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TYPES OF PROBLEMATICS THAT AFFECT 
UNDERGRADUATES’ COMPETENCE 

IN TRANSLATING ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS AND 
PHRASAL VERBS 

 

Fahima Mohamed Bannur1*, Dalya Abdullah Akkila2, & Fawzia Mohamed Elwafi3 
1,2,3University of Tripoli, Faculty of Education, department of English, Tripoli, Libya. 

1,3University of Alhadera, department of English, Tripoli, Libya. 
*f_mohb@yahoo.com 

 

ABSTRACT 

This study aims at exploring the Libyan undergraduates’ capability in comprehending English 
collocations and phrasal verbs and translating them into Arabic. It also targets investigating the types 
of obstacles that these students encounter when they translate English collocational expressions. The 
methodology used in this study was based on quantitative and qualitative methods where a 
translation test consists of  two main parts was given to sixty two (62) female undergraduates from 
English department, Faculty of Education, University of Tripoli. In-depth analysis of participants’ 
answers was performed and the results were reported. The study concluded that the participants 
faced difficulties in translating English collocations and phrasal verbs. In addition, the translation 
production reveals that grammatical, lexical, and cultural problems were the main problematic areas 
identified in students’ answers. These problems are related to the influence of LI (Arabic), lack of 
appropriate vocabulary, difficulty in understanding vocabulary use, lack of translation practice, the 
misuse of literal translation and translation teaching methods. However, though the cultural gap 
between  L1 (Arabic) and L2  (English) is huge, it  could be minimized and bridged by using new 
techniques in teaching collocations and translation as well as frequent practice in translation.   

Keywords: English Collocations, English Competence, Phrasal Verbs, Problems, Translation. 

INTRODUCTION 

As collocations and phrasal verbs play a vital role in the translation domain, they need 
to be taken into serious consideration by trainee translators and students.  They also need 
to be well-defined during translation courses as this will affect the quality of the translation 
production itself. Therefore, this study purports to determine the extent to which English 
language major undergraduates can comprehend and translate English collocations and 
phrasal verbs appropriately and identifying the problems that they usually face in 
translating collocations and phrasal verbs.  

It is well known that translation has contributed in the spread and development of 
language cultures. It has also become a focus of recent research as it tries to bridge the gaps 
that exist across languages, particularly cultural and linguistic ones. In general, as stated by 
Ghazala (1995), translation refers to all the procedures and methods adopted to transfer the 
meaning of the source language (SL) into the target language (TL). The process of translating 
texts from English into Arabic involves the use of equivalent terms, new words for which 

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there is no Arabic equivalent, foreign words written in Arabic letters, and foreign words 
modified to fit Arabic pronunciation, spelling, and grammar. In addition, Ghazala (2008), 
states that the main focus in translation is meaning which is a set of linguistic elements that 
includes grammar, vocabulary, style, and phonology. According to him translation difficulty 
refers to any barriers encountered during translation that causes language users to halt and 
seek assistance. Grammar, vocabulary, style, and sounds may be the core of the issue. For 
Arab learners and Libyans among them, the translation of collocations is problematic due to 
the differences between the two languages in terms of grammar, semantics and culture. 
These differences appear as a result of the different origins of the two languages:  Arabic as 
a Semitic language and English as a Western language.   

The word collocation is composed of sections that contain the words “col” (meaning 
“together, with”), “loc” (meaning “to place or put”), “ate” (a verb suffix), and “ion” (a noun 
suffix). Collocations, in other words, are words that are grouped together (Nation, 1990:32). 
Hence, collocation is defined as a common combination of terms in the Oxford Advanced 
Learner's Dictionary (Shammas, 2013:107). Collocation is a type of word pairing that is 
characterized as a set of words that work well together. 

