International Journal of Translation and Interpretation Studies
The International Journal of Translation and Interpretation Studies (IJTIS) is a double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Al-Kindi Center for Research and Development, United Kingdom. It is designed to disseminate knowledge and research relevant to all areas of Translation and Interpretation. IJTIS seeks to address broad, common concerns among scholars working in various areas of Translation and Interpreting Studies, while encouraging sound empirical research that could serve as a bridge between academics and practitioners. Finally, IJTIS is a forum for the dissemination in English translation of relevant scholarly research originally published in languages other than English.
Al-Kindi Center for Research and Development
Integrating Discourse Analysis into Pedagogical Translation: Enhancing EFL Students’ Language Proficiency through Cohesion and Coherence
The use of translation into foreign language learning classrooms has been an issue of considerable controversy for a long time in the history of language pedagogy. However, in the past few decades, translation has experienced a revival and reappraisal in education settings (Cook 2001, Leonardi, 2010, Carreres et al., 2018; Pintado Gutiérrez, 2020). Numerous voices have advocated for its reintegration in EFL classrooms. Since then, researchers and scholars approached translation from a diverse array of perspectives. Hence, the present study ostensibly aims at approaching pedagogical translation from a pointed perspective. The latter essentially boils down to highlighting the relevance and interconnectedness of translation and discourse analysis (DA) for educational purposes. This relationship is purported to be deeply intertwined (Farahani, 2013 Erton, 2014, Kim et al, 2017). By applying DA in the act of direct and inverse translation, the student-translator can manage the flow and the structure of the text in focus, ensuring the establishment of coherence and cohesion of the target text and securing its communicative impact. The Findings show that through contrastive analysis and reflection on the written and translated texts studied in the educational setting, the student-translator advances considerably his or her knowledge of the foreign language.
Pedagogical Translation; discourse analysis; coherence; cohesion, discourse markers; contrastive analysis.
Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Translation Strategies for Dialect and Colloquialism in Postcolonial Arabic Literature
This paper examines how dialect and colloquial expression are rendered in postcolonial Arabic fiction through a close comparative study of Ibrahim Nasrallah's The Time of White Horses and Nancy Roberts's English translation. It analyzes selected instances of rural speech, blessings, insults, exclamations, kinship terms, and other culturally embedded colloquial formulas that constitute the novel's Palestinian social and cultural voice. Using a qualitative descriptive-comparative approach, the study draws on Baker's translation strategies, Venuti's domestication and foreignization framework, and scholarship on Arabic diglossia, literary register, and translation loss to assess how meaning, and what is lost with it, moves across linguistic and cultural boundaries. The analysis finds that Roberts's translation generally preserves the propositional content of the source text but frequently normalizes dialectal features, softens colloquial intensity, or substitutes locally marked expressions with more accessible standard English, even as select passages achieve genuinely idiomatic solutions that retain pragmatic force, narrative rhythm, and reader accessibility simultaneously. These findings support the paper's central argument: translating dialect and colloquialism in postcolonial Arabic fiction is not a lexical or syntactic problem alone but a culturally consequential process bearing directly on voice, identity, and literary representation. The study concludes that effective rendering of colloquial speech depends on a deliberate balance between readability and the preservation of local texture, social nuance, and the cultural distinctiveness of the source world, a balance current translation practice achieves only unevenly.
Dialect translation; colloquialism; postcolonial Arabic literature; The Time of White Horses; translation strategies
Human and AI Translation of Metaphor and Idioms in Postcolonial Arabic Literature: A Comparative Evaluation
This paper examines the translation of metaphor and idiomatic expression in postcolonial Arabic literature through a comparative evaluation of human translation and Gemini 3.6 Flash. Focusing on selected examples from Ibrahim Nasrallah’s The Time of White Horses, the study investigates how figurative language encoded in cultural, social, and political experience is rendered in English, and how far the human translator and the AI system succeed in preserving meaning, imagery, tone, and narrative force. The analysis is guided by an integrated theoretical framework combining equivalence theory, domestication and foreignization, and narrative theory, allowing the study to assess translation at the lexical, cultural, and ideological levels. Using a qualitative descriptive-analytical comparative method, the paper studies a set of metaphorical and idiomatic expressions representing honor, kinship, land, resistance, religion, and colloquial speech. The findings show that the human translator generally preserves figurative force through context-sensitive paraphrase, image retention, or culturally informed reformulation, while Gemini 3.6 Flash often moves toward literal rendering, semantic narrowing, or partial domestication that reduces the richness of the original expression. In some cases, the AI output remains intelligible but loses the emotional and cultural density that gives the source text its literary power. The study concludes that, in postcolonial Arabic literary translation, human mediation remains essential for preserving figurative meaning and narrative positioning, while AI tools may serve only as preliminary support rather than as a replacement for human judgment.
