Challenges of Translating Scholarly Literature from English Language to Arabic Language: A Case Study

Abstract

There is no doubt that translation activity contributes to keeping knowledge in various fields. However, the quality of translation outputs no longer meets the aspirations of many intellectuals and those interested in translated scholarly literature. Therefore, this study aims to identify the challenges of translating scholarly literature from English into the Arabic in an attempt to understand and classify them in three dimensions: the challenges related to the translator, the challenges related to the scholarly literature, and the organizational challenges. A case study methodology is adopted based on focusing on one of the government training facilities in Saudi Arabia that includes 56 Arabic speakers who have higher education degrees in the field of English language. After verifying the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, only 31 individuals participate, which form 55% of the total target group. The study concludes the significance of nine challenges related to the translator, three challenges related to the scholarly literature, and six challenges related to the organizational challenges. In conclusion, the study presents some recommendations that are drawn from the results.