Các phương thức dịch cụm danh từ tiếng anh sang tiếng việt trong các văn bản công nghệ thông tin và truyền thông

..

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRINH THI THU HUYEN

PROCEDURES FOR ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE NOMINAL
GROUPS TRANSLATION IN INFORMATION AND
COMMUNUCATIONS TECHNOLOGY DOCUMENTS
(Các phương thức dịch cụm danh từ từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt
trong các văn bản công nghệ thông tin và truyền thông)

M.A. THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2019


THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

TRINH THI THU HUYEN

PROCEDURES FOR ENGLISH – VIETNAMESE NOMINAL
GROUPS TRANSLATION IN INFORMATION AND
COMMUNUCATIONS TECHNOLOGY DOCUMENTS
(Các phương thức dịch cụm danh từ từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt
trong các văn bản công nghệ thông tin và truyền thông)

M.A. THESIS
(APPLICATION ORIENTATION)

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van

THAI NGUYEN – 2020



STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby certify that the research paper entitled “Procedures for English –
Vietnamese nominal groups translation in information and communications
technology documents” constitutes my own product, that where the language of
others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given
where I have used the language, ideas, expressions or writings of another. This work
has not been and will not be submitted for any other degree at any other institution of
higher education.
Author’s signature

Trịnh Thị Thu Huyền

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van
Date: October, 2019

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the special and important
persons who have contributed to different aspects of this study. They have all made
it possible for me to commence and complete this paper. I would like to acknowledge
and commend them for their help that has worked towards the success of this study.
First and foremost, this research could not have been completed without the help
of my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van. I am deeply grateful to him for his keen
interest in me at every stage of this research. His prompt inspirations, timely
suggestions with kindness, enthusiasm and dynamism have enabled me to complete
the study.
I also wish to thank profusely all the lecturers at the Department of PostGraduate Studies, School of Foreign Langues, Thai Nguyen University for the
variable knowledge they have provided me and for their help so that I can get over
many difficulties for the past two years.
Last but not least, from the bottom of my heart, I am extremely thankful to my
beloved families and other friends for their constant encouragement throughout my
research period.
Once again, I thank all those who have encouraged and helped me to complete
this study.

ii


ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the appropriate application of
translation procedures to handle NGs of high frequency in the chosen ICT documents.
In order to achieve that aim, the basic theory of translation along with the general
information regarding the definition, structure and classification of NGs are
discussed. Besides, several translation procedures employed to deal with the

predominant types of NGs in the selected text are analyzed. The findings reveal that
eight main translation procedures are used to translate NGs of the source texts from
English into Vietnamese including transposition, expansion, literal translation,
recognized translation, paraphrase, reduction, transference and naturalization. To
specify how and why the translation procedures are applied, each procedure is
explained with typical examples extracted from the chosen documents. Furthermore,
in particular cases, the combination of translation procedures is required to produce
desired translated versions. To conclude the study, some implications, unpreventable
limitations and suggestions for future studies are proposed for further improvement
of NGs translation practice.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ..........................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................vi
LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................vii
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1.1.

Rationale of the study .................................................................................... 1

1.2.

Aims of the study ........................................................................................... 2

1.3.

Research questions ........................................................................................ 2

1.4.

Significance of the study ............................................................................... 3

1.5.

Scope of the study.......................................................................................... 3

1.6.

Design of the study ........................................................................................ 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 5
2.1.

Previous studies ........................................................................................... 12

2.2.

Translation theory .......................................................................................... 5

2.2.1.

Definition of translation .......................................................................... 5

2.2.2.

An overview of technical translation ...................................................... 5

2.3.

English NGs and procedures to translate English NGs ................................. 6

2.3.1.

English NGs ............................................................................................ 6

2.3.2.

Procedures to translate English NGs ...................................................... 8

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 14
3.1.

Method of the study ..................................................................................... 14

3.1.1.

Definition of content analysis ............................................................... 14

3.1.2.

Rationale for choosing content analysis ............................................... 15

3.2.

Data collection ............................................................................................. 15

3.2.1.

Data of the study ................................................................................... 15

3.2.2.

Data collection procedure ..................................................................... 18

iv


3.3.

Data analysis ................................................................................................ 19

CHAPTER 4. DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ...................................... 21
4.1.

Introduction of the selected documents ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2.

Data analysis ................................................................................................ 21

4.2.1.

Classification of English NGs according to structure .......................... 21

4.2.2.

Classification of English NGs according to translation procedures ..... 22

4.3.

Applied translation procedures .................................................................... 24

4.3.1.

Shift or transposition ............................................................................. 24

4.3.2.

Expansion.............................................................................................. 31

4.3.3.

Literal translation .................................................................................. 35

4.3.4.

Recognized translation .......................................................................... 39

4.3.5.

Paraphrase ............................................................................................. 40

4.3.6.

Reduction .............................................................................................. 42

4.3.7.

Transference.......................................................................................... 44

4.3.8.

Naturalization........................................................................................ 46

4.3.9.

Combination of different translation procedures .................................. 46

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 48
5.1.

Summary of the findings ............................................................................. 48

5.2.

Implications for translators .......................................................................... 49

5.3.

Limitations of the study ............................................................................... 50

5.4.

Suggestions for further research .................................................................. 50

REFERENCE .......................................................................................................... 51
APPENDICE ........................................................................................................... 53

v


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ICT:

Information and communications technology

NGs: Nominal groups

vi


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Examples of NGs post-modifiers ............................................................... 8
Table 4.1: Examples of NGs by converting plural into singular .............................. 25
Table 4.2: Examples of using transposition of nouns ............................................... 27
Table 4.3: Examples of using transposition of adjectives ......................................... 28
Table 4.4: Examples of using transposition of participle.......................................... 28
Table 4.5: Examples of using transposition of ‘s genitive ........................................ 29
Table 4.6: Examples of using transposition of complex pre-modifiers .................... 30
Table 4.7: Examples of using the combination of two transposition types .............. 31
Table 4.8: Examples of using expansion with NGs consisting of only a noun ........ 32
Table 4.9: Examples of using expansion with NGs consisting of an adjective, a

noun or participle as pre-modifiers ........................................................................... 33
Table 4.10: Example of using expansion with NGs consisting of complex
elements ..................................................................................................................... 35
Table 4.11: Examples of using literal translation with NGs consisting of a single
noun ........................................................................................................................... 36
Table 4.12: Examples of using literal translation with NGs consisting of one noun
as post modifiers ....................................................................................................... 37
Table 4.13: Examples of using literal translation with NPs have prepositional
phrases consisting of complex elements as post modifiers ....................................... 38
Table 4.14: Examples of using recognized translation ............................................. 39
Table 4.15: Examples of using paraphrase ............................................................... 41
Table 4.16: Examples of using reduction .................................................................. 43
Table 4.17: Examples of using transference ............................................................. 45

vii


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1: Distribution of NGs structures found in the chosen English texts ......... 21
Figure 4.2: Distribution of translation procedures applied to translate NGs in the
chosen English texts .................................................................................................. 23

viii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This chaper provides an insight into why the current research focuses on the
translation procedures of different NGs’ constructions, the proposed aims and
research questions which serve as the backbone for the thorough investigation
process. Besides, the significance and scope of the study are also highlighted. Then,

the way in which the entire research is built is given with general description for each
chapter.
1.1. Rationale of the study
It is evident that information and communications technology (ICT) has held an
important and indispensable role in this integrated world. This field has a profound
effect on not only the development of the globe in general but also the
industrialization and modernization of Vietnam in particular. In order to be equipped
with the cutting-edge intelligence of human beings in ICT aspect, there is an urgent
need for Vietnamese to investigate the most advanced ICT materials which have
frequently been written in English. This paves the way for the flourishing demands
of ICT documents translated from English into Vietnamese.
Noticeably, the translation process which requires plenty of qualities poses a
number of challenges and obstacles on translators. Furthermore, technical translation
emphasizing on the accuracy of single details than other types of translation has
pushed communicators into difficulties in producing a translated version of high
quality. Byrne (2006) indicated that the responsibilities of translators in tackling a
technical document involve both adequate information transmission and the
guarantee that the data conveyed is exploited in an easy, precise and effective way by
readers.
Importantly, several impediments have been revealed for translators on the way
to fulfill the above missions. One among them is the distinctions of nominal groups
(NGs)’ structure between English and Vietnamese. It is observed that the rendering
of NGs which normally occur in a high frequency in technical texts encounters
hindrances partly due to the contrast in the grammatical structure of NGs between the

1


two languages. For illustration, in English NGs structure, an adjective comes before
the head noun whilst Vietnamese’s NGs constructions witness an opposite word

order. In addition, terminology demanding a grasp of specialized knowledge is
another factor leading to the confusion of communicators. For these reasons, NGs are
chosen as the subject for investigation of this study.
Thanks to the invaluable works of previous linguists, many translation
procedures were defined so as to solve the mentioned problems. Nonetheless, the
application of these procedures into a specific context varies from one to another and
entails a deep study into every particular case.
With the hope to contribute efforts to eliminate the above difficulties for the
translation community in general and for individuals who are interested in ICT
translation in particular, this thesis focuses on the application of translation
procedures in NGs translation from English into Vietnamese.
For the aforementioned reasons, relevant texts in the context of ICT has been
chosen for thorough research and analysis.
1.2. Aims of the study
The research is implemented to achieve the following aims:
 to examine the frequency and the diversity of NGs’ structures found in the
source texts;
 to review translation procedures unveiled by antecedent linguistic experts to
address NGs translation; and
 to study the proper application of translation procedures of translating English
nominal groups in ICT texts into Vietnamese.
Of the three aims, the third one is considered the focus of the research.
1.3. Research questions
The following questions are put forward for the research:
 What are the frequency and diversity of NG’s structures in the source texts?
 What are translation procedures applied to translating NGs’ structures of
English ICT texts into Vietnamese?

2

1.4. Significance of the study
Due to a variety of difficulties arisen in the translation process, this study is
hoped to be a referential document for those dealing with the pool of translation. The
analysis presented in the research may be used as a piece of consultative information
when struggling with NG translation from English into Vietnamese. By connecting
the translation procedures proposed by previous researchers and the actual NGs
occurring in the purposively chosen texts, the relationship between the two subjects
is highlighted. This is beneficial for the translation practice of linguistic students or
beginning translators. Additionally, this study is managed to contribute to the
translation community in the global scope in particular and in Vietnamese in general
by stimulating more investigations performed in this field.
1.5. Scope of the study
In terms of the subject, the research is aimed at discussing the translation of the
nominal groups in some articles whose content is about the industry of ICT. Within
the given period, the study is better to be conducted on such a scale so that the stated
aims can be obtained adequately and effectively.
Besides, the paper focuses on the translation process of the selected documents
from English into Vietnamese. This means other linguistic phenomena are out of the
scope of the study and are excluded. Added to this, the study gives priority to the way
in which NGs are rendered from the source language into the target one.
Consequently, only the translation procedures employed for NGs translation are
mentioned and investigated.
1.6. Design of the study
The paper contains four main parts:
• Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION includes the rationale, objectives, research
questions, significance and scope of the study; besides, a general structure of the
research is also mentioned.
• Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW provides information regarding
concerned paper conducted by previous scholars. In addition, the theory of translation

3


as well as an overview of NGs along with specific translation procedures to handle
NGs translation from English into Vietnamese are supplied.
• Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY specializes on the method of the study as well
as the data collection and analysis process.
• Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS focuses on analyzing NGs and
the procedures applied in NGs translation process. This is the main part of the paper.
• Chapter IV: CONCLUSION sums up the study and points out the limitations
and implications of the research. Also, recommendations and suggestions for future
studies are proposed.

4


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews the literature regarding not only related studies which have
been carried out by antecedent researchers but also basic translation theories
accompanied with English NGs structure and their translation procedures. This
background knowledge serves as a solid foundation for the deployment of the study.
Specifically, relevant theories are offered from a general to a particular perspective.
Firstly, some investigations into the concerned topic are furnished. Secondly, an
overview of translation is briefly discussed. Then, a discussion of English NGs
followed by useful translation procedures is provided.
2.1. Translation theory
2.1.1. Definition of translation
It is undeniable that translation is a long-term aspect that attracts the attention
and interest of various investigators all around the world. Hence, numerous attempts

have been made to supply the most suitable definition matching the nature of the
translation process. Bell (1991, p.20) defined this phenomenon as “the replacement
of a representation of a text in one language by representation of an equivalent text
in a second language”. In this conception, the expert emphasized the use of
equivalence in the target language. In another research, Newmark (1988, p.5) refers
to translation as the action of “rendering the meaning of a text into another language
in the way that the author intended the text”. Through this definition, Newmark
(1988) furnished another viewpoint that perceives the preserve of the author’s
intention as the backbone for a translation product.
Although different linguists possess diversified ways of expression to describe
the translation, they share the same common in the belief that translation is a process
of rendering text from the source language into the target language while the original
message remains unchanged.
2.1.2. An overview of technical translation
Technical translation is believed to make a marvelous contribution to the
widespread of the modern invention as well as the teaching and learning of English

5


for specific purposes. Newmark (1988, p. 151) proposed that “Technical translation
is one part of specialised translation; institutional translation, the area of politics,
commerce, finance, government etc., is the other.” It can be seen that technical
translation covering a wide range of various aspects is one of the primary translation
branches. Accordingly, there is a must for communicators to qualify an understanding
about a specific area to ensure that the whole source text is comprehended thoroughly
and misconceptions are avoided in the translation production. Nevertheless, it is
difficult for the translator to become a master in every area. Therefore, Byrne (2006)
suggested that a grasp of the basic knowledge about science and technology can
support translators in multiple types of technical translation.

2.2. English NGs and procedures to translate English NGs
2.2.1. English NGs
2.2.1.1. Definition of English NGs
NGs, when it is viewed under the grammatical perspective, is the cornerstone
in the structure of clause and sentence. This aspect of paramount importance is
analyzed in different approaches corresponding with the English NGs’ concepts from
distinctive angles. In regard to functions, NGs take the duty as “subject, object and
complement of clauses and as complement of prepositional phrases” (Quirk et al.
1985, p. 245). In terms of formation, Greenbaum and Nelson (2002) defined a noun
phrase as a word or a word combination in which noun or pronoun is situated in the
center. In the matter of constituents, Haan (1989, p. 8) stated that “a noun phrase is a
string of words which, syntactically is a constituent with an internal structure
containing a determiner, a modifier and a head”.
Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002) shared the same idea with Hann (1989) but put
forward a more concrete interpretation that NGs are constituted by four main
elements including Determiner, pre-modifiers, head (noun or pronoun), postmodifiers placed in the respective order. Among them, only the head is the
compulsory part of a noun phrase. This definition will serve as the basis for the
classification of NGs presented in the next section.

6


2.2.1.2. Classification of NGs
Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002) introduced a system of NGs’ classification
based on the types of pre-modifiers and post-modifier. According to this division,
there are three main types of pre-modifiers involving adjectives, participles and other
nouns, as displayed with instances below:
•

Adjective as pre-modifier

Ex: An interesting book
•

Participial pre-modifier

Ex: A written text
That running girl
•

Noun as pre-modifier

Ex: The cottage house
As claimed by Biber and his colleagues, the circumstances of NGs with multiple
pre-modifiers are not frequently detected in writing contexts. In spite of the absence
of transparent rules, the author group still discovered some typical pre-modification
sequence.
•

Adverb + adjective + head

Ex: A pleasantly surprised present
•

Adverb + noun + head

Ex: An increasing pollution level
•

Adjective + adjective + head

Ex: Dark blue eyes
In connection to post-modification, several categories of post-modifiers have
been constructed at both clause and phrase levels (Biber, Conrad & Leech 2002).
Clausal post-modifiers, in turn, are divided into finite clause which is simultaneously
relative clause and non-finite clause which is in the structure of ed-clause, ing-clause
and to-clause. Meanwhile, phrasal post-modifiers are commonly recorded in the form
of either appositive phrases or prepositional phrases. Although adjective phrases can

7


also act as a post-modifier, these situations are rare to happen. The following table
will provide a closer look at the organization of major post-modifiers in NGs.
Types of
modifiers

post- Constituents

Example
The book which I left on the table

relative clause
Clausal

post

The amount of money spent on defense
ed-clause

modifier

Phrasal
modifier

ing-clause

The girl wearing a blue skirt

to-clause

The criteria to evaluate a book

post appositive phrase

The U.S.A president, Donald Trump

preposition phrase

The bookshop at the corner of the street

Table 2.1: Examples of NGs post-modifiers
The above classification can be used as a representative from the standpoint of
almost all the proposed hypotheses. However, in some other material, ’s genitive is
also included in the list of noun modification.
Ex: I was distracted by the children’s noise.
2.2.2. Procedures to translate English NGs
As stated by Newmark (1988), whilst translation methods are used to handle the
whole text, translation procedures are applied to smaller units of the document. The
author listed nearly twenty translation procedures in his work for appropriate

application in particular contexts. Nonetheless, within the scope of this research, only
translation procedures that may be exploited in our chosen text are discussed.
2.2.2.1. Literal translation
Newmark (1988, p. 69) argued that literal translation differs from word-forword as well as one-to-one translation owing to its wide range from “one word to one
word, through group to group, collocation to collocation, clause to clause, to sentence
to sentence”. Although it is believed to be the basic translation procedure, it may not

