020, para. 7). When

it comes to education, translation has the ability to enhance the foreign language learning process as it paves
the way for the learners to figure out the differences and similarities between the source language and the target
one, arousing their curiosity about linguistic and cultural aspects of both countries. From a financial prospect,
the translator is considered as one of the most decent jobs in this day and age. According to a new report,
people working as a translator in Vietnam are able to earn approximately 16.000.000 VND per month
(Translator Average Salary in Vietnam 2021 - The Complete Guide, n.d, p. 1)
 
At Hue University of Foreign Languages, Translation Practice 1 and Translation Practice 2 are compulsory
subjects and play a deciding role in students' discipline classification in the 3rd year. However, a considerable
number of second-year English majored students say that they find it challenging to excel at those subjects and
regularly make numerous mistakes during the translation process, affecting their academic results severely.
Moreover, they have had to face many unsolved problems and difficulties, leading to a paucity of learning
motivation for the subjects mentioned above.

Concerning that Vietnamese-English translation constitutes considerable obstacles to 2 nd-year English majored
students, who just approach and practice translation for the very first time, we decided to conduct this research
with a view to finding out students' common errors made in Vietnamese-English rendering and their possible
causes.

1.2 Significance

Pham and Truong (2019) claimed that “any errors identified can be a valuable feedback for students and
teachers to help improving their translation ability to meet the demand of their future coming soon jobs” (p.
91). Therefore, we strongly believe that the results of this study will be of great benefit for the following:

a. Students.
Students will be able to grasp errors that they are likely to make when translating Vietnamese-English texts and
also figure out the factors leading to them. From our findings, we hope that they can figure out solutions for

4
themselves to solve those errors as well as improve their translation ability to achieve good results in
translating-related subjects and meet the demand of their future job as a translator. 

b. Translation lecturers
The results of this research also give the lecturers an overview of students' practice in translating-related
subjects. Thanks to it, they can develop suitable teaching methods to improve translation teaching.

1.3 Research problems

Most research students are undergraduates lacking essential skills and sufficient experience in conducting
scientific research. Also, we had to cope with obstacles while approaching the research subject. Besides, the
number of relevant studies conducted in Vietnam is minimal. 
 
Most importantly, previous research has tended to focus on common types of errors made in English-
Vietnamese translation rather than Vietnamese-English one. The additional problem is that most researchers
chose translation-majored students, who probably have experienced translating-related courses, as the primary
research subject. Those have raised many questions regarding whether there is still the existence of undetected
errors and possible causes. Plus, no relevant research conducted in Vietnam has used interviews as a method to
collect data. Instead, they have entirely concentrated on written translation tests to do so. Therefore, by utilizing
both interviews and a written Vietnamese-English translation test, we firmly believe that the gaps in previous
studies would be filled, and new valuable discoveries would be figured out.
 
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
2.1 Research aims

Our knowledge of the topic is largely based on very limited data. The aim of the research was consequently to:
 
- Identify common errors committed in Vietnamese-English translation made by the second-year English
students at HUFL.

- Explore the potential causes of making errors in Vietnamese-English rendering.

- Help students intending to work as a translator recognize errors that are regularly made in Vietnamese-
English translation and self-correct those errors, and figure out their own effective methods to improve their
translation ability.

- Support translation teachers in building suitable pedagogical methods of teaching translation for students.
 
 
2.2 Research questions
5
 
The study seeks to find answers to the following questions:
 
1. What are common types of errors made by the second-year English majored students at Hue University of
Foreign Languages when translating from Vietnamese to English?
2. How often do the second-year English-majored students at HUFL commit errors in Vietnamese-English
translation?
3. What are the potential explanations for those errors?

CHAPTER 3. LITERATURE REVIEW

In this section, we first would provide several theoretical backgrounds of our research. Subsequently,
we would like to offer an overall view of previous studies, which are divided into two categories
namely “Qualitative method Studies” and “Mixed method studies”.

3.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

3.1.1. Translation
According to Catford (1995), "Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language
(Source Language) by equivalent textual material in another language (Target Language)."(p. 20).
Technically, the word "translation" refers to movement, transfer, and changes; hence, translation is a
change of language and a transformation of various text elements to make sense for a new audience.
Also, Chan (2003) claimed that the "creation of translation itself is based on the original meaning and
should be faithful to the original spirit."(p. 40). Pham, Truong, and Nguyen (2019), having the same
opinion as researchers mentioned above, claimed, "Translation can be considered as transferring
meaning from the source language to the target language in written texts to give the sense of originality
and naturalness of the expression."(p. 83). From the researchers' definitions of translation, it could be
concluded that "translation is a process of transmitting the message from the source language with the
closest natural both the term and the style of the target language." (Salam, Akil, & Rahman, 2017).
 
3.1.2. Errors
When it comes to the term "error", it usually is understood as something wrong. Academically, errors
reflect students' gaps in knowledge, and as Keshavarz (2011) claimed, "Errors are considered to be
systematic, governed by rule and also regarded as rule-governed when they follow the rules of the
learner's interlanguage.". Also, according to Lennon (1991), an error is a “linguistic form or
combination of form which, in the same context and under similar conditions of production, would, in
all likelihood, not be produced by the speaker’ native speaker counterparts”.

3.1.3. Errors in Translation

As Pym (1991) claimed in his research, translation errors are also referred to as mistranslations and
mismatches. Also, Hansen (2010) supposed that "translation errors can be caused by misunderstanding
of the translation brief, or of the content of the Source Text (ST), by not rendering the meaning of the
ST accurately, by factual mistakes, terminological or stylistic flaws, and by different kinds of
interferences between Source Text and Target Text”. Translation errors show the inability of students
to express the meaning of the source text in the target text, or some distortion of the source text, even
though the sentences may be grammatically correct. (Pham & Truong, 2019) 

Several researchers have also figured out some translation errors that translators commonly have to
cope with. According to Popescu (2013), there are three types of errors: linguistic error,

6
comprehension error, and translation errors. Moreover, Youfi (2014) said that since translators lack
knowledge in both source language and target language, such as sentence structure, vocabulary,
punctuation, it leads to further errors in translation, which are classified into three categories: linguistic
error, cultural error, and stylistic error. 

On the other hand, some researchers pointed out that translation training also has to take partial
responsibility for errors because it has failed to provide translation trainees with sufficient material. In
2015, Kafipour and Jahanshahi found three other types of translation errors: language error,
miscellaneous error, and rendition error. Two years later, Wongranu (2017) complemented two more
translation errors: syntactic error and semantic error. Besides, other kinds of errors were detected,
including lexical error, morphological error, and syntax error. Those aforementioned errors were
discovered by Silahahi, Rafli, and Rasyid (2018) as the result of their research on English-Indonesia
translation. 

3.2 PREVIOUS STUDIES

3.2.1. Mixed method studies 

Nguyen and Trieu (2015) investigated common errors in Vietnamese-English translation committed by
the Translation and Interpreting major sophomores at VNU University of Language and International
Studies to provide suggestions for enhancing the translation practice. The researchers applied both
qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data, including interviews, questionnaires, and
document observations. Specifically, three students showing their interest in participating in interviews
were interviewed individually. After implementing the three methods with 81 second-year students (3
ones with interviews), they figured out that linguistic error and translation error are the two types of
errors students are likely to make.
 
The study of Nguyen and Trieu applied up to three means of data collection. Those methods would
definitely pave the way for them to figure out both common translation errors made by the Translation
and Interpreting major sophomores and causes of those errors. Besides, the number of participants was
quite ideal (81 persons). However, the number of interview participants was so limited that we are
suspicious about its ability to provide the researchers with enough in-depth answers to the research
questions.
 
In 2014, Dinh carried out a study to investigate common errors in Vietnamese-English translation of
English translator trainees working at Nui Phao Mining Company. There were two different groups of
participants: 10 English translator trainees and four experienced English translators. While 30
translation texts with various topics and questionnaires were applied to translator trainees to collect
data, the experienced translators were asked to participate in interviews to gather further information.
Through the three methods, it was found out that the English translator trainees were likely to commit
the following errors: using of the preposition, word forms, word orders, verb tenses, lexical choice, and
omission errors. 
 
Similarly, with 30 translation texts in various topics and questionnaires, Dinh's study would desire to
dive deeper into common types of errors made by the English translator trainees working at Nui Phao
Mining Company. Besides, four experienced translators were asked to participate in interviews that,
from our perspective, should have been carried out on the translation trainees in order to gain more
insightful information about challenges they have to cope with during translating English-Vietnamese
texts. 
 

7
Ardeshiri and Zarafshan (2014) explored challenges in English-Persian translation that students at
Islamic Azad University have to face. In this research, Persian -English translation text and in-depth
interviews were carried out on 30 English Language Translation students to collect data. From
analyzing the information collected, it was initially found that the most common problem in translating
is pragmatic sense. Ultimately, it was the misunderstanding of the source text's central message that
helped the students translate pragmatic senses correctly.

Ardeshir and Zarafshan also used a translation text and in-depth interviews to collect data. However,
they aimed only at a small specific aspect of translation errors (pragmatic senses) while various other
errors should be figured out.
 