Since the middle of the twentieth century, researchers have begun to focus their 
emphasis on teaching vocabulary, which is seen as more essential than grammatical 
structures (Pawley and Syder, 1983). Wang and Shaw (2008: 103) go on to say that “while 
learning another language, it is obvious that we must acquire both grammatical accuracy and 
idiomatic preference.” Furthermore, teaching vocabulary using memorization and exercises 
in isolation is less effective than teaching words in chunks or context. Collocation, according 
to McCarthy (1990:12), is “an organizing element in the lexicon of every language.” In other 
words, collocations must be taught, especially when the language to be taught is a foreign 
one. In this regard, Lewis (2000:132) defines collocation as “the way in which words co-
occur in natural text”. Further, Richard and Schmidt (2002:.87) define collocation as “the way 
in which words are used together regularly”. Hence, collocation refers to the words used 
frequently together. Yet, Pecina (2009) asserts that “there is no commonly accepted 
definition of collocation.” In reality, collocation is the combination of two words where 
elements are chosen on the basis of meaning.  

In terms of collocation types, different types were categorized. According to Lewis 
(2000) and Ghazala (2008), collocations can be lexical or grammatical.  Lexical collocations 
are collocations that combine two content words, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and 
adverbs. For example: verb- noun, e.g. (run accompany:  شركة يدير ) adjective-noun, e.g. (Warm 
reception: حار استقبال ), noun-noun e.g. (nerve cell: عصبية خلية ), adjective-adjective, e.g. (right 
and proper: حال أحسن في ), Adverb- Adverb, e.g. (willy nilly:  أبى أم شاء ), and Noun-Verb, e.g. 
(doors creak:  واباالب صرير ). Grammatical collocations are types derived from the combination 
of one open class word i.e. noun, verb, adjective and one closed class which is mainly a 
preposition. They can be:  noun – preposition e.g. (a protest against: على احتجاج ), preposition- 
noun, e.g. (in advance: ً سلفا ً أو مقدما ), adjective- preposition, e.g. (fond of: ب مغرم ), verb- 
preposition, e.g. (long for:  إلى يشتاق ), and adverb - adverb collocations, e.g. (wholly and 
heartedly:  ( الكمال و بالتمام ). 

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Collocations are crucial for fluency and the use of them can highlight the difference 
between native speakers and non- native language learners since natives have already learnt 
and profited from such ready-made collocational units, whereas EFL learners tend to convey 
their thoughts using long sentences (McCarthy, 1990).  Hence, learners' lack of 
understanding of collocations prevents them from using the collocational expressions 
properly. Therefore, when teaching English as a foreign language, collocations must be 
emphasized since collocational input improves students' fluency and expands their mental 
vocabulary. Unfortunately, both students and teachers place little attention to collocations, 
making them one of the most difficult areas of vocabulary to master and use (Martynska, 
2004). 

In both translation domain, teaching of vocabulary and use of collocations, it is obvious 
that EFL learners encounter various problematic areas in dealing with collocations. 
Collocational use has hindered learners' ability to express themselves in English. In their 
speaking and writing activities, they have significant difficulties with many sorts of 
collocational patterns. In a study conducted by Sadeghi & Panahifar (2013), they 
demonstrate that different forms of collocations pose difficulties for Iranian EFL students. 
The most problematic categories were prepositional collocations in general and verb 
preposition in particular. This indicates that collocations are hard to be used by EFL learners 
and need specific attention to be taught and practiced in context. 

Zarei (2002) highlights the significance of collocations in achieving native-like English 
proficiency. He observed that prepositional collocations are the most problematic patterns. 
Boonyasaquan (2006) used a translation test to assess the collocational ability of 32 Thai 
EFL students from Bangkok University. The adjective-noun pattern was found to be the most 
difficult to work with. In a comparative study, Wang and Shaw (2008) demonstrate that the 
most common collocational mistakes done by Chinese and Swedish English learners were 
verb- noun collocations with “have, do, take and make” because learners were unfamiliar 
with the real patterns. 

