From Spanish to Portuguese

for a functional translation of the past perfect simple and perfect compound

Abstract

For this research the translation of past perfect simple and simple compound from Spanish to Portuguese are addressed by taking into consideration the assumptions of functional translation, linguistic functionalism and the instructional sequencing methodology. The investigation was conducted with two groups of Spanish learners, native speakers of Portuguese, by applying the instructional sequencing methodology to translate a fragment of the short story “¡Diles que no me maten!” by Juan Rulfo. After a previous reading, the learners proceeded to the translation. The first translation was followed by an explanation of the modules of time, aspect and modal values of the past tenses. Finally, a second translation was proposed. The data that emerged from the two translations were compared. The comparison of the two translations demonstrate that the knowledge acquired with the explanation of the modules of time, aspect and modal values of the past tenses during the instructional sequencing methodology allowed students to improve the translation, having as a result, the meta text as close as possible to the base text. Also, the research identified that the translation mistakes mostly occur due to the fact that learners do not include temporal markers, choose not to use imperfective periphrases, and disregard the possibility of unrealistic interpretation when translating the perfect compound tense from Spanish to Portuguese.