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作者：丁衡祁 陈小全
开展素质教育是我国教育改革的重要举措。对外宣传中，“素质教育”无疑也是个非常重要的短语，国内一些媒体通常将其翻译为 quality
education，例如：
The Ministry of Education has worked out new policies to
further promote quality education that highlights the cultivation of
independent thinking, creative spirit and practical ability, said a senior
official. (chinadaily.com.cn 11/13/2000)
再看另外一个翻译例子：
为了消除当前教育体制的弊端，我们要在全国范围内全面实施以德育为核心，以创新精神和实践能力为重点的素质教育。（原文）
To
overcome disadvantages in current educational system, we must carry on the
quality education centering on moral education and emphasizing creativity
and practice all over the country.（译文）
对于将“素质教育”翻译成 quality
education 的情况早已有人提出异议，并给出了一些不同的译法。如：education for all-round
development，quality-oriented education和competence-oriented
education等。但上述各种译法均有不足，education for all-round development
改变了切入点，指的是让学生得到全面发展的教育；quality-oriented education 与 quality education
并无本质上的区别；而 competence-oriented education中的 competence
一词仅仅表示“能力”，这在一般的字典里都能查到，“素质教育”的内涵要远远超出 competence 所能覆盖的意义。
那么“素质教育”应如何翻译呢？这就需要通过大量查证来进行反复研究。我们学习研究的结果表明，quality education
的意思是实际上是“高质量的教育”，香港的一些网站将quality education
翻译为“优质教育”。英语中有大量“形容词+quality+名词”的用法，例如 high quality service，high quality
education，good quality equipment，good quality office space，top quality
cotton 等等 ；同时用“quality+名词”表示“高质量的某种东西”的情况也很多，最常见的例子是 quality products，而
quality products 实际上就等于 products of high quality。类似的情况还有 quality printed
output，quality display 等。再看下面的例句，注意句子中的 quality assurance systems
表示“高质量的（人寿）保险体系”。
The aim of the guidelines is to establish quality
assurance systems for the industry and to create a sound basis for further
improvement in the areas of health, safety and the environment.
再看下面的几个例句, 其中的 quality education 均表示“高质量的教育”：
1. St Mary's
is a good school providing quality education.
2. All young people have
the right to quality education.
3. The demise of quality education,
once the jewel in Britain's crown, has been a feature of the three
Conservative administrations since 1979.
4. Making parents aware of
the virtues of the school, the buildings, the playing fields, the swimming
pool etc. isn't necessarily related to providing quality
education.
值得注意的是，quality 一词如果用作复数名词, 或者放在 personal quality
这个词组中，也可指人的具体的素质表现，例如：
1．A young senior manager still committed and
working to high standards would be "successful" as would an older manager
with the same qualities progressing more slowly to senior levels.
2.
The officials, the MPs and the industrialists get together over sandwiches
to mark each candidate for their intellectual capacity, the ability to
speak, write and organize, and personal qualities like their influence on
others, their sense of responsibility or determination.
3. Personal
qualities and work characteristics, such as self-confidence, co-operation,
enthusiasm, leadership, attitudes, initiative and so on.
4. Hodgson et
al (1984) also found that some schools required qualifications whereas
others looked for personal qualities such as flexibility and good
interpersonal skills. （在这里，学历qualifications 和素质personal
qualities正好形成了对照）
5. The third element covers personal and social
skills, communication and relationships, the ability to work in groups and
personal qualities such as initiative, responsibility, self-reliance and
leadership.
既然 quality education 不等同于“素质教育”，那么“素质教育”应该怎样译成英语呢？
有一篇专门论述“素质教育”的文章，其“素质教育”的英译是 EQO (Essential-qualities-oriented)
Education：
"Trans-century EQO (essential-qualities-oriented, called su
yhi jiao zu in Chinese) Education Project".
United Nations in China 网站报道中的“素质教育”也是essential-qualities-oriented
schooling：
The (Chinese) government's recent promotion of a shift from
examination-oriented to essential-qualities-oriented schooling (suzhi
education), is being followed up with guidelines on curriculum
restructuring and textbook compilation (after the National Conference on
Education,
1999).
前面提到的两个翻译例子中还有一些其他问题，特别是“创新精神”和“实践能力”的英译与原文精神有距离。此处重点讨论的是“素质教育”的英译问题，因此对其他问题不再赘述，
现提供一个重译供参考：
To overcome the drawbacks of the prevailing education
system we must promote throughout the country the
essential-qualities-oriented education that stresses the cultivation of
moral integrity and emphasizes the development of creativity of the mind
and hands-on abilities.