Postcolonial Arabic literature, machine translation, metaphor, idiom, equivalence, domestication and foreignization, narrative theory
Humor and Vulgar Language in Spanish Subtitling: A Case Study of Contemporary Hollywood Comedy
Audiovisual translation (AVT) is, essentially, a form of “subordinate translation,” in which the text coexists with the spatial and temporal constraints of the screen, sound, and image. Within this difficult context, one of the greatest challenges for the translator is the transfer of colloquial language and humor, since these elements not only carry a strong cultural weight but also require maintaining a specific perlocutionary force: laughter or transgression. This challenge is particularly acute in the case of the film Liar, Liar (1997). Subtitling faces a dilemma between remaining faithful to the vulgar register and the need for concision, due to Jim Carrey’s performance, which is distinguished by frenetic verbosity and the constant use of dysphemisms to drive the plot. The aim of this article is to examine how these tensions are resolved using the strategies of Díaz Cintas and Remael (2007), investigating whether semantic loss is, in fact, the unavoidable cost of preserving the illocutionary force and comic rhythm in the target language. This research falls within the framework of corpus-based translation studies, which implies a descriptive and qualitative perspective. The purpose of this study is to examine the behaviour of translation strategies applied to the translation of humorous elements and vulgar language in subtitling. Key fragments of the film that contain humorous situations and vulgar language were selected. An analysis matrix was used to examine the subtitling of these fragments. The results of this research show a predominance of Condensation and Omission strategies, due to Jim Carrey’s fast speech rate and character-per-second (CPS) constraints. Furthermore, there is a noticeable substitution and neutralization of vulgar language with milder terms. Regarding wordplay and jokes, lexical recreation and compensation occur; some effects are lost in certain lines, though they are recovered in others. It follows that the translator acts as a creative adapter who reconfigures the register to accommodate the technical constraints of time and space. The success of the translation lies in preserving the perlocutionary power of humor, even across linguistic barriers.
Copyright (c) 2026 Claudia Castañeda Gracía, Martha Alicia Vela Gámez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Misinterpretation of Brainrot Humor by Automated Translation in TikTok Influencer Nathasya’s Content
The expansion of social media has led to the emergence of new types of digital humour, including the niche internet humour genre known as “brainrot” humour, characterised by bizarre, viral catchphrases, memes, and references to context. Machine translation systems struggle with "brainrot" humour because it's so deeply embedded in internet culture and shared digital experiences. This research intends to analyse the untranslatability of “brainrot” humour in Nathasya’s TikTok content and to find the elements that cause translation failure. The method of the research is qualitative descriptive. The theory used in the analysis is Mona Baker’s theory of translation equivalence. Data was taken from a selected TikTok video that had “brainrot” humour expressions and their translations generated by TikTok’s automatic translation tool. By means of observation, documentation, and manual comparative study eleven “brainrot” terms were discovered and analysed. Results suggest that majority of these idioms are not translatable with high accuracy, as their meaning is highly affected by online slang, meme culture, and specific use in some communities. In terms such as "Slay," "Skibidi Toilet Rizz," "Level 10 Gyatt," and "What The Sigma?" loss of meaning, distortion or outright translation failure was found. The present study shows that the problems of translation mostly present on the level of lexical equivalence, culture-specific ideas and pragmatic equivalence. Machine translation algorithms tend to focus on lexical forms and ignore cultural references and comedic meaning present in the source text. As a result, the comic effect is sometimes lost in translation. This study finds that the humour of “brainrot” is very difficult to automatically translate since it depends on digital culture, contextual awareness, and shared online experiences.
Copyright (c) 2026 Anisa Alivia Roshida https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Interpreting Pedagogy, Difficulties, Technologies, and Skill Correlates in the Saudi Context: A Systematic Self-Review (2000–2022)
This study conducted a systematic review (SR) of the author’s interpreting research published between 2000 and 2022, with the aim of identifying the thematic areas, methodological orientations, and pedagogical or theoretical contributions that characterize this long term research program. The corpus consists of fifteen studies grouped into four thematic clusters: curriculum design and pedagogical approaches, technology in interpreting training, interpreting difficulties and performance problems, and correlates of interpreting skills. Taken together, these studies present a coherent picture of interpreting as a complex, teachable, and strongly language and knowledge dependent skill. Across clusters, the findings consistently show that structured, fully oral, and gradual training models enable beginners with no prior experience to perform liaison interpreting tasks with increasing fluency and accuracy. At the same time, research on difficulties, error patterns, and performance correlates demonstrates that interpreting competence is constrained primarily by students’ L1 and L2 lexical repertoire, background knowledge, and oral language skills rather than by “technique” alone. Directionality studies further reveal that English–Arabic and Arabic–English interpreting are related but asymmetrical in difficulty, with Arabic-English emerging as more demanding, particularly at higher proficiency levels. Overall, the corpus indicates that effective interpreting instruction must integrate graded oral practice, domain and world knowledge building, and systematic development of listening, speaking, and lexical competence in both languages. This SR fills a critical pedagogical gap, as most existing reviews focus on highly specialized professional domains—medical interpreting, conference interpreting, European language pairs, or cognitive processing models—while overlooking undergraduate institutional pedagogy. In contrast, the present review centers on liaison interpreting in Arabic–English educational settings, with sustained attention to undergraduate training in a Saudi institutional environment. It offers a deep, coherent, and longitudinal account of a single research program that has systematically examined curriculum design, technology integration, error patterns, and competence correlates over more than two decades. As such, it complements global SRs by contributing a pedagogically grounded, context specific, and language pair sensitive perspective, highlighting underrepresented issues such as proper noun pronunciation in Arabic–English and English-Arabic media discourse and the role of world knowledge in EFL interpreters’ performance.