In general, when EFL learners produce a foreign language, they make various mistakes. 
When dealing with collocations, the problem becomes more complicated and numerous 
collocational mistakes are done. Research has shown that English learners use certain 
techniques to learn collocations. Because L2 vocabulary development is usually impacted by 
their native language (L1), the most common approach is language transfer (Swan, 1997). 
Learners may also use the synonymy method, repetition, guessing and overgeneralization. 

Based on this, Doughty and Williams (1998:26) state that learning a new language is 
impacted by the student’s previous linguistic knowledge in a principled, if not direct, 
contrastive way. When a learner's understanding of L1 improves his capability to 
comprehend L2, this impact can be positive. On the contrary, negative transfer indicates that 
the learner's ability to comprehend L2 is affected negatively by his knowledge of L1.  Many 
researchers believe that language transfer is a main cause of mistakes among foreign 
language learners. As a result, mistakes caused by transfer have an impact on phonological, 
syntactic, and semantic elements of language (Corder, 1971). As a matter of fact, learners’ 
native language (L1) influences how they comprehend and utilize collocations (Nisselhauf, 
2003). However, transfer from the learner's L1 results in adequate production when 

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collocations in both languages are identical (Ellis, 2008). In Arabic and English, for example, 
the phrase "in reality" appears to be possible. As a consequence, Arab students will be able 
to transfer this collocation from L1 to English easily, (Mahmud, 2005). In other words, 
aberrant collocational structures arise when collocations in the native language and the 
target language do not match. 

Huang (2001) found that L1 interference in the collocational output of EFL Taiwanese 
learners who were given a sentence completion test was apparent. There were collocational 
patterns created, such as “black horse” for “dark horse.” In reality, when it comes to 
collocational use, it is noticed that students depend heavily on their L1 knowledge (Koya, 
2003). Similarly, Fan (2009) examined the written products of ESL students and native 
students. He concluded that the first group's essays were impacted by their use of L1, 
particularly for collocational patterns. In addition, Sadeghi (2009) found that first language 
interference was also a noticeable factor of the disparity in collocational use between Persian 
and English learners.  

Furthermore, Boonyasaquan (2006) requested a group of Thai students to translate 
some of phrases from their first language to English. In this regard, Ellis (1994: 300) claims 
that where the two collocations in SL and TL were identical, learning could take place easily 
through positive transfer of the native like form.  On the contrary, if the two collocations 
were different, learning difficulty arose, and errors resulting from negative transfer were 
likely to occur. As a result, language transfer may lead to a performance gap in EFL students’ 
collocations production. In other words, it is the main source of students’ collocation 
problems. 

Regarding the misuse of collocations, many researchers reported that synonymy has 
seemed to be as a popular learning technique.  Research has shown that Arab EFL students 
usually depend on substituting a foreign word by its synonym which leads to ungrammatical 
collocation. 

Another important element in translation is the translation of phrasal verbs.   Phrasal 
verb is usually known as a verb which consists of a verb and a particle.  When they combined 
together, they create one meaning. Phrasal verbs have the same properties of English 
language verbs. They are very common and many people use them spontaneously without 
even realizing their meaning. According to Payne (2011), the main distinction between other 
kinds of verbs and phrasal verbs, is that phrasal verbs consist of two or three parts: the verb 
plus a particle or two. Phrasal verbs can occur in different syntactic structures and represent 
various semantic situations. They are in different types; verb-adverb combination e.g. (take 
off, cut out), verb-preposition combination (go with, look after), and verb-adverb-
preposition combination (come up with, put in for). 

Besides, phrasal verbs can be classified in four different types; first, transitive phrasal 
verb such as (look after, carry on, switch on). This type of verbs requires an object to give a 
complete meaningful sentence. Second, intransitive phrasal verb such as (break down, run 
away, grow up). This type of phrasal verbs does not require an object in the sentence to make 
it sound complete. Third, separable phrasal verb; in this type, the verb and preposition can 
be separated. In other words, this phrasal verb can be used as an in-joined form as well as in 
the separated form, for example, (switch off the lights or switch the lights off). Forth, non-

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separable phrasal verb; this type of phrasal verbs cannot be separated for using it in different 
places in the given sentence and the two parts remain together, for example, (stay away, give 
up).  