Caliber 一词也可以用来指人的素质。根据 Chambers 21st
Century Dictionary 的定义，caliber一词的意思是“quality；standard；ability”；Webster's
New World Dictionary将其解释为“degree of worth or value of a person or thing;
quality or
ability”。由此可见，caliber大致相当于我们所说的“素质”。我们在一英语国家的网站见到过这样一则招聘广告，标题是：Looking For
High Caliber Talent（招聘高素质人才）。类似的例子还有：persons of caliber and
substance（有素质、有内涵的人），management staff of the highest
caliber（高素质的管理人员）以及This man was a person of high caliber.（此人素质很高。）
下面再看几个关于caliber 用法的例子:
1. He wanted someone of high caliber, with
business and administrative skills.
2. The Department of the
Environment admits it is almost impossible to recruit the caliber of
inspectors it wants on salaries starting at about ?15,000.
3. The
caliber of the new staff is impressive and the pay-bill alone will reduce
by more than ?0.25m a year.
4. Quite frankly the salaries you offer
these C P Os are much too low; if they weren't retired police officers,
you wouldn't get the caliber of person.
5. Most listed companies do
not yet have enough independent directors to fulfill the roles, and it is
even doubtful whether enough individuals of the right caliber are
available for these positions, particularly in view of the heavy legal
responsibilities that any company director incurs.
6. The Committee on
the Management of Local Government was appointed, to consider in the light
of modern conditions how local government might best continue to attract
and retain people of the caliber necessary to ensure its maximum
effectiveness'.
其实，学生素质、教师素质、干部素质、党员素质等都可以用 caliber
这个词来翻译，
因为Caliber可以是学术方面的素质：
the wide and generally understood
variations in academic caliber between American universities.
Time to
turn one's thoughts to matters of a more intellectual caliber.
The
European Business Studies degree prepares students for the European fields
of business activity, and has always attracted a high caliber of student
with language skills and an urge to do business in the varied market
places of Europe.
High-caliber lecturers at UNITAR. Good lecturers
sometimes inspire students to do well in their subjects.
British
scientific research was of a high caliber.
Caliber也可以指专业和业务方面的素质：
Many agents are worried about the current
caliber of editors.
Lawyers in local government seek trainee solicitors
of the highest caliber.
If theatre artists of this caliber are prepared
to launch a production from Plymouth, it seems a fair bet that the Theatre
Royal management has got its act together.
The caliber of the
expedition leaders ensures that these young travelers are able to complete
trips that would be too complicated to organize for themselves.
I
expected six or seven caliber applicants, though others in the business
said I would be surprised by the numbers to apply.
The Executive
Portfolio is a comprehensive program of executive education for
high-caliber management professionals.
Efforts should always be
rewarded and whilst good salary levels are essential to retain the right
caliber of staff, bonus payments for exceptional effort or particular
success will be rewarded by increased motivation.
从下面这则招聘广告的上下文来看，caliber 明显地具有“素质”的含意：
"High-caliber skills for
high-caliber people
Choosing to study for an MBA in the UK is a giant
step towards investing in your future employability by enhancing your
range of management skills.
The MBA is designed for well-qualified
managers who wish to add value to their practical experience by gaining an
in-depth understanding of up-to-date approaches to management and its
development. ...
As a result, your educational experience will be
enriched by studying with high-caliber students.
..."
此外，caliber还可以指政治方面的素质：
The persistent concern to increase
councilor caliber through reorganization makes it equally clear that the
essential object of reorganization has been to make local government more
functional … by restructuring it...
After the next election, there will
be 80 or 90 women of remarkably high caliber on the Labor side.
It's
just that there aren't enough sufficiently high caliber members in the
party's lower ranks.
We must make sure that the Communists play the
leading role in the organs of political power, and therefore the Party
members who occupy one-third of the places must be of high caliber. This
will be enough to ensure the Party's leadership... |
丁衡祁，对外经济贸易大学商务英语系教授，2002
年退休后被对外经济贸易大学卓越国际学院聘为英语教学研究中心主任。曾任对外经济贸易大学研究生部主任兼师资培训中心主任。曾被派往中国驻美国旧金山总领事馆任商务领事。曾在中央电视台主讲英语教学节目《夺魁》（Bid
for
Power）。现为中国翻译协会理事，《中国翻译》杂志编委，中国译协对外传播委员会成员，全国翻译专业资格考试英语专家委员会委员，中国日报网站英语点津“翻译擂台赛”特约专家，中国对外翻译出版公司专家顾问委员会委员，中国进出口银行英文译审。
陈小全，对外经济贸易大学商务英语系副教授。1982年毕业于北京外国语大学；曾任教于清华大学外语系和对外经济贸易管理干部学院英语系；1987-88年，在英国曼彻斯特大学学习并获语言学硕士学位；1995-98年，在我国驻英国使馆经商处任一秘兼调研室主任。十几年来，主要从事基础英语及商务英语教学与研究；近年来开始从事实用文体的翻译与研究。中国翻译工作者协会中译外委员会委员及《中国翻译》杂志特约撰稿人，为该杂志“翻译自学之友”及“汉英对照栏目”供稿。
