An Investigation of the Main Problems Encountered by EFL Students in Translating Cultural Expressions from Arabic into English

Abstract

Cultural translation is considered as one of the most challenging types of translation because it deals with not only two different languages but also with two different cultures. Accordingly, the current study aims at investigating the main problems that EFL students encounter in translating cultural expressions from Arabic into English. In order to reach this aim, an experiment was made to 46 second year students, out of 140 students, from the department of English at the University of Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia –Jijel-. The current study is based on the following hypotheses: inappropriate translation of cultural expressions can result from lack of knowledge of both cultures and If translation strategies are taught to EFL students along with their applications on cultural expressions, EFL students will overcome the cultural problems of translation. The results obtained from this research have shown that the major problems that EFL students encounter when translating cultural expressions from Arabic into English are the lack of awareness concerning the cultural differences between Arabic and English, failure of using the appropriate translation strategies and unfamiliarity with translating such expressions. Based on the results obtained, some pedagogical recommendations were suggested for EFL teachers to increase their students’ cultural awareness and to help them to think critically and to enrich their cultural vocabulary package.