Intercultural Competence in Arabic-English Proverb Translation: A Study of Yemeni EFL Learners

Abstract

This study examines intercultural competence in translating Arabic proverbs into English. It goes beyond simple linguistic analysis to dive into how EFL learners use translation strategies for the cultural, figurative, and pragmatic aspects of proverbs. For this purpose, a quantitative descriptive research design was used with data collected through a translation test administered to 45 fourth-year students from three Yemeni universities during the second semester of the 2024-2025 academic year. The analysis focused on linguistic, cultural, and pragmatic difficulties in learners’ translations. The results revealed a reliance on literal translation and limited cultural adaptation. The findings also showed that learners sometimes paraphrase, but their ability to convey cultural and figurative meanings is limited. In general, learners’ intercultural competence in translating Arabic-English proverbs remains underdeveloped. These results highlight the need to strengthen intercultural training in translation teaching and to help learners deal more effectively with cultural meanings in proverbs.