Systematic review (SR); Al-Jarf research program; liaison interpreting; interpreting pedagogy; interpreting technologies; interpreting directionality; interpreting assessment; interpreting skill correlates; interpreting difficulties; English–Arabic interpreting
Reframing in News Translation: A Study of Translation Strategies in Reporting the Lifting of the Women Driving Ban in Saudi Arabia
News agencies are becoming a primary source of information for viewers worldwide. Translation in these news agencies plays a pivotal role in making the information around the globe accessible to those viewers. However, the process of translation witnessed an act of framing in where translators try to make some information in the text more salient than others. To do so, they use textual devices such as addition, omission and/or substitution. These choices are difficult to detect unless one compares the source text with the target text. Translators in news agencies frame the texts to make them accessible to the target readers and to make them match their stereotypical image of the depicted society. This paper aims at analyzing the translated news about allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia to see how translators framed this news and in what way they portrayed women of Saudi Arabia. The findings show that translators framed the news in a way that does not depict the reality as it is in the source society. In some of the news that have been analyzed in this study, translators tend to add, omit or change some parts of the meaning to serve certain agenda for them or the agency they work for.
Globalization, Gender inequality, Framing, News Translation, Transediting
Towards a Translation-Based Approach to Governance and Public Freedoms
This article addresses translation as a fundamental entry point for understanding two essential functions of the modern state: the consolidation and contribution to the construction of governance, and the protection of public freedoms. The study adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines international law and translation, presenting the core concepts that establish the notions of governance and public freedoms through a translational perspective, drawing its tools from contemporary social approaches to translation studies. To clarify its conceptual framework, the article examines field governance of migration in Algeria in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, as well as European migrant screening procedures under Regulation 1356/2024 EU. The article notes that it does not claim to propose a new theory of translation; rather; it seeks to open a discussion on the possibility of establishing a research field that bridges translation and international law within the current academic system.
Translation, Governance, Public Freedoms, Language Mediation
Politeness in the English Translation of Arabic Speech Acts in the novel The Bamboo Stalk
This article examines the translation of politeness strategies from Arabic into English in Saud Alsanousi’s novel, “The Bamboo Stalk (2015)”. Drawing on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory, the study analyzes how Arabic speech acts, specifically requests, apologies, and formulaic expressions are adapted to fit English-language norms. A qualitative analysis of key examples reveals a systematic pattern: Arabic collectivist, honor-based, and religiously inflected politeness is frequently rendered through English strategies that prioritize individualism, autonomy, and secular deference. Positive politeness shifts to negative politeness, bald-on-record commands are softened, and off-record indirectness is often made explicit. While pragmatic equivalence is largely preserved, the cultural motivations and emotional weight of the original politeness are shifted. The article argues that these shifts constitute a form of cultural negotiation, positioning the translator as a mediator between divergent social ideologies. Thus, the translation of politeness in “The Bamboo Stalk” not only reflects but also embodies the novel’s central theme of hybrid identity.
Politeness theory, Arabic-English translation, speech acts, cultural pragmatics, domestication, foreignization
Copyright (c) 2026 Nuri Ageli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Book Review: Joss Moorkens, Andy Way, and Séamus Lankford. Automating Translation. London and New York: Routledge, 2025. 248 pp
Despite the utopian and dystopian visions of the translator’s position in the light of AI, it would be no understatement to claim that the rapid integration of machine translation (MT) and generative artificial intelligence into the language industry, noted as “digital paradigm”(Gambier, 2016) or “technological turn” (Jiménez-Crespo, 2020), has irrevocably altered the landscape of translation practice, pedagogy, and research. Even in the 2016 Translation Technology Landscape Report, the Translation Automation User Society (TAUS) has predicted “fully automatic useful translation” during the next twenty years or so (Massardo, van der Meer & Khalilov, 2016). Automating Translation, authored by leading experts Joss Moorkens, Andy Way, and Séamus Lankford, arrives at a critical juncture to provide a comprehensive, balanced, and deeply insightful guide to these transformative technologies. Far from being a mere technical manual, this volume masterfully demystifies the core principles of neural machine translation (NMT) and large language models (LLMs) while embedding them within a robust sociotechnical and ethical framework. It successfully bridges the often-daunting gap between theoretical abstraction and practical application, empowering readers—from students to seasoned professionals—to not only understand but also critically engage with and even build contemporary translation systems.
Joss Moorkens, Andy Way, Séamus Lankford, Automating Translation
Copyright (c) 2026 Qing Wang https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Mental Health Interpreting in Refugee Contexts in Jordan: A Qualitative Study of Linguistic, Cultural, and Emotional Challenges and Coping Strategies
Mental health interpreting, especially between refugee patients and psychologists, presents complex linguistic, cultural, and emotional challenges. This study explores the experiences of mental health interpreters in Jordan working with Syrian refugees, focusing on the difficulties they face and the strategies they employ to overcome them. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews with professional interpreters, the study identifies linguistic barriers, cultural differences, emotional strain, and ethical considerations as key challenges. Findings reveal that interpreters employ strategies such as literal interpretation, cultural clarification, and emotional self-care to ensure accurate and ethical communication. This research highlights the critical role of mental health interpreters in facilitating effective psychological support for refugees and provides insights for improving training and professional practices.
