The Pedagogy of Corpus-aided English-Chinese Translation from a Critical & Creative Perspective

Abstract

With the advancement of corpus linguistics, there has been an increasing interest in using corpora as a tool for translator training and translation practice. Despite the usefulness of corpora in translation pedagogy, the more and more reliance on parallel corpora in translating activities has diminished the ability to determine the meaning of words within different contexts using dictionaries. However, it has hampered the enhancement of translation competence of trainee translators. This study investigates the necessity of adopting critical and creative thinking in the teaching of corpus-aided English-Chinese translation. It first examines the increasing importance of corpora in aiding translator training and translating practice. A critical analysis was adopted to analyze a translation case using a parallel corpus. Thirteen Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice's opening remark were compared and analyzed critically and creatively with the aid of different corpora. Pedagogical implications for translation teaching were summarized.