However, understanding the structure and meaning of phrasal verbs is an important 
part in learning English as a foreign language.  According to Ghazala (1995), phrasal verbs 
are difficult and challenging for Arab learners to be translated from English into Arabic 
because they are misleading and are usually confused with prepositional verbs. For him, 
what makes phrasal verb translation challenging for Arab learners is that they are generally 
unpredicted and unfamiliar to them. As a result, Arab learners and Libyans among them 
struggle when they translate English phrasal verbs into Arabic and they usually avoid using 
them and instead they prefer to use single-word verbs.  

In reality, many phrasal verbs users, both native and non-native, have no idea what 
they mean and they use them naturally.  However, phrasal verbs may have negative impacts 
on language interpretation by combining the meanings of two or three words into a single 
unit with a totally different formula and semantic meaning. Beneatha (2015) investigates the 
role of translation from English into Arabic as a learning strategy that may assist EFL 
students in appropriately understanding and using English phrasal verbs.  The findings of 
the study demonstrated that students recognized the valuable role of phrasal verbs 
expressions in learning English. The study also revealed that translation had a negative 
impact on learning how to use English phrasal verbs. 

Aldahesh (2008) investigates the challenges faced by Arabic professional translators 
and Arabic translation students while translating the idiomatic category of English phrasal 
verbs into Arabic. In his study translating idiomatic English Phrasal verbs into Arabic, 
translation tests were used to determine the kinds of mistakes and translation difficulties 
encountered by the study participants. The findings of the study revealed that there are 
several challenges in translating English phrasal verbs into Arabic, including literal 
translation, mistranslation, idiom reduction to meaning, and violation of the Arabic language, 
along with various errors in translation. 

Saleh (2011) examines the semantic and syntactic issues that prevent students from 
understanding phrasal verbs in English. To achieve this, a test is administered to fourth-year 
English language students at Tikrit University to assess their understanding of phrasal verbs 
and identify any difficulties they may face in recognizing and comprehending their exact 
meaning. The study findings reveal that students encounter many challenges, the most 
common are idiomaticity, i.e. the unexpected nature of phrasal verbs, and transitivity, i.e. the 
word order of phrasal verbs can change depending on the object.  

Thus, it can be concluded that EFL students encounter different challenges in 
understanding, producing and translating collocational expressions and phrasal verbs. 
Collocations and phrasal verbs can be regarded as one of the most complicated area in the 
foreign language learning and teaching domain.   

Based on the previous literature, it can be said that mastering a foreign language (FL) 
needs more than learning a basic understanding of its grammatical and semantic principles. 
Learners must obtain a deep understanding of how native speakers use language in everyday 
natural situations by using variety of prepared forms such as collocations and phrasal verbs. 

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A native speakers’ understanding of their own language allows them to recognize when one 
collocation is logical and when another is not. Unfortunately, Libyan learners’ limited English 
knowledge may not be sufficient to produce the appropriate translation of the collocation. 
Moreover, it is observed that Libyan undergraduates have different difficulties in translation 
where the majority of them encounter challenges in translation especially when they are not 
allowed to use dictionaries during the translation exams.  Many Libyan students deal with 
translation as a complicated task and depend heavily on the literal translation which is 
ineffective in translating collocations and phrasal verbs.  As a result, mistakes in translating 
collocations and phrasal verbs frequently hinder the Libyan learners’ speech and writing 
where collocational expressions need specific understanding and cultural background to be 
translated appropriately.  