Mental health interpreters; Refugee patients; Linguistic challenges; Cultural challenges; Emotional challenges; Coping strategies; Ethical considerations
Translating Chinese Proverbs in Diplomatic Discourse: A Political Equivalence Approach
This paper examines the challenges of translating proverbs in the diplomatic discourse, with a focus on Chinese proverbs. In diplomatic discourse, proverbs play an important role in conveying messages and cultural nuances. Understanding and translating these proverbs is therefore crucial in international relations and diplomacy. Using the proverb “Let he who tied the bell [on the tiger’s neck] take it off'” (解铃还须系铃人, Jiě líng hái xū xì líng rén) as a case study, the paper analyzes how President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials use the saying in high level context and how it is rendered in official English readout and international media, alongside translation in other languages. The study codes observed rendering into four forms (T1-T4), ranging from minimal literal to full imagery and paraphrase, and evaluates them through Political Equivalence (political orientation, equilibrium and dynamics). The analysis shows that full imagery version what include “on the tiger’s neck” often improves cross-cultural intelligibility while retaining the proverbs responsibility logic, whereas paraphrase maximizes immediacy at the cost of rhetorical projection. These findings suggest that proverb translation in diplomatic discourse should align with communicative purpose and political sensitivity.
Diplomatic Discourse, Translation, Proverbs, “Jiělíngháixūxìlíngrén”, Political Equivalence, China.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ambra Thana https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Technical Term Recall in Translation Training: Can Personality Preferences Explain Why Some Students Skip and Others Guess?
The relationship between individual personality differences and terminology retention remains a critical, yet overlooked, factor in translator training. This study investigates whether MBTI preferences correlate with short-term English-Arabic technical term recall. Using a sample of 45 translation students, the research analyzed quiz performance alongside behavioral indicators like item-skipping and handwriting readability. Results indicate that recall success involves a combination of memory and written control, with higher scores strongly correlating with fewer omissions. At the dichotomy level, a distinct pattern emerged: Intuitive students favored partial responses, while Sensing students favored omission. This suggests that personality does not necessarily dictate how much a student remembers, but rather how they respond when retrieval fails. These distinctions offer new avenues for assessment design, suggesting that "blank spaces" on a test may provide specific diagnostic data for personalized training.
technical translation, terminology retention, MBTI, recall, translator training, response patterns, omission behavior
Comparative Analysis of Quranic Text Translation into English Using ChatGPT and Google Translate
This study looks at how Google Translate and ChatGPT translate Qur’anic verses into English and compares their approaches. It focuses on seven themes: belief, laws, prophethood, death and resurrection, moral teachings, creation and nature, and human history. Using a comparative experimental method, the translations are examined for accuracy, word choice, and how well they convey context. The results show that both tools communicate the meaning of the verses effectively, but in different ways: Google Translate is more literal, while ChatGPT offers translations that are more interpretive and contextual. ChatGPT’s explanations often make ethical and moral nuances clearer, which a literal translation may miss. This study highlights the potential of AI tools to help readers better understand Qur’anic texts and suggests further research on the ethical considerations of using AI in translating sacred texts.
ChatGPT; Google translate; translation; Quran
Copyright (c) 2026 Islam Ababneh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
A Self Systematic Review of Translation Error Studies (2000–2025): The Case of Students’ Errors in English–Arabic and Arabic–English Translation
Despite the plethora of empirical studies on students’ translation errors, no systematic reviews (SRs) or meta analyses (MAs) have been conducted in this area. Existing reviews are largely narrative or theoretical, leaving a clear gap in synthesizing evidence on English–Arabic and Arabic–English translation errors produced by student translators. This study addresses this gap by conducting a self systematic review of the author’s empirical research published between 2000 and 2025. It aims to identify translation error types, strategies, and causes, and to map the linguistic and cognitive factors that shape students’ translation performance. A corpus of 19 studies was compiled and organized into five thematic clusters: (i) nonliteral and culturally bound expressions, (ii) scientific and technical terminology, (iii) lexical and collocational errors, (iv) grammatical and syntactic errors, and (v) human vs. AI comparative translation studies. Across these clusters, the review reveals consistent patterns in students’ translation behavior. Recurring error types include literal translation, avoidance, partial translation, transliteration, substitution by synonyms, and paraphrase. The most difficult structures for students were opaque metaphors, culture specific idioms, ibn/bint expressions, polysemes, chemical common names, complex SVO/VSO patterns, and grammatical agreement. Moderately difficult items included binomials, numeral based expressions, om/abu expressions, neologisms, and collocations, while transparent metaphors, simple kinship terms, basic plurals, and straightforward SVO/VSO sentences were comparatively easier. Error sources include limited L1 and L2 lexical knowledge, insufficient exposure to domain specific terminology, restricted cultural knowledge, inadequate collocational competence, and weak morphosyntactic competence in Arabic. Additional causes involve structural interference from English, limited ability to analyze complex source structures, and insufficient awareness of fixed expressions as holistic semantic units. Collectively, the studies highlight the need for explicit instruction in metaphorical mapping, collocational behavior, semantic disambiguation, domain specific vocabulary, scientific nomenclature, and cultural understanding. They also underscore the importance of contrastive analysis of English–Arabic structures and training in discourse level translation strategies that move beyond literal meaning. This review provides the first structured map of translation error patterns in this language pair, filling a critical gap in SR and MA research and supporting the development of more effective, data driven translator training programs in Saudi Arabia.
