Ministry of Higher Education

Herat University
Education Faculty
English Department

Bachelor Monograph

Investigate EFL Students` Translation

Challenges

Researcher: Gul BiBi Daulaty

Advisor: Pohandoy Fahima Ramesh

Year: 1401
‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬
 Acknowledgement
First of all, I am thankful of Almighty Allah for All his mercy
and blessing giving me to continue my education and finish my thesis.

During the composition of the monograph, cooperation has been

received from different honors; my sincere special thanks go to
everyone who helped me conduct my research. The encouragement,
motivation and contribution of them will forever time be appreciated.

My deepest thanks and appreciation go to my dear and respected

advisor teacher, Mrs. Fahima Ramesh, giving me advice, to complete
my monograph. Last but not least, I would like to thanks everyone who
inspired me to do this research including all faculty members,
authorities and all students. And finally, I am in debt of my family who
supported me in all aspect of my life and encouraged me to find my
own way of life.

a
 Table of Contents
Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................................. a
Abstract................................................................................................................................................................... d
Section One............................................................................................................................................................ 1
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Problem statement:.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Significance of the Investigation: .................................................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Purpose of the study: ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Research questions: ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Section Two ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature review..................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.2. Definition of translation ....................................................................................................................................... 5
2.3 The importance of translation............................................................................................................................ 6
2.4 Types of translation....................................................................................................................................................... 10
2.4.1 Literal Translation of Words ...................................................................................................................................... 10
2.4.2 One-to-One Literal Translation .................................................................................................................................. 10
2.4.3 Direct Translation or Literal Translation of Meaning ................................................................................................ 11
2.5 Free Translation ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
2.5.1 Bound Free Translation .............................................................................................................................................. 12
2.5.2 Loose Free Translation ............................................................................................................................................... 12
2.6 Translation Problems .......................................................................................................................................... 12
2.6.1 Lexical Problems ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
2.6.2 Stylistic Problems ...................................................................................................................................................... 13
2.6.3 Cultural Problems ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
2.7 Translation strategies .................................................................................................................................................... 14
2.7.1 Translation by Using a General Term (a super ordinate) ........................................................................................... 14
2.7.2 Translation Using a more Neutral/ less Expressive Term .......................................................................................... 15
2.7.3 Translation by Cultural Substitution .......................................................................................................................... 15
2.7.4 Translation by Loan Words with an explanation ........................................................................................................ 15
2.7.5 Translation by Paraphrasing ....................................................................................................................................... 16
2.7.6 Translation by Omission ............................................................................................................................................ 17
2.8. Idioms in Relation to Translation ................................................................................................................................. 17
2.8.1 Definition of Idioms ................................................................................................................................................... 18
2.8.2 Features of Idioms ................................................................................................................................................. 20
2.9. Baker’s Taxonomy on the Strategies of translating Idioms .......................................................................................... 21
2.10 Modern Approaches to Teaching Translation ............................................................................................................. 23
2.11 Translation as an Aid in EFL Learning: ...................................................................................................................... 28
2.12 The Objectives of Teaching Translation at the Undergraduate ................................................................................... 29
2.12.1- Translation and Interpretation ............................................................................................................................ 30
2.12.2- Problems of Teaching Translation at the Undergraduate ................................................................................... 31
 2. 13 Cultural and Lexical Translation Challenges ............................................................................................................. 33
2.15 The factors influencing translation process: ................................................................................................................ 39
2.15.1 Influence of the mother tongue ............................................................................................................................ 39
2.15.2 Words and choices of word meanings: ................................................................................................................ 39
2.15.3 Grammatical structures: ...................................................................................................................................... 40
2.15.4 Context: ............................................................................................................................................................... 41
2.15.5 Characteristics of language: ................................................................................................................................ 42
2.16 Common errors in written translation: ........................................................................................................................ 46
2.16.1 Word order: ......................................................................................................................................................... 46
2.16.2 Syntax/ Grammatical errors:................................................................................................................................ 46
2.16.3 Misuse of verb forms: ......................................................................................................................................... 46
2.16.4 Misuse of relative pronouns: ............................................................................................................................... 47
Section Three ...................................................................................................................................................... 48
Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................................... 48
3.1 Introduction: .......................................................................................................................................................... 48
3.2 Research Design: .......................................................................................................................................................... 48
3.2 Participants: .................................................................................................................................................................. 48
3.3 Research instrument: ..................................................................................................................................................... 49
3.4 Research environment ................................................................................................................................................... 50
3.5 Research procedure: ...................................................................................................................................................... 50
3.6 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................................................. 50
Section Four ........................................................................................................................................................ 51
Data analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 51
4.1 Statistical analyses ........................................................................................................................................................ 51
4.2 Questionnaire reliability and validity ............................................................................................................................ 51
4.3 Result of research questionnaire ................................................................................................................................... 52
Section Five ......................................................................................................................................................... 58
Discussion and Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 58
5.1 Discussion: ............................................................................................................................................................... 58
5.2 Recommendations: ........................................................................................................................................................ 59
5.3 Suggestions for further researches ................................................................................................................................ 60
5.4 Limitations: ................................................................................................................................................................... 60
5.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 61
6. References: .......................................................................................................................................................... I
Appendix............................................................................................................................................................................. IV
 Abstract
The current study aimed to investigate the most common translation
problems that encountered the Afghan students in translating a Persian text to
English and vice versa. In addition, the study tried to investigate the most
difficult terms that the students faced while translating them. Moreover, it
aimed to explore the participants’ point of views behind such translation
problems.

To achieve the purpose of the study, a questionnaire, consisted of 20

statements and 5 questions about the students’ translation challenges, was
prepared in advance. The sample of the study consisted of 70 females third and
fourth year English majored university students, who were chosen purposefully,
in English department, Herat university, Herat, Afghanistan. The design of the
study was a qualitative as well as quantitative method. The data that were
obtained from the participants’ answers in the questionnaire as well as the
participants’ point of views. at last, the information questions were analyzed
using the appropriate SPSS statistical analyses. The findings of the study showed
that the students’ translation challenges are mostly from lack of grammar,
vocabulary and cultural information both in source and target language which
needs more practice during the school and university times.

Key words: EFL Students, Translation, Challenges

d
 Section One
Introduction

1.1 Overview

Translation is a necessary process in this changing world as it helps in

transferring meanings, ideas, opinions of people in the world from one language
into another one. Moreover, it is important as it helps in transmitting knowledge,
science, and technology when specific translation institutions as well as
individuals translate such important fields of knowledge from one language into
other different languages. Despite its importance in our life, it is expected to have
some problems while translation from one language into other languages (Bell,
1991).

Since translation, as stated above, is an activity that may involve problems

including the stylistic ones due to the cultural, and lexical problems, the role of
the experienced translator is, therefore, to find these signals and try to translate
them adequately. If the translator has this knowledge or experience, this may help
him to render the text under translation as effective as the original. Otherwise, he
may fail in translating these expressions adequately and naturally (Pym, 1992).

In fact, any attempt that aims to translate some literary expressions from
Persian into English is said to be not straightforward process, as it needs practice
and experience. In fact, we may say that studies have touched upon this field of
literary translation is still few and needs a lot of investigation and research.
Consequently, the importance of studying translation of some literary terms
becomes necessary and important in the field of education. Because of the
different languages spoken by different groups of people in many different areas
of this modern world, translation gains more importance in the world day after
day. It has been gaining importance and receiving much attention as a means of
communication. Catford (1965, p. vii) pointed out that “translation is an activity

1
of enormous importance in the modern world and it is a subject of interest not
only to linguists, professional and amateur translators and language-teachers, but
also to electric engineers and mathematicians.” He defined translation as an
“operation performed on languages: a process of substituting a text in one
language for a text in another.” Ghazala (1995, p.1), and in the same context,
defined it as “all the processes and methods used to render and/or transfer the
meaning of the source language text into the target language as closely,
completely, and accurately as possible.”

1.2 Problem statement:

Training students to transfer the message and meaning of the English

source text to the Persian target text is not an easy task. Various problems and
mistakes can occur. Students still have problems in understanding the text and in
restructuring it into good Persian / English language. As novice translators, many
translation difficulties and problems arise during the process of teaching them
how to translate. Therefore, it is a problem, especially in Persian-English
translation, that one may make mistakes in forms or structures when he/she
translates from his/her first language into his/her second language. The problem
is serious, especially among the third and fourth year Herati undergraduates in
Herat University who are not very experienced in English structures though they
are English major students.
The problems are mainly due to the differences in linguistic systems and
languages. As put by Baker (1992: 20-21) "Errors and problems in translation
mostly result from the non-equivalence between the source and target languages".
Crystal, (1992) stated that linguistic problems in translation may arise: 1) from
differences in the meanings of words, 2) from differences in syntactical
differences, and 3) from differences in the cultural context of the readers or
hearers. The knowledge of English syntax also becomes necessary and significant
for the translation undergraduate.

2
1.3 Significance of the Investigation:

Understanding the students` difficulties and their expectations in learning

translation, this thesis will be a useful reference with the solutions that will be
suggested which help the teachers recognize their students` requirements as well
as expectations in studying the subject. Since there, having a suitable adjustment
in teaching method like using updated teaching translation methods as well as
teaching material to satisfy the students` needs, is believed to bring a good result
in studying. Furthermore, it is a strong hope that the study will be a useful
reference helping improve translation skill for not only the English students of
universities but also people who feel interested in the job as a translator and really
want to become an expert translator.

1.4 Purpose of the study:

The study aims at understanding the students` expectation in learning the

subject and then suggesting some possible solutions to overcome difficulties as
well as the best ways of translation to be acceptable for all levels.

1.5 Research questions:

What are the most important EFL students’ challenges while translating?

1.6 Variables:

1. EFL Students:

English as a foreign language student are those whose first language is not
English and English language is a foreign language in their country. In this
investigation, EFL students are Afghan students who are learning English as a
foreign language (Baker,1992).

3
2. Translation challenges:

a. translation challenges are those that individual translators could have

when dealing with the translation process (Baker,1992).

b. Every language has words that are difficult to translate into some other
languages, when one language has a specific word to describe a situation,
finding an alternative expression in another language becomes
a challenge in translation (Baker,1992).

4
 Section Two
Literature review
2.1 Overview

This chapter is going to present definitions of the variables and their

correlation with each other. So, the definition of translation and definition of EFL
students will be contained. Also, a review of literature regarding EFL students`
translation challenges will be presented.

2.2. Definition of translation

Translation has been various defined. The following definitions have been
selected because they are really typical in some sense; and they can partly raise
the issues, which we are going to pursue in detail later.

Translation is the expression in another language (target language) of what

has been expressed in one language (source language), preserving semantic and
stylistic equivalences. Also, Translation is the replacement of a presentation of a
text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language
(Bell,1991).

Text in different languages can be equivalent in different degrees (full or

partly different), in respect of different levels of presentation (in respect of
context, of semantics, of grammar, of lexis, etc.) and at different ranks (word-for-
word, phrase-for-phrase, sentence-for-sentence). Translation is the transmission
of a thought expressed in one language by means of another language. The
language used to express the thought directly is called the source language, and
the language used to translate that thought is called the target language (Enani,
1994).

Translation is rendering a written text into another language in a way that

the author intended the text. Translators are concerned with the written texts.