Therefore, the following hypothesis is put forward; Libyan undergraduates at the 
English department, Faculty of Education, University of Tripoli may come across various 
types of problems in translating English collocations and phrasal verbs due to different 
factors. Hence, the study seeks to find answers to these two questions; firstly, what kind of 
problematic areas do Libyan undergraduates encounter in translating English collocations 
and phrasal verbs? Secondly, what are the factors that affect students’ collocation translation 
performance? and how students can be assisted to overcome these problems? Accordingly, 
this research aims at exploring the Libyan undergraduates’ capability in understanding 
English collocations and phrasal verbs and translating them into Arabic. It also examines the 
types of problems that these students encounter when they translate collocational 
expressions into Arabic.  

METHODS 

The study adopted quantitative and qualitative methods where the data obtained from 
test results were in quantitative and qualitative form.  It was conducted at the department 
of English, faculty of Education, University of Tripoli. The following table summarizes the 
socio-demographic data of the study participants: 

                    Table 1. Socio-demographic data of the study participants (N=62) 

Variable Response Frequency Percentage 

Faculty Education 62 100% 

Department English  62 100% 

Gender 
Female 62 100% 

Male 0 0% 

Age 20-25 years  62 100% 

Semester 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th 62 100% 

Nationality Libyan 62 100% 

First language (L1) Arabic 62 100% 

 
As it is shown in table (1) above, all participants are Libyan female students aged 

between 20-25 years. Their native language is Arabic. They study translation as a 

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compulsory subject in the English department, faculty of Education, University of Tripoli. 
Students were from fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh semesters. 

To achieve the research objectives and find answers to the research questions, a 
translation test was designed and used as a main tool to collect data. The test was composed 
of two parts. In the first part, students were asked to translate seventeen (17) collocations 
and five (5) phrasal verbs from English into Arabic, while in part two; students were asked 
three open-ended questions to probe their perceptions regarding English collocations and 
phrasal verbs.  The test time was allocated and the test rubrics were reviewed carefully. 
 It was direct, clear and used common collocations and phrasal verbs. It considered 
the test takers’ language abilities and individual differences.  It was administrated to 
students who have studied the translation course and have background about translation. 
Before the test administration, students were given clear instructions about the purpose of 
the test and how they should perform throughout the test items. Students were asked to 
answer the test items without using dictionaries. The test papers were collected and 
corrected by the researchers. Test results were used to answer the research questions and 
to report the final conclusions.  

Data obtained from the test papers were examined, classified and organized manually 
in tables. Each collocation and phrasal verb were organized in a separate table. Students’ 
translation of each collocation and phrasal verb were grouped together to identify the type 
of problem they made about each expression. Then, students’ answers were arranged again 
in tables to be analyzed systematically.  To perform the analysis process, data collected from 
the translation test were finally organized in two main tables (see table, 2 &3 below). Data 
obtained were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Comments are provided below each 
table. It is important to know that explanations provided about each collocation and phrasal 
verbs are supported by samples extracted from students’ incorrect answers in terms of 
grammatical, lexical and cultural problems with many Arabic spelling mistakes. 

RESULTS 

Analyzing students’ translation of English collocations 

This section presents data obtained from students’ answers based on their translation 
of seventeen (17) English collocations. The collocations were simple, common and they have 
equivalents in Arabic. Table (2) displays students’ responses in terms of correct, incorrect, 
and left answers. It also reflects the number and type of mistakes the participants committed. 
Most importantly, comments below the table contains some example that have been taken 
from students’ incorrect answers about each collocation in terms of grammatical, lexical and 
cultural mistakes based on Arabic language. These examples demonstrate the difficulties of 
comprehending and interpreting the collocational expressions.  
  