Systematic review (SR), translation studies, student translators, Al-Jarf’s translation studies, Arabic-English translation studies, English-Arabic translation studies, literal translation, translation error types translation strategies, translation error sources.
Gender Inclusivity in Audiovisual Translation: Challenges, Strategies, and Global Practices
Gender inclusivity refers to the growing focus of audio-visual translation (AVT) since media messages are spreading worldwide and influencing the identity vision held by the population. This paper looks into the issues, approaches, and global practices to render the issue of gender in a factual and respectable manner across nations and cultures. Such challenges as linguistic asymmetries, gender norms, inherent in a culture, or limitations to subtitling, dubbing, and voice-over are present. The study identifies ways in which translators manoeuvre through gender-neutral pronouns and nobodies and gendered speech regimes without disrupting the presentations, comprehension to the audience, and allegiance to its reference source. The analysis of the global cases studies through comparison provides the research with the identification of emergent best practices and innovative techniques used in various regions. It claims that in AVT that is gender inclusive one will need not just the knowledge of the language but also be culturally sensitive and ethical. Finally, the paper will highlight the importance of AVT in ensuring the provision of fair representation and making media environments more inclusive across the world. Based on the examples of English, French, Spanish, and Arabic, streaming and institutional media, the study suggests a viable strategy toolkit and shows how theory, policy, and professional practice can be combined to facilitate inclusive AVT.
Gender-inclusive language, audiovisual translation, subtitling, dubbing, singular they, Arabic, French, Spanish, inclusivity strategies
The Role of Legal Translation in Regional Integration: A Ghana-ECOWAS Perspective
This article explores the central role of legal translation in advancing regional cohesion within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with particular emphasis on Ghana’s legal and linguistic contributions. As a multilingual and multi-jurisdictional entity, ECOWAS relies on harmonized legal instruments that must operate across diverse traditions and languages, principally English, French, and Portuguese. As an Anglophone member, Ghana has adopted several legal frameworks consistent with ECOWAS objectives; however, these texts are seldom available in the organization’s other working languages, thereby constraining their reach and effectiveness. Based on empirical data collected at border posts, immigration services, courts, and from translation experts through interviews, observations, and questionnaires, the study assesses the impact of translation—or the lack thereof—on legal harmonization, policy implementation, and regional cohesion. The article contends that legal translation transcends the confines of linguistic transfer, functioning instead as a strategic mechanism that guarantees institutional interoperability, inclusivity, and adherence to regional commitments. It concludes with recommendations for targeted translation policies and institutional reforms designed to reinforce ECOWAS integration through accessible multilingual legal frameworks.
CEDEAO, Intégration régionale, Lois d’Intégration, Traduction juridique
Copyright (c) 2026 Sampson Awafo, Theophile Kwame Atonon , Aloysius Kuuning https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Making of a Discipline: Trajectories in Translation Studies
Long regarded as merely the art of transferring words, translation now reveals its deeper complexity: situated between fidelity, cultural dynamics and cognitive processes, it has become an interdisciplinary field where history meets science and practice informs theory. This study examines how translation evolved from an empirical craft into a structured discipline, raising the underlying question of how theoretical models can account for the cultural and cognitive forces that shape communicative acts. The objective is to trace this evolution by foregrounding the linguistic mechanisms, mental operations and cultural mediations that underpin translational activity. Methodologically, the analysis combines a historical review of translation practices, a critical reading of key theoretical contributions, and an observation of translational processes. The findings point toward a discipline increasingly grounded in cognitive modelling, historical awareness and professional competence. These developments suggest new perspectives for translation pedagogy and research, particularly in integrating cultural literacy with scientific approaches to meaning-making. From a simple transfer of words to an interdisciplinary science, translation shows that every word matters, every culture speaks, and understanding a text means understanding a world—between fidelity, culture and cognition.
Cognitive processes, cultural mediation, interdisciplinarity, historical perspective, theoretical models
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Saudi Arabia-Certified Translator Programme: Impact on Translation Competence and Employability
There is growing scholarly interest in the influence of translation certification on translation competence and the translation profession. The current study investigated certified translators’ perceptions of how the Saudi Arabia-Certified Translators Programme (SACTP) enhanced their translation competence and influenced their employability as well as the improvements deemed necessary. The study recruited 74 translators certified by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission (LPTC) of Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was employed for data collection, and qualitative and quantitative analytical methods were applied. The findings revealed that respondents generally perceived the SACTP as moderately enhancing their translation competence. Overall, respondents perceived a moderate impact of the SACTP on their employability. Additionally, the findings provided insights into recommended improvements, such as incorporating more practical sessions or mock translation/certification test samples, integrating CAT and AI tools into the certification to replicate industry practices, introducing additional language pairs and certification types, launching collaborations with translation agencies and mandating certification for government translation projects to increase the credibility and value of LPTC certification. The study recommends launching pre-certification initiative, such as paid certification test samples and post-certification initiatives, such as professional self-marketing, translation project management and translation technologies to equip certified translators with the knowledge and competences required to compete effectively in the translation market. The study also identifies areas for future research, including investigating translation agencies’ perspectives on the LPTC certified translator programme and examining how the programme influences the translation market in Saudi Arabia.
