Analysis Of Common Problems In C-E Translation Of Corporate Website And Corresponding Solutions

With the fast development of the global Internet industry,mass communication has entered into an information age characterized by network communication.The Internet is increasingly becoming an important platform for the development of an enterprise and most modern companies know very well the significance of the corporate website to their future business success.In order to seek and tap into overseas potential business opportunities and expand share in the fiercely competitive international market,companies must give added weight to the online marketing of their products or services.In this context,more and more Chinese enterprises or companies have started to construct the English versions of their Chinese corporate websites.However,for now though,plenty of problems can be found in them,especially those constructed by medium or small-sized companies.These problematic English versions are mostly the simple reproductions of their Chinese counterparts whose contents are translated into English word for word without consideration of the target text’s functions or target readership.Consequently,various evident and serious translation problems or errors are commonly found on these websites,which greatly affects the overseas expansion of the companies’ business.Under this background,by analyzing the contents of the English versions of some Chinese companies’ corporate websites,this thesis intends to get a basic knowledge of the status quo of the construction of these English versions and identify the common problems in C-E translation of corporate website and finally propose some corresponding solutions.The author selected the official corporate websites with English versions of 23 Jiangxi-based companies(of different sizes and covering different industries)as cases of study.From the perspectives of both skopos theory and communication theory and with the functions and features of corporate website’s English version taken into full account,the common problems in C-E translation of corporate website and the corresponding solutions are analyzed by methods like qualitative research,case study and comparative analysis.The major findings can be concluded as follows:(1)The C-E translation quality of Jiangxi-based or even the whole country’s corporate websites is far from satisfactory.The purpose of translating these websites is generally neglected and therefore the effective communication of the information on them can’t be achieved.(2)From the perspectives of skopos theory and communication theory,many problems in C-E translation of corporate website can be identified.These common problems can be classified into three categories: linguistic translation errors,pragmatic translation errors and cultural translation errors.(3)Some specific solutions may help solve these translation problems.These solutions or suggestions can be concluded as: fully understanding the importance of communication channel;hiring qualified translators with Internet thinking;keeping good communication between translators and website managers;valuing the feedback of target readers and adopting target text function-oriented translation strategies.The study mainly aims to give some inspiration to the constructors of corporate websites’ English versions and other relevant translation practitioners in Jiangxi province or other areas in China.It is also expected to attract the attention from relevant authorities on this issue and thus help more Chinese enterprises or companies to effectively open up international markets with a good image.