Challenges in Translating Scientific Texts: Problems and Reasons

The demand for scientific and technical translation has increased because of the rapid scientific and technological development in developed countries and the need to spread these sciences and technologies in developing countries. This study aims to investigate the main problems encountered by translators in translating scientific texts from English into Arabic and reveal the main reasons behind these problems. In this study, a qualitative research design is applied, and the sample of this study consists of one scientific text with (938 words) translated by twenty BA students. The study reveals that translators faced lexical and syntactic problems while translating scientific text, such as word diction, preciseness, terminological consistency, word order (markedness), agreement, tense and aspect, and passive structure. Moreover, the study shows that a lack of translators' experience in this domain, students' total dependence on a literal translation, and the lack of awareness of the sensitivity of scientific texts are some of the most important reasons for these problems.