THE ROLE OF LITERAL TRANSLATION IN COMMUNICATION STRATEGY BY EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

Mastering English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is inherently complex, particularly when learners are tasked with producing spontaneous oral discourse. Deficits in lexical storage, inadequate grammatical internalization, and the acute cognitive pressures of real-time interaction frequently obstruct the seamless articulation of thoughts. To cope these linguistic barriers, EFL learners instinctively deploy an array of communication strategies. Among these, literal translation, the direct, structural, and lexical mapping of the first language (L1) into the second language (L2) stands out as one of the most common yet heavily criticized phenomena. Historically dismissed as an interlingual error rooted in negative language transfer, the strategic use of literal translation in spoken interaction remains underexplored. This research investigates the degree of literal translation functions not merely as a linguistic deficiency, but as a purposeful compensatory mechanism. Utilizing a descriptive qualitative methodology, the study observed EFL learners engaging in communicative tasks to elaborate the cognitive rationales driving their linguistic choices. The findings indicate that literal translation fulfills several vital communicative roles, including sustaining conversational momentum, bridging vocabulary gaps, articulating culturally specific L1 nuances, buying cognitive processing time, and preventing total communicative collapse. Although the resulting utterances frequently diverge from native-speaker idiomatic norms, the data reveals a substantial degree of pragmatic success, especially in group where interlocutors share a common L1.