5
They render written texts from one language into another language. Translators
are required to undertake assignments, which range from simple items, such as
birth certificates and driving licenses, to more complex written materials, such as
articles in specialized professional journals, business contracts and legal
documents (Nida, 1982).

Translation, ultimately, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from

one state or form to another, to turn into one’s own or another’s language.
Translation is a change of form. When we speak of the form of a language, we
are referring to the actual words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc. The forms
are referred to as the surface structure of a language. It is a structural part of a
language, which is actually seen in print or heard speech. In translation, the form
of the receptor or target language replaces the form of the source language. But
how is this change accomplished? What determines the choice of form in the
translation? (Nida, 1982).

2.3 The importance of translation

Even with the most up-to-date and sophisticated communication system, we

can never know how many languages man used today in the world; let alone how
many languages man has used during the course of his development. Some
sources say there are two or three thousand languages being used in the world,
but some others say the number may be as large as eight thousand. What a habit
man has that of speaking tongues! Thus, he offers himself difficulties and
obstacles. Since communication within often, one community is not enough,
certainly. There has a great number of times arisen a situation in which some
individuals are unable to understand the words or expressions of some others.
This phenomenon creates a barrier to understand whenever man tries to
communicate across a great distance of space or across a great interval of time.
Something has to be done to overcome this restriction. One way to cope with the
restriction is for individuals to know the foreign language. However, this is not
6
the final solution because apparently no individual in the world can know all the
languages in use. The best polyglot so far knows only about twenty-five
languages. Let us make a comparison between the number 25 and 8000; it is a
very numerous distances between the languages that this polyglot can use and the
number of languages that exist in the worlds (Krashen, 1993).

Still people want to read what other people want to write and what people say,
translation and interpretation may be considered as the most universally accepted
solution for surmounting the obstacles. Thus, there is a need for professional
translators and interpreters. Translation as the product of language learning
projected onto an interlanguage framework. Therefore, translation skills should
be evaluated according to the state of learners‟ interlanguage in any state of its
development. Translation is a real-life, natural activity and increasing necessary
in a global environment. Many learners living in either their own countries or a
new one need to translate language on daily basic both formally and informally.
This is even more important with the growing importance of online information.
Translation can support for the writing process, especially at lower levels.
Research has shown that learners seem able to access more information in their
own language, which they can then translate (Catford, 1965).

The research totally agrees with the above ideas. When the human language
appears, translation becomes necessary and significant. Imagine that one day you
have a trip visiting a green and beautiful oasis. Unfortunately, you get lost from
your group and you have not done any research about this oasis before; you do
not know any information about the people as well as their language and many
other things related to this place. At that time, a crowd of inhabitants appears, and
you are excited and happy to say “Hello” to them with a friendly face. Suddenly,
they bit you. You fail to understand anything and try to escape this place. Later,
when you spend time doing research to find out what “Hello” means in this oasis,
you realize that the word “Hello” in this oasis sounds like “I will destroy you!”.

7
On a serious note, translation is one of the most critical jobs in modern society.
Translation becomes more and more important when all countries in the world
have exchanged and cooperated in variety aspects like culture, education,
business, etc (Catford, 1965).

However, no one has enough ability to translate; therefore, we need to have

translation. In order to meet the demand of this multilingual world’s whole
development, it is required an appearance of a common language that all of
countries in the world can 11 use. Nowadays, English has been used as the
universal language all over the world. In our country, English play an
indispensable role in the economic aspect. Especially when many European and
western governments and powers entered to help the country, the demand to have
expert translation is necessary. It is true that all of the contracts, emails,
agreements, or conventions, etc., in English need to be translated exactly and
effectively to avoid some regrettable misunderstandings. (Carter, 1993).

Also, Communication between cultures can be achieved through translation.

Through translation, people are introduced to different languages and ways of
thought. It is important to understand the relation between language and culture
in order to train translators and interpreters. "What truly distinguishes translation
is that it takes place in the context of the relations between two cultures, two
worlds of thought and perception" (Catford, 1965).

Newmark (1981, 183-185) argues that there is a cultural value in translation.

Language is partly the reflection of a culture. Translators like linguists tend to
define culture as the sum of people's customs and ways of thinking. Culture is
heavily indebted for its intellectual development to translation. Nothing
demonstrates the complexity of language and of specific texts more vividly and
explicitly than translation. Further, nothing exposes good writing and bad writing
as effectively as translation. Translation is important as a source of diffusion of
knowledge of every kind. By understanding the development of every aspect of

8
culture in other civilizations, people can also enrich their understanding of their
own culture. Knowledge of the target culture is crucial for successful English-
Arabic translation. Poor comprehension may arise from lack of insight into the
target culture. There is a mismatch in cultural norms and beliefs between the Arab
and Western cultures. Each different language has its own individuality, which
makes it distinctive and peculiar to the people who speak it. Words denote things
and put them in a distinct category of thought. As a result, differences between
languages are not only related to the linguistic system, but involve differences in
the speakers' interpretation and understanding of the world they live in.
Languages classify knowledge in various ways for the purposes of speech.

Ghazala, (1995) in studying the language of a society of better to say country,

it is not a good idea to focus just on the language and the process of
communication. Indeed, there are other structures that help us better in
understanding a country more than language. One of these structures can be
regarded as culture. In this way knowing about the culture of a society takes us
beyond our purpose. We know that a nation's culture flourishes by interacting
with other cultures. Cultural variety opens our eyes to human rights, but cultural
variety can only be recognized through discussions. Generally, Language is an
expression of culture and individuality of its speakers. It influences the way the
speakers perceive the world. So focusing on the issue of translation from one
language to another, the culture of both languages in the process of translation is
influential. Of course one should consider that to what extent the culture is in the
text and to what extent the language is in culture. As a matter of fact, a good
translator should be familiar with the culture, customs, and social settings of the
source and target language speakers. He should also be familiar with different
styles of speaking, and social norms of both languages. This awareness, can
improve the quality of the translations to a great extent.

9
 According to Hatim and Mason (1990), the social context in translating a text
is probably a more important variable than its genre. The act of translating takes
place in the socio-cultural context. Consequently, it is important to judge
translating activity only within a social context.

2.4 Types of translation

Translation has been divided into different types by different scholars. As

far as Ghazala is concerned, there are two main types of translation that are
“Literal and Free translation”. This latter, according to him (Ghazala) are the most
important and frequently used types that reflect more or less the remaining types
(Ghazala, 1995).

2.4.1 Literal Translation of Words

Literal or Word-for –Word Translation is a subtype of translation in which

each Linguistic unit of the SL is rendered into its equivalent in the TL regardless
of the differences between the two languages in terms of grammar, word-order
and context. That is, the main interest of the translator in this type is to find an
equivalent of SL Word in the TL taking into consideration the word-order,
grammar of the SL rather than the TL. Though, this method or type of translation
seems to be an easy way to translate with. Yet it is considered as a risk in the
sense that, grammar, word-order and context of the TL are totally neglected and
it relies on the SL only what may lead to the destruction of meaning. types
(Ghazala, 1995).

2.4.2 One-to-One Literal Translation

In this type of translation each word is translated into a word of the same
category in the TL. That is, a noun is translated into a noun, a verb into a verb,
idiom into an idiom and so on. Moreover, it insists on having the same kind and
number of words taking into consideration the grammar and word-order of the

10
SL. This type resembles the first one in neglecting the TL word-order and
grammar, and considering those of SL only. Though, this method is supposed to
be more acceptable than the literal translation of words, it is still inefficient
because translators should consider both SL‟s and TL‟s grammar and word-order
not only those of SL. In addition, translators from English to Persian or vice-versa
are not supposed to give the same number and type of SL linguistic items. In other
words, the Persian sentences, in general, have their verbs at the end while they
come after noun or pronoun. Besides, the adjective in Persian comes after the
noun. Yet, it precedes it in English. Consequently, the same word-order cannot
be respected while translating from English into Persian. (Ghazala, 1995)

2.4.3 Direct Translation or Literal Translation of Meaning

The author describes this type of translation as “full translation of

meaning”. It is considered as the best method of Literal Translation, in that, the
deficiencies that exist in the previous subtypes are removed in this type. In
addition, it focuses on the translation of the real meanings of words as accurately
as possible based on their context of occurrence. Moreover, unlike the above-
mentioned types of translation, “Literal Translation of meaning” considers the
TL‟s grammar, word order, context and the metaphorical use as well. The literal
meaning of a given word in this type is viewed as the different meanings that this
word carries in different contexts. (Ghazala,1995:11)

2.5 Free Translation

This type of translation gives more importance to meaning rather than the
form. It is called free since it gives the translator enough freedom to translate
something depending on his comprehension only, i.e. he is not limited by the text,
context, or the denotative meaning of words. It is a translation beyond the word
or sentence level. The translator has to go beyond the message and read between

11
lines what is implicitly said in the ST. It has two subtypes that are Bound and
Loose free translation. (Ghazala, 1995.13)

2.5.1 Bound Free Translation

In this type of translation, the translator renders the idea of ST as he

understands it depending on its context of occurrence. That is, the TT is directly
related to the ST. It includes exaggeration, strong language …etc. (Ghazala,
1995.14)

2.5.2 Loose Free Translation

In this process of translation, what is said and what is meant are totally
different. That is, the TT is not directly related to the ST and the translator is
supposed to infer the exact meaning based on the culture, religion and the society
he belongs to. From these translations, one may conclude that translation at this
level is to some extent pragmatic since ST and TT are not directly related and it
is up to the translator to render what he concluded from what is said in the original
text. Actually, after discussing the main types of translation, we may conclude
that the last type, i.e., “free translation” seems to be misleading most of the time
since it goes beyond the source language and its context. Moreover, it allows the
translator to translate depending on his comprehension only without considering
the SL, and this can cause misinterpretation of the ST. Thus, the third method of
literal Translation seems to be the most reasonable and best method of translation.
(Ghazala, 1995, p.15)

2.6 Translation Problems

During the process of translation, translators may come across several

problems and difficulties. These latter can be due to grammar, lexis, phonology,
culture, or style. Especially, when the SL and TL belong to two different origins

12
such as Persian and English; the former is of Semitic origin, yet the latter, belongs
to Germanic Family (Enani, 1994).

2.6.1 Lexical Problems

According to the author, the different lexical problems that a translator may
confront are usually due to misinterpreting or misunderstanding of some words.
Among these problems we have synonymy, polysemy and monosomy,
collocation, idioms, metaphors, proverbs, scientific terms, acronyms…. etc.
Synonymy, for example, is considered as a lexical problem because it is agreed
that there are no such thing as true synonyms, and thus the choice of the adequate
synonym of a given word creates a difficulty for the translator. Another problem,
may raise when dealing with polysemy i.e. words that have several meanings. In
addition, collocations, idioms and proverbs are generally problematic since their
meanings are hard to guess and cannot be derived from their components. (Enani,
1994).

2.6.2 Stylistic Problems

Style refers to the particular way of writing a text or a sentence. It plays an

important role in the transmission of meaning in the process of translation.
Stylistic problems include: fronting, formal vs informal, complex vs simple….
etc. Fronting, for example, is a stylistic problem in which a word is mentioned at
the beginning of a sentence in an unusual structure in order to emphasize it or to
indicate that it is important. For instance, in this sentence: “professor he is” the
word “professor” is stated intentionally at the beginning to indicate that it is
important. Thus, the translator should keep the same structure of this sentence to
have the same meaning in the TL. (Enani, 1994).

