Abstract:
This study tackles the problems of translating medical texts from English into Arabic. It uses
an evaluative approach to investigate and discuss the problems and intricacies of translating
medical texts from English to Arabic. The purpose of the study is to show the difficulties of
translating medical terms and how they are tackled by first year master students of English.
It also attempts to identify the importance of reading comprehension in achieving a good
translation of medical texts. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that if students manage to use
reading comprehension strategies to generate inferences that can help them understand
medical texts; their translation will be more efficient. To give consistency to the evaluative
phase, two questionnaires have been used, a questionnaire for fifteen teachers and a
questionnaire for fifty students. The teachers’ questionnaire aims to collect information on
the Teachers’ perceptions of the strategies adopted in the translation of medical texts. The
students’ questionnaire aims to collect information on the students’ knowledge concerning
the features of medical texts and the strategies allocated to their translation. A pre- post
experimental design has also been used. The aim of the pre-test is to depict the students’
translation and elicit the terminological difficulties encountered in the translation of medical
texts. It also attempts to evaluate the strategies used by students in the translations of
medical texts. The post-test aims to evaluate students’ use of reading comprehension
strategies to achieve a good translation of medical texts. The result of the analysis revealed
that students’ use of reading comprehension generate inferences that enhance their
understanding of a source medical text and the production of an effective translation of it.
