Influence of contextual factors on translation shifts case study : English to Arabic translation of reports from the Pan African Parliament (PAP)

Abstract

This research set out to study the influence of contextual factors on the occurrence of translation shifts through the case study of English to Arabic translation of reports from the Pan African Parliament (PAP). The phenomenon of translation shifts has not yet been dealt with extensively in the field of translation and in particular in the combination of English and Arabic. Therefore, this research intends to contribute positively to fill this gap in the body of knowledge. The main objective of the research is to explore the nature of contextual factors that impact on the occurrence of the phenomenon of translation shifts and how this very phenomenon is manifested in translation strategies that are used to overcome translation problems at the word and above word levels. To achieve the objectives of the research, a quantitative and qualitative study was designed to explore the correlation among three related variables which are: translation problems, translation strategies and translation shifts. As a case study the data focuses on reports (ST and TT) of the Permanent Committees of the PAP produced between 2010 and 2016. The research found that at the word level, both the stylistic and contextual factors had an influence on the occurrence of the translation shifts, but the influence of the contextual factors is less than that of the stylistic factors. On the other hand, the research found that the contextual factor is the main factor that impacts on the same phenomenon above word level. The main conclusions of the research are that because of the inherent structural differences between English and Arabic, the occurrence of translation shifts is inevitable. There are also many other factors, such as stylistic and contextual factors, which govern the structure of different languages. Therefore, the research emphasises that the occurrence of this phenomenon is natural and it should be expected between any two languages. Finally, due to specific limitations in the study, the research recommends that the scope of the study be widened in future research. The research further strongly advocates for the study of translation shifts in various contexts, and therefore recommends that the study of this phenomenon should form part of any translation course.