Introducing High-Tech Translation at Undergraduate Level to Enhance Students' Language Competence and Awareness

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of introducing teaching of translation at the undergraduate level by the Department of English & Translation, Faculty of Science & Arts, King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia with the aim of exploring and developing aspects of communicative competence and language awareness. The study is applied to 1st year students studying science subjects and humanities. The research hypotheses have been tested against a sample group of 40 respondents out of 160 students. The researchers explored a number of linguistic and non-linguistic, namely socio-cultural factors responsible for the students’ lowering standards of language proficiency. Then an intensive language course to acquire the requisite basic skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking was designed in order to place the students at a reasonable position to init