Certified translator, translation certification, translation competence, certified translator employability, certified translator programme improvements
Impact of AI on Legal and Institutional Translation: Issues and Strategies
The rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has drastically transformed the sphere of legal and institutional translation. This article critically examines the various impacts of AI-based translation technologies, that is, Neural Machine Translation (NMT) and Large Language Models (LLMs), on the accuracy, reliability, and ethical implications of legal and institutional translation. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review, theoretical models of translation studies and technology acceptance, and case analysis of the European Union, United Nations, and multinational law firms, the article identifies the key issues such as ambiguous terminology, jurisdiction, data privacy, and loss of employment. As the analysis shows, the existing AI systems face the problem of system-based legal terminology, cultural and legal context, and risks of bias and accountability failures. The article subsequently recommends several measures to be taken, including people-involving workflow, training AI customization, robust quality assurance processes, and professional growth of translators. New trends, including the emergence of real-time legal translation, law reform, and the increasingly important role of translators as AI supervisors and moral gatekeepers are also discussed. The article concludes by emphasizing that responsible, ethical, and co-working innovation is instrumental in ensuring that AI becomes a capable partner in the battle to ensure justice, clarity, and understanding of the law in the multilingual legal practice.
Legal Translation, Institutional translation, Neural machine Translation, Ethics, post-editing, Data security, Professional development
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Metaphors in The Woman in Black: A Translational Study from Peter Newmark´s perspective
This study analyzes the strategies used in the Spanish translation of the metaphors present in Chapter 10 of Susan Hill's (1983) The Woman in Black, titled "Whistle and I'll Come to You". In the context of Gothic literature, metaphors play a crucial role in creating atmospheres of tension, mystery, and fear. The main objective of this research is to identify and classify the metaphors present in Chapter 10 of the work in order to determine the translation strategy in each case. Through a qualitative, descriptive, and analytical-comparative methodology, 10 significant metaphors were selected to identify the type of metaphor and classify the metaphor translation strategies proposed by Peter Newmark (1988). A literary analysis of the stylistic role of each metaphor was also conducted. The findings reveal that the predominant strategy is the reproduction of the original image; therefore, the aim was to preserve the emotional effect of the original text, prioritizing semantic fidelity without sacrificing the fluency or naturalness of the Spanish language. This demonstrates a deep understanding of the Gothic genre and the function of metaphor as a narrative device. Furthermore, it is concluded that the effective translation of literary metaphors requires not only linguistic competence but also aesthetic sensitivity and knowledge of the cultural context. This analysis provides tools for translation practice and at the same time emphasizes the importance of metaphors as fundamental elements in literary translation, especially in genres that rely on figurative language to convey their atmosphere and deeper meaning.
Copyright (c) 2025 Claudia Castañeda Gracía https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Role of AI-Driven Systems in Enhancing Translation Competence and Socio-Cultural Mediation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has entirely changed the translation industry. Neural machine translation (NMT) and various AI-driven technologies have significantly enhanced translation abilities, resulting in faster, more precise, and more effective translations. Sociocultural negotiation—adapting to arrangements suitable for the culture and context—remains a challenge for AI systems. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of this technology, as well as the role of AI in developing translation abilities and sociocultural negotiation. Although AI machines can provide a helping hand in processing and assist with language tasks, they are not yet equipped with the cultural knowledge necessary to produce high-quality translations, especially in sensitive areas such as literary, legal, and medical translation. The paper also discusses the growing role of human know-how and the ethics of AI in translation, with a focus on the collaboration between human translators and AI technology. Incorporating AI devices into business translation activities can yield more professional outcomes without compromising cultural and contextual precision within the original text. In the long term, the future of translation is integrating AI with human expertise.
AI-Driven Translation; Neural Machine Translation; Translation Competence; Socio-cultural Mediation; Machine Learning in translation
Copyright (c) 2025 Keivan Seyyedi, Fereydoon Rasouli, Hoshyar Azaldin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Personality-Related Translation Disparity: ISTP vs ISTJ Performance Analysis
Although language and cognitive models have been used to investigate translation performance in great detail, the influence of personality-driven cognitive styles is yet unknown. This paper looks at how different Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) profiles; more specifically, ISTJ (introvert sensing thinking judging) and ISTP (introvert sensing thinking perceiving), impact translation results for undergraduate students. Translation accuracy, error type, and confidence in self-evaluation were assessed in a quantitative approach. Fewer syntactic and cohesive faults defined ISTJs’ consistent strength in organized activities. Though they created more lexical and omission-related mistakes, ISTPs showed better flexibility in creative settings. Additionally, while ISTPs usually judged their performance more favorably, ISTJs often underestimated the accuracy of their translations. These findings underline different translation tendencies affected by cognitive preferences and imply that personalized techniques sensitive to individual personalities could help to improve translator training.
