Differences in Translation by Translation Specialized and Non-Specialized Students in Terms of Accuracy of Pragmatic Equivalence and Lexico-Syntactic Properties

Abstract

The present study is an investigation into translation accuracy in terms of pragmatic and lexicosyntactic features of translators who know English and have specialized in translation studies as their major and those who studied chemistry but know English well. Based on an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), thirty homogenized participants were selected with regard to their language proficiency. Both groups of participants i.e., translation specialized and chemistry students, were asked to translate a chemistry text. Afterwards, their productions were assessed with respect to the accuracy of the translations in terms of lexical and pragmatic features. Results showed that there were significant differences between the translation accuracy of lexical and pragmatic features in the two groups and chemistry students outperformed translation students. However, translation students were shown to be better translators in terms of syntactic features.