Abstract

This study investigates the difficulties that undergraduate and graduate students of English language encounter in
their interpretation and translation of English idiomatic/formulaic expressions into Arabic. Since the majority of
these idiomatic expressions (referred to hereafter as IEs) in English or any other language potentially have more
than one interpretation, it has been assumed that these expressions constitute a major problem for non-native
speakers of English, particularly for those who do not have adequate semantic and pragmatic competence in the
target culture.
The interpretation/translation task used in this study consists of three English formulaic expressions deliberately
selected to measure both undergraduate and graduate students’ semantic and pragmatic competence in
interpreting/translating these formulaic expressions. The results of this study are based on the written
interpretation/translation and the informal solicitation of responses from 83 undergraduate students of English
language and 13 graduate students of Applied Linguistics and Translation.
The disparity in the students' performance on the interpretation task that was administered to both groups
unequivocally verified the claim that 'inter-lingual transfer’ occurs when foreign students are called upon to
translate from their mother tongue to a foreign language; and that acquiring adequate competence in the
pragmatics of the target language and culture is highly essential for the acquisition of literacy and avoidance of
misinterpretation of such expressions (Gass & Selinker, 1983; Odlin, 1989; Kharma & Hajjaj,1997; Mahmoud,
2002).
The findings of this study indicate that graduate students have done overwhelmingly well in comparison with
their undergraduate counterparts. This is probably due to their continued training in translating material to and
from the target language and culture. The findings have also emphasized the importance of providing students
with adequate training in pragmatics, intercultural communication, and translation.

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