Journal of English Studies in Arabia Felix

Exploring Translation’s Role in Community Development from the Perspectives of Language Researchers and Postgraduates

2026-05-11T17:52:48+00:00

This study aims to investigate the roles of translation in community development based on perceptions of researchers and postgraduate students in the context of Yemen. Using a quantitative research design, the data were collected through a questionnaire from a sample of 86 Yemeni researchers and postgraduate students majoring in applied linguistics and translation studies. The analysis of the data was processed in SPSS software (version 20). The results revealed that they hold positive perceptions about the roles of translation in community development. Concerning participants’ gender, the results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between male and female participants in perceiving the roles of translation in community development. Similarly, there were no statistically significant differences in the perceived roles of translation between participants majoring in applied linguistics and those majoring in translation studies. The educational dimension of community development was rated based on the perceptions of researchers and postgraduate students as the first rank, which was the most influenced by translation, followed by the cultural dimension and social dimension. It was also found that there were statistically significant differences in the perceived roles of translation across some pairs of dimensions of community development. These differences were particularly found in the pairs of the social dimension and the economic dimension; the cultural dimension and the economic dimension; and the cultural dimension and the environmental dimension.

Fostering Pragmatic Competence through Video-Based Language Learning: A Systematic Literature Review

2026-05-07T10:18:21+00:00

This study, drawing on the growing interest in multimodal tools for language learning, explores the relation between Voscreen and pragmatic competence. With the dataset received from ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, the scope of the present analysis was delimited to English-language, peer-reviewed literature investigating the intersection of Voscreen and second language acquisition. Data were extracted and subjected to analysis to spot research method patterns, research themes, and pragmatic content. The results demonstrate the significant gap in the literature: the current Voscreen studies are so biased in their emphasis that they focus heavily on receptive language skills, i.e., vocabulary and listening, but pay little attention to the building of pragmatic competence. While Voscreen provides multimodal, authentic, and contextualized input associated with pragmatic development, this review study does not operationalize and measure pragmatic competence as a key outcome. Voscreen can be considered a theoretically promising resource whose role in pragmatics needs to be empirically proven. Only through theoretically and methodologically sound designs can the pragmatic potential of Voscreen be empirically ascertained.

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

2026-07-06T08:29:42+00:00

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.