13
2.6.3 Cultural Problems

Culture and its impact on the translation process can be considered as a

major barrier of the success of translation. Generally, people from different
cultures perceive and view the world in different ways. Therefore, during the
process of translation the translator is likely to find certain concepts that exist in
SL‟s culture, but do not exist in the TL‟s one or not lexicalized in it. In Persian
and English cultures, kinship terms are expressed in distinct ways. Further,
culture specific words and idiomatic expressions also pose serious problems for
translators because they are related to culture, and their translation requires
certain cultural knowledge (Baker, 1992).

2.7 Translation strategies

Translation, in fact, is an interesting job. Yet, it is a hard task at the

meantime. During the process of translation, the translator is likely to come across
several difficulties and obstacles that are generally due to the differences between
the languages involved at different levels. In this respect, Baker (1992)
summarizes the translation strategies that may help translators to overcome the
problem of lexical equivalent at the word level as follow:

2.7.1 Translation by Using a General Term (a super ordinate)

This strategy is a common way of translation used to solve the problem of

non-equivalence between the SL and TL. When dealing with words that have no
equivalent in the TL, the translator may use a more general term to refer to the
specific one used in the SL in order to overcome the lack of specificity in the TL
Baker (1992).

14
2.7.2 Translation Using a more Neutral/ less Expressive Term

This method is mainly used when dealing with expressive meanings.

According to the writer of this article, “expressive meaning relates to everything
that falls within the scope of „self-expression‟….” In other word, expressive
meaning is about the person beliefs, opinions and attitudes towards certain
behaviors or ideas in the real word. It differs from one person and one language
to another. Hence, what may be considered as “good” in English Language, can
be seen as “bad” in Persian. In this case, the translator can use a term which is
near equivalent and less expressive to simplify understanding for the TT reader.
However, sexual relationships before marriage is an immoral and forbidden
behavior for Persian people especially Muslims, but in English culture, it is
natural and quite normal. Therefore, in this case it is better for the translator to
use “bad” as a neutral term instead of “horrible” (Baker, 1992).

2.7.3 Translation by Cultural Substitution

People from different cultures have distinct ways of perceiving the world
and interpreting reality. Thus, the concept that exists in one culture may not exist,
or is not lexicalized in another. The translator in this strategy is not supposed to
find out the exact equivalent of the SL‟s cultural specific term, but to keep the
same impact on the TT reader is more important. In other words, the SL‟s specific
term may be replaced by another one in the TL that has not the same exact
meaning, but it has more or less the same effect on the TT reader. (Baker, 1992).

2.7.4 Translation by Loan Words with an explanation

A loan word is a lexical term that borrowed from another language and
made part in another. For Campbell (1998:63), “a loan word is a lexical term (a
word) which has been borrowed from another language, a word which originally
was not a part of the vocabulary of the recipient language but was adopted from
some other language and made part of the borrowing language’s vocabulary”
15
 In case of newly born words and culture specific terms that have no
equivalent in the TL, it will be better for the translator to keep the word in
question intact and follow it by an explanation in the TT. This strategy is also
used when the translator wants to keep some aspect of the SL‟s culture Nida, E.,
& Taber, Ch. (1982).

2.7.5 Translation by Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is another solution for the problem of lexical equivalent in

translation. It is used when dealing with concepts that have no equivalent in the
TL, or lexicalized in another form. When the translator fails in getting the right
equivalent for the ST‟ item, he may use a phrase which could be a definition or
description of it as an alternative to express the same meaning. Baker (1992)
divided this procedure in two ways:

1) Paraphrasing using related word: this way is used when the concept expressed
by SL‟s word has an equivalent in TL, but in a different form. For instance, the
Persian word “‫ ـ”خاله‬khaala/ is expressed in English by the word “aunt” that
comprises both mother’s and father’s sister. Hence, the translator can add the term
maternal (maternal aunt) to be more precise.

2) Paraphrasing using unrelated word is used when the SL‟s term has no
equivalent in the TL. That is, a sentence that carries its meaning is used instead
as mentioned before.

16
2.7.6 Translation by Omission

At this level, the translator may simply omit a word or words that have no
equivalent in the TL, and does not play great role in the understanding of the
original text. In this respect, the author stated that “If the meaning conveyed by a
particular item or expression is not vital enough to the development of the text….,
translators can often do simply omit translating the word or expression in
question”. It is also used in case of repetition and redundancy that may occur in
the SL which is not adequate in the TL. To sum up, on the basis of the
aforementioned ideas, one may conclude that translation is not a mere
replacement of words from one language to another. However, it is rather a
transmission of concepts and thoughts from a culture to another. Thus, when two
linguistic systems are involved in the process of translation, translators should
consider the different linguistic and cultural characteristics of both systems (SL
and TL). Moreover, adequate translation entails not only linguistic knowledge
about the differences between the two languages, but a clear idea about their
cultures is also prerequisite. Furthermore, despite the different difficulties and
obstacles that confronted translators especially beginners, translation trainees
have a number of strategies which could help them to carry out their task and
make the process less challenging (Baker, 1992).

2.8. Idioms in Relation to Translation

All languages perhaps have certain phrases and sentences that their
meaning cannot be understood literally. Even if we know the meaning of every
single word from which they are composed, the meaning of the whole may still
be opaque. Those phrases and sentences are mainly idioms and fixed expressions
whose translation from one language to another is one of the major difficult tasks
for translators and foreign learners. Hence, the aim of this part is to shed some
light on the reasons that make idioms such a difficult issue for translators. This

17
section provides a detailed theoretical background about idioms, including their
definitions, characteristics, their different types, difficulties and strategies for
their translation (Pym, 1992).

2.8.1 Definition of Idioms

Idioms were defined from different perspectives by different scholars.

Generally, they are groups of words that have to be used as one unit to establish
meaning and have, as a whole, a different meaning from that of its individual
words. In this sense, Baker stated that, idioms are “frozen patterns of language
which allow little or no variation in form and……often carry meaning which
can’t be deduced from their individual components”. In other words, idioms are
fixed expressions whose meaning has nothing to do with the meaning of the
isolated words that composed them. For instance, the meaning of the idiomatic
expression “to have a bee in one’s bonnet” is to be continually occupied with or
obsessed by one thing. This meaning is totally different from that of the separated
components. Hence, a person knowing only the meaning of the words: have, bee
and bonnet, would not be able to deduce the real meaning of the whole phrase.
(Baker, 1992).

another definition of idioms which is nearly the same as Baker’s one.

According to Carter “idioms are special combinations with restricted forms and
meanings that can’t be deduced from the literal meaning of the words that make
them”. This definition sheds light on two main characteristics of idioms that are
fixedness and figurativeness. That is, most idioms have a fixed form in that they
allow no linguistic variation such as replacing a word by another, or changing the
words‟ order, and omitting or adding a word to them. Moreover, they carry a
figurative meaning beyond the literal sense of words (Carter, 1993)

Besides, idioms are “the use of familiar words in an unfamiliar sense”. For
example, the expression “It is raining cats and dogs” consists of familiar words

18
as “rain”, “cats” and “dogs”. Yet, its meaning is unfamiliar; it is not the sum of
the literal meaning of those words. From the aforementioned definitions, one may
notice that there is an agreement among linguists on the fact that idioms are
complex units of language, they are inflexible since they often permit no syntactic
and grammatical variation, and non-literal expressions (Ball, 1968)

For extra clarification, the following table provides some English idiomatic
expressions and their figurative meaning:

Idioms Meaning

At the mercy of Under control of someone

Bury the hatchet To make peace, to become friend after a quarrel or

disagreement

Break the ice To initiate social interchanges and conversation, to get

something started

Broken dreams Wishes or desires that can’t be fulfilled

Have clean hands To be guiltless

Honey moon The early pleasant beginning as the start of a marriage

In the table above, we have introduced some examples about English idioms that
are commonly used. For instance, English speakers use the expression „at the
mercy of‟ to show that somebody is extremely dependent on someone else.
Besides, the idiom „to have a clean hand‟ is used to describe a person who is
usually honest and guiltless. The other features that characterize idiomatic
expression besides to the figurativeness of their meaning will be discussed latter.

19
2.8.2 Features of Idioms

In the definitions above, we mentioned three main features of idioms that

include inflexibility, complexity and figurativeness. Besides, Baker (1992: 63)
identifies five features that are important for the recognition of idiomatic
expressions and differentiate them from normal phrases. According to her,
idioms usually do not accept the following:

 Addition: speakers are not allowed to add a word or an article to the

component parts of the idiom because this may affect its figurative sense. For
instance, the meaning of the English idiom “the long and the short of it” will
completely change and become no longer idiomatic if we add the adverb
“very” to it i.e. “the very long and the short of it”.

 Deletion: omitting the article “the” from the expression “kick the bucket”
or the adjective “thin” in “tread on thin ice” would alter its sense as an idiom.
Hence, “kick bucket” and “tread on ice” have no idiomatic meaning.

 Replacement: it is not possible under normal circumstances to substitute

the constituent words of an idiom by others, even if those words are
synonymous. For example, though the word “ship” in the expression “to give
up the ship” has nearly the same meaning of boat. Yet, it will be strange to say
“to give up the boat” instead of the former. Likewise, it would be odd to say
“boot the pail” instead of “kick the bucket” though “boot” and “pail” have the
same meaning with „kick‟ and „bucket‟ respectively.

 Change in the word’s order: idioms do not allow variation in their word
order as to say “it is raining dogs and cats” instead of “it is raining cats and
dogs” or “the short and the long of it” for “the long and the short of it”.

 Change in the grammatical structure: grammatically speaking, idioms do

not always follow the ordinary rules of grammar. They have fixed structure
that is almost known and agreed upon by native speakers such as the
20
 expressions „by and large‟, „trip the light fantastic‟ that any change in their
grammatical structure may lead to the destruction of its meaning. With respect
to the same point Glasser (2009) adds further features that make idioms
distinguishable from literal expressions. In his view, idioms do not accept the
following

 Comparative: the comparative form is another aspect of form variation that

is not allowed in idiomatic expressions. For example, adding the comparative
form “er” to the adjectives long and short in “the long and the short of it” or
hot in “be in hot water” will alter their conventional meanings which are „the
basic facts of a situation‟ and „be in trouble‟ respectively.

 Predicate: the figurative sense of an idiom can be completely changed

when adding a predicate to it as using the adjective „sleeping‟ with a predicate
in “partner is sleeping” for “sleeping partner” and heart is cold for “cold
heart”.

 Passive form: the sense of idioms, unlike literal expressions, may change
when the speaker changes its form from active to passive. For instance, the
passive form “the beans were spilled” have a different meaning from the active
form “they spilled the beans” in that the former refers to its literal meaning,
yet the later means “they reveal a surprise” which is idiomatic.

2.9. Baker’s Taxonomy on the Strategies of translating Idioms

To deal with the difficulties discussed above such as the lack of equivalent
and differences in terms of the context of use and style, Baker (1992) proposes
four main strategies as follow:

a) Translation by a total equivalence (Similar form and meaning): This strategy

involves translating the SL‟s idiom by an identical one in the TL that carries the
same meaning and has similar form as well.

21
 Though this method seems to be the ideal strategy for translating idioms,
it is difficult and “can only occasionally be achieved” when two culturally distinct
languages are involved. Also, questions of style, register and rhetorical effect
have to be taken into consideration as well.

b) Translation using Partial Equivalent (similar meaning but dissimilar form):

Another strategy that may be used for translating idioms is: translating the SL‟s
idiomatic expression by a TL one that conveys the same meaning but has a
different form. In this method, unlike the first one, it is often possible to find a
fixed expression in the TL which has similar meaning to the SL‟s one, yet it
consists of different lexical items.

c) Translation by Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is the most common strategy in the

process of translation. It is usually used in cases where the translator fails to find
a TL‟s correspondent idiom to the one used in the SL, or when it seems
inappropriate to use idiomatic language in the source text because of the stylistic
differences between the two languages. That is, in such cases the translator can
simply use neutral terms to transmit the intended meaning behind the SL‟s idiom.

It has to be mentioned that by using this strategy, the idiomatic expressions

(especially those that are culturally-bound) may lose their impact and their
cultural significance.

d) Translation by omission: When the meaning conveyed by the Source Language

expression has no correspondent idiom in the TL and its meaning cannot be easily
paraphrased, it does not harm if the translator omitted the idiom from the TL
version.

To sum up, in spite of the fact that idiomatic word is considered as a

universal phenomenon, translators most of the time failed in reproducing
idiomatic expressions from one language to another simply because each
language has its own way of expressing things; an expression in one language

22
may not exist in another or the same meaning may be expressed differently in
different languages. Additionally, most idioms are culturally bound. This what
makes the process of translation much more difficult. Accordingly, theorists
interested in translation studies have proposed four main strategies, mentioned
earlier, which may facilitate the task for translation trainees and help them in
dealing with such frozen patterns of language.

2.10 Modern Approaches to Teaching Translation

Recently, the traditional Grammar-Translation approach has been replaced

by the Communicative approach in FLT Depts., which focuses on the importance
of the students' oral skills to be understood by native speakers of the language
they are studying. Simply, there has been change of presenting language as a set
of forms (grammatical, phonological, lexical) which have not to be learned only
but also practiced, to presenting language as a functional system used to fulfil a
range of communicative purposes described as communicative competence. The
principal characteristic of the grammar-translation method is its focus on learning
the grammar rules and their application in translating texts. And language skills,
reading and writing, are preferred than the oral skills, listening and speaking. This
led student to make errors in describing rules and thus producing incorrect
sentences and influent speaking. However, this method has now been approached
by teachers to be aware of the need of combing the two methods in translation
class which enables students to attain a good command of both L1 and L2
(Shejbalová, 2006).

Teaching translation is a complex task because the one who teaches

translation must be an expert in this field, namely, capable of teaching translation
theories as a science as well as having the actual practical skills of being a good
translator. In other words, they must have a dual capability of first, being an
expert in teaching the theoretical principles of translation, and simultaneously
have the practical skills of an actual translator. In order to identify the actual
23
competencies needed by effective translators, the researcher had investigated and
explored the extensive amount of research based on the teaching of translation,
and historical development as well as other related issues. The reviewed literature
will provide the researcher with the key indicators in deciding the overall
approach to the study (Aly, 2004).
Aly (2004) states that the evaluation of the literature discovered that there
has been considerable focus on the translation procedure compared to the
teaching methods. Teaching is an occupation that can produce something
prominent when the correct beliefs and principles of teaching are achieved in the
classroom. It is reckoned that the aim of teaching is not to teach learners how to
remember truths, or how to know all the correct answers.
As Fry et al. (2003) argue that the goal of teaching is primarily to get
students to fully comprehend the knowledge being examined. However, teachers
may simplify their duties and that of their learners if they take benefit of the
suitable implements and approaches. Moreover, a translation instructor must have
familiarity and knowledge in translation and the capability of teaching translation
courses at the university level since familiarity and experience of both languages
are required.
Furthermore, (Delisle, 1988) points out that teaching translation is a
demanding occupation that could cause fear, induce depression at times, but also
rewarding and valuable; thus, it demands trustworthiness and humility.
Furthermore, he said that when teaching translation to a learner who is learning a
second language at the same time, it is necessary to take into account two essential
issues. First, learning how to manage with translation allied problems accurately
is not the same as learning the language itself, though they go hand-in-hand.
Second, it is indispensable to choose which methodology suits the translation
technique used along with the process chosen for translation.
Bell (1991) points out that there is a consensus among scholars, translators,
teachers of translation teaching and those who are involved with the training of

24
the students to be translators on the main issues that must be addressed in the
syllabus for translation courses. The requirements to teach translation include
bicultural and bilingual competencies, translation strategies, subject competency
and study skills, exposure to conditions and familiarity with the history of
translation.
Moreover, Bell (1991) also stresses the significance of these requirement
and asserts that:
1. Materials should be authentic in terms of tasks and texts. They will be excellent
aids for the learners to get a taste of real-world duties and authentic documents.
2. Materials should stimulate discussions between the students. If the students are
familiar with differences of opinions translating difficult words in class, it is
likely that they are more critical in evaluating their translation when they work as
translators.
3. Materials should permit the learners to concentrate on formal characteristics of
the language. Therefore, the students should be skilled enough to decide how they
should streamline the same message in unique styles.
4. Materials should support the students to develop their learning skills. The
translation practice in class is meant to offer the students with resourceful
translation approaches: how to manage the problem of long sentences, how to
select words.
5. Materials should support the students to apply their knowledge to work as
translators. It is presumed that the students will know how to handle the
difficulties of translation after they finish the course.
6. Materials and the teaching policy that are used in teaching translation should
aim at preparing the students to be good translators after they complete the course.
Gabris (2000) claims that translation teachers need to have recognized training in
language and translation teaching methodologies and should have some
accreditations attesting to or documentation to show their capability of translating
moreover, he claims and states that the translation teachers must be skilled in

25
teaching translation. While Gouadec (2000) claims that a new instructor, he or
she should expend at least one month working in a translation establishment
either as a reviewer or a translator. There are various types of research on
education styles, teaching styles and personality types which shows that not each
person likes to learn in the same way it shows that not each person likes to learn
in the same way being taught in a unique style which can be inconvenient at first,
and that can lead to the lack of flexibility.
Frank (2005) affirms that for learning to take place, students must be
dynamically building the experience in their minds. He also outlines three aspects
that are essential to effective learning:
1. Interactive high expectations.
2. Supporting active learning.
3. Offering an assessment and rapid feedback
Brain (1990) affirms that the indispensable qualities that distinguish excellent
teachers are as follows:
1. Familiarity of the subject which means that the teacher must be skillful in his
field.
2. Communication which means that the teacher's job is to take advanced
knowledge and make it available to the learners to permit students to understand
the material.
3. Interest which means that the teacher makes the class stimulating and
significant to the students.
4. Respect which means that the respectable teacher has a deep-seated concern
and respect for the students in the classroom.
Teachers of translation must be very expert translators themselves, as well as
skilled teachers since the most acceptable and capable teachers at a university are
practicing professionals in the subject they are teaching.
Furthermore, Nogueira (1998) claims that translation teachers must have
significant time and passion for their subject. He further argues that trainer should

26
not be working as experts who just happen to teach a limited class here and there.
Students require and deserve full-time care. There are some organizational steps
that needed to be followed in order to teach translation successfully to ensure
students’ inspiration, efficiency and the excellence of the translated work:
1. The teacher selection of the material to be translated and the texts must be
picked perfectly, taking into account the degree of complexity of the texts from
the semantic, cultural and stylistic point of view.
2. The learners should read the whole text at least twice with the help of the
instructor to be familiar with the subject and to comprehend the source language.
The learner and instructor need to bear in mind that meaning is context-
determined.
3. The teacher must divide the script into many segments which can help the
students to work in groups. This is directly related on the amount of difficulty and
the extent of the text that needed to be translated. These parts may be columns,
paragraphs, and pages.
4. If the text is familiar to the students, they must do an initial translation. This
type of approach can often be done verbally and a recommended note of
explanation may be written in the margins.
5. If the text is entirely unfamiliar to the students, they should resort to numerous
document sources, which will help the students attain the understanding of the
subject under study.
Hatim and Mason (1990) argue that the teaching of translation within the
context requires various sources to accommodate text varieties, teaching,
explanation, and discussion. These aspects create different challenges to
translators. Apart from that, the preparation of future translators is to be planned
around manuscript typologies. Teachers are to start courses with instructional
documents, those that addresses what to do in the target-language culture.
While Toury (1984) observes that translation teachers had to explain to
their students the textual typologies, how to classify and signify the nature of a

27
linguistic hierarchy structure, and about how to transfer the entire meaning of a
source language text. The aim of the teacher was to train the students to be the
best translators.
Toury (1984) does not approve of such viewpoint and chose to train native
translators. Native translators are self-educated experts who depend on three
connate qualities: inter-linguistic ability, transfer capability, and bilingualism. On
the other hand, a translation theory has given great significance to the emotional
and cognitive characteristics of the translation procedure.
Seleskovitch (1976) claims that when these theoretical problems are
applied to his teaching method, students are to be taught not only to render the
text but also to translate in a confident manner and this can be done using
theoretical studies. Finally, this detailed representation of the literature displays
that there are obvious parallels between Translation Studies theory and the
present practices of translation teaching and training. Indeed, all teachers have
applied their preferred approaches with their learners. The question that remains
is why teaching translation is such a problematic job.
2.11 Translation as an Aid in EFL Learning:

Due to the role of translation in the global communication and cultural

exchange of the modern world, teaching translation receives a great interest when
teaching EFL or ESL in the BA program. “in recent years universities have been
increasingly aware of the needs and practices of professional life, and much of
this awareness has been generated by teachers who actively seek to realign their
teaching so that it opens its doors to new ideas from outside the university.’’
According to them, translation is taught for two main purposes. The first is that
translation can be taught as an end in itself which focuses on the SL (L1) (i.e.
translating into their mother-tongue) as this is how professionals earn their living.
For some learners may become translators one day, and the basic knowledge of
translation they gain in the classroom can serve as a solid ground for building up

28
translation skills. The second is that translation can be used as a means to an end,
a way to learn another language, and therefore focuses on the TL. It helps learners
to develop their knowledge about the TL (L2). Thus, translating into the foreign
language is believed to be beneficial as a language-learning device Jabak, O,
(2016).
Meantime, learning English as foreign language in this respect is closely
tied to learning translation methods where by students convey the meaning of the
(SL) into the (TL). When translating, students will not only learn the grammar,
syntax and the lexis of both languages they are working at. But many other skills
will be enhanced such as listening, reading, comprehension, interpreting and
editing. And the translated text is a result of recon structuring of the original text.
‘’ translating is a sort of rewriting’’ where by students read, analyze, transfer, and
restructure the original. In this sense, the final text stands on its own; it’s has its
own identity but governed by the rules of the (TL). Besides, in interpreting,
students learn many skills in translation class such as, attentive listening, quick
wit, memorizing wide range of vocabulary in all fields of knowledge, good
comprehension, fluent and confident speaking skill, time consuming, note-taking,
decision-making, fast reacting to oral skills, and thoughtful awareness of both
(SL) and (TL) languages and cultures (Lyons, 1981).
2.12 The Objectives of Teaching Translation at the Undergraduate

The objectives of translation course relatively vary depending on

translation program targets, students’ levels and needs, learning outcomes,
translation problems, design of a translation class methodologies and procedures
employed by the instructor. Campbell, L. (1998) Though they suppose
introducing students to: the subject of translation, as a discipline, as a science,
and a process (i.e. translating), as a practice or an art, in general and then in
specific terms.

