Investigating the Role of Specialized Electronic Dictionary in Facilitating the Process of Translating Idioms

Abstract

Abstract The mastery of idiomatic competence is deemed to be the foundation for successful language learning. Apparently, the majority of EFL students face some difficulties in translating and understanding the figurative meaning of the English idiomatic expression. Hence, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of the specialized electronic dictionary in facilitating the process of translating idioms. Moreover, it seeks to examine both students' and teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards the use of the specialized electronic dictionary as an assistant application to improve EFL students' ability of translating idioms. In this study, it is hypothesized that the use of SED by EFL students may help them improve their ability of translating English idioms. A mixed method research approach was adopted in this study. In relevance to this approach, three different data gathering tools were selected for this investigation. These tools included a quasi-experiment, a questionnaire distributed to a sample of third year LMD students of English at Mohamed Kheider University of Biskra, and an interview for teachers of English in the same department and university. The findings of this study revealed that SED application could help third year LMD students of English at Biskra University to translate idiomatic expressions more easily and accurately. On the other hand, teachers and students expressed their valuable attitudes towards the SED application. Moreover, the findings indicated that both EFL students and teachers share positive reactions towards the use of SED as an assistant tool in translating idioms. Thus, the previous alterative hypothesis was confirmed and the results were positive