Students’ Difficulties In Translating Metaphors From Arabic Literary Prose Texts Into English

Abstract

The translation of metaphors has always been a challenge to EFL students because of the figurative meaning it needs to convey from one side and because of the difficulty to transmit the cultural aspects from one language to another from the other side. The present research aims at investigating the difficulties third- year EFL students at Mohammad Seddik Ben Yahya University encounter when translating metaphors from Arabic literary prose texts into English. The hypotheses of this research are based on the assumption that if third- year EFL students are not aware of culture –specific features and cultural differences, they will be able to interpret and translate metaphors successfully. It is also based on the supposition that students’ difficulties are generally due to the random selection of translation strategies. The data was collected by means of a translation test administered to sixty ( 60) third year EFL students, and an interview conducted with three (3) translation teachers. The results obtained show that students find difficulties in understanding metaphors due to the cultural and contextual factors. As a result, they fail to translate them effectively. The findings confirm also that students lack the knowledge about the translation methods and strategies. Therefore, they are recommended to develop their knowledge of these methods and strategies, and they should especially give major importance to the cultural and contextual aspects when translating metaphors