Frequent Problems of Translation from English into Spanish in Medical Writing

Abstract

Introduction:In the training process of the dental professionals, the mastering of the English language contributes to their scientific, technical and cultural update as well as to their professional and social performance in any place where this language is spoken.
Objective:To identify the most frequent translation problems from English into Spanish in the medical writing of the fourth-year students of Dentistry in the University of Medical Sciences of Havana.
Material and Method: Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted during the academic year 2014-2015 at the Dental Faculty, University of Medical Sciences of Havana. Thirty dental students of fourth year who studied English as a foreign language participated in the study. Data were collected using a translation exercise.
Results: 60% of the students omitted the definite article and 79% used the gerund incorrectly. The wrong use of the passive voice was 77%; the lack of translation of the abbreviation was 70%; excessive use of possessive adjectives was 40%; the 25% did a wrong translation of idiomatic phrases and 20% of false cognates words.
Conclusions:The most frequent translation problems are: omission of the definite article, incorrect use of the gerund and passive voice, lack of translation of abbreviations, excessive use of possessive adjectives and wrong translation of idiomatic phrases. The identified problems are not new, but unknown to the students; some of them, such as the false cognates, are a challenge for the Spanish speakers who learn English as a foreign language.  

Keywords: Translation problems, English, medical writing, teaching-learning process.