29
The role of translation to humanity and its contribution to human civilization and
international communication on all levels of knowledge.
The theory of translation, its approaches and its diverse methods as what, how,
when and why they are applied for, to transfer the meaning of the (SL) into the
(TL).
The main principles and related issues, as faithfulness, transparency, equivalence,
strategies
Text types and kinds of translation; literary, technical, legal, commercial…etc.
2.12.1- Translation and Interpretation

As human communication across the world expands, translation practice

encompasses all fields of social life both at the national and international levels.
Teaching translation and interpretation side by side receives a lot of attention in
designing translation program among BA curriculum. While Translation is
defined as ‘’the communication of the meaning of SL text by means of an
equivalent TL text’’. Language Interpretation or Interpreting is defined as ‘’the
facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or
consecutively between users of different languages.’’ (Taamneh, 2018)
This implies that the first means to covey the meaning of the original text
by means of its lexis, structure and grammar with their equivalents in the targeted
text. Whereas the later means to transfer the message of the speaker orally.
Interpreting, just like translation, is fundamentally the art of paraphrasing. The
interpreter listens to a speaker in one language, grasps the content of what is being
said, and then paraphrases his/her own understanding of the meaning by means
of the vocabulary, grammar and culture of the target language. The key skills of
the translator are the ability to understand the source language and the culture of
the country where the text originated, then using good library dictionaries and
reference materials, rendering the content clearly and accurately into the TL. In
other words, while linguistic and cultural skills are still critical, the most

30
important mark of a good translator is the ability to write well in the TL. An
interpreter, on the other hand, must be able to translate in both directions (at the
linguistic and cultural levels at a time) without using dictionaries or other
supplemental references. Interpreters must have extraordinary listening abilities,
especially for simultaneous interpreting. They need to process and memorize the
words the SL speaker is saying now, while simultaneously outputting in the TL
the translation of words the speaker said 5-10 seconds ago. Interpreters must also
possess excellent public speaking skills and intellectual capacity to instantly
transform fixed forms, such as idioms, collocations, proverbs, colloquialisms and
other culturally-specific references into their equivalents to the TL audience. Both
interpreting and translation are two closely related linguistic disciplines, yet they
are rarely performed by the same people. The difference is in skills, training,
aptitude, and medium: the interpreter translates orally, while a translator
interprets a written text. Both interpreting and translation presuppose a good
competence and deep knowledge of more than one language (Lyons, 1981).
2.12.2- Problems of Teaching Translation at the Undergraduate

Problems arise in the process of teaching translation could be summed up

at different levels:
At the acidic level:
BA program in English depts. is not standardized by the Ministry of Higher
Education in all universities of some countries. Thus, the content of translation
course is almost part of EFL program, has been varied and subjected to argument
among translation teachers. Thus translation tasks have also varied among EFL
learners in translation class.
Translation courses are offered obligatory as part of EFL BA program in
English departments, sometimes beyond students’ will. Most English
departments do not have unified curriculum or sufficient credit hours to cover all
the content of translation course and its fundamentals that students of translation

31
should be acquainted with at different levels. The objectives of translation class
have been misdirected whether to teach translation for academic purpose or to
prepare qualified translators for the workplace. Lack of independent translation
departments in most Humanities. Lack of special learning facilities in translation
class; language labs, audio-visual aids…etc. for practicing translation, and no out-
class training programs for students to preforming interpretation in different
situational environments, as conferences, institutions and companies. Interpreting
methods, strategies and training skills, such as simultaneous, consecutive and
sight translation are not considered adequately in designing translation class. The
direction of teaching translation in some curriculum is from L1to L2 and not the
reverse Campbell, L. (1998).
b- At the instructional level
Translation classes are assigned to inexperienced or unqualified instructors
who are specialized in English Majors as Literature, or ESOL rather than
Translation and show interest to teaching it rather than to be specialized in. Some
of them even do not get training courses to teach translation whose knowledge
lack a theoretical framework and are merely reflections of their own personal and
limited experiences in teaching translation. The absence of networking among
translation instructors to exchanging knowledge about this vital and sustainable
discipline. Others have no contact with professional translators to update their
teaching methods and techniques when solving various translation problems.
They do not employ a systematic approach based on theory and practice when
teaching translation. They do not step smoothly from translating to Audio-Visual
interpreting, without letting students work on theory first and then practicing
different kinds of interpreting, i.e. dubbing, subtitling, sight translation, and
machine translation as they may be needed in their future working situation
(Dong T, 2013).

32
2. 13 Cultural and Lexical Translation Challenges

Several studies have been carried out on the notion of cultural and lexical
in the process of translation but few of them investigated the problems and the
reasons behind facing such problems. Moreover, few studies focused and
discussed the difficulties that faced the Saudi students in translating some of the
literary texts. One of the reasons behind such problems is the differences
regarding the cultural and lexical problems so that students cannot find the
equivalents for some words when they deal with such cultural and lexical items,
as well as the notion of “style”, which differs from one translator to another
(Crystal 1992).
The subject of style has been the subject of endless controversy, and its
essence is still debated. When the translator does not understand the writer’s or
the author’s style and his/her background, it is expected to commit major
translation problems due the gap that comes on the surface simply because the
translator does not grasp the writer’s intention in that literary work. (Crystal
1992).
Ghazal (ibid, p.223) defined style as “the different choices made by writers
from the language stock in regard to layout (or shape), grammar, vocabulary (or
words) and phonology (or sounds).” This definition indicates that translators must
take these components in the process of translation. In doing so they will be able,
and to some extent, in rendering the SL text into close, adequate, and acceptable
TL texts.

Tahaineh and Tafish (2011) conducted a study to show whether teaching

some translation techniques may help in discovering the problems in order to
solve them through the effectiveness of cooperative learning approach in a
translation classroom. The sample of the study consisted of 43 students who were
studying a basic translation course at the school of Languages Studies and
Linguistics at the University of Kebangsaan in Malaysia. In the study, both

33
quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the students’
respondents to the questionnaire and the translation tasks. The findings of the
study showed that the majority of the students were competitive learners.
Moreover, the results showed that students preferred to work in small
groups (Between 2 to 3) rather than the group that consisted of 4 to 5 members.
In addition, the results pointed out that the respondents disliked the idea of
working in groups, as they preferred discussing with their classmates about the
ideas they would to share and talk about.
In another study conducted by Mares (2012) about the cultural difficulties
in translation from English into Arabic that faced translators due to the
mismatches in beliefs and culture between the Western cultures and the Arab
culture, he found that the most problematic aspects that take place in the process
of translation are the cultural differences, religious facts, and diglossia. The
researcher concluded that translators should be aware of the differences between
English and Arabic linguistic systems as they cause problems in the process of
rendering. Moreover, the cultural and religious differences between the two
languages should be taken into account to create the appropriate close and
equivalent translations.
Al-Sohbani and Muthanna (2013) investigated the major challenges that
faced Yemeni students when translating from Arabic into English and vice versa.
The researchers used the qualitative analyses to classify the most problematic
issues in translation. The researchers found that the most problematic
translational issues were insufficient lexical knowledge, inadequate knowledge
and practice of grammar, inadequate cultural backgrounds, and inappropriate
teaching atmosphere. The researchers concluded that there should be re-
systematic reforms of the Yemeni curriculum, the pedagogy, and decreasing the
number of the students at Yemeni classes.
Dweik and Abu Helwah (2014) conducted a study to investigate the
cultural and the linguistic problems that faced Jordanian graduate students in the

34
Middle East University. The sample of the study compromised 20 M. A students
during the first academic year 2012/2013.The researchers designed a translation
test that consisted six of historical and religious Arabic texts. The results of the
study showed that students faced many cultural and linguistic problems such as
structural, stylistic, lexical, punctuation errors, and cultural terms. The
researchers concluded that these problems resulted from the differences in the
linguistic systems between the two languages, lack of awareness to the
importance of the context in the process of translation, lack of students’
awareness to the cultural differences, and the lack of experience in dealing with
dictionaries while translating.
Almubark, Abd.Manan, and Al-Zubaid (2014) studied the hindrances that
faced students while translating specific cultural concepts from Arabic into
English. The sample of the study consisted of 100 students of both sexes in the
final year at Al Imam Al Mahdi University in Sudan who studied at the faculty
of English in Sudan. Two instruments were used in this study: A translation test
and an open-ended interview. The results of the study showed that the students
faced many problems in translation especially the specific cultural concepts when
translating from Arabic into English. Moreover, the study pointed that literal
translation as well as cultural aspects resulted in these translation problems.
Bakir and Lazim (2015) conducted a study about the stylistic problems
encountered the Arab students at the university level at Ajman University of
Science and Technology (UAE) in translating from Arabic into English. Thirty
advanced-level students were chosen from the Department of English Language
and Translation for the study. The students were given a text that talked about
Basrah, Iraq. It talked about the city’s economic and cultural history. The
researchers analyzed the students’ translations concerning the text. The findings
of the analysis showed that the students faced serious problems in rendering style
as they focused on translating the words as separate and isolated items. The results
also pointed out the students’ errors that appeared in the process of the rendering

35
indicated that the translator should be aware for both linguistic and cultural
aspects for any text being translated.
Elachachi (2015) conducted a study to explore the cultural barriers that
face the Algerian EFL students’ writing due to cultural differences between
Arabic-speaking and English-speaking communities. The researcher chose a
sample of learners consisted of 16 EFL students from the University of Tlemcen
in Algeria. To discover the students’ writing difficulties, a contrastive rhetoric
was used in this study. The results of the study indicated that the cultural
differences related to the linguistic factors such as alphabet, and letters were the
main reason for the big amount of mistakes that the students committed in writing
their compositions. Moreover, the researcher found that the differences between
the two languages in the metaphorical as well as the syntactic styles cause many
difficulties for Algerian students’ writings.
Jabak, Abdullah, and Mustapha (2016) conducted a study to explore the
difficulties of translating collocations from Arabic into English that faced the
Saudi undergraduate students at the Department of English at Teachers college
of King Saud University in the second semester of the academic year 2015.The
sample of the study consisted of 50 students. The researchers prepared a quiz that
consisted of 15 Arabic sentences that included collocations. The study’s findings
revealed that the majority of the students could not give equivalent, close, and
natural renderings for the colocations because of many reasons such as adopting
the literal translations for them, misusing of the dictionaries, and having very little
knowledge about the concept of collocation and the best methods to deal with
them in the process of translation. What distinguishes this study from the above
studies is that it examines the translation problems in three different categories;
cultural, lexical, and terms of address that were taken from one of the literary
Arabic novels. Whereas the studies that were mentioned above discussed or
studied one or two of the translation problems. Moreover, it tried to examine the
difficulty of translating these items that faced the Saudi TEFL students from their

36
point of views as they were asked to write freely about these problems. The study
tries to show the most difficult sentences that students faced while doing their test
and the reasons behind such difficulty.
2.14 Related articles with my investigation:

1. A study was done by Issam Mostafa Taamneh (2018) in Faculty of

Education and Arts, Tabuk University, Saudi Arabia aimed to investigate
the most common translation problems that encountered the Saudi students
in translating some of the literary items from Arabic into English. In
addition, the study tried to investigate the most difficult terms that the
students faced while translating them. Moreover, it aimed to explore the
participants’ point of views behind such translation problems. To achieve
the purpose of the study, a translation test, which involved 20 items and
expressions, was prepared in advance. Furthermore, an interview was made
to the participants to ask them about their point of views concerning the
reasons behind encountering such translation problems. The sample of the
study consisted of 15 male fourth year English-majored university
students, who were chosen purposefully, at the University College of
Taymaa in the first semester of the academic year 2017/2018 in Saudi
Arabia. The design of the study was a qualitative as well as quantitative
method. The data that were obtained from the participants’ answers in the
translation test as well as the participants’ point of views in the interview
were analyzed using the appropriate statistical analyses. The findings of
the study showed that the students’ achievement in translating the items of
the terms of address was the best compared with their results in the other
two groups (lexical and cultural). Moreover, the analysis of the students’
interviews indicated that the lack of practice and lack of translation courses
are a main reason in facing such these problems. Based on the findings, the
researcher presented some recommendations and suggestions to develop

37
 students’ translation competence such as increasing the number of the
translation courses that are presented to the students in their studying to
have more practice in the process of translation. Moreover, more
concentration should be given to the lexical, cultural, and terms of address
problems in translation. Besides, students must be trained on how to use
the bilingual dictionaries in the process of translation to get the intended
meaning while rendering from Arabic into English and vice versa.
2. Amin Ali Al Mubarak in 2017 Department of English language, Jazan
University, King of Saudi Arabia had done a research that with the
problems of teaching translation from the following perspectives: the
significance of translation teaching, the history of translation teaching,
teaching materials and teaching methods. The researcher specifically
focuses on discovering the problems faced by teachers at the University of
Jazan in Saudi Arabia in teaching translation theories and practice. The
researcher used a descriptive method in this study to determine the
problems faced by teachers in teaching translation. The researcher also
distributed a questionnaire to investigate the problems the teachers
encountered when teaching translation theories and practice and the
questionnaire contained 12 questions. This research did not only reveal the
problematic issues encountered but also proposed some practical measures
to remedy them. The findings and suggestions would facilitate teachers and
relevant authorities to improve the translation teaching methodology in
Jazan Universityand the result must not be generalized.

38
2.15 The factors influencing translation process:

2.15.1 Influence of the mother tongue

During the process of learning a foreign language, our mother tongue has
a big influence on our way of thinking and, to some extent, our use of the target
language (word order, word choice). Thanks to the translation, we understand
better the interference of the mother tongue when learning a foreign language.
We will be able to explore the potential of both languages – their merits and
shortcoming – by using contrastive analysis.
Yet, because of the influence of our mother tongue – Vietnamese one, many
beginners hardly avoid the mistakes – wrong English word orders, as in the
example below:
Beginner sometimes may translate in the following way: “However, some
company’s software computer worry about software open source”.
Suggested version: “However, some computer software companies worry about
opened source software” (Pym, 1992).
2.15.2 Words and choices of word meanings:
Words play a crucial role for any language learners to build their own
vocabulary system to get advantages in their language learning. Vocabulary is the
fundamental component of communication. The more vocabulary one has, the
more advantages for him to obtain effective communication.
Developing this basic tool with create many opportunities in learning
translation subject well within a translation text. If learners have no difficulty in
new words, it will be easy for them to translate into the target language text. In
contrast, they seem to fail translating. Most of English words have many
meanings, so choosing a suitable and appropriate word, which has the exact
meaning to apply into the target language text sometimes, create many confusing
for translators (Shejbalová, 2006).

39
 The exact meaning of one word can be expressed only in context, as in the
following example: “My uncle ran for governor so he was a fair game for the
press. The reporters dug back into his past and printed things about him that
happened way back in childhood. But they found nothing that looked too bad and
he did get elected”.
If the meaning of these words is not selected carefully and appropriately,
translator will have a bad translated text in consequence like in the following
translation:
Obviously, vocabulary is one of the most important parts helping translators
create a good translated text. The more meanings of a word we know; the more
advantages we have in translation process. Paying attention to meanings of word
will partly help translation products looks smoother and more exactly.
2.15.3 Grammatical structures:

Vocabulary is really important but it is not enough for translation.

Grammar or grammatical structure is another special mean to make translating
meaningful.
Insufficient knowledge on either of the two areas may lead to poor quality
of translation. If compared to other languages, English is a very flexible language.
It goes by very strict structures while the Vietnamese language is much more
flexible by the way it does not always use articles. In English, there are many
tenses being used with a particular structure. In case, an untrue tense is used,
readers cannot understand or misunderstand its meaning (Pym, 1992).
For instance:
Suggested version:
“I have lived in this house for 10 years”.
The tense of the verb is the present perfect tense, it shows an action which
happened in the past and up to now or in the future. However, there are no rules

40
of using the different verb forms to express the time when an action happens in
Vietnamese.
In short, grammatical structures in English are so complicated and not easy
to master. There is no way to master it without practice. It requires the learners
have to find on effective way of learning to study and practice more if they want
to limit grammar errors in using English in general and specially in studying
translation subject to become a skilled translator.
2.15.4 Context:

Language plays a crucial role in conveying information; it is the vehicle of

our ideas, thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of our world. Translation is
considered being a process of carrying the meaning of a text from one language
to another language. This process involves interpretation of the meaning of the
source text and producing the same meaning of this text by mean of another
language. Texts, however, cannot exist out of context. By context, meaning is the
entire environment in which the word or sentence is expressed or stated. Any
word in the text is not presented in isolation but in interaction with other words
in the text and with the whole text at large. This interaction among words
determines their meaning rather than its isolated meaning (Shejbalová, 2006).
For example:
- The uses of the word “work” in the following sentences:

+ I work at Ministry of Education and Training.

+ Kieu story is a famous work.

+ After graduating, I will look for work.

41
 The “work” in the first example is a normal verb. It means the activity by
which one makes a living. In the second one, “work” means the output of a
creative writer whereas “work” in the last example has another different meaning,
that is a noun relating to a job or an employment.
- The uses of the word “hand” in the following sentences:
+ Clean your hand before eating.
+ There are 12 hands employees at this farm.
The word “hand” in the first example means a part of a body which is used
to hold something while “hand” in the later one refers to a people who work as
employees.
Context is really important and necessary in helping us decide which word
should be chosen to obtain the suitable meaning in our translated text. If we
misunderstand the context, it leads to choosing of inappropriate meanings of
words. It, therefore, results in a bad translated text. Context partly contributes to
create a true translated output that is considered the most important requirement
of translation (Pym, 1992).
2.15.5 Characteristics of language:
There is certain characteristic of language, which have a very direct bearing
on principles of the translation process.
Firstly, the characteristics of meaning components are referred as a
phenomenon of the differences among languages. Meaning components are
packaged into lexical items, but they are packaged differently from one language
to another one. Almost all languages have a meaning of plurality; for instance,
the final letter “_s” represents plurality in English. It occurs in the grammar as a
suffix of the nouns or verbs or both. However, in Vietnamese, plurality is
expressed in an isolated word “những”, “các” or “vài”, etc. Sometimes, a single
word in the source language – English, will need to be translated by several words
into the target language – Vietnamese, and vice versa.

42
For example:
“One of the important matters now is moral education.”
Her ideas are interesting.
Secondly, it is the characteristic of languages that the same meaning
components will occur in several surface structure lexical items. Let’s look at the
word “sheep” in English. The word “lamp”, “ram” and “ewe” also include the
meaning “sheep”. They include the additional meaning components of a young
sheep by “lamp”, an adult male sheep by “ram” and an adult female sheep by
using the word “ewe”.
Thirdly, it is about further characteristic of language that one form will be
used to represent several alternative meanings. This is obvious from looking at
any good dictionary. For example, the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
give 33 senses of the verb “run”. Most of words have more than one meaning.
There will be a primary meaning – the meaning which usually comes to mind
when the word is said in isolation, and the contextual meaning (or secondary
meaning) – the additional meanings which a word has in other specific contexts
with other supporting words in certain orders. For example, in English, is we say
“the boy runs”, it comes to our mind that “the boy moves fast”. Yet, in the
sentences “my uncle runs for governor”, we have to think carefully that “run”
here has the contextual meaning, which means, “to stand as a candidate for the
position of a governor of an office” (Shejbalová, 2006).
This principle is not only limited to lexical items; it also applies for
grammatical structure. The same grammatical pattern may express several quite
different meanings. For instance, the English possessive phrase “my house” may
have several meanings as “the house I live in” or “the house for which I drew up
in my plans”. Also, whole sentences may have several functions.

43
 A question form may be used for a non-question. A good example of this
characteristic is the question form: “Daisy, why do not you tidy your room?”. It
has a form of a question, and maybe in some context asking for information, but
it is often used with the meaning of a command rather than a real question.
A simple English sentence like “he made the bed” may mean either “he, a
carpenter, made the bed” or he “he put the sheets, blanket and pillows in neat
order on the bed”. Just as words have primary and secondary meanings,
grammatical makers have their primary function and often have other contextual
functions. The preposition “on” is used in English to signal a variety of meanings.
Compare the following uses of “on” with the corresponding forms used in
Vietnamese.
Compare the following uses of the preposition “by” also.
+ John was stopped by the policeman.

+ John was stopped by the bookstand.

The preposition “by” in the first example is used to signal the meaning that
the policeman is the target of the action. In the later one, “by” is used to signal
that the bookstand is the location.
It has been seen that one form may be expressed by many meanings. On
the other hand, a single meaning can also be expressed in a variety of forms. This
is another characteristic of language which partly influents translation process.
Analyzing the sentence “that cat is black”, this is black here depending on how
that meaning relates to other meanings (Shejbalová, 2006).
In addition, the meanings of “Is this place taken?”, “Is there anyone sitting
here?”, and “May I sit here?” are essentially the same.

44
Also, the meaning is essential the same in the following English sentences:
The boy is so young that he cannot go to school.
The boy is too young to go to school.
It is such a young boy that he cannot go to school.
The boy is not old enough to go to school.
If he was old enough, he could go to school.
Unless he was old enough, he could not go to school.
Moreover, English has a very clear distinction between tenses whereas the
tense in Vietnamese is not clear distinction.
We have obviously seen that even within one language singly, there are a
great variety of ways in which form expresses meaning. Only when a form is
being used in its primary meaning or function is there a one-to-one correlation
between form and meaning. Form, on the other hand, has other meanings, which
are secondary meanings or figurative meanings. Words have these extended
meanings and in the same way grammatical forms also have extended usages
(secondary and figurative meaning). This characteristic of “skewing” that is the
diversity or the lack of one-to-one correlation between form and meaning is the
basic reason why translation is a complicated task. If there was no skewing, all
lexical items and all grammatical forms would have only one meaning, and
therefore, a literal word-for-word translation and grammatical structure-for-
grammatical structure translation would be possible. But the target fact is that a
language has a complex set of skewed relationship between meaning (semantics)
and form (lexicon and grammar). Each language has its own distinctive forms for
representing meaning. Therefore, in translation the same meaning may have to be
expressed in another language by a very different form (Pym, 1992).