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Table 2. Analyzing Students’ Answers in Translating English Collocations 

 
Regarding the collocation “Heavy rain”, it seems that this collocation wasn’t difficult for 

most of the participants because it has an equivalent in their L1. The number of correct 
answers was forty eight 48 (77.5%), incorrect answers were eleven (11) (17.7%) and three 
(3) answers were left (4.8%). There were four (4) answers classified as grammatically wrong 
in terms of Arabic grammar where students translated “Heavy rain” as   (أن يجب تجرًي  ,  من وابل
 and eight (8) lexical and cultural mistakes where students translated the collocation (االمطار
literally as ( االمطار من وابًل , , خفيف مطر ثقيل مطًر  ).This indicates that  students couldn’t use the exact 
Arabic equivalent of this collocation. 

For the collocation (snakes hiss), all students translated it incorrectly where fifty five 
(55) answers (88.7%) were incorrect and seven (7) answers (11.3%) were left. None of the 
answers was correct. As it is noticed from the table above students’ answers contained many 
mistakes. These mistakes were grammatical mistakes such as ( , تعابين, سم  مثل يتلوء, أفعى صوت

فتنه, األفعاء ) and lexical and cultural mistakes such as (  مثل يتلوء, أفعى صوت,  سامة أفعى, الثعابين همسة
األفعى حفيف, فتنه, األفعاء ). 

In checking students’ answers in translating  the collocation (commit a mistake), it is 
found that  twenty (20) students ( 33.3%) provided correct meaning of the collocation but 

P
articip

an
t

s 
 

 
Collocation 

Correct Arabic 
Translation 

Participants’ Answers Types of Problems  

Correc
t 

Incor
rect 

Left 
Gramm
atical 

Lexical 
Cultura

l 

 
 
 
 
 
62  

Heavy rain غزيرًةًأمطار  48 11 3 4 8 8 
Snakes hiss األفاعيًفحيح  0 55 7 20 24 32 
Commit a 
mistake 

خطًأًيرتكب  
20 42 0 24 54 54 

Bread and 
butter 

ملحا ًًوًخبزا ً  
10 48 4 8 44 44 

Pay a visit بزيارةًيقومً/يزور  8 47 7 12 30 45 
Have a heart رحيما ًًكن  17 42 3 17 38 39 
Know by heart قلًبًظهرًعنًيحفظ  5 49 8 21 28 47 
In a heartbeat تردًدًدونًبسرعة  0 57 5 30 56 57 
A big cheese ًًوًمسؤولًشخص

 مهًم
0 59 3 42 59 59 

Brain drain ًاألدمغةًهجرة  
 العقول\

1 53 8 43 48 54 

Bright victory باهرًانتصار  46 10 6 7 10 10 
Form and 
content 

المضموًنًوًالشكل  
6 49 7 47 49 49 

Trees rustle الشجًرًحفيًف  5 48 9 35 48 48 
Means and ends الغاياتًوًالوسائل  0 55 7 16 55 55 
Pass a law قانونا ًًيسن  0 58 4 43 55 56 
Raging storm هوجاًءًعاصفة  14 38 10 4 38 36 
Draw a sward سيفا ًًيستل  6 45 11 29 40 43 

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these answers contained  grammatical mistakes where they translated this collocation  as 
( خطأ ارتكب ) in the past instead of ( خطأ يرتكب ) in present, forty two (42) students (70%) 
provided incorrect answers. The incorrect answers contained grammatical mistakes as for 
example, ( اخطاء, أخطاء يصحح, ذنب اقترف ), lexical and cultural mistakes as (  تراكم, الخطأ على علق

الخطأ على علق, أخطاء يصحح, كثيرة أخطاء, األخطاء ). However, there was no left answer. 
As it is shown in table (2) above, concerning the collocation (bread and butter), only 

ten (10) students (16.1%) provided correct answers ( ملحا ً و خبزا ً  and ملح و عيش ), forty eight 
(48) answers (77.4%) were incorrect and four (4) answers (6.5%) were left. Moreover, in 
analyzing the type of students’ mistakes, it is found that eight answers (8) had grammatical 
mistakes such as ( ساهل, ملح العيش ) and forty four (44) lexical and cultural problems as (  و الخبز