MBTI, ISTJ, ISTP, psychometrics, translation
Translation of Dysphemisms and Cacophemisms in Film Subtitling: A Humorous Perspective
This research focuses on the use of humor in a cinematographic text, in which the use of foul language or dysphemisms and cacophemisms as humor mechanisms is becoming more and more common, as in the case of the comedy film Norbit (2007) directed by Brian Robbins and starring Eddie Murphy. The film uses crude humor, vulgar, transgressive and offensive language, which at the time of translation is complicated and presents challenges for the translator. The objective of this research is to identify the dysphemisms and cacophemisms of the original script in order to compare them with the translation in the subtitles to see if the sense and the illocutive force is preserved, omitted or changed. The methodology of this research is qualitative, using discourse analysis with a descriptive and comparative approach. Key fragments of the film where dysphemisms and cacophemisms are used were selected, as well as their translation into Spanish in the subtitling of these fragments. In addition, analysis sheets were used to compare the original and translated content in semantic and humorous terms to see what translation solutions are used for each situation where dysphemisms or cacophemisms appear. The results of this research show that the translation of dysphemisms and cacophemisms is softened by discursive mechanisms that soften the offensive effect of the original. However, it is concluded that the translator must make use of more creative and culturally adapted translation strategies to preserve the humorous effect on the target language viewers.
Negotiating Polysemy: A Critical Analysis of ḍaraba in Four English Translations of the Qur’an
This study investigates the polysemous Qur’anic verb daraba, a lexeme whose diverse semantic range—from physical striking and traveling to parable-setting and legal-metaphorical usage—poses significant challenges for translators. Focusing on four influential English versions of the Qur’an (Pickthall, Asad, Bakhtiar, and Sahih International), the research applies Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine how translators’ lexical and discursive choices both reflect and reproduce ideological orientations. The analysis categorizes 53 occurrences of daraba into five semantic domains: physical action, parable-setting, traveling, punishment/discipline, and legal/metaphorical usage. The findings reveal that the translators converge on neutral renderings in less contested categories (e.g., traveling), but diverge sharply in sensitive contexts such as Q 4:34, where translation choices range from “scourge” and “strike” to “beat” and “go away.” CDA emphasises that these differences are discursive interventions influenced by gendered, cultural, and theological commitments rather than semantically neutral ones. Asad rationalises meaning through philosophical contextualisation, Bakhtiar reformulates ethically to challenge patriarchal readings, Sahih International simplifies for accessibility in accordance with conservative orthodoxy, and Pickthall maintains a biblical-archaic solemnity. This study shows that Qur'anic translation is a site of ideological negotiation where polysemy becomes a resource for framing authority, ethics, and reform by fusing semantic typology with discourse analysis. The results support translation studies, Qur'anic studies, and discussions about the relationship between language, ideology, and sacred texts.
Copyright (c) 2025 Mahmoud Altarabin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Lexical Interference Problems that EFL Undergraduate Students in Jordan Encounter when Translating General Texts from Arabic into English
The interfernce of one language into the other during translation is common among language students. This study was devoted to the lexical interference problems that English major undergraduate students in Jordanian universities encounter when translating Arabic texts into English. Twenty five of males and twenty five of females Fifty participants students were are chosen to take the translation test, the responses were are collected, analyzed and categorized into six lexical categories: collocation, polysemy, redundancy, synonyms, metaphors, and prepositions. The results showed that the students committed lexical interference due to determining sources including students’ lack of the first language (L1) and the second language ( L2) awareness including lack of L2 vocabulary, misuse of dictionaries, use of translation machines and carelessness. The study recommended holding an efficiency exam for the students, preparing special intensive reading skill for school and post-graduated students and paying more attention to language interference when teaching translation courses.
