Enhancing English–Arabic translator education through systemic functional linguistics: a study in a Saudi undergraduate classroom

Purpose This study aims to explore the effectiveness of Halliday’s (2014) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) for translator education. It aims to enhance translation education research by following an interdisciplinary approach where SFL is used as a translation pedagogical tool. Design/methodology/approach The sample of the study ( n = 66) comprised translation students at King Saud University. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with control and experimental groups was used. The intervention activities encompassed analyses of texts at three levels: the register level (field, tenor and mode), the semantic level (ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions) and the lexico-grammar level (transitivity, mood and modality, and theme). For triangulation purposes, the participants’ perceptions were collected through a questionnaire. The instructor’s observations were collected using a reflective journal. Following Creswell and Creswell (2018), a convergent mixed methods approach was employed (qualitative analysis for the reflective journal, and quantitative analysis for the tests and questionnaire). Findings The results provide empirical insights about how SFL is beneficial for translator education. It assists students by reducing errors in meaning transfer or strategic errors. Research limitations/implications Further studies can investigate SFL in other translation fields since every field has its specific features. Practical implications This paper includes practical implications for facilitating SFL for translation education. It provides detailed instructional material on how to implement SFL in every lesson for a translation course. Originality/value This paper fulfils the need to support English–Arabic translator education by finding an objective tool to analyze the source text and justify translation choices.