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Expressions of Impossibility in Arabic and English: Unveiling Students' Translation Difficulties

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Title: Expressions of Impossibility in Arabic and English: Unveiling Students' Translation Difficulties
Language: English
Authors: Reima Al-Jarf (ORCID 0000-0002-6255-1305)
Source: Online Submission. 2024 7(5):68-76.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 9
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Arabic, Translation, Language Processing, Language Tests, Language Usage, Contrastive Linguistics, Figurative Language, Semantics, Test Items, Error Analysis (Language), Undergraduate Students, Foreign Countries
Geographic Terms: Saudi Arabia
ISSN: 2708-0099
2617-0299
Abstract: Expressions of impossibility refer to events that can never or rarely happen, tasks that are difficult or impossible to perform, people or things that are of no use and things that are impossible to find. This study explores the similarities and differences between English and Arabic expressions of impossibility, and the difficulties that student-translators have with them. A corpus of English and Arabic expressions of impossibility was collected, analyzed and compared. Data analysis showed that English and Arabic expressions of impossibility fall into 4 categories: (i) those that are identical in form and meaning in both languages (to look for a needle in a haystack, when salt blossoms, when heaven falls on earth); (ii) those that are similar in meaning but differ in wording (when pigs fly, on cloud nine, not in a million years); (iii) those used in English, but have no equivalents in Arabic (when hell freezes over, dance on a land mine); and (iv) those used in Arabic but have no equivalents in English [Arabic characters omitted] to show someone the stars at noon/in daylight). Responses to a translation test showed that student-translators could translate fewer than 35% of the test items correctly and left many blank. Expressions of impossibility that are similar in English and Arabic were easy to translate, whereas opaque ones (ghost of a chance, near the knuckle, dance on a land mine, [Arabic characters omitted] the sun cannot be covered with a sieve; [Arabic characters omitted] you cannot reap grapes from thorns; [Arabic characters omitted] when you see your ear's lobe; [Arabic characters omitted] the eye cannot defy a n awl). English expressions of impossibility were more difficult to translate than Arabic ones as they contained unfamiliar lexical items. Literal translation, explanation/ paraphrase,partial translation, and extraneous translation were the most common strategies in that order. Detailed results and recommendations are given.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: ED651472
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
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  Data: Expressions of Impossibility in Arabic and English: Unveiling Students' Translation Difficulties
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– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Expressions of impossibility refer to events that can never or rarely happen, tasks that are difficult or impossible to perform, people or things that are of no use and things that are impossible to find. This study explores the similarities and differences between English and Arabic expressions of impossibility, and the difficulties that student-translators have with them. A corpus of English and Arabic expressions of impossibility was collected, analyzed and compared. Data analysis showed that English and Arabic expressions of impossibility fall into 4 categories: (i) those that are identical in form and meaning in both languages (to look for a needle in a haystack, when salt blossoms, when heaven falls on earth); (ii) those that are similar in meaning but differ in wording (when pigs fly, on cloud nine, not in a million years); (iii) those used in English, but have no equivalents in Arabic (when hell freezes over, dance on a land mine); and (iv) those used in Arabic but have no equivalents in English [Arabic characters omitted] to show someone the stars at noon/in daylight). Responses to a translation test showed that student-translators could translate fewer than 35% of the test items correctly and left many blank. Expressions of impossibility that are similar in English and Arabic were easy to translate, whereas opaque ones (ghost of a chance, near the knuckle, dance on a land mine, [Arabic characters omitted] the sun cannot be covered with a sieve; [Arabic characters omitted] you cannot reap grapes from thorns; [Arabic characters omitted] when you see your ear's lobe; [Arabic characters omitted] the eye cannot defy a n awl). English expressions of impossibility were more difficult to translate than Arabic ones as they contained unfamiliar lexical items. Literal translation, explanation/ paraphrase,partial translation, and extraneous translation were the most common strategies in that order. Detailed results and recommendations are given.
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 9
        StartPage: 68
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Second Language Learning
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      – SubjectFull: Arabic
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      – SubjectFull: Translation
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      – SubjectFull: Language Processing
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      – SubjectFull: Language Tests
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Language Usage
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      – SubjectFull: Figurative Language
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      – SubjectFull: Semantics
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      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
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      – SubjectFull: Saudi Arabia
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