Abstract

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Recent studies done on the translation of "idiomatic/formulaic expressions" have always concerned themselves with the type of strategies used to account for the translation of idiomatic expressions. However, the difficulties which ESL/EFL students encounter in tackling such expressions stem not only from finding the appropriate strategy but also from the complex and culture-specific nature of such expressions which seem to constitute a real challenge to both native and non-native speakers
This paper is two-folds: First, it argues for the proposition that idiomatic /formulaic expressions can potentially represent the 'marked' rather than the 'unmarked' or the 'non-canonical versus canonical ' structures in English or any language and as a result of that such expressions constitute a real challenge to ESL/EFL students. It attributes the difficulties that such expressions pose to ESL/EFL students to the peculiar nature and recurrent structure of such expressions. Second, it provides a sound rationale for ESL/EFL students' adoption of specific translation strategy over other one to account for the translation of such expressions.