The means of data collection of three studies were a highlight because they certainly paved the way for
the researchers to gain a great deal of valuable information for their studies. However, all three studies
were not able to take full advantage of those methods. Furthermore, because the research subjects were
mainly those having some experience in translation, we were concerned that the researchers tended to
concentrate on complicated and advanced translation errors and were likely to ignore the basic ones
that also have a vital role to play in improving translation ability of both inexperienced and
experienced translators. Inheriting the valuable findings of the studies above, we would complement
all questionnaires, interviews, and a written Vietnamese - English translation text to the second-year
English major students approaching basic translation for the very first time to find out more types of
translation errors that the students are likely to commit.
 
3.2 2. Qualitative method studies
 
Pham and Truong (2019) analyzed the errors in English-Vietnamese translation made by English major
students at Hung Vuong University to notify several pedagogical implications that can be applied to
help better the translation ability of students. Through a written English-Vietnamese translation taken
by 25 English major students, essential data was collected and then evaluated by utilizing Guide Sheet
for Translation Error Analysis adapted from Na Pham (2015). It was found out that there were two
types of errors that were regularly committed during the translation process: comprehension and
translation (transfer) errors. 

Also, Yuliasri (2016) researched the common linguistic errors that English Foreign Language students
make in translating from their mother tongue to a foreign language. Specifically, the study selected 26
semester students of the Indonesian-English Translation Course at the Department of Unnes to take an
Indonesian text about early childhood education. By comparing the translated texts with the original
ones, it is found that all of the participants committed linguistic errors in their performance.
 
Both studies used only the qualitative method to collect data, and in this case, the researchers utilized
translation texts. However, this particular method was conducted on inexperienced people in
translation. As a result, a written translation text in each study is not enough because the researchers
cannot adequately figure out the errors that the inexperienced translators often make when translating
from their mother tongue to English and vice versa. Furthermore, the range of knowledge on a
particular topic varies in each person. Therefore, a translation text about a specific topic could not help
pointing out the gaps in knowledge of the research subjects completely.
 
Particularly, in Vietnam, the number of relevant studies is high. However, they mainly concentrate on
errors made in English-Vietnamese translation, while studies like those of Nguyen and Trieu are quite
rare. Therefore, by approaching the same problem but on the opposite side (Vietnamese-English
translation) , we firmly believe there would be much more valuable findings discovered. 

8
 
Last but not least, because we grasped the gaps in the studies mentioned above, and also the primary
research subject of our study is second-year students who are essentially practicing translation for the
first time, we decided to combine all in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and a written Vietnamese-
English text in our research to find out common errors that the second-year English major students at
Hue University of Foreign Languages often commit and to gain insightful information about problems
that they often have to cope with during translation process.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 Project design
In this study, we decided to utilized mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative approaches because
“the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding of
research problems than either approach alone” (Cresswell, 2013).
4.2 Participants

All participants will be recruited voluntarily, and their information will be kept entirely confidential
throughout this research.

Our study population will be a group of 50 second-year English major students at Hue University of
Foreign Languages, including 25 males and 25 females. At the time, they had finished their
Translation Practice 1 and have been studying Translation Practice 2. Therefore, their grades in the
previous subject will be one of the criteria for choosing the participants. Specifically, we will aim to
select ten students in both genders achieving the marks from 8-10, while the other students will be the
ones scoring below 8 or less. The students of five Translation Practice 2 classes will be selected to take
part in our study after we have permission from them and their instructors.

4.3. Data collection tools

4.3.1 The questionnaire
4.3.2 The interview
4.3.3 The Vietnamese-English translation task
With a view to answering the Research Question 1, we decided to apply a Vietnamese-English written
translation test. The text was adapted from part of an article on building materials for the general
audience. It consists of 304 words, including the title, and is aimed to provide us with qualitative data.
As we mentioned above, the text is about building materials (Construction), one of the four vital topics
that the second-year English students at HUFL have been learning at school and is likely to meet at the
final translation examination. The participants will have to do the test within 45 minutes without any
supportive tools, such as paper dictionaries or smartphones. Their results will be existing in the ready-
made sheet of paper. After that, we will analyze the products of all 50 participants to find out common
errors made by them.

4.2.4 Piloting

The Vietnamese-English translation test

The test was piloted with three volunteer second-year English major students. In terms of the finish
time, the first participants achieving 7.5 in Practice Translation 1 finished it in 43 minutes. The second
person scoring 8.8 in the final subject result got it done 2 minutes later than the allotted time (45

9
minutes). Finally, gaining 9.0 in the aforementioned subject, the third students completed the test in
exactly 45 minutes.