جدا ً سهل, سهل و صعب, الزبدة ).  
In investigating the answers related to the collocation (pay a visit),  students’ answers 

showed that only eight (8) answers (12.9%) were correct though some of them were correct 
in meaning but they were ungrammatical where two students provided answers in the past 
بزيارة قام ) ), while forty seven (47) answers (75.8%) were incorrect where students committed 
compound mistakes; i.e. grammatical mistakes as ( الزيارة فرصة, بالصدفة زيارة  ), lexical and 
cultural  mistakes such as ( بسح ألة, زيارة ادفع, الزائر يدفع, طيبة زيارًة ) and seven (7)answers (11.3%) 
were left.  

For the collocation (Have a heart), it is clear that students depended on literal 
translation. Forty two (42) answers (67.7%) were incorrect, seventeen (17) answers 
(27.4%) were correct, and three (3) answers (4.8%) were left. Students’ incorrect answers 
contained various types of mistakes. For example, in terms of grammatical mistakes students 
provided answers such as ( قلبا ً امتلك, ضمير يملك, ضمير لديه ), and lexical and cultural mistakes such 
as ( قلب وجع, االحساس عديم, القلب اتدق, عالي احساس ). 

Regarding the collocation (know by heart), it seems that students found it hard to be 
translated. Only five (5) answers (8.1%) were correct where the participant translated it as 
( قلب ظهر عن ). On the other hand, forty nine (49) answers (79.0%) were incorrect and eight 
answers (12.9%) were left. It is obvious that this collocation was a challenge to all students. 
Different mistakes were pointed; grammatical mistakes such as (  بالقلب تعرف ,قلب ظهر عن عرًف

بعقله ليس و بقلبه يعلم ) as well as lexical and cultural mistakes such as (  يعرف, عالي احساس, دليلي قلبي
بالفطرة يعرفه, القلب بواسطة ). 

For the collocation (in a heartbeat), it was translated incorrectly by all participants. The 
incorrect answers were fifty seven (57) (91.9%) and five (5) answers (8.1%) were left.  The 
translated answers reflected students’ misunderstanding of this collocation where different 
types of mistakes were identified; grammatical such as ( قلبك اعماق من, حياته في, القلب دقات في ,) 
lexical and cultural such as ( القلب نوايا القلب دقات من ,الحساس الهدف, القلب نبضات فًي .) Hence, all answers 
were far away from the real meaning of this collocation. 

It is observed that the collocation (a big cheese) was also hard for all participants. All 
students translated it incorrectly where they depended on literal translation.  Fifty nine (59) 
answers ( 95.2%) were incorrect, three (3) answers (4. 8%) were left. Students provided 
answers with various types of mistakes. These mistakes were classified as grammatical such 

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as ( كبير جبن, األكبر راختيا ) and lexical and cultural mistakes such as (  ابتسامة, كبيرة حصة, عظيمة فرصة
جميل نصيب, كبيرة ).  

The collocation (Brain drain) was also hard to be translated for the participant. Only 
one answer (1.6%) was correct where the participant translated it as ( األدمغة هجرة ). On the 
contrary, fifty three (53) answers (85.5%) were incorrect and eight (8) answers (12.9%) 
were left. The incorrect answers contained three types of mistakes which are grammatical, 
lexical and cultural. Students provided incorrect translation as ( , العقل فقدان, المهجور العقل, جنون

فارغ دماغ , بحكمة تصرف, جاف لعق .) 
It is observed that the collocation (Bright victory) was not that hard for the majority of 

the participants. Forty six (46) answers (74.2%) were correct, ten (10) answers (16.1%) 
were incorrect and six (6) answers (9.7%) were left. Grammatical mistakes such as (  انتصار

العظيم نصر, ساحق النصر, قاضية ), lexical mistakes such as ( , الصاحق النصر المع انتصار ) and cultural 
mistakes such as ( معال انتصار, العظيم نصر, قاضية انتصار ) were detected.  

