浅析中西方习语差异及翻译策略_开题报告

The English language is rich in idioms which are a significant part of Western culture. English idioms originate from the national culture and daily life of native English speakers. 

They not only embody the features of the language but also highlight all fields of Anglo-American culture including society, history, national psychology, customs and other social phenomena. With the development of cultural exchange, more and more idioms are widely used in English. Learning to use English idioms not only enhances English learners’ language skills, but also improves their cultural competence which conversely contributes to the improvement of their language skills. 

English idioms are an important part of English vocabulary and widely used in daily communication. Native speakers use large numbers of idioms in their oral and written language. The editor of Longman Language Activator (1993), Della Summers, argued as he talked about the analysis results through a large corpus that many lexical items were not single words but phrases, which meant that native speakers often use phrases instead of single words to express ideas. Cooper (1999) also noted that native adult speakers said 10 million metaphors and 20 million idioms, which meant they said 3,000 metaphors and 7,000 idioms per week. (qtd. in Wang & Zhang, 2004:7) 

Idioms enhance rhetorical and communicative effect of the English language. The language becomes dull for the lack of them. American linguist Makkai emphasized the role of idioms in effective communication in the preface of DAI (A Dictionary of American Idioms, 1995). He argued that if a person always used some bookish, dull words and never used idioms properly, he would be regarded as a dull, boring, or a too serious and magisterial person. Idioms can be found everywhere. The proper use of idioms in writing or speech makes chapters charming and strengthens influence of the language. Nida has said that idioms are more impactive than any non-idiom expressions, and they have identification features of language and culture. 

The spread of idioms is also the most painful thing for EFL learners. Recently, the studies on the “depth” of Chinese learners’ English vocabulary found that among all types of vocabulary knowledge, acquisition of “collocations” (idioms are one of the categories) had the slowest and the worst learning effect. (Wu & Chen, 2000: 350) Irujo (1986b) noted that English learners needed to learn English idioms because the correct understanding and use of them marked the levels of language acquisition. (qtd. in Wang & Zhang, 2004:7) Cooper (1999) suggested that learning about English idioms would help L2 English learners acquire authentic languages rather than textbook languages. (ibid: 7) Learning and mastering idioms has practical significance to oversea students. Some directors from International Exchange Dept. of American Music Studies Network pointed out the importance of learning American idioms at 2010 China International Education Exhibition. This owes to the fact that most of the teaching content in American Universities is learnt through metaphors and idioms, which focus on culture and current events and reflect the American way of thinking and its mainstream culture. Therefore, the knowledge and command of English idioms is an important factor in assessing the cross-culture competence of American overseas students, which matters their involvement of American mainstream society. 

二、^范文提纲

Ⅰ.Introduction  

Ⅱ. English and Chinese idioms  

A. Definition of idioms  

B. Origins of idioms       

II. Cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms    

A. Differences in living environment     

B. Different conventions  

C. Differences in religion and beliefs     

D. Differences of historical allusion  

Ⅲ.Translation methods of idioms 

A. Literal translation and liberal translation  

B. The approach of addition and omission 

C. Correspondence-cum-loan translation and Image-shift translation   

Ⅳ.Conclusion

三、参考文献

[1]Richard A. Spears. Phrases and Idioms. Hefei: University of Science and 

Technology of China Press, 2004 

[2]Harry Collis. 101 American English Proverbs. Beijing: Foreign Language 

Teaching and Research Press, 2003 

[3]林莉兰 英、汉习语的文化内涵及其翻译[J];安徽农业大学学报（社会科学

版）；2005年06期 

[4]刘伟强；英汉习语的文化差异及翻译[J];安阳大学学报；2004年01期 

[5]王金凤；卢聚伦；英语习语中的文化内涵及翻译时应注意的问题[J]科技

信息；2007年14期 

[6]平洪.英语习语与英美文化[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2000    

[7]骆世平.英语习语研究[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2005 

[8]庄和诚.英语习语探源[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002