Teaching Business Chinese Translation to Thai Undergraduates: Problems, Difficulties and Implications

Abstract

This research aims to (1) identify common problems and potential difficulties Thai undergraduates faced when they practicing their translation skills from Thai to Chinese, (2) examine Thai students’ perceptions on their knowledge and skill; and (3) investigate Thai students’ feedback on Thai-Chinese translation teaching materials and teaching methods. Based on the literature review, a 20-item survey was designed. The questionnaire’s Cronbach’s Alpha reliability is .868 (>.70). At the first semester of academic year 2014, the survey was distributed to the fourth-year students who are studying Thai-Chinese translation at Business Chinese (BC) Department and Chinese for Economy & Trade (CET) Department of Assumption University. The results indicated that most Thai translation students have weak Chinese foundation. Thai students often make grammatical errors, write wrong Chinese characters, and use inappropriate vocabularies and incorrect punctuations. Thai students find it difficult to translate Chinese idiom, business terminology, proper name, and Chinese measure word. The study’s findings offer useful information that is applicable for improving business Chinese translation teaching and learning.