شیوا صدیقی

In light of the fact that L2 pronunciation errors are often caused by the transfer of well-established L1 sound systems, this paper examines some of the outstanding phonological differences between Persian and English. Comparing segmental and supra-segmental aspects of both languages, this study also discusses several problematic areas of pronunciation facing Iranian learners of English. To reach such a goal, thirty EFL learners were randomly selected from three levels of beginning, intermediate, and advanced students enrolled for the Fall term in 2008 in one of the private institutes in Shiraz. Their pronunciations of a list of 40 words and 8 sentences were analyzed through read-aloud task followed by an interview. The words have been recorded though a computer-based files adjusted for voice. The result of the data analysis indicated that our EFL learners at three levels confront considerable problems in areas that are absent in their mother tongue or converged into one item which is technically termed as coalescence. In order to compensate for the difficulties encountered by our EFL learners, we as teachers should integrate pronunciation teaching in our classroom syllabi so that they will become conscious of the differences in the sound system of the two languages. In this way, the Persian learners of English will be helped to become proficient speakers of English with rare or no residue of foreign accent in the pronunciation of target words, phrases, or sentences, thereby leading to more intelligibility of their utterances.

This study aimed to explore the perception of translation educators about the need of teaching translation theories to undergraduate students of translation studies. BA Translation courses at Iranian Universities are generally practice–based. So, they lack meaningful teaching of translation theories and concepts. To this end, the researcher selected 62 translation teachers from seven universities of Iran based on their major and the study’s purpose. This study followed a quantitative design. The participants filled out an online questionnaire sent to them by email. The researcher designed the questionnaire based on the related literature review. The reliability of items was checked with Cronbach's Alpha. The result was 0.849, which shows the high consistency of questionnaire items. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was checked by two experts in the field. The questionnaire contained two main parts. One part included ten items on the implications of translation theories. The other part was designed for any general comments the professionals would like to add about each item. The findings indicated that most translator trainers have a generally positive attitude toward teaching translation theories. This study can be of great use for translators, those who work in the field, those who teach it, and those who study it.

In order for a classical foreign-language drama to be performed in the target country, a suitable translation is required so that the audiences understand the physical version of the play. This research indicates that the translation of a drama on pages differs from the translation of that drama on stage. This study was conducted to examine the differences between the translation on page and stage of Macbeth, the result of which can help improve the quality of the translation on the stage of a play. In this study, the researcher compares the translated text of Macbeth's play with its translation on stage. This comparison is based on Kowzans' (1968) framework that introduced 13 theatrical systems with 5 subcategories namely; Spoken Text, Body Expression, Stage Appearance, External Appearance of Actor(s), and Inarticulate Sound. The frequency of each of the categories was calculated and it was found that the spoken text category has the largest number of differences between the translation on pages and stage by 42% percent since the spoken text deals with the translated text more than other categories. The results of this study will be beneficial for strengthening the actor's relationship with the text, and translators' quality of translation.