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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World

(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
TRANSLATION STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH IDIOMS BY EFL
LEARNERS: BAKER’S MODEL IN FOCUS
Bahador Sadeghi, PhD
Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of Foreign Languages, College of
Humanities, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran
bahsad@gmail.com

Atefeh Farjad, MA
Department of Foreign Languages, College of Humanities, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad
University, Takestan, Iran
farjad.atefeh@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to investigate strategies of translators employed when translating
idiomatic expressions from English into the Persian language. The present study makes an effort
to analyze subjects used strategies according to Mona Baker's (1992) classification of strategies.
To this end, a sample of 60 intermediate level students from Iran Islamic Azad University Central
Tehran branch and from Iran Islamic Azad University Khomein branch were selected. Data were
gathered by means of questionnaires and were analyzed. The analysis of data revealed that the
strategies that are used do not just lead to the strategies adopted by Mona Baker and the use of
each strategy depends on many factors such as subject’s prior knowledge of target and source
idioms and the context of use of idioms.

KEYWORDS: Idiom, Translation, Translation strategies

INTRODUCTION
The notion of translation strategy has a great effect on translating which has gained more
momentum and attention than the past. The existence of different definitions and categorizations
for translation strategies indicates that strategies are vibrant and relevant concept in translation. In
translation, lack of adequate knowledge of translation strategies leads to mistranslation especially
when it comes to idiomatic expression, because idioms of one language hardly match with idioms
of other language, Baker (1992, 64). Since the researcher was really interested in English novels
and short stories, she has come across a lot of mistranslation especially when it comes to
idiomatic expression. Even our most famous translators had always have difficulties in
translating these types of expressions. This gave him incentive to study more deeply about these
weakness. First she started to investigate existing thesis on the subject. Then she did a sheer
volume of library research and finally concluded that all the previous studies had theoretical basis
and merely library research. While she believed that an extensive field research is required to find
out the roots of the problem. This study sets out to examine idiomatic expressions in English and
Persian based on Mona Baker categorization of translation strategies.

247
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
Idiom
Idioms are multi-word expressions which cannot be understood literally even if we know the
meaning of the words in phrase and the grammar of the phrase. One idiom might have different
concepts in different languages. They might have different functions in different discourse in
texts or interactions. According to Langacher (1968, p. 79), “an idiom is a kind of complex
lexical item. It is a phrase whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the
morphemes it comprises”.

Idioms have significant characteristics which make them differentiable and recognizable from
other words and expressions. According to Baker, idioms are fixed expressions which allow little
or no variation in form. She explains some actions which cannot be done by idiomatic
expressions: change the order of word in it, delete a word from it, add a word to it, replace a word
with another, change its grammatical structure Baker (1992, 63).

Idioms differ in their degree of fixity and opaqueness. As Cacciari (1993: 31) points out, it
seems reasonable to adopt the view that idiomaticity is rather a matter of degrees in which the
literal and figurative idioms are the ultimate extremities. So idioms are classified into different
categories on the basis of their degree opaqueness.

According to Fernando (1996: 35), idioms are categorized under three sub-classes: pure idioms,
semi-idioms and literal idioms.
1) Pure idiom is a type of "conventionalized, non-literal multiword expression" whose
meaning cannot be understood by adding up the meanings of the words that make up the
phrase (ibid.: 35-36).
2) Semi-idiom which has at least one literal element and one with a non-literal meaning.
Then, this type of idioms is considered partially opaque (Fernando, 1996, p.60).
3) Literal idioms are semantically less complex than the other two, and therefore easier to
understand. However, these expressions do qualify as idioms because they cannot be
changed or allow only restricted variation.

In translation of idioms the most important problem for translator is to find appropriate
equivalent idioms in form and meaning at the target language to be same as source language
because each language has its idioms, it is hard to find the exact equivalent. As Larson puts it,
“the translator must first be sure of the meaning of the idiom and then look for the natural
equivalent way to express the meaning of the idiom as a whole” (1984, p. 143).