45
2.16 Common errors in written translation:
The following errors are usually found in written translation:
2.16.1 Word order:
The order of words in a sentence also has a great influence on its meaning.
The different order will lead to the very different meaning of a sentence. For
example:
Gary hit his classmate on the nose.
Only Gary hit his classmate on the nose.
Gary only hit his classmate on the nose.
Gary hit only his classmate on the nose.
Gary hit his only classmate on the nose.
2.16.2 Syntax/ Grammatical errors:
Grammar errors are some common errors related to tenses, the form of
words, the sentence structures found in the translated text. These errors are caused
by the misuse of verb forms, the misuse of relative pronoun and the misuse of
part of speech.
2.16.3 Misuse of verb forms:
The grammar errors that are related to the misuse of verb forms often occur
when the translators keep Vietnamese structures to translate the Vietnamese
sentence into English. The following sentence is considered to have grammatical
error because the translator misused the voice.
Educational innovation is absolutely essential, but how should it innovate is still
a big question which pose for many educators.
The errors of this example is the verb “innovate” and “pose” which is in
active form. It must be in passive form “be innovated” and “is posed” because
education cannot innovate by itself and question cannot itself pose for educators.
Therefore, the Vietnamese sentence should be translated as:
Educational innovation is absolutely essential, but how should it be innovated is
still a big question posed for many translators.

46
2.16.4 Misuse of relative pronouns:
When the complex Vietnamese sentences are translated into English,
translators often have errors on relative pronoun which is one type of common
grammar errors. The example below is analyzed to see grammar error because
the translator misused the part of speech of pronoun.
A research group observed that the children of mothers who eat much
chocolate during their pregnancy frequently laugh and more active than the
children of other mother.
(Nguyen Thanh Duc, 2009).
The errors of this example is that the wrong combination of the noun phrase
“children of mothers” and the relative pronoun “who” fails to express the
meaning “the pregnant women eat chocolate”. In this case, the relative pronoun
“who” must be replaced by the relative pronoun “whose”. Therefore, the example
above should be translated as:

A research group observed that the children whose mothers eat much
chocolate during their pregnancy frequently laugh and more active than the
children of other mothers (Pym, 1992).

47
 Section Three
Methodology

3.1 Introduction:

The purpose of this chapter is to present the methodology used in this

thesis. It includes research questions, research participants, data collection
instruments and research procedure.

3.2 Research Design:

The main research method that is used in this study is a combination of

quantitative and qualitative method to find out EFL students translation
challenges. Also, a questionnaire is used to collect required information for this
investigation.

3.2 Participants:

The participants of this investigation are students of Herat university in

Herat, Afghanistan. 60 people are going to answer the questionnaire of the
investigation which is consisted of 20 questions. Also, 10 participants are going
to answer 5 information questions. The participants were all Female and they are
senior and junior English students. They have many year experience in English
learning and teaching.

Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Age 60 21 28 24.02 2.167

Q1 60 1.00 5.00 2.5000 1.30838

Q2 60 1.00 5.00 3.5167 1.43198

Valid N (listwise) 60

48
 Age
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid 21 4 6.7 6.7 6.7

22 18 30.0 30.0 36.7

23 5 8.3 8.3 45.0

24 10 16.7 16.7 61.7

25 10 16.7 16.7 78.3

26 1 1.7 1.7 80.0

27 6 10.0 10.0 90.0

28 6 10.0 10.0 100.0

Total 60 100.0 100.0

Class

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid 3.00 23 38.3 38.3 38.3

4.00 37 61.7 61.7 100.0

Total 60 100.0 100.0

3.3 Research instrument:

For collecting information for this thesis, a combination of qualitative and

quantitative method was used. And a questionnaire that had 20 questions about
students’ translation challenges with four option choices were given as a research
instrument. The questionnaire is designed in two parts: the first part is consisted
of 20 questions with five options for choosing, agree, strongly agree, no idea,
disagree, strongly disagree. And the second part is consisted of five information
questions that need more explanation.

49
3.4 Research environment

This research was conducted in English department, Higher Education

faculty, Herat university, Afghanistan. The researcher of this study managed to
conduct this research at English department. Before conducting this research, a
permission letter was provided so that the research formally had the authorization
of conducting this research in that area.

3.5 Research procedure:

The sample size was selected using purposive, stratified and simple
random sampling procedures. The researcher purposively sampled out two
English girls’ classes, junior and senior, in Herat university, Afghanistan. These
classes were picked from different departments in Education faculty. This was to
ensure that the sample was adequately distributed within education faculty. In
each of these classes, participants’ pupils who constituted the sample were
selected using stratified random sampling. This was because they were
considered mature enough to know what translation challenges are and how they
can be solved and they have enough information to fill in the questionnaires
given.
Also, 10 participants were given information questions about the topic and
they were asked to present their ideas regarding translation challenges. The data
were collected physically and analyzed as following.
3.6 Data analysis

After data collection they were analyzed through SPSS program. The
Cronbach’s Alpha calculated .910. The questionnaire was designed into two
parts, first part is about general information and the second part has 20 questions,
each question was separately analyzed and its percentage was obtained.

50
 Section Four
Data analysis
4.1 Statistical analyses

To gain better understanding of investigate EFL Students` Translation

Challenges, the analyses were done within two stages. First, through SPSS in
descriptive statistics form will used to answer the research question. Then, the
questionnaire questions were analyses through excel program that each of them
separately analyzed the needed data.

4.2 Questionnaire reliability and validity

The validity and reliability of the questionnaire is calculated using Cronbach’s
Alpha. The Alpha value showed as it is more 0.910 then it is reliable and can be used
for the study. The result of reliability test showed in the table (1).

Table 1:

As the table (1) shows the Cronbach’s Alpha is 0.910 that it indicates 91% validity of
20 questionnaire statements.

51
4.3 Result of research questionnaire

In descriptive from, the data were analyzed through excel program and
each question is described by percentage that participants have chosen, as below
description: Table 2:

No Stron
Stron
idea Dis- gly
No Statement Agree gly
agree disag
agree
ree

Translating text from Persian to English is more difficult

1 35% 25% 5% 15% 20%
for EFL students.

Translating text from English to Persian is more difficult

2 10% 20% 10% 30% 30%
for EFL students.

Idioms and local phrases of a language are the real

3 30% 20% 10% 25% 15%
challenge while translating to another language.

Lack of cultural and social information about target

4 30% 25% 15% 20% 10%
language is a challenge while translating.

Lack of grammar understanding can be a challenge while

5 35% 25% 10% 20% 10%
translating from one language to another.

6 Multi-meaning of words makes problem while translating. 35% 15% 5% 25% 20%

7 Interpretation is easier than translation for EFL learners. 20% 15% 5% 35% 25%

8 Word for word translation is easy for EFL students. 25% 25% 5% 20% 25%

Special terminology makes problems while translating

9 25% 35% 10% 20% 10%
texts.

Little experiences on translation, effect on quality of

10 25% 25% 10% 30% 10%
translation work.

Translation of texts according their concept is difficult for

11 20% 10% 10% 35% 25%
students.

12 Scientific texts are easy for translation. 20% 15% 5% 35% 15%

52
 Unexperienced teachers in translation subject can bring
13 20% 30% 10% 20% 20%
challenges for EFL students.

The more a student study English language, the more

14 30% 20% 5% 20% 25%
he/she is successful in translation subject.

15 Translation is more difficult than interpretation. 20% 15% 15% 35% 15%

Lack of information about methods of translation is a

16 25% 15% 0% 25% 35%
challenge for EFL students.

students less motivation on translation subject can cause

17 20% 35% 10% 15% 20%
difficulty for them in translating different texts.

Do you think the teacher and his teaching method strongly

18 30% 20% 10% 30% 10%
affect your interest in studying translation?

Reading different topic can solve our translation

19 25% 35% 10% 20% 10%
challenges.

Practicing translating different text improve our

20 30% 25% 5% 15% 25%
translation skill.

As shows the table (2) most of the students (35% agree and 25% strongly
agree) had positive answer to the questionnaire item 1 that translating from
Persian to English is a challenge for EFL students. As mentioned before the goal
of questionnaire was to investigate EFL translation challenges.

53
Table 3: The results in graph:

What are the most important EFL students’

challenges while translating?

translating from E to P
idoms and termenology 20%
15%

unexperienced teacher
15%

methods of teaching
10%
translating from P to E
40%

According the chart above, most of the participants (40%) believe that
translating from Persian to English is a challenge to EFL students, 20 % of the
participants believe that translating from English to Persian is difficult while 10%
believe method of translation teaching can be a challenge and 15% believe that
unexperienced teachers make challenges for students and finally, 15% of
participants believe that idioms and special terminology are the main challenges
for EFL students.

54
Table 4: result of second question in graph

Multi-meaning of words makes problem while

translating.

Strongly disagree
20% Agree
35%

Disagree
25%

Strongly agree
No idea 15%
5%

Agree Strongly agree No idea Disagree Strongly disagree

As shown in table 4, most of the participants (35%) agree that multi

meaning of words makes problem while translating and the same time 15%
strongly agree on this issue while 45% disagree and strongly disagree about the
mentioned issue. Also, there are just 5 % who have no idea regarding the
mentioned statement.

55
Table 5: the result of third question:

Lack of cultural and social information about target

language is a challenge while translating.

Strongly disagree
10%

Agree
30%
Disagree
20%

No idea
15%
Strongly agree
25%

Agree Strongly agree No idea Disagree Strongly disagree

Table 5 shows that lack of cultural and social information about target
language is a challenge for EFL students. Because 30% of the participants agreed,
25% strongly agreed and 15% had no idea regarding this statement. In other hand,
about 30% of the participants disagreed and strongly disagreed.

Responses on information questions:

1. what can be real translation challenges?

From 10 participants 8 of them believed that lack of vocabulary is an important

challenge for EFL while translating from one language to another. But some of
them like Maryam, believed that lack of grammar understanding can be another
challenge for EFL students. And finally, Hasina mentioned that the teacher
method of translation teaching is a real translation challenge.

56
Sample of a participant idea:

“Hello, my name is Hasina and I am a senior student in English language

and literature. I am 23 years old and I have experience in English language
teaching and learning.

My idea regarding your questions has different parts, I think the real
translation challenges are lack of vocabulary, lack of grammar understanding and
lack of familiarity with target language culture. But from all, what is the real
translation challenges is teacher method of teaching translation. If a teacher
doesn’t have enough experience in translation teaching, he or she will make more
challenges for students, too.”

57
 Section Five
Discussion and Conclusion
5.1 Discussion:
The present research has been conducted to examine the EFL students’
challenges in translation both from English to Persian and vice versa. To reach
this objective we have gone through two main theoretical parts to pave the ground
to the experimental work. In the first theoretical part we have attempted to spot
light on some basic concepts in translation mainly its definition, different types
and problems that translators may encounter during the process of translation.

In the practical part, the participants were given a questionnaire regarding the
topic to present their ideas. The results obtained have shown that students ability
to translate from Persian to English is weak and it is a challenge for them.

Based on the findings of this study, we might end up with the following
recommendations:

Students should be exposed more and more to practice change text from
English to Persian and Persian to English, improve their source and target
grammar and vocabulary information, changing idiomatic expressions from one
language to another at schools and University to extend their knowledge.
Moreover, having a good cultural background about fixed expressions in general,
and idioms in particular can help students in getting the true meaning of the texts.
They should be made aware that literal translation is not always good strategy for
good translation especially when dealing with fixed expressions.

