On Combining Ideological and Political Education with English-Chinese Translation Teaching

TAN Ai-ping,DENG Ting

In fast-developing China， all courses in college need to take ideological and political education into teaching plan， this paper talks about the combining ideological and political education with English-Chinese translation teaching. Starting with analyzing the current situation and the necessities， this paper points out three basics for the combining： national confidence， culture confidence and keeping pace with the times. In the end， this paper points out some requirements for colleges， for departments， for teachers and for teaching methodologies.

Keywords： ideological and political education， English-Chinese translation， translation teaching

In 2014， General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed： It is important for higher education to make clear such fundamental questions as whom the students will be， how to be， and for whom. Therefore， it is vital for colleges to strengthen moral education and to cultivate students with an all-round education pattern， which requires ideological and political education to be covered in every course. Many college English teachers find it useful and effective to combine ideological and political education with their college English teaching （An Xiumei， 2018； Li Ping， 2018）. Some of them even provide us some methods and strategies （Zhai jingwei， 2000； Yan Yuling， 2000）. Zhao Jingjing （2000） did some research about combining ideological and political education with Business English Translation. Few teachers think about combining ideological and political education with translation teaching for English majors， which will be the focus of this paper.

1. The Current Situations

Translation between English and Chinese is an important skill for English majors， and it is also an important course for them. Much time and energy is spent on translation teaching， however， there are not enough qualified translators to meet the society need. The following are some of the reasons：

1.1 There is not Enough Humanistic Education in Translation Teaching

The traditional translation teaching mainly focus on theories， strategies and skills of translation in the limited teaching periods， neglecting humanistic education. When assessing students’ performance， teachers pay almost all attentions on linguistic competence， discourse competence and strategic competence， humanistic education is not included in their consideration.

1.2 Western Culture is Above Chinese Culture in English Teaching

Almost all English departments from different colleges have courses about the cultural， the literature， and the national status of Western countries， but no courses about those of China， because they take it for granted that we Chinese know everything about China well. When asked about the differences between Western culture and Chinese culture， or when asked to analyze current situations， many students find nothing to say.

1.3 No Combination of Ideological and Political Education with Translation Teaching

It is widely thought that ideological and political education should be carried out in College Ideological and Political Courses， and professional courses should focus on improving students’ professional abilities. Some teachers haven’t realized the necessities of combining ideological and political education in translation teaching.

2. The Necessities

2.1 The Requirements of Times

In the process of globalization， Western culture enters our country along with English， bringing Western values and ideologies. Some students even think it is cool and fashion to pursue Western culture， which will lead them to be little and ignore Chinese culture. The Belt and Round Initiative brings China to broader international stage， where we need to tell Chinese stories well， to spread Chinese voice around， to display a good image of China， and to introduce China to the world in an all-round way， which are the responsibilities and missions of all translators. Translation teaching should pay more attention to Chinese culture， Chinese current situation， Chinese policies， Chinese stories， and etc.. Constantly paying attention to the socialist core values in translation teaching is helpful to enhance students’ consciousness and cultural confidence.

2.2 The Requirements of Policies

General Secretary Xi Jingping stressed ideological and political education should be highly valued， which means to improve the affinity and pertinence of ideological and political courses on one hand， and to combine ideological and political education with other courses on the other hand. In professional courses， it’s not enough to focus only on professional knowledge and skills. Ideological and political education is especially important for English majors， who are exposed to foreign culture and ideology.

2.3 The Requirements of English Majors

It is also helpful for students to improve their professional abilities. Being familiar with Chinese culture， history and current polices and understanding the connotations of words with Chinese characteristics can make the communications with foreigners more smoothly. Chinese stories， including Chinese long history and splendid culture， are interesting and attractive materials for communication.

2.4 A Good way to Broaden Students’ Horizon

China is developing very fast， with science and technology updating day by day. Besides， as a socialist country， China has many advantages in politics， in economy， in education， in military， in diplomacy and etc.. Furthermore， China is playing a more and more important role in international arena. All of these can broaden students’ horizon， enrich their knowledge， build their confidence about China.

2.5 A Good Way to Spread and Inherit Chinese Culture

Only young generations learn and pass down the Chinese stories and Chinese culture， can China keep their vitality. If the young generations turn a blind eye to Chinese culture， our splendid culture will surely be dying out.

2.6 Limited Teaching Periods for Ideological and Political Courses

Generally speaking， teaching periods for ideological and political courses are limited in colleges， because much more teaching periods should be given to professional courses. What’s more， many students don’t take ideological and political courses seriously， instead， they attach great importance on professional courses. Therefore， combining ideological and political education with professional courses will be an effective way.

3. The Basics

With an aim to teach students’ the language features and text styles of business English， to guide them apply translation methods and strategies in practice， English-Chinese Translation is an important course for English majors. English-Chinese Translation involves the transformation of English and Chinese in all aspects， such as culture， economy， politic， religion， military， and etc.， which makes English-Chinese Translation teaching a good opportunity to implement ideological and political education for students. The following are the basics to combine ideological and political education with English-Chinese Translation teaching.

3.1 Build National Confidence

Secretary Xi Jinping said all the achievements， such as the lush green banks of the Yangze River， the ocean of rice sprouting at the Jiansanjiang agricultural base， the lively Shenzhen Qinghai harbor， the bustling Shanghai Zhangjiang High-tech Park， and the bridge that brings together Hong Kong， Zhuhai， and Macao are the results of collective hard work of all the Chinese people in the new era. In translation practice， teachers can choose typical examples for translation. For example， when teaching the introduction of a city， Shenzheng is a good choice. The development from a small fishing village to a modernized metropolis is imbued with wisdom and hard-work of Chinese people. It is also one of the greatest achievements of Communist Party of China in the past 40 years since the reform and opening up. The development of Shenzheng reflects the correct leadership of the Communist Party of China and Chinese people’s spirit of hard work and innovation， which all Chinese people shall be proud of.

