A Survey Of The Translation Market In The Yangtze River Economic Belt And Its Development Strategies

Under the background of world multi-polarization,economic globalization,cultural diversity and social informatization,Chinese government has put forward “the Belt and Road” initiative,namely constructing “the Silk Road Economic Belt” and “the 21 st century Maritime Silk Road”.This research focuses on the area of “the Yangtze River Economic Belt”,conforming to the era requirements and national policy.Based on the development level,geographic location,the urban cluster network structure and core cities’ influence along the Yangtze River Economic Belt,it is easy to find that Shanghai,Wuhan,Chongqing,as this dragon’s head,waist and tail of this economic belt,are the three most powerful external radiation cities.And this survey chooses 15 translation enterprises respectively from each city and 15 translation E-commerces from the three cities as research respondents.Economic globalization is pushing China to accelerate the pace of “going out”.International activities like the Beijing Olympic Games,the Shanghai World Expo,and the Guangzhou Trade Fair have stimulated the development of Chinese translation market.However,as one part of the emerging language service market,translation market has its own limitations and problems.In recent years,the number of translation enterprises has increased rapidly,but how to create a benign and harmonious environment for the enterprises’ development under such competitive circumstance? How to set up practical teaching goals and courses to meet the demand of the translation market with more and more colleges and universities constantly applying for MTI program and undertaking all kinds of translation events and activities? Many translation institutions and associations have successively organized meetings and seminars to find out ways on how to guarantee the smooth development of the translation industry and translation teaching.This survey collects and analyzes 14 aspects of the 60 translation enterprises in the YREB,including companies’ name,address,telephone number,website,qualification certification,staff size,degree structure,language distribution,pay level,translation field,service process,quality assurance measures,quotation,and CAT software.Relevant information of graduates in the translation market is also obtained,such as their work demand,personal qualification,main advantages,and curriculum setting.The main purposes of this survey are to understand the present situation and development trend of the translation market in the YREB and to give effective suggestions to translation enterprises;to render some referential advice for the government to regulate the translation market;to offer constructive guidance for colleges and universities to cultivate qualified translators;and to provide suggestions for translation associations.There are two questionnaires and two interviews for the staff in translation enterprises and graduates in the translation market respectively.This paper chooses 60 representative enterprises for online questionnaires,field survey and the SWOT analysis,and selects nearly 120 graduates for research so as to obtain the overall situation of the translation market in YREB.Tables and graphs frequently appear in this thesis since they can convey the research results more vividly and directly.Moreover,the selection of those 60 enterprises from the three cities is comprehensive,objective and representative,making the results more targeted and accurate.The research results show that in terms of the current situation of the translation market in YREB,the vast majority of translation companies are small and micro,with single property,lack of innovation.Translation companies’ qualification authentication conditions and market competitive environment are needed to be further optimized and improved;translation enterprises need to find out their core competitiveness,the external quotation is yet to be standardized;Service process and quality assurance measures need to be perfected;most businesses are completed by part-time translators,a standard for translators needs to be enacted;the phenomenon of brain drain in translation market is obvious,human resources construction needs to be strengthened;Training modes should be diversified,CAT software should be innovated and updated,etc.In terms of graduates,there is a gap between teachers’ teaching,students’ learning and the demand of translation market;there is a controversy between graduates’ ideal and the reality of the translation industry;there is a disparity between the personal qualifications and market recognition.Discovering problems,finding out problems and solving problems are the guiding principles of this survey.The development of the translation market,the construction of the translation talents,the perfection of the translation service are all dependent on the collaborative innovation of the four parts,namely the government,enterprises,schools and associations.The government takes administrative and economic measures and formulates laws and regulations to constraint the improper behavior of translation enterprises or translators in the market;instructs translation enterprises,schools,research associations to organize forum to discuss;sets up an open platform to fully share the resource and experience and to realize innovation and communication;provides political,financial and man-power support for colleges and universities;encourages students and teachers to walk out of the classroom and to engage in practice;helps enterprises who have innovative and exploratory spirit to develop new software or apply for a patent;and invites translators or project managers from enterprises to give lectures or share their personal experience with students.Associations like TCA should shoulder the responsibility of supervision and guidance,and implement the factual management of the translation quality and the school personnel’s qualification.Schools and enterprises cooperate together to establish translation practice base so that practical and experienced translators can be sent to the market,while as to enterprises,they can recruit more competent students into its translation project.Thus,the two sides are able to reach a win-win situation.