According to Baker, “Idioms and fixed expressions which contain culture-specific items are not
necessarily untranslatable. It is not the specific items an expression contains but rather the
meaning it conveys and its association with culture-specific context which can make it
untranslatable or difficult to translate” (1992, p. 68).

Baker (1992) believes that “the main problems that idiomatic and fixed expressions pose in
translation relate to two main areas: the ability to recognize and interpret an idiom correctly and

248
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
the difficulties in rendering various aspects of meaning that an idiom or a fixed expression
conveys into the target language” (p. 65).

Translation: Translation is a process of substituting a source language text by a target language


text with preserving the meaning and content of the original text as possible as it is. According to
Bell (1991: xv), the goal of translation is "the transformation of a text originally in one language
into an equivalent text in a different language retaining, as far as possible, the content of the
message and the formal features and functional roles of the original text." According to him total
equivalence between a source language text and its translation is something that can never be
fully achieved (ibid.: 6).

Translating strategies: Generally speaking, translation strategies are problem solving tools
which translators make use of them when they face problems. Lörscher (1991,p.76) defines
translation strategy as "a potentially conscious procedure for the solution of a problem which an
individual is faced with when translating a text segment from one language to another". Baker
introduced four types of translation strategies: Using an idiom of similar meaning and form,
using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation by paraphrase, translation by
omission, Baker (1992, p. 72-77).

There are different definitions and categorizations for translation strategies by different scholars.
Lörscher (1991: 76) defines translation strategy as "a potentially conscious procedure for the
solution of a problem which an individual is faced with when translating a text segment from one
language to another". The most recommended translation strategy for idioms is translating them
with a natural target language idiom which has the same meaning as the original source language
idiom. Nida and Taber (1969, p. 106) exclude the literal translation strategy and suggest three
translation strategies for idioms:

1. Translating idioms with non- idioms


2. Translating idioms with idioms
3. Translating non- idioms with idioms

Newmark (lists the following translation strategies, which essentially fall along a cline of focus,
one extreme being total focus on the source text/language and the other extreme being total focus
on the target text/language: word-for-word translation, literal translation, faithful translation,
semantic translation, free translation, adaptation translation, communicative translation and
idiomatic translation. Mona Baker, in her book, In Other Words (1992), defines the following
strategies for translating idiomatic expressions:
1) Using an idiom of similar meaning and form.
2) Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form.
3) Translation by paraphrase.
4) Translation by omission.
5) Translation by compensation.

249
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
As the present study focuses on the idiom translation and translation strategies, this section
provides a review of the relevant literature on idiom translation strategies.

Recently, researches in the field of idiom translation strategies has shown using different
strategies by L2 learners. According to İlkay Çelik-Yazici (2004), L2 speakers, in order to
interpret the meaning of idioms, apply some strategies acquired during the first language
acquisition despite the lack of sufficient input in the classroom setting and the lack of language
contact. These strategies include relying on the literal meaning conveyed in the context and guess
what it means even when the particular idiom has a perfect match in their mother tongue. The
results of a study which conducted by Ahmadi and Ketabi (2011) reveals that the following
strategies were used in translating color idiomatic expressions:1)using a non- idiomatic
expression; 2)using an idiom of similar meaning and form; 3)using an idiom of similar meaning
but dissimilar form; 4) literal translation; 5) paraphrasing and finally 6) loan translation. They
also concluded that literal translation results obscene and unusual translation, and non-idiomstic
expression is a good replacement for idiom when there is not a suitable corresponding target
language (Ahmadi & Ketabi, 2011).

Strakšiene (2009), is his article tries to analyze the translation of English idioms into Lithuanian
and difficulties that translator meets. The aim of the article is to investigate English and
Lithuanian problem of no equivalence in for idioms, to look through main translation strategies
used to cope with idiom translation difficulty. The theoretical part is mostly based on Baker’s,
Moon’s, Newmark theories. The research has shown that the most prevailing translation strategy
was paraphrasing, also there were examples of an idiom with the same meaning and form, idiom
with the similar meaning but different form and omission (Strakšiene, 2009).

