Research and analysis of translation practice reports by students studying for their Master’s in Translation at Chinese universities

Abstract

This paper examines the development history and the presentday status of Master of Foreign Language Translation programmes at Chinese colleges and universities. By deeply investigating Russian translation practice reports in the aforementioned colleges and universities, it focuses on the following research questions: (1) what are the main training directions and features of Master of Translation programmes at Chinese colleges and universities? (2) To what degree do Master’s students master Chinese and foreign theories, criteria and principles of translation? (3) What texts are used to research translation practice? (4) To what degree does a specific translation theory correspond to the selected research text? (5) Do case analyses in translation practice reports underscore the key issues in the translation process? As shown by the investigation results, writing a translation practice report at Chinese colleges and universities is characterized by a number of problems. This paper explores the root cause of such problems, proposes some rational improvement recommendations and provides crucial references for the future construction of Master of Translation programmes and dissertation writing.