Deconstructing the Influence of Idioms and Phrases Crosslinguistically: a Comparative Study of English vs. Arabic Usages.

Abstract

This research attempts to give different definitions of idiomatic expression and analyses the differences and similarities between Arabic and English idioms. It also explains the relation between culture and idioms i.e. the important role of culture in translation for such fixed expressions. This work investigates problems in translating idiomatic expressions and provides different strategies to translate idioms and idiomatic expressions properly and effectively. This can be as a starting point towards resolving students' problems in translating idioms and helping them foster their translation skills. Data were collected by questionnaire destined to93 EFL students in the Section of English at Ibn Khaldoun University of Tiaret, and by observation of teachers and students activities during every day sessions in which content analysis methods was used to unravel the obtained data from the observation stage. The results gleaned from both researh tools reveal that translation idioms is impossible without referring to the cultural background of the Source Language and Target Language. This research concluded that the misunderstanding and/or mistranslating of idioms and idiomatic expressions are mainly due to cultural differences, students’ ignorance of learning and the teacher’s neglect to teach this linguistic phenomenon.