Arabic-English translation of cultural concepts by students of Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

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Date
2019-11
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kampala International University, college of Education,open and distance -learning.
Abstract
The study investigated the constraints faced by Ugandan students in the translation of cultural concepts in Arabic and Englishand also into their local languages. The theory that grounded this research was Newmark’s theory (1988). The objectives of the study were to identify the difficulties in translating cultural concepts in Arabic/ English translation; to analyze the origin of the cultural concepts in the students’ local languages, and to determine the procedures for better understanding of cultural concepts. A descriptive and analytic design was used as a research design. A non-probability sampling method was used, that is, thepurposive sampling technique to determine the sample size of the study; whereby 10 lecturers and 50 respondents served as research subjects.In view of the fact that an interview was used for the lecturers while self-structured translation test containing two sections for data extraction, the study came out with the findings that most students have problems in translating cultural concepts and limited background knowledge about the culture of the Arabic language. In view of the above findings, the study recommended that there is need for accumulative use of cultural concepts and procedures; It is imperative that translators have more knowledge of the background of target language speakers and avoid using literal translation; misuse of the appropriate lexical words; linguistic, stylistic, and grammatical mistakes; and unfamiliarity with translation strategies and techniques.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the college of higher degrees and research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of master degree of arts in linguistics, Kampala International University
Keywords
Arabic-English translation, Cultural concepts, Students, Makerere University, Uganda
Citation