8


work well with units above word level. That is the reason why other translation
procedures are needed.
Ex: Nguyen Cong Ai and Vu Tuan Phuong (1983) suggested that “the whole
realm” is translated as “toàn bộ vương quốc này”.
2.2.2.2. Transference
Through the analysis of Newmark (1988), transference, or it may be named
emprunt, loan word or transcription is outlined as a procedure preserving the original
words from the source text to the target text. This strategy is applied for proper nouns
such as the name of people, places, addresses, private or public institutions and so on
with the exception that recognized translation is available.
Ex: The word “botnet” in “Details of the botnet information” was retained in
the translated version as “Thông tin chi tiết về máy chủ botnet” (Nguyen Nhu Hiep,
Truong Hanh Hoa, Tran Quynh Trang, 2013).
2.2.2.3. Shift or Transposition
Vinary and Darbelnet (1995) asserted that transposition is a technique in which
the part of speech is varied while the meaning is consistent. Agreeing with the outlook
of the two writers, Newmark (1988) even extended the study of the procedure to a
more comprehensive level. In Newmark’s point of view, a shift or transposition is a
procedure creating the distinctions between the original and the target language in
terms of grammar. This kind of translation procedure includes four main following

subtypes according to Newmark’s classification.
The first type leads to the alter in the number of nominal groups from singular
into plural or in the order of adjectives in phrases construction.
The second type is helpful in the case that there is no corresponding grammatical
structure in the target language.
The third type is employed when it is grammatically possible for literal
translation to be utilized; however, it may cause unnaturalness in the target language.
The fourth type is the use of a grammatical structure to compensate for the
virtual lexical gap.

9


Moreover, it is presented in the reviewed book that there are some other shifts
applied in the translation process.
Ex: Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Nguyen Thi Luyen and Nguyen Thuy Nga (2014)
suggested that “contingency plans” should be converted as “kế hoạch dự phòng”
2.2.2.4. Recognized Translation
For institutional terms, “the official or generally accepted translation” is
recommended to be used by Newmark (1988, p.89). As they are widely known, it
may give rise to confusion if the translators choose their suggestions for these terms.
The dominance of terminologies in technical texts in general and in ICT documents,
in particular, facilitates the employment of recognized translation. Thus, recognized
translation is considered a potential procedure applied to the chosen documents.
Ex: “Market” was rendered into Vietnamese as “thị trường”, rather than into its
common meaning “chợ” (Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Nguyen Thi Luyen & Nguyen
Thuy Nga, 2014).
2.2.2.5. Paraphrase
Though providing different expressions, Newmark (1988) and Delisle et al.
(1999) share the same thought about the paraphrasing process. In Newmark’s

definition, paraphrase is “an amplification or explanation of the meaning of a segment
of the text” (p. 90) while Delisle et al. (1999) dig into more details that paraphrase is
the expansion of a target text by using combinations of words or phrasal expressions
corresponding in terms of meaning to supersede for a word in the original text.
Ex: “Malicious PDF” was suggested to be translated as “tệp PDF chứa mã độc”
(Nguyen Nhu Hiep, Truong Hanh Hoa, Tran Quynh Trang, 2014).
2.2.2.6. Expansion
In the book “Translation Terminology” edited by Delisle et al. (1999),
expansion refers to a technique adding words of the same semantic content to the
target text to clarify the meaning of the words or phrases in the source text.

10


Ex: Tran Van Dich, Tran Xuan Viet, Nguyen Trong Doanh and Luu Van Nhanh
Nhang (2001) suggested that “programmable logic controllers” should be translated
as “các hệ điều khiển lơgich lập trình linh hoạt”.
2.2.2.7. Naturalization
From Newmark’s viewpoint (1988), this procedure is reckoned to be a successor
of transference. There are two levels for the adaption of the words from the source
language into the target language: normal pronunciation and normal morphology.
Ex: Hoang Van Chau and Do Huu Vinh (2004) recommended that “turbine”
should be translated as “tuabin” in Vietnamese.
2.2.2.8. Reduction
As specified in the Theory of Translation and Interpretation compiled and
synthesized by the School of Foreign Language, Ha Noi University of Science and
Technology, reduction or omission is a strategy of leaving out unnecessary words or
phrases which have little effect on the meaning and the impact of the text. In order to
ensure smooth and natural translation as well as to prevent distracting readers from
the overall meaning, it is requisite to omit those words in the translation process.

