No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This classroom-based longitudinal study examines the language-related episodes (LREs) engendered by pedagogical translation tasks and monolingual tasks. Specifically, the study investigated the discourse features and discussion patterns of LREs yielded in discussions of the two different types of tasks in L2 classrooms. The present study was conducted in an authentic class environment and consisted of two experiments. One group participated in class discussions after being assigned L1-L2 translation tasks, while the other took part in class discussions after working on L2 writing tasks. The LREs elicited in the two group’s class discussions over ten sessions of class discussions were scrutinized. Inductive thematic analysis shows that LREs produced in the concerned experimental tasks included ‘concern-based LREs’ and six different types of ‘response-based LREs’. Striking difference was observed in LRE patterns produced by the translation group and the writing group. The findings revealed that pedagogical translation tasks engendered LREs with deeper level of engagement and more enduring discussions than L2 monolingual tasks. The concern-based and response-based LREs arisen in this study contributes to a new framework for LRE categorization.

This article identifies the translation approaches adopted in the translation of names of tourist sites in China and examines how ‘fame’ and ‘popularity’ may influence these approaches. Upon analyzing a corpus of scenic site names, it is found that ‘pure phonetic’, ‘phonetic (name) + semantic (class)’, ‘pure semantic’, and ‘phonetic (location) + semantic (name) are the four major patterns in the translations of site names. On the whole, the data shows that phonetic translation is dominant over semantic translation. Meanwhile, ‘fame’ and ‘popularity’ have great impact on the translated names of scenic sites. The findings also suggest that a phonetic translation approach is preferred in rendering names of world-famous sites whereas a semantic translation approach is more frequently used for the name translation of sites located in places with higher popularity. The conflicting results reflect China’s struggle between preserving its cultural flavor for the sake of national identity and catering to foreign visitors for the benefit of the country’s tourism development.