Students’ Challenges and Strategies in Translating English Idioms into Arabic

Abstract

Students encounter a number of challenges when translating idioms due to linguistic, cultural, and structural differences between English and Arabic. This research ​investigates the difficulties faced by Arabic-speaking translation students when dealing with English idioms in terms of recognition, comprehension, and translation. It aims to identify the strategies students employ to translate idioms into Arabic and enhance their ability to produce accurate idiomatic translation. The study uses a descriptive mixed-methods approach, with a structured questionnaire administered to undergraduate students in the translation department at the Faculty of Languages of Misurata University. The questionnaire included sections on idiom recognition, translation, strategy use, and perceived difficulties. The findings revealed that a lack of cultural knowledge, limited exposure to idiomatic expressions, and syntactic differences contribute to students’ struggles. The study concludes that there is a need for context-based learning in translating idioms by applying suitable translation strategies to convey the same intended idiomatic meaning while preserving the same effect, i.e., translation equivalence, and an increased focus on cultural competence through literary readings in Arabic and English