Problematicity of translating cultural idiomatic expressions from English into Arabic

Abstract

Investigating the problematicity of translating cultural idiomatic expressions from English into Arabic has not been given due consideration by scholars. This situation is reflected in the limited number of theoretical and empirical studies on this area of research. To address this research gap, this paper primarily aims to investigate the subject in an attempt to provide insights into how its difficulties can be addressed. Forty adult Yemeni students of translation in their final year of graduation, whose ages ranged from 22 to 23 years old, were asked to translate seven authentic texts from English into Arabic. The texts, which contain eleven cultural idiomatic expressions, were chosen from the British newspaper The Guardian and translation text books. An analysis of the students’ translation scripts revealed that the percentage of the students’ errors and dictionary use reached about 74% and 20% respectively, which indicated that the students encountered difficulties in translating such cultural idiomatic expressions. The errors committed by the students are classified into addition, modification, omission, selection, and avoidance, which may have resulted from the students’ insufficient knowledge of English idiomatic expressions and lack of training in the use of translation strategies and techniques.