Copyright (c) 2025 Aseel Hudaib, Mohammed Yousef Nofal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Pan Arab Linguistic and Translation Errors and Strategies in Bilingual Linguistic Landscapes
This study sought to identify the types of linguistic and translation errors in bilingual linguistic landscapes (LLs) collected from seven Arab countries. Analysis of 96 Arabic-English and 229 English-Arabic LLs showed that top-down LLs constituted 54% of the Arabic-English and 46% of the English-Arabic LLs, whereas bottom-up constituted 41% of the Arabic-English and 59% of the English-Arabic LLs. About half of the LLs are commercial/promotional, followed by directional and safety/regulatory LLs. 32% of the LLs were translated correctly (Keep a safe distance, Road ahead closed, Use safety harness, Vital signs, Departures) as they are top-down LLs issued by government bodies, hospitals, airports, or municipalities that typically employ professional translators, use standardized terminology, context-aware phrasing, cultural and idiomatic sensitivity, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and functional equivalence. 15% have syntactic errors (Danger Forklift Traffic Area خطر...رافعة البضائع منطقة المرور, and 20% contain grammatical errors with faulty agreement, singular/plural, definite/indefinite, derived forms, and faulty interpretation of prepositional phrases and idioms prevalent in bottom-up signs (Care for Life> نهتم بالحياة; Slow Down> (تحت تمهل. Semantic errors as meaning misidentification, contextual misfit, idiom misinterpretation, inappropriate collocation, and incorrect word choice constitute 26% )Vertical Steamersغالية عمودية ; Custard Apple (كسترد. Orthographic errors accounted for 3% (*Ciub street for Club street, Par King for Parking, نعتزر instead of (نعتذر and 13% contained multiple errors with overlapping semantic, grammatical, syntactic, lexical, and/or contextual inaccuracies. Some Arabic equivalents sound awkward and meaningless (Biohazard/Medical Waste النفايات الطبية واقية ; Clearance Price تصفية السعر; Prepared Meatsاللحوم استعداد; Tetra Pack Juice عصير بتغلق تترا ; Hair Straighteners سيراميك الشعر; Keep Site Cleanالحفاظ على الموقع كلين (حافظ على نظافة الموقع); Live Station (منطقة طازج. In most LL translation, literal word-for-word translation was the dominant strategy, followed by transliteration instead of using a native Arabic equivalent. Linguistic and translation errors in bilingual LLs are attributed to DIY (Do It Yourself), complex, long, or technical source phrases, cultural and linguistic mismatch, lack of standardized glossaries, lack of standardization of equivalents and transliterated forms, and low translator training. Recommendations for improving the linguistic and translation accuracy of bilingual LLs in Arabi countries are given.
bilingual linguistic landscapes, Arab countries, English-Arabic linguistic landscapes, Arabic-English linguistic landscapes, translation errors, linguistic errors, grammatical errors, orthographic errors, syntactic errors, semantic errors
Copyright (c) 2025 Reima Al-Jarf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Teaching the Use of the Modal Verb Shall in Translating English Legal Texts from English into Arabic
This paper is an attempt to cast light on the use of the modal verb shall in legal text of different types. It is understood that modal verbs including the use of shall is the backbone of English language grammar. Nowadays, people use English language on daily basis for communication, and modal verbs are means of such communication. Learners at university level think that the modal shall is connected to the future tense. Others think that the modal shall is for formality and official uses among governmental departments. As to those interested in legalese, they consider the modal shall is a matter of obligation within the scope of legality. A group of (40) university graduates, interested in legalese, was under this study for a period of (4) weeks as of January 05th until February 04th, 2025 via Google Classroom platform. The result disclosed that learners witnessed and touched a redundancy in the use of the modal shall in legal texts, and made a difference between the use of shall in plain daily language use and in legal texts. Learners of this study understood that they could abandon the use of the modal verb shall which is an indication for formality as they are part of this digital small village. However, they absorbed the point that the modal shall cannot be neglected, even when there are some sounds here and there calling for getting back to plain English use.
Teaching, Modal Verb Shall, Translation, Google Classroom, Learners
Translating Divine Attributes: A Comparative Analysis of Al-Aziz Al-Hakim in Selected Qur'anic Translations
Translating divine attributes from the Qur’an into English Qur’an translation involves decisions shaped by theological, linguistic, and contextual considerations. The pair العزيز الحكيم (Al-Aziz Al-Hakim) appears exactly 47 times in the Qur’an. This paper investigates M.A.S. Abdel Haleem’s context-sensitive translations regarding these specific attributes. Most often, "the power to decide," "the Exalted, the Decider," "the Mighty, the One to Decide," and "the Well-Informed Judge." Other modern translators, like Mustafa Khattab and Musharraf Hussain, consistently employ "the Almighty, All-Wise" and "the Almighty, the Wise," respectively. Using Vermeer and Reiß's (2013) Skopos theory as a guiding theoretical framework, this paper examines Abdel Haleem’s context-sensitive translation approach, exploring why and how the translation purpose and audience affect translation decisions. The findings indicate that 44 instances are rendered identically by Abdel Haleem, whereas three use context-driven variants. This suggests that variation is intentional and reflects a functionalist translation strategy rather than inconsistency. Khattab and Hussain’s translations are consistent in translating the two attributes. Both of them put more emphasis on uniformity and doctrinal clarity over context-based variation.
Translation; divine attributes; Skopos; Qur’anic verses; context-sensitive translations; Al-Aziz Al-Hakim
Differences between Subtitle Translation and Dubbing in Netflix’s Series Beef
This research focuses on the differences between subtitles and dubbed translation in a Netflix series titled Beef with English and Indonesian as the source and target languages. This study aims to prove whether it is true that subtitle translation tends to be rigid while dubbing tends to be free. This research utilizes a descriptive qualitative method. The research was conducted by applying Gottlieb's (1992) subtitle translation strategy, Newmark's (1998) translation method, and Venuti's (1995) translation ideology to compare the two forms of audiovisual translation on the same source text. The results show that subtitles mostly use strategies that reduce the message of the source text, while dubbing uses strategies that add or change the message of the source text. The research concludes that despite the differences in strategies, both subtitles and dubbing applied the communicative method and domestication ideology to almost the same degree, and the contrasting difference between them lies in the linguistic styles that are employed.
Copyright (c) 2025 Emir Salim https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0