Difficulties & Strategies of Translating Idioms

Abstract

This study aims to test the proficiency of 16 students in the 4th level of English and Translation Department in translating 20 English idioms into Arabic. It also sheds light on the strategies used by the students in the translation process of these idioms. This study also gives the students a questionnaire of 10 common areas of difficulties to determine the degree of each difficulty from the students’ point of view. The results of the study show that some of the students have problems in translating English idiomatic expression into Arabic. 9 out of 16 students with a percentage of 56.25% pass the test. The highest mark is 25, and the lowest one is 11. Furthermore, the overall performance of students is fair with a percentage of 46.875%. This study also shows that students mostly use 2 strategies equally. First one is Translation using Partial Equivalent which provides the Arabic cultural equivalent for the English idiomatic expression .The second is Translation by Paraphrasing, that is commonly used when there is no TL cultural equivalent or the translator is not able to find it. However, the least common strategy used by the students is Translation by Omission with a percentage of 9.40% Regarding the questionnaire, the majority of the students’ responses are that the 10 common areas of difficulties are somewhat difficult.