Ex: Nguyen Nhu Hiep, Truong Hanh Hoa and Tran Quynh Trang (2014)
suggested that the translated version in Vietnamese of “method of infection” is
“phương thức lây nhiễm”.

11


2.3.

Previous studies

The significance of translation has led to an increase in the amount of research
carried out on this issue. It can be easily seen that there is a pool of studies on different
angles of translation in the global scope. In Vietnam’s context particularly, the
integration process in the 21st century has paved the way for Vietnamese scholars to
conduct investigations into translation.
It is undeniable that the task of creating a desirable translation product leaves
numerous difficulties on translators. Understanding and experiencing this fact, Prof.
Dr. Hoang Van Van (1998, 2006) conducted two studies entitled respectively as “Một
số khó khăn trong việc dịch một văn bản khoa học từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt (Some
Problems Related to the Translation of a Scientific Text from English into
Vietnamese)” and “Nominalization in scientific discourse and the problems related
to the translation of the nominal group from English into Vietnamese” to reveal some
challenges concerning NGs that translators have to cope with as they translate them
from English into Vietnamese to fulfill their mission. His findings showed that the
problem lies on not only the complexity of structure and the ambiguity of syntax of
English NGs but also the decision on the words used and the sequence of elements of
the translated version.
Despite the grasp of the obstacles in NGs translation, it is not always an easy
task for translators to properly apply various translation methods, strategies, and

procedures to the source text. Additionally, different language items such as NGs,
verb phrases or relative clauses require distinctive treatments. These factors
contribute to the appearance of several examinations on the employment of the
translation components to particular situations. For instance, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang
(2007) conducted “A study on the translation of noun phrases in the weather forecasts
from English into Vietnamese” to analyze how translation methods are exploited to
handle NGs found in some samples of weather forecasts whilst Pham Thi Hong
(2006) decided to learn about translation strategies utilized for idioms in love story
composed by Erich Segal.

12


Due to the exceptional characteristics of technical documents, there are few
studies on this linguistic field. These analyses are often implemented by students
whose major is English for specific purposes but the studies’ scope is found to be
small and incomprehensive as they only deal with a single source text. As a way of
illustration, a group of students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology
(2004) executed an investigation into the way translation strategies are used to
process NGs in a specific mechanical engineering and material science document
named “Introduction to Robotics”. Another example is a study named “Strategies for
English - Vietnamese Relative Clauses Translation in Information and Technology
Documents” with the analyzed text “White paper cloud computing” or in 2019, Anh
conducted a research titled “Translation Strategies of English Noun Phrases in the
World Bank’s Report: “Vietnam’s future jobs – the Gender Dimension”
In conclusion, this chapter reviews basic theories on translation in general and
technical translation in particular, English NGs as well as procedures to render them
into Vietnamese. This chapter serves as a firm foundation to develop the study under
the requirements of research objectives.

13


CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the applied research approach and basic information of the main
method are mentioned. Additionally, the data collection and data analysis procedure
are described carefully.
3.1. Method of the study
In connection with the paper’s objectives and features which have been
determined at the early stage of the investigation, a combination of quantitative and
qualitative research approach with the primary assistance of the content analysis
method is exploited. More specifically, the information processed is presented in the
form of numbers, figures, percentages and tables to reinforce the findings while the
interpretation and discussion of data are deployed in a descriptive way.
The method employed to carry out the study is content analysis for examining
NGs’ characteristics as well as the procedures exploited in NGs translation from
English into Vietnamese. Specifically, a statistic of NGs occurring in the chosen texts
is conducted via a thorough investigation of the whole texts at first. Then, the found
NGs are classified according to the employed translation procedures. Finally, an
analysis of each translation procedure mainly used to deal with English NGs is
implemented.
3.1.1. Definition of content analysis
Thanks to its significance, content analysis is applied in not only the linguistics
aspect but also a wide range of other fields. Its extensive application urges previous
scholars to offer their views about its concept together with the surrounding factors.
Along with the development of human beings, the notion of content analysis is no
longer restricted to its traditional employment of interpreting the original message. It
has evolved into an effective research method which serves for the growth of science.
Berelson (1952) referred to content analysis as "a research technique for the objective,
systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication."

(p.18) whilst Holsti (1969) supplies an idea about content analysis as “any technique
for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified

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