Graduate School

Name: Jecelle M. Bolodo Course: MAE English Language Education

Proposed Title
Oral and Written Translation:
A Comparative Analysis of Causes of Problems and Translation Errors

Reason(s)/Justification(s) in Choosing the Topic:

Translation is the transmission of the meaning of a source-language text by means
of a corresponding target-language text. The English language illustrates a terminological
distinction between translating (a written text) and interpreting (oral or signed
communication between users of different languages). It was not until the second half of
this century that ‘Translation Studies’ developed into a discipline, although translation
has existed for many centuries.

The purpose of the translator/interpreter is to help individuals and groups

understand each other and even help facilitate an agreement between different parties.
However, above all, the translator/interpreter’s utmost duty is to understand the original
message, translate it, and effectively convey it in the target language. A skilled translator
is not only bilingual but bicultural. They also need a wide range of knowledge that
language is not only merely a collection of words and of rules of grammar and syntax for
generating sentences, but also a vast interconnecting system of connotations and the
cultural references. Thus, we shall focus first on translation problems, and specifically, on
the self-perceived causes of these problems to distinguish translation approaches. This
aims to identify specific causes of translation issues, strategies applied to solve them, and
the number and types of major errors produced.

This comparative analysis between oral and written translation emerges due to the
causes of problems and translation errors found in different texts, literatures, and other
platforms. Wherein, translation difficulties and strategies to getting insights into the
translation process have been dealt with by several authors both from the written and oral
translation perspective.
Expected Contribution to the Growth of Knowledge in Language Education:

This study presents several cognitive aspects of the oral and written translation
process within the translation skill construct using a comparative analysis. Finding some
proof of specific translation competence skills in translation tasks and comparing these
data in oral translation and written translation to analytically check if oral translation can
really be considered an interpreting mode.

The study of the translation process is closely connected with the study of
translation strategies the answer to what goes on in the translator mind relates to what the
translator does to solve problems (Hurtado, 2001). To access this process, we aimed at
identifying specific causes of translation problems, strategies applied to solve them, and
the number and types of major errors produced.

We understand that the concept of strategy has been widely discussed in many
disciplines including translation studies but an analysis of the cognitive nature of strategy
exceeds the purpose of this work.
List of Related Literature and Related Studies Consulted:

 Amparo M. Sight Translation and Written Translation. A Comparative Analysis

of Causes of Problems, Strategies and... ResearchGate. Published October 2008.
Accessed August 30, 2021.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47417048_Sight_Translation_and_Writt
en_Translation_A_Comparative_Analysis_of_Causes_of_Problems_Strategies_a
nd_Translation_Errors_within_the_PACTE_Translation_Competence_Model
 Hurtado Albir, Amparo. 2001. Traducción y traductología. Madrid: Cátedra: