Cultural Orientations of Iranian English Translation Students: Do Gender and Translation Quality Matter?

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

The present exploratory study aimed to construct and apply a localized questionnaire
to investigate the cultural orientations of Iranian English translation students. It also
examined the relationship between cultural orientations of Iranian English
translation students, their gender, and translation quality. This mixed-methods study,
in the first phase, used focus group interviews to form a pool of cultural orientations
to provide for the first draft of the questionnaire items. Initial draft of the
questionnaire was subjected to the revision by experts and potential participants to
determine the face and content validity of the data to collect. Eventually, a 53-item
questionnaire was finalized, and the responses of a cluster sample of 473 Iranian
English translations at undergraduate and graduate levels were obtained. In the
second phase, the data collected using the revised questionnaire were analyzed
through a number of inferential statistical procedures. National identity, cultural
heritage, local traditionalism, collectivism, and social attachment were the revealed
categories of the cultural orientations of the participants. Findings did not indicate
any significant relationship between the Iranian English translation students’ cultural
orientations, their gender, and translation quality.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics
Volume 6, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
November 2015
Pages 21-35

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