3.2 Pay More Attention to Chinese Culture

In translating texts related to culture， translators need to understand the cultural connotations of original texts. Clearly understanding Chinese culture and local culture can provide a good system for learning different cultures， and can lay a good foundation for understanding foreign cultures. Therefore， it can’t be stressed too much to learn the connotations of Chinese culture. The profound and rich Chinese culture can arouse students’interesting， improve their national pride and self-confidence， and enhance their national sense of responsibility.For example， different countries hold different opinions about wearing masks during COVID -19. Since Chinese culture advocates collectivism， almost all Chinese people wear masks to protect the others， to protect China， and to protect themselves at the same time. Although prevention materials are in short supply， China still donates many materials to other countries. For a long period of time， the Chinese people have been self-reliant and worked diligently to create Chinese miracles that the world has marveled at.

3.3 Closely Follow the Current Situation

English-Chinese translation teachers need to move with the times. Reading news about China’s policies in politics， economy， military， cultural， and etc. is a must for teachers. Besides， report on the work of the government， where major achievements in a year round are introduced， is also a good material for teaching translation. Further more， there are so many Chinese specific terms can be introduced and translated， such as the Belt and Road initiative， the uphill battle in poverty alleviation， the core values of Chinese socialism， and so on.

4. The Challenges

Based on the three points mentioned above， colleges， departments， teachers， and teaching methodologies are facing some challenges in ideological and political education as follows：

4.1 Challenges for Colleges

For every college， ideological and political courses are compulsory curses for students， but it is quite common that there is no distinction among different majors. When combining ideological and political education in professional courses， there should be a collaborative system， which means ideological and political education in all the courses should have the same purpose. On one hand， ideological and political courses should be easy and interesting， and be related with students’ major. On the other hand， professional courses should follow the dominant theme of ideological and political education.

4.2 Challenges for Departments

The fast developing China need talents in every field， and higher education has the responsibility to cultivate and provide qualified talents for our country. An effective way to be qualified is to put theories learned at colleges into outside-school practice， where students can test what they’ve learned and update their knowledge according the position requirements. Besides， different majors need to adjust their personnel training program according to the needs of related fields. Practice bases， to a large extent， can provide some directions for training students. Further more， the State Council advocates integration of enterprises with vocational schools and universities. Enterprises are encouraged to participate in the operation of vocational schools and universities and to train students as interns as so to strengthen the cooperation between colleges and enterprises. On the other hand， there should be some competitions and some after-class activities to promote ideological and political education in translation teaching. Competitions of all ranks， such as in a group， in a class， in a department， in a college， in a province and in China can stimulate teaching and learning. And the themes of competitions and after-class activities may cover all aspects， such as Chinese culture， Chinese history， the Belt and Road initiative， innovative consciousness， team cooperation， and etc.. The assessment should not only focus on the products， but also take ideological and political education into consideration.

4.3 Challenges for Teachers

In the new era， Translation teachers are faced with an urgent task which is to combine ideological and political education with translation teaching. For the task， teachers need to have profound knowledge about China’s history， Chinese culture， China’s current situation as well as China’s existing policies and etc.， to improve their own cross-cultural communication ability， to improve their translation teaching abilities， and to find out some good ways to combine the two. Besides teaching theories， strategies and skills about translation， teachers need to guide students to form a positive cultural view， and to involve them in tasting the glorious and brilliant Chinese culture with interesting and effective teaching methods.

4.4 Challenges for Teaching Methodologies

With the development of science and technology， different information， as well as the knowledge to be taught in class is updated at an unprecedented speed， traditional teaching methods can’t meet the needs of teaching and learning. With the rapid development of smart phone technology， the mobile internet has deeply influenced all aspects of our life， including the ways of teaching and learning. With smart phones， students can learn many things they are interested in at any time， and teachers can release related learning materials at their convenience. Classroom teaching is no longer the exclusive way for students to get knowledge， instead， they can learn many things with their smart phones or personal computers before and after class. Combining on-line teaching and off-line teaching is highly recommended， especially after the outbreak of COVID-19. Translation teaching should also keep up the pace， and apply some effective and updated teaching methodology. For example， Flipped Classroom Model， TBL （Task-based learning）， and POA （Product-oriented Approach） are good to try.

Conclusion

Combining ideological and political education in English-Chinese translation teaching is a long-term practice， which needs the colleges， departments， and teachers to think more， learn more， communicate more， and practice more. With the jointly efforts of scholars and experts， we can find good combining points， and put ideological and political education through English-Chinese translation teaching.

References

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Li， P. （2018）. The feasibility of combing ideological and political education with college English teaching. Journal of Jiangsu Ocean University（Humanities & Social Sciences Edition， October. （In Chinese）

Yan， Y. L. （2020）. On teaching models combing ideological and political education with college English based on cloud platform [J]. Journal of Hubei Open Vocational College， August. （In Chinese）

Zhai， J. W. （2020）. The methods on how to combing ideological and political education with college English teaching. Policy & Scientific Consult， October. （In Chinese）

Zhao， J. J. （2020）. On Combining Business English Translation With Ideological and Political Education. English Square， June. （In Chinese）