On Chinese-English Translation Of Public Signs From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

Since the implementation of reform and opening up policy, great changes have taken place in China's society and economy. And with China's successful entrance to WTO, there are frequent exchanges in all fields. In order to meet the needs of the foreigners, there appear many bilingual or multilingual public signs in most of cities. However, the poor translations of Chinese-English public signs, more or less, have confused or even mislead the foreign readers. For the sake of successfully transferring China's cultures, the translation of public signs claims to be standard.With alternative names of placard boards or logos, public signs appear and influence our daily life everywhere. Whether the public signs can perform its functions not only concerns the food, clothes, shelter, and transportation of foreigners, but also is related to our international image. So it deserves our great attention.According to the Skopostheorie, the prospective function or Skopos of the target text determines the translation process. Furthermore, "it's the reception defines the function of the text, so it's safe to say that the reception of the target text defines the Skopos of the translation". Vermeer points that every action has an aim, a purpose, or Skopos and the translators, in the process of translation, should decide their strategies based on this purpose. And one of the most important factors that determine a translation is the addressee, so in translating, we should keep the function of the public sign and the addressee in mind to convey the function of the public signs comprehensively.Based on the Skopos Theory, the thesis tries to study the Chinese-English translation of public signs. And after researching the practical usage and common errors of the public signs, the thesis aims at offering some translation strategies for public signs and attracting great attention of scholars in this field.