Shojaei (2012) in his research tried to investigate and identify some difficulties in the process of
translating inter-lingual idiomatic pairs, and then to suggest some theoretical strategies to cope
with that difficulties. Following Mona Baker's (1992) classification of difficulties and strategies,
the researcher apply them largely for some English and the equivalent Turkish (Azeri) as well as
Persian pairs. The findings showed that there is no clear-cut and predefined way to cope with
idiomatic expressions, but it is the situation which decides which strategy to be taken, (Shojaei,
2012). Another study which carried by Haghshenas (2012), investigated the strategies adopted
by Persian translators to render the symbolic meaning of animals in children's literature.
Data for this study in Western and Persian culture, were investigated in twelve western
children books and their Persian translations. Data were categorized into two main domestication
and foreignization translation groups, based on Venuti's (1995) categorization of translation
strategies, to see which strategy is more preferred strategy among Persian translators of children's
literature. The results showed that most of the Persian translators tend to make use of
foreignization strategy for translating these cultural terms. while, the results of the interview
revealed that children recognize the native symbolic meanings of animals more than their foreign
ones (Haghshenas, 2012). Mustonen (2010) sought to determine idiom translation strategies. The
data for this study gathered from the book Donna Tartt's novel The Secret History which was
translated from English into Finnish, Jumalat juhlivat öisin. Then researcher gathered their
Finnish translations to find Finnish idioms. The results showed that translator applied three

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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
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different strategies for translating idioms. In this study the most popular strategy was translating
source idiom with target language non-idioms with a percentage about 51%. The second popular
strategy was translating idiom with idiom with a percentage about 47%. The last used strategy
was translating source language idioms literally with a percentage about 2%.

Tousi (2011) tried to investigate which strategies translators use when they try to compensate the
loss of idiomaticity while translating idiomatic expressions. The data for this study gathered form
English novel, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as source language and its Persian
translation as a target language. The results showed that the mostly used translation strategy by
translator was translating source language idioms into target non- idioms, which leads to
imbalance between source and target text idioms. To cope with this problem translator used
compensation strategy by adding idioms instead of non- idioms in target language. Balfaqeeh
(2009) carried out a study to investigate translation strategies which are more acceptable to the
Arab readers. This study conducted based on domesticated or foreignized strategies. The data for
this study were collected from different books. The results of the study showed that
domestication strategy is more acceptable and popular to Arab readers. For them the content of
the message and equivalent idiom translated have more significant. Literal translation and
deletion gained the least preferences for Arab readers.

To conclude, although there are a number of studies exploring the kind of strategies used for
translating source idioms into target, there seems to be a gap in the relationship between used
translation strategies and balance between source and target text concept. To fill part of this gap,
this study aims to investigate the difference among strategies have been used by the subjects to
translate idioms and the reason for this selection.

RESEARCH QUESTION
There is no significant difference among strategies used by the subjects to translate idioms of
English into Persian.

METHODOLOGY
Participants
In the present study, a sample of 60 intermediate level college students (male and female)
majoring in English language translation at Iran Islamic Azad University Central Tehran
Branch were selected. The participants were all adult learners of English ranging in age from 20
to 30.

Instruments
The first instrument was The Michigan Test consisting of several tests that are useful for
evaluating the English Language proficiency of students whose first language is not English. At
this study it was used to elicit information about the subjects general English proficiency level.
The test consists of 40 English Grammar questions, 40 Vocabulary questions, and 20 Reading

251
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
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Comprehension questions. It has been given 75 minutes (One hour and fifteen minutes) to finish
the entire test.

