Journal of Languages and Translation
Volume 6, Numéro 1, Pages 38-50
2026-01-01

Bridging Cultures: Pragmatic-sociolinguistic Synergy In Transforming Translation Learning In Algerian Higher Education



Authors : Babou Amina .

Abstract

This study investigates the significance of pragmatic competence in translation education for first-year Algerian students majoring in Arabic-English translation. The paper deals with the challenges these students are confronted with when employing literal translation strategies that leave out some crucial culturally loaded contextual distinctions between the two languages. The procedure consisted of providing the students with some target expressions that they had to translate prior to introducing them to explicit pragmatic principles, then reevaluating their performance after explicit pragmatic instruction. The theoretical framework is built on the theoretical premises of Speech Act Theory and Grice's Cooperative Principle in expounding how pragmatic breakdowns take place when students transfer direct Arabic communicative norms into English and vice versa. After receiving the instruction on pragmatics, learners exhibit statistically dramatic improvement in their use of pragmatics in the transfer of meaning between Arabic and English. These learners reveal greater comprehension of Arabic politeness strategies compared to English directness, better identification of culture-bound speech acts (requests, refusals, compliments), and greater sensitivity to register and levels of formality. The study recommends the integration of pragmatic competence in the first year of education through contextualized translation tasks focusing on situational appropriateness, cross-cultural pragmatic awareness raising, corpus-based approaches employing authentic discourse, and collaborative learning based on pragmatic variations. For Algerian students in a multilingual situation (Arabic - Berber - French), raising awareness of pragmatic principles will significantly boost translation quality.

Keywords

Arabic-English translation - Cross-cultural communication - Pragmatics - Speech acts - Translation pedagogy

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