Investigating Ethnolinguistic Theory across Language Communities

Abstract

In 1990, Prof. M. A. Sa'Adeddin proposed his ethnolinguistic theory whose aim is to reach a viable theory that can account for the various cultural barriers of translation across language communities. With a very practical interest in teaching students how to understand meaning of a given text before going on to translate it, this researcher analysed some texts in the light of the ethnolinguistic theory. It is almost taken for granted that for one to know the individual words of a sentence, so to speak, does not guarantee a full understanding of the sentence and eventually of the text. Problems related to the reading phase in the translating process can be ascribed to failure on the part of the translator or trainee to account for such areas as addresser-addressee, norm of interpretation, intertextuality and text acts. What is striking, though, is the fact the concept of 'equivalence' itself seems to need reformulation in the light of Sa'Adeddin's ethnolinguistic theory, which depends mainly on shifting focus from the text to the translator who will play the role of the comparative agent. The Ethnolinguistic Theory of Sa'Adeddin has yet to be tested. To test the theory, the researcher chose the most culture-bound text that defied all students of English at the English department at an Arab university, namely Isra University. The ethnolingusitic theory was then applied. Relevant analysis and discussion in this paper has proved the validity of this theory with the recommendation of using it in teaching translation and in translating.