ArticleTranslation Theories and Skills http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2025.08.015
Beyond Syntactic Transformation: A Comparative Analysis and Paradigm Innovation of Translation Exercises in Chinese and European EFL Textbooks
Yanan Wu
Xi'an mingde institute of technology, Xi'an 710124, Shaanxi, China.
*Corresponding author: Yanan Wu
Published: September 26, 2025
Article history: Updated on June 11, 2026
Abstract
This paper will compare the translation exercise tasks in the mainstream Chinese and European English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks to find the educational philosophies and goals of competence development behind them. To explore the translation exercises in New Concept English and English File comprehensively, qualitative content analysis was employed in this study to examine them from four aspects: “linguistic form”, “communicative function”, “cultural dimension” and “pragmatic awareness”. Based on the analysis results, it was determined that the Design of exercises in New Concept English emphasizes the accuracy control of syntactic structure and mechanical matching of vocabulary; thus, it promotes a “form-centered” style. At the same time, in the context of simulated real-life communication, English File has added translations to focus on the whole transmission of meaning, cultural adaptation and pragmatic choice to form a “sociocultural-task-based” system. Therefore, in this paper, we put forward a new Design Framework for the “Ecological Translation Task” and propose that translation should be reinterpreted as an all-round language practice activity to cultivate students’ metalinguistic awareness, cross-cultural sensitivity and pragmatic competence; thus, it provides some theoretical ideas and practical directions for the future development of textbooks and teaching reform.
Keyword
Textbook comparison; Cross-cultural communication skills; Pragmatic competence; EFL teaching
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Copyright
© 2025 by the author(s).
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How to cite this paper
Beyond Syntactic Transformation: A Comparative Analysis and Paradigm Innovation of Translation Exercises in Chinese and European EFL Textbooks
How to cite this paper: Yanan Wu. (2025). Beyond Syntactic Transformation: A Comparative Analysis and Paradigm Innovation of Translation Exercises in Chinese and European EFL Textbooks. Translation and Foreign Language Learning, 1(1), 88-93.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2025.08.015