Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 13. Number2.  June 2022                                     Pp.424-436
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.29

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The Positive Effect of Translation on Improving Reading Comprehension among Female
Arabic Learners of English as Foreign Language

  Amal Alaboud
Department of Foreign Languages, College of Arts
Taif University, Saudi Arabia
Email: asaboud@tu.edu.sa

 

Received: 3/29/2022                       Accepted:6/2/2022                      Published:6/24/2022

 

Abstract:
Translation has been one of the most commonly used strategies in learning an additional language. Although there is not a consensus on the usefulness of translation as a language learning strategy, the relevant literature indicated that it could contribute to the learning process when used purposefully and meaningfully. The present study aimed to explore the role of translation in supporting the language learning process by adopting an experimental design to reveal whether engaging in translation practice could improve participants’ skills in reading comprehension. In this scope, 30 female students at Taif University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were randomly assigned to the experimental group and received an intervention by translating reading passages before carrying out comprehension tasks. On the other hand, the 28 female students in the control group practiced reading comprehension without completing a translation task before the comprehension activities. An independent samples t-test was used to measure the extent to which the two groups differed from each other in terms of their reading comprehension skills before and after the intervention. The results of the independent samples t-tests demonstrated that the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group at the end of the intervention, although there was not a statistically significant difference between the two groups at the outset. The results suggested that translation could be an effective instructional strategy in improving learners’ skills in reading comprehension in an EFL setting.
Keywords: Comprehension, reading, teaching English as a Foreign Language, translation, Arabic learners of English

Cite as:  Alaboud, A. (2022). The Positive Effect of Translation on Improving Reading Comprehension among Female Arabic Learners of English as Foreign Language. Arab World English Journal, 13 (2) 424-436.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.29

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Received: 3/29/2022 
Accepted: 6/2/2022
Published: 6/24/2022
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3307-4175
https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.29

Dr. Amal Alaboud is an assistant professor of Translation Studies in the Foreign Languages Department at Taif University, Saudi Arabia. She received her MA from Salford University and her PhD in Translation Studies from SUNY at Binghamton. Her main research areas are discourse analysis and translation theory. ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3307-4175