PERCEIVED DIFFICULTY AND TRANSLATION PERFORMANCE IN CULTURE-SPECIFIC ELEMENTS: EVIDENCE FROM EFL LEARNERS
Abstract
Culture-specific elements are widely recognised as challenging in translation, yet the alignment between learners’ perceived difficulties and their actual performance remains underexplored. This study examines these dimensions together with students’ perceived causes of difficulty in translating culture-specific elements. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining questionnaire data from 113 students with analysis of translation outputs from a subset of 40 students. The findings show that the learners tended to regard idioms and proverbs and culturally marked items as difficult, while perceiving more familiar elements, such as food and forms of address, as less challenging. However, translation performance varied considerably across categories, with over-literal translations and inadequate cultural renderings accounting for more than 80% of responses. The results also indicate only partial alignment between perceived difficulty and observed performance, suggesting that learners’ awareness does not fully capture the complexity of translation tasks. These findings highlight the importance of integrating cultural knowledge, strategic awareness, and reflective practice in translation instruction.