Major Problems Encountered by Third Level English Students at Hudhramout University when Translating Arabic Emotive and Culture-bound Expressions into English

Abstract:

The present study aims at investigating the major problems encountered by the third level English students/Faculty of Women and Faculty of Arts at Hudhramout University when translating Arabic-English culture-bound and emotive expressions into English. The study also aims at making a comparison between the third level English students in the above-mentioned two faculties with regard to translating these expressions. The study is carried out in the academic year (2012-2013). A translation test is designed to achieve the purpose of this study. To analyze the study findings, the frequencies and percentages of students’ responses to the instrument of the study (Translation Test) were counted and tabled. The findings have revealed that most of the students face problems when translating culture-bound and emotive expressions and that translating emotive expressions is more difficult for them than translating culture-bound expressions. Besides, Women’s College students show better performance in translating the expressions in question than the Faculty of Arts’ students. The study comes up with some conclusions and recommendations for further researches.