After having the test done, each student was asked several questions to see if they met any problems
relating to the content of the test or the time allowance during the trial. Regarding its content, all
students answered that the test successfully simulated the translation assignments in the same topic
(Construction) that they often practised at school. Also, they supposed that the time allowance was
sufficient for them to do it cautiously and revise their products. With the responses from the three
participants, we can temporarily conclude that the test is qualified to be applied as a data collector for
our study.

CHAPTER 5. TIMELINE

Dates Tasks
- Attending Research Methods ‘s Seminar
June - July 2021
- Refining research topic
August 2021 - Reading and analyzing existing literature
From September to October 2021 Writing review of literature chapter
Preparing for data collection :
- finding potential participants
- drawing up the questionnaire, interview
From November, 2021 to January, 2022
questions, and a Vietnamese-English
translation test.
- Conducting pilot study
- Collecting raw data
- Analyzing collected data
From February to April, 2022
- Finishing writing the result and
conclusion chapter
May 2022 Completing research report
June 2022 Revising and submitting final report

References

10
- Ardeshiri, M., & Zarafshan, M. (2014). Students’ causes of errors in translating pragmatic senses.
International Journal of English and Education, 3(4), 238-253.

- Catford, J. (1995). A linguistic theory of translation. Oxford University Press.

- Chang, S. (2003). Some crucial issues on the translation of poetic discourse from Chinese to English.
GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 3(2), 36-63.

- Creswell, J. W. (2013). What is mixed methods research [video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OaNiTlpyX8

- Dinh, T. H. (2014). Common errors in Vietnamese-English translation made by English translator

trainees at Nui Phao Mining Company Limited. Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

- Hansen, G. (2010). Handbook of Translation Studies. In Y. Gambier, & L. V. Doorslaer (Eds.),

Translation “errors” (p. 385). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

- Kafipour, R., & Jahanshahi, M. (2015). Error analysis of English translation of Islamic texts by
Iranian translators. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2(3), 238-252.

- Keshavarz, M. H. (2011). Contrastive analysis and error analysis. Tehran, Iran: Rahnama
Publication.

- Lennon, P. (1991). Error: Some problems of definition, identification, and distinction. Applied
Linguistics, 12(2), 180-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/12.2.180

- Pham, N. (2005). Errors in the translation of topic-comment structures of Vietnamese into English. A
dissertation. The University of Sydney, Australia. Retrieved from http://researchdirect.
westernsydney.edu.au

- Nguyen, H., & Truong, H. (2015). Vietnamese-English translation errors made by second year
translation-major students: An initial step towards enhancing translation standards. Journal of Science,
31(1), 22-32.

- Pham, C., & Truong, N. (2019). Common errors committed by linguistic students when translating
from English into Vietnamese. Journal of Science and Technology, 17(4), 90-100.

- Pham, C., Truong, N., & Nguyen, T. (2019). An analysis of linguistic errors committed in translation
by English major students at Hung Vuong University. Journal of Science and Technology, 14(1), 82-
94.

- Popescu, T. (2013). A corpus-based approach to translation errors analysis. A case-study of

Romanian EFL learners. Procedia - Social and Behavior Sciences, 83, 242-247.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.048

- Pym, A. (1992). Translation and text transfer: An essay on the principles of intercultural
communication. Frankfurt am Main, German: Peter Lang.
- Salam, Z., Akil, M., & Rahman, A. (2017). Translation errors made by Indonesian-English translators
in crowdsourcing translation application. ELT Worldwide, 4(2), 195-204.
https://doi.org/10.26858/eltww.v4i2.4503

11
- Silalahi, M., Rafli, Z., & Rasyid, Y. (2018). The analysis of errors in translation of scientific text
from English to Indonesian language. Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning, 3(1), 23-27.
DOI:10.26737/jetl.v1i1.456

- Šimurka, M. (2020, November 20). The Importance of Translation. Retrieved from

https://www.lexika-translations.com/blog/the-importance-of-translation/

- Translator Average Salary in Vietnam 2021 - The Complete Guide. (n.d.). Salary Explorer. Retrieved April
20, 2021, from http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?
loc=236&loctype=1&job=124&jobtype=3#:%7E:text=A%20person%20working%20as%20a,%2C
%20transport%2C%20and%20other%20benefits.

- Wongranu, P. (2017). Errors in translation made by English major students: A Study on types and
causes. Kasetsart Journal of Social Science, 38, 117-122.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2016.11.003

- Yousofi, N. (2014). Describing the Errors in the Translations of Iranian Novice English Translators.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1952-1958.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.628
- Yuliasri, I. (2016). Students’ common errors in translation. 2016: 5th UNNES International
Conference on ELTLT, 325-329.

12