ON INTERPRETATION IN PETRTOCHEMICAL INDUSTRY BY ENGLISH MAJORS论文

ABSTRACT:Large scale petrochemical projects in related with foreign funds, technology or located in foreign countries involve plenty interpreters. This thesis discusses the difficulties faced by English majors in undertaking petrochemical technical and engineering interpretation work and proposes some suggestions for improving capabilities and qualities in the interpretation work in this field.
　　KEY WORDS：Petrochemical; English major; Terms; Technical exchange; Technical appendix
　　During the preparation and engineering phases of large scale petrochemical projects funded by foreign companies, supported by foreign technologies or located in foreign countries, plenty interpreters who understand related techniques are involved. Currently, most interpreters in this industry he background in technical learning or working. But English majors with no technical learning experience could also be found in this filed. The author, combing her experience in interpretation work for technical exchange /negotiations with foreign clients, foreign licensors, kick-off meetings, engineering design review meetings in preparation phase as well as exchange meetings in engineering phase in recent years, intends to discuss the difficulties faced by English majors during interpretation work for preparation and engineering phases of petrochemical projects and proposed solutions.
　　During the preparation and engineering design phases of petrochemical projects, several disciplines get involved, includingprocess, instrumentation and automatic control, static equipment, mechanical, piping ,architecture, civil, plot plan, storage and transportation, electrical, telecommunication, water supply and drainage, firefighting, environmental protection, heating and ventilation etc. It is almost impossible for an English major, with only language knowledge, to serve as a competent interpreter for petrochemical projects with over ten disciplines. As a beginner in this field, the interpreter feels that each word is simple to understand, but when they are combined, they are not easy to be understood. For interpretation of engineering projects, it is not one word to be replaced by another word in another language. Every professional issue could only be expressed in technical terms. In addition, this issue could only be conveyed with appropriate terms in a correct manner, as long as the interpreter has understood the technical knowledge and master the terms and glossary comprehensively. Otherwise the interpretation, with not conform-to- practice and to-norm expressions, will be hard to understand. Hence, the level of an interpreter’s technical knowledge determines his interpretation standard.