EXPLORING THE QUALITY OF TRANSLATED TEXT FROM ENGLISH TO TAMIL: A STUDY BASED ON UNDERGRADUATES OF TRANSLATION STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF JAFFNA

Abstract

Fidelity and transparency are regarded as the two major factors in the process of translation. Therefore, maintaining both fidelity and transparency equally in the same text is the Herculean task for a translator. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore the quality of translated text from English to Tamil by analyzing the levels of fidelity and transparency. A quantitative methodology has been used to collect the primary data by conducting a test among thirty second-year undergraduates of Translation Studies at the University of Jaffna. A qualitative methodology has been used to identify the problems of undergraduates in translating expressive sentences from English to Tamil.Therefore, a comparative method has been used to compare the pertinence of the translations of undergraduates with the source sentences. Meanwhile, a descriptive method has been used to describe the study. The major findings of the study highlighted that the undergraduates have faced obstacles in finding equivalences of expressive sentences. They have used translation procedures and methods to tackle such obstacles. According to the study, it can be concluded that a translation could have more fidelity and less transparency orvice-versa but, never be at an equally high amount.