Abstract:
The present research attempted to investigate the negative phenomenon of defective translation performance emanating from two main factors: L1 (i.e. Mother Tongue) Interference and Literal Translation. The population of the research are Arab Secondary Grade and post- intermediate students in particular, but it may apply to other miscellaneous educational categories in the Arab World.
The researcher has drawn upon decades of teaching in secondary schools and other similar educational establishments, in which a great deal of mistakes resulting from L1 Interference and Literal Translation, both oral and written, were committed by these students, and duly noted by the researcher.
In effect, most of these mistakes and errors seemingly result from low standards of students' competence in both English and Arabic alike, and the immediate outcome of these is distorting or spoiling the intended message from speakers to addressees, thereby opening the way for misunderstanding and misinterpretations. The study sheds light on the important linguistic and dialectal aspects that lead up to the said mistakes in the hope of avoiding and rectifying them on the part of all those concerned and involved .It is divided up into four chapters that deal with varied linguistic and other aspects relating to the translation process. Although emphasis is placed on high-frequency linguistic mistakes and errors in key areas such as adjectives, prepositions, nouns, tenses and definitization, other relevant topics such as culture and Arabic dialects are also included, as those dialects are the medium of discourse of habitual use for the target students of the research. At the end of the research pertinent conclusions and recommendations are included, which may be hopefully of help towards improving students' proficiency. Within those results and conclusions the research draws attention to the alarming pervasiveness of the mistakes and errors relating to L1 interference and literal translation on the secondary, and other levels across the Arab World. It highlights the urgent need for the spread of classical Arabic in as many institutions and places as possible, with the ultimate aim of improving students' competence and performance and avoiding the said mistakes. The research also emphasizes the necessity for focusing on the most brilliant and talented students in pre-secondary stages as the future generation of bilingual and bicultural efficient translators.
