Tóm tắt

This book is based on lectures given in the School of Applied Linguistics at Edinburgh University. It was thus originally intended for an audience of students already fairly well-informed about general linguistics. To make it more acceptable to the general reader, an opening chapter has been added which dis- cusses briefly the nature of language and the categories of general linguistics as well as giving an outline of the analysis and descrip- tion of English which underlies the discussion of a number of examples. Parts of the book are somewhat technical. This is inevitable in a book on a specialized topic, but it should not dismay the general reader since the main arguments demand little or no previous knowledge of linguistic science and the first chapter may be used for reference when required. Language-teachers, in particular, may find the book of interest. The extent to which translation can be used in language-teaching is an issue of great concern to teachers, and it is one which cannot be fruitfully discussed without the support of some theory about what translation is, about the nature of translation equivalence, the difference between translation equivalence and formal corres- pondence, the levels of language at which translations may be performed and so on. The chief defect of the now almost univers- ally condemned 'Grammar-Translation Method' was that it used bad grammar and bad translation-translation is not a dangerous technique in itself provided its nature is understood, and its use is carefully controlled: and translation is in itself a valuable skill to be imparted to students.