58
5.2 Recommendations:

Based on the results of the study, the present study recommends the
following:

Firstly, the researcher sees that the translator, in addition to having good
command of SL and TL languages, should also be aware of the two cultures. In
other words, he should be sensitive to religious and social terms as having a good
knowledge between the differences of the two cultures will definitely facilitate
the process of translation. Secondly He/she should be faithful to SL text providing
as he must do his best to produce a close, appropriate, and equivalent TL text. In
adopting this strategy, his/her translation looks natural. Thirdly, the translator
should have a good knowledge about the relevant of the terms of address in the
two languages as that might be functional and highly flavored terms of address in
one language may be turned to be flat in another language. Hence, utmost care
should be given to these terms of address in both languages to give them their
close and natural equivalent.

Moreover, university translation courses must be increased for the students

as these translation courses are not enough to provide the students with the good
practice and knowledge to deal with different literary texts, as the current
situation of the students, who participated in this study, is unsatisfactory. In
addition, lecturers as well as professors who teach translation courses for the
students in the Herat universities should explain the best way of using the
dictionaries correctly a lot of concern as a good number of the students said that
their poor use of the dictionaries stands against their development in the
translation courses. Besides, the teachers should tell the students about the
importance and unimportance of using google translation as an equipment for
translation texts.

59
 Finally, it is advisable for all translation lecturers to start their courses at
the beginning of each academic semester with exercises on how to use the
dictionaries appropriately as well as the suitable way to choose the intended
meaning in the SL text according to its context.

5.3 Suggestions for further researches

The researcher suggests the followings: -

1-The researcher suggests carrying out researches on comparative studies

between English/Persian and Persian /English translation regarding difficulties,
problems and solutions.

2-Adopting researches on the function and aims of cultural translation.

3-Carrying out researches about the interference and influence of Persian

language in cultural translating from English to Persian.

4-Carrying out researches about improving the overall students` translation skills
from English to Persian and vice versa.

5.4 Limitations:

The process of collecting data for this investigation took two months.
Gathering information for chapter three took one month, it took time because the
participants were not present all together in the university to answer my
questionnaire. I made appointment with them in three times. It means, every time
I saw five participants and they got the questionnaire and answered. The
participants willingly answered the first seven four options statements and also
they have given more details for the second third questions.

60
5.5 Conclusion

The present research has been conducted to examine the EFL students’
challenges in translation both from English to Persian and vice versa. To reach
this objective we have gone through two main theoretical parts to pave the ground
to the experimental work. In the first theoretical part we have attempted to spot
light on some basic concepts in translation mainly its definition, different types
and problems that translators may encounter during the process of translation.

In the practical part, the participants were given a questionnaire regarding

the topic to present their ideas. The results obtained have shown that students
ability to translate from Persian to English is weak and it is a challenge for them.

Based on the findings of this study, we might end up with the following
recommendations:

Students should be exposed more and more to practice change text from
English to Persian and Persian to English, improve their source and target
grammar and vocabulary information, changing idiomatic expressions from one
language to another at schools and University to extend their knowledge.
Moreover, having a good cultural background about fixed expressions in general,
and idioms in particular can help students in getting the true meaning of the texts.
They should be made aware that literal translation is not always good strategy for
good translation especially when dealing with fixed expressions.

61
6. References:
Antar, S. (2002). What every Novice Translator Should Know. Translation
Journal, Vol,6, no.3.

Aly, M. a.-S. (2004). Translation Strategies of EFL Student Teachers: A Think

Aloud Protocol-Based Case Study. Online Submission.
Al Mubarak, A. (2017). Exploring the Problems of Teaching Translation Theories
and Practice at Saudi Universities: Jazan University, King of Saudi Arabia

Al-Sohbani, Y., and Muthanna, A. (2013). Challenges of Arabic-English

Translation: The Need for Pre-Systematic Curriculum and Methodology

Almubark,A., Manan,A., & Al-Zubaid, K. (2014).The Hindrances in Translating

Specific Cultural from Arabic into English.Journal of Humanities

Bakir, K., and Lazim, H. (2015). Stylistic Problems Confronting Arab Students
in Arabic-English Translation. Retrieved 20 January, 2018

Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words: A Course Book on Translation. London:

Routledge.

Ball, W. J. (1968). A practical Guide to colloquial idiom. London: Longman

Group Ltd.

Bell, R. (1991), Translation and Training Theory and Practice, Longman, New
York.

Brain , M. ( 1990 ). On translation and translators. U.K: Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Campbell, L. (1998). Historical Linguistics: An introduction. U.K: Edinburg

University Press, G.B.

Crystal, D. (1992). Language and Languages. London: Blackwell Publishers.

Carter, R. (1993). Introducing Applied Linguistics. London: Penguin books.

Catford, J. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay in Applied
Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press.

Dong T, (2013) English Major Students` Difficulties and Expectation in Learning

Translation.

Delisle, J. (1988). Translation: an interpretive approach. Univ of Ottawa Pr.

Dweik, B. &Abu Helwah, W. (2014). Translating historical and religious Texts

from Arabic into English: Problems and Solutions.

Elachachi, H. (2015).Exploring Cultural Barriers in EFL Arab Learners’ Writing.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,199(3),129-136.

Enani, M., (1994). Graduated Exercises in Translation from Arabic to English.

Cairo: Anglo Egyptian Bookshop.

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., and Marshall, S. (2003). Understanding student learning.
A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education
Frank, C. (2005). Teaching and Learning Theory: Who Needs It? College
Quarterly, 8(2), n2.

Glasser, M. (2009). Open Verification Methodology Cookbook. Springer.

Ghazala, H. (1995). Translation as Problems and Solutions. A Course Book for

University Students and Trainee Translators

Ghazal,H. (2008).Translation as Problems and Solutions. Retrieved 25 January,

2018 from https://drive.uqu.edu.sa/_/ofahmawii/files/Translation

Gabris, L. (2000). Teaching Translation and Interpretation. Retrieved May.

Gouadec, D. (2000). Notes on translator training (replies to a questionnaire).

International Symposium on Innovation in Translator and Interpreter Training
Hatim, B., and Mason, I. (1990). Discourse and the Translation. London and New
York: Longman.
Jabak, O., Abdullah, N. (2016). The Difficulty of Translating Collocations from
Arabic into English Encountered by a Sample of Arab Students.

Krashen, S. (1993): Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.

Longman.

Lyons, J. (1981). Language and Linguistics: An introduction. U.K, Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Mares, R. (2012). Cultural Difficulties in Translations from English into Arabic.

Retrieved January,2018,

Nida, E., & Taber, Ch. (1982). The theory and practice of translation. Leiden:
Brill.

Newmark, P. (1981), Approaches to translation. Language and teaching series.

Pergamon. UK.

Nogueira, D. (1998). The business of translating. Retrieved November. 172006.

Pym, Anthony (1992) “Translation Error Analysis and the Interface with
Language Teaching”

Shejbalová, D. (2006): Methods and Approaches in Vocabulary Teaching and

Their Influence on Students’ Acquisition. Masaryk University

Seleskovitch, D. (1976). Interpretation: A psychological approach to translating.

Translation: Applications and research. 92-116.
Taamneh, I. (2018). The Most Common Translation Problems Encounter the
Saudi Students in Translating Selected Arabic Literary.

Tahaineh,Y., &Tagish, R. (2011).Pitfalls Encountered by bilingual Arab Learners

in Translating the Arabic Discourse Marker “θumma” into English.

Toury, G. (1984). The notion of ‘native translator ‘and translation teaching.

 Appendix

Sample of questionnaire

Investigate EFL Students` Translation Challenges

To be filled by English Department Students.
Dear participants, we are conducting a survey and appreciate your time and effort to fill out this
questionnaire.
Your information is completely anonymous.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation!
Part one: General information
1. Sex: Male ...... Female…...
2. Age: …………
3. Class………...
4. Level of English Basic…… Intermediate……... Advance……….

Part Two: Rating statements

Please put tick mark on a following option that you agree with the most to show what extent you can
agree or disagree on the following statements. Scale to express the degree of agreement and
disagreement to each statement in every item.

N Agree Stron No Dis- Strong

Statement gly idea agree ly
o agree disagre
e

1 Translating text from Persian to English is more difficult for EFL

students.

2 Translating text from English to Persian is more difficult for EFL

students.

3 Idioms and local phrases of a language are the real challenge

while translating to another language.

4 Lack of cultural and social information about target language is a

challenge while translating.

5 Lack of grammar understanding can be a challenge while

translating from one language to another.
6 Multi-meaning of words makes problem while translating.

7 Interpretation is easier than translation for EFL learners.

8 Word for word translation is easy for EFL students.

9 Special terminology makes problems while translating texts.

10 Little experiences on translation, effect on quality of translation

work.

11 Translation of texts according their concept is difficult for

students.

12 Scientific texts are easy for translation.

13 Unexperienced teachers in translation subject can bring

challenges for EFL students.

14 The more a student study English language, the more he/she is

successful in translation subject.

15 Translation is more difficult than interpretation.

16 Lack of information about methods of translation is a challenge

for EFL students.

17 students less motivation on translation subject can cause difficulty

for them in translating different texts.

18 Do you think the teacher and his teaching method strongly affect
your interest in studying translation?

19 Reading different topic can solve our translation challenges.

20 Practicing translating different text improve our translation skill.

Source:
Thi, N. (2013) English Major Students` Difficulties and Expectation in Learning Translation. Dong
Thap University
 Investigate EFL Students` Translation Challenges
To be filled by English Department Students.
Dear participants, we are conducting a survey and appreciate your time and effort to fill out
this questionnaire.
Your information is completely anonymous.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation!
Part one: General information
1. Sex: Male ...... Female…...
2. Age: …………
3. Class………...
4. Level of English Basic…… Intermediate……... Advance……….

Part Two: giving details

Please present your ideas regarding the following questions.
1. what can be real translation challenges?
2. how can EFL students improve their translation skill?
3. can google translator help EFL students? Why?
4. How much teachers` translation method can make translation challenges
for EFL students?
5. How much Not being updated teaching material and curriculum can bring
challenges for EFL students?

Source:
Thi, N. (2013) English Major Students` Difficulties and Expectation in Learning Translation.
Dong Thap University
 Commentary
Admire and appreciate which has been written by Gul BiBi by the name of (Investigate
EFL Students` Translation Challenges) indictable she has attempted a lot in the field of
gathering this valuable monograph. Despite her attention towards her cultural social affairs,
she used from the creditable documentation which is written by well-known experts of
education with the best quality for preparing this monograph.

I approve and appreciate her hard working during this monograph and I certify that she
is successful student and she has started working on her future carrier. I also wish her success
in her future carrier as she serves for her community and people.

Best regard
Pohandoy Fahima Ramesh

‫ دفاع نموده و‬1401 / / / ‫ موصوف از مونوگراف خود به تاریخ‬.‫نظر استاد رهنما مورد تایید دیپارتمنت است‬
.‫_______________ به ریاست پوهنحی ارسال شد‬ ‫قرار مکتوب‬

Head of English department

Pohandoy Fahima Ramesh

Dean of education faculty

Pohanval Basir Ahamd karimi