The second instrument was used to determine subject’s idiomatic knowledge. Idiom recognition
tests, involving 20 frequently used idioms, in the form of multiple-choice test and translation
task. Then according to the mean performance and the standard deviation of the tests, subjects
with the intermediate level of proficiency were selected for this study. Those students whose
scores fell between one standard deviation below and above the mean were assigned as the mid
group.

The third instrument used to elicit information about the subjects’ translation strategies was a
questionnaire involving 30 idiomatic expressions used by Persian and English speakers for
translating. According to Fernando’s classification of types of idioms (1996), idioms in this study
fall into three categories: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms. Two types of questions
have been included into this questionnaire. At first 14 idioms were included in the form of three
texts. After texts, 16 simple statements have been brought, which each one includes an idiom.
Idioms used in this study were taken from the book “English Idioms in Use” written by Felicity
O’Dell and Michael McCarthy, “101 American English Idioms” written by harry Collis, “Oxford
Dictionary of English Idioms” by John Ayto. The key for correct answer were Loghatnameh-e
Estelahat-e Englisi be Farsi (Minaian, 2004) and Farhang-e estelahat-e Farsi be Englisi
(Vosoughi, 1991).

Procedures
Through this study, the following procedures were followed. Initially, the Michigan Test of
English Language proficiency (MTELP) was used to homogenize the participants. It consisted of
100 grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. After analysis of MTELP
scores, 20 participants were excluded from total subjects because of the large difference in the
level of proficiency. Then an idiom recognition test was used to measure the idiom knowledge
and comprehension ability of the selected participants after MTELP test. Idiomatic expressions
for measuring were selected from “English Idioms in Use” written by Michael McCarthy and
Felicity O’Dell and “NTC’S American Idioms Dictionary” written by Richard A. Spears, PhD.
They were at the intermediate level. This test involved 30 items in multiple-choice format. After
conducting the test, 10 participants were excluded from the study because of lack of sufficient
knowledge of idiom recognition and comprehension.

Finally, the main questionnaire was used to identify learner’s idiom translation strategies. This
involved 30 idiomatic expressions. They were included in three passages and short sentences.
Students were asked to translate idioms according to the context of use. 30 minutes was given to
answer the questionnaire. Idiomatic expression’s equivalents were gathered from several
dictionaries because all equivalents could not be found in a unique bilingual dictionary. The next
step was finding English and Persian translations of idioms through bilingual dictionaries and
finding their equivalents. The method by which the data were gathered from subjects was
collecting Persian equivalent idioms for English idioms by a questionnaire and determining the
applied translation strategies. The data of this study were examined based on translating

252
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
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procedures following Baker (1992, P. 71) as the theoretical framework. The aim was to describe
the collected data and make conclusions on the basis of findings.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


After collecting data and analyzing them, the researcher has classified them according to Baker
translating strategies. Moreover, two other strategies identified. The questionnaire analysis
revealed that subjects employed six basic strategies for translating idioms: translation of SL
idiomatic expression by using an idiom of similar meaning and form of TL idiom, translation SL
idiomatic expression with using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form of TL idiom,
translating by paraphrasing, translation by deletion, Literal translation, Translating idioms with
non- idioms.

Translation of idiomatic expression by using an idiom of similar meaning and form of TL


idiom
Translating an idiom by using an idiom of similar meaning and form is the most appropriate
strategy for translation it tries to replace source language idiom with target language idiom that
has the same meaning and structure.

Table 1: Frequency use of first strategy


Percentage Frequency
Amount of using first strategy

75 45 Low

21.7 13 Mid

3.3 2 High

100 60 Total sum


Minimum score 0 Mean 2.85
Maximum score 10 Standard Deviation 1.73 Statistical indexes

The findings of the above table shows that 75 percent of subjects have used this strategy at low
level, 21.7 percent at moderate level and 3.3 percent have used it at high level to translate idioms

Translation SL idiomatic expression with using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar
form of TL idio.
According to Baker (1992, p. 74), it is possible to find an idiom in target language which has
similar meaning and form of source language. This means that semantic equivalent of source
idiom is given to target text, but the lexical item of the SL idiom is not kept in the target text.

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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
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Table 2: Frequency use of second strategy
Percentage Frequency
Amount of using first strategy

25 15 Low

58.3 35 Mid

16.7 10 High

100 60 Total sum


Minimum score 1 Mean 6.48
Maximum score 14 Standard Deviation 3.16 Statistical indexes

The findings of above table shows that 15 percent of subjects have used this strategy at low level,
35 percent at moderate level and 10 percent have used it at high level to translate idioms. In other
words, it is evident that more than half of the students tend to use the Baker’s second strategy in
rendering idiomatic expressions.

Translating by paraphrasing
Translation by paraphrase is used when an idiom in source language convey the same meaning of
target language but with different form and when its frequency of usage in target language is
significantly higher than source language, (Baker, 1992, p. 37).

Table 3: Frequency use of third strategy


Percentage Frequency
Amount of using first strategy

13.3 8 Low

58.3 35 Mid

28.3 17 High

100 60 Total sum


Minimum score 1 Mean 7.72
Maximum score 13 Standard Deviation 2.89 Statistical indexes

254
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
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The findings of above table shows that 13.3 percent of subjects have used this strategy at low
level, 58.3 percent at moderate level and 28.3 percent have used it at high level to translate
idioms.

Translation by deletion
According to Baker when an idiom does not have an equivalent in source language, and cannot
be paraphrased, it might be omitted in source language.

Table 4: Frequency use of forth strategy


Percentage Frequency
Amount of using first strategy

30 18 Low

50 30 Mid

20 12 High

100 60 Total sum


Minimum score 0 Mean 2.35
Maximum score 5 Standard Deviation 1.31 Statistical indexes

Given the lowest score (zero) and the highest score (five) can be said that some participants have
not used this strategy at all and some of them have used this strategy only 5 times. Using the
minimum and maximum amount of scores in three categories: low (30%), moderate (50%) and
high (20%) has been shown in the above table.

Translating idioms with non- idioms


Since idioms are mostly language-specific expressions, it is not prodigious that subjects used this
strategy for translating idioms almost too much. According to Nida and Taber (1969, p. 106),
"most frequently source language idioms are shifted to target language non-idioms", and the
findings of this table partly confirms what they sad.

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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
Table 5: Frequency use of fifth strategy
Percentage Frequency Amount of using first
strategy

23.3 14 Low

66.7 40 Mid

10 6 High

100 60 Total sum


Minimum score 2 Mean 7.20
Maximum score 14 Standard Deviation 2.46 Statistical indexes

The findings of above table shows that 23.3 percent of subjects used this strategy at low level,
66.7 percent at moderate level and 10 percent used it at high level to translate idioms.

Literal translation strategy


As the results of the table 6 shows, literal translation was the least used translation strategy.
Because of the fact that word-for-word translation of source text results in nonsense in target text,
it is not recommended by scholars.

Table 6: Frequency use of sixth strategy


Percentage Frequency
Amount of using first strategy

88.3 53 Low

10 6 Mid

1.7 1 High

100 60 Total sum


Minimum score 0 Mean 1.4
Maximum score 9 Standard Deviation 1.57 Statistical indexes

The finding of above table shows that 88.3 percent of subjects have used this strategy at low
level, 10percent at medium level and 1.7 percent have used it at high level to translate idioms.

256
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
According to the bellow tables it concluded that there is a significant difference between the
subjects in the use of different Bakers strategies. In other words, some of the strategies have been
used more than others. Since the level of variable measuring in theory (types of strategies) is
qualitative (nominal), for a comparison between uses of these strategies a nonparametric test
should be used. The appropriate test to assess the above hypothesis is Kendall's W ranks which,
as a coefficient of agreement, it deals with assessing the level of agreement rating among
subjects.
Table 7: W. Kendall test
Strategy Mean rank
ST1 2.76

ST2 4.38

ST3 4.97
ST4 2.33
ST5 4.90
ST6 1.66
Chi-Square 182.195
Asymp. Sig. 0.00

As the results from the analysis reveals, the mostly used strategy was translation by paraphrase;
25.4 percent of all students had used this strategy. This partly confirms what translation theorists
claimed about translation of idioms. According to Baker when there is not an appropriate equal
idiom for source language or when it is not appropriate to use idiomatic expression in target
language because of source and target language stylistic differences, it is a most popular strategy
for translating.

The second popular strategy was Nida and Taber’s first strategy, translating idioms with non-
idioms. This strategy was the second mostly used strategy, with the percentage of 23.8.

The third strategy which was used more than the remain strategies was translation idiomatic
expression with using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form of TL idiom with the
percentage of 21.3.

Translation of source language idiomatic expression using an idiomatic target language


expression by omission with 9.51 and 7.8 percent respectively were the fourth and fifth popular
strategies. The last used strategy was Newmark’s literal translation strategy with the percentage
about 4.6. Following figure gives the results of the article in the form of bar graph.

257
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          

Students rate percentage of using fifth and six strategy

CONCLUSION
Based on the present study, it can be concluded that in each language there are number of idioms
which may not have equivalent in other languages causing some difficulties for subjects to
translate them into target language. Moreover, subjects managed to cope with that difficulty by
translating them in different ways. But it seems that the only difficulty that remains was idiomatic
quality which can not be always transmitted to the target language. Results of this study revealed
that each idiom can be translated from source language into target language by different
strategies, not necessarily a specific one. Even in some cases which there was an equivalent target
idiom for source idiom, subjects used paraphrase and translation idiom with non-idiom strategies
instead of translation of source language idiomatic expression by using an idiom of similar
meaning and form of target language idiom. The logical conclusion to be drawn is that subjects
preferences for choosing a specific strategy for translating an idiom largely depends on subjects
knowledge of source and target language idioms, their ability to recognize and use them as a
single unit of language. Also subject’s preferences to keep the meaning of idiom rather than its
form for the fear of losing idiom intended meaning by author was another reason for strategy
selection. There are a number of limitations in this study which should be mentioned. The present
study investigated English idiom translation strategies based on Bakers model. Therefor other
models are not considered here. This study investigated the strategies used by EFL learners for
rendering English idioms into Persian. Therefor those strategies for rendering Persian idioms into
English are not considered here. Finally, the participants of this study were in intermediate level.
In means that other proficiency levels are not considered here.

The findings of the present study may have implications for teachers, learners and materials
developers. The present study can help teachers of English as a second and foreign language to
help subjects to develop a clear understanding of idiomatic expressions. Taking the findings of
the study into consideration, teachers would be able to give student’s awareness of types of
idioms, their characteristics and most of all the importance of identifying idiomatic expressions in
source language by incorporate methods and techniques to apply in their teaching in order to
develop student’s required knowledge .

258
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume  6  (3),  July  2014;  247-­‐259                                                                                                                                                                                  Sadeghi,  B.,  &  Farjad,  A    
EISSN:  2289-­‐2737  &  ISSN:  2289-­‐3245                                                                                                                                                                                              www.ijllalw.org                                          
The present study may also have implications for learners. Findings of this research may enable
learners to identify their weakness in recognition and translation idioms from source to target
language and try to enhance their prior required knowledge.

Moreover, the present study may have implications for material developers. Although idiom
translation is a hard work for subjects, the results of the study revealed that they can translate
them by different strategies. Material developers should develop materials and courses to
enhance idiom translation strategy as predictors of translation. Allocating some materials and
courses to teach students to achieve the most effective way to choose appropriate translation
strategy can make them translate idioms based on the most efficient strategy for getting a rich and
strong translation rather than paraphrasing which is basically based on student’s intuition .

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