Cross-Cultural Communication: Perspectives from Translation Studies and Applied Linguistics

Abstract

This paper has emerged out of the conviction that linguistic theory has more to offer totranslation theory than is so far recognized and vice versa. One reason for the relative separationbetween the two fields is, perhaps, the domination of formal approaches to language study for aconsiderable period of time. But, with the spread of functional linguistics in the last three decades,there have been growing hopes for establishing links between linguistics and translation studies.Accordingly, the discussion, in the present study, proceeds primarily from the perspectives of“Translation Studies” and “Applied Linguistics”. One major goal is to show the interrelationshipsbetween linguistics and translation, and how they benefit from each other. The basic underlyingtheme, here, is that “inside or between languages, human communication equals translation. Astudy of translation is a study of language” (Bassnett-McGuire, 1980: 23). In addition, bothtranslators and linguists deal with two linguistic systems, each with, perhaps, a different culturalsystem. So, if we agree that ‘all communicators are translators’ (Bell, 1994), we must rememberthat the role of the translator is different from that of the ‘normal communicator’: the translator is abilingual mediating agent between monolingual communication participants in two differentlanguage communities.
 On the other hand, there has been a great focus on using English only as a medium ofinstruction in all courses taught in the UAE University. Accordingly, the second goal of this studyis to try to answer the questions, “How much translation from L1 is permitted in FL teaching? and“What are the factors that determine the quantity to be used?”. The view adopted in the presentstudy is that disregarding L2 learners’ mother-tongue and considering it “a bogey to be shunned atall