Teaching translation of idiomatic expressions through cooperative learning

This study is an attempt to adopt the cooperative learning approach in teaching translation procedures for idiomatic expressions. Preliminary observations have shown the students’ tendency to use word for word translation when translating idioms from English into Persian. However, literal translation does not always seem to be a true and faithful transfer method due to structural and cultural differences between the SL and TL. The intervention methodology applied in this study is cooperative work procedure in which students work both individually and in group to accomplish a translation task. To this end, a pretest was given to thirty-four participants majoring Translation Studies in Kashmar Higher Education Institute. Based on the analysis of data, in most cases the participants resort to literal translation. In order to explore the students’ attitudes toward cooperative work procedure in translation practice, a questionnaire was administered which showed the positive views of students. The analysis of the posttest confirmed the students’ employing the procedures while translating, and consequently a significant improvement in their translation. In conclusion, Cooperative Work Procedure can be readily used in translation classes as it promotes team working among learners. With cooperative learning techniques, the participants believed that they could tackle the challenges involved in translation tasks properly as they received inputs from the other members of group, and they stayed alert to their mistakes. Also, through discussion a substantial degree of a faithful and close equivalent can be facilitated and generated which enhances translation performance