Common translation errors made by undergraduates when translating from Tamil to English

Abstract

Translation has been identified as a challenging task. It is even more difficult for the students whose proficiency level is low in the target language (TL). In addition translation is a two way process which requires adequate proficiency in both Source Language (SL) and Target Language (TL). Thus this study is an analysis of the common translation errors made by undergraduates when translating from Tamil to English. The objective of the study is to find out the translation errors made by trilingual undergraduates of South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, when translating from Tamil to English. For the purpose of collecting data, students were given four different types of short passages in Tamil to be translated into English. The sample comprised of 24 undergraduates reading for a special degree in Trilingual studies in the department of Languages in Faculty of Arts and Culture at South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. Accordingly 7 students from 2nd year, 14 students from 3rd year and 3 students from 4th year were selected for this study. Quantitative and descriptive methods were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicated that low proficiency level of students in English language is a major cause for the translation errors because students struggle to translate due to their inability to produce grammatically correct sentences. In addition difference between SL and TL is also identified as a challenge that hinder the process of translation. Moreover linguistic errors and translation errors have been identified as the most frequent errors students make when translating. Eventually recommendations in the light of findings are also discussed in this paper which will help the students overcome the common translation errors.