AWEJ. Special Issue on Translation No.3 May, 2014PDF    ForewordI was honored by the invitation of the Editor of the Arab World English Journal (henceforth AWEJ) to be a Guest Editor for this special volume on translation.  The Journal received over 71 papers, but for many different reasons, be it suitability of subject or quality of the paper, only 22 papers were accepted for publication. The selection of papers was not an easy process because The AWEJ received many good submissions.  However, the selection of papers was based on the Journal’s set of publication standards such as topic originality, paper’s new added knowledge to the profession, clarity and appropriateness of methodology, level and fluency of language, etc. The journal made sure that all published papers were of good quality and conform to the ethics and publication standards of the AWEJ. The publication of this volume also coincides with good news that the Journal is now indexed in the Modern Language Association (MLA). It is  new additional recognition at international level.The papers in this volume covered a wide spectrum of topics ranging from code switching in translation, pedagogical implications and translation, cross-cultural translation, systemic linguistics, media and political translation, impact of repetition on translation, among other related subjects.    All topics discussed in this volume are extremely useful to teachers as well as students of translation at both graduate and undergraduate levels.  They are also useful for professional translators, simply because it provides them with insights on how to tackle textual translation difficulties at various levels.  It is true that many international journals cater only for the journal’s areas of interest, but this Journal tried to cater for the interests and benefits of all translators and linguists all over the world.Furthermore, in tribute to the interest of promoting translators’ and linguists’ debates about many intriguing aspects of translation, an attempt was made to focus on only those papers that add originality and knowledge to the profession.  Several steps were used for this work.  For the convenience of readers unfamiliar with Arabic, texts were always followed by English translations.  An attempt was also made to unify the terminology used through the volume, and care was taken to provide technical terms in simple English, explaining them further when needed.Let me close my remarks here by reminding colleagues in this profession that the translation of Arabic discourse, regardless of its type, is always problematic, and I wonder how many colleagues in the Western World go through the same dilemma when translating English into Arabic. However, whether it is the translation of religious, journalistic or legal texts, the difficulty of translation always relies heavily on whether or not the translator understands the connotative and cultural meanings embedded within the text. I am hopeful this volume will help translators, whether they be academicians or professionals, find solutions to many of the translation problems encountered during practice.Prof. Said M. Shiyab
Guest Editor
Department of Translation Studies
UAE University, United Arab Emirates