Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12. Number1  March 2021                                                    Pp. 40- 58
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no1.4

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Using Parallel Corpora in the Translation Classroom: Moving towards a Corpus-driven Pedagogy
for Omani Translation Major Students

Awad Alhassan
Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Applied Sciences,
Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman
Corrspondent Author: awad_alhassan@hotmail.com

Yasser Muhammad Naguib Sabtan
Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Applied Sciences, 
Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman
&
Department of English, Faculty of Languages and Translation
Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

 Lamis Omar
Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Applied Sciences 
Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman


Received: 12/29/2020                Accepted: 1/30/2021                  Published:3/24/2021

Abstract

Research has shown that parallel corpora have potential benefits for translator training and education. Most of the current available Arabic corpora, modern standard or dialectical, are monolingual in nature and there is an apparent lack in the Arabic-English parallel corpora for translation classroom. The present study was aimed to investigate the translation problems encountered by Omani translation major students when translating from Arabic into English with a view to proposing some corpus-informed pedagogy approach for training student translators to overcome these challenges by looking at some model samples of professional translation. Thirty students voluntarily took part in the investigation. The study adopted a combination of both corpus and qualitative methodology whereby some typical problems students would encounter when translating from Arabic-into-English were selected along with some specific Arabic texts involving these problems were prepared and the participants were asked to translate them into English. The participants were provided with some samples of the parallel English translated texts and were asked to compare and contrast their translations with these samples and reflect on the overall experience. They were then interviewed to explore their impressions about and the extent to which they think that parallel corpora would help them improve their translation. Results of data analysis indicated that the participants experienced several translation challenges. They, however, showed an overall positive attitude towards parallel Arabic-English corpora as they reportedly found them very helpful in improving their translation. Pedagogical implications for corpus-informed translation teaching, training and materials design and development are presented and discussed.
Keywords: Arabic-English translation, Omani translation major students, parallel corpora, translation challenges, translation
classroom, translator education

Cite as:  Alhassan, A., Sabtan,Y.M.N., &  Omar, L. (2021). Using Parallel Corpora in the Translation Classroom: Moving towards a Corpus-driven Pedagogy for Omani Translation Major Students.  Arab World English Journal, 12 (1) 40- 58 .
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no1.4

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Received: 12/29/2020
Accepted: 1/30/2021 
Published: 3/24/2021   
https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no1.4 

Dr. Awad Alhassan is an Assistant Professor of applied linguistics & TESOL at Dhofar University, Oman. He is also affiliated to Khartoum University in Sudan. He has a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Essex, UK. His teaching and research interests include EAP, corpora in translation & translator education and English-medium instruction in higher education. He has presented at national and international conferences and published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1147-0919

Dr. Yasser Sabtan is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Translation at Dhofar University, Oman.  He is also affiliated to Al-Azhar University, Egypt. He has a PhD in Computational Linguistics from the University of Manchester, UK. His teaching and research interests include translation studies, corpus linguistics, machine translation, Arabic computational linguistics and EFL. He has presented at several national and international conferences and published extensively in peer- reviewed journals. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4389-285X

Dr. Lamis Omar is an Assistant Professor of Translation and EFL at Dhofar University, Oman. She holds a doctorate in Translation Studies from Durham University, United Kingdom. She taught translation, conference interpreting, EFL and literary criticism at Damascus University, and she also has a long professional experience in English/Arabic translation and conference interpreting. Her research interests include translation and simultaneous interpreting, the conceptual theory of metaphor, Shakespeare’s metaphors as well as teaching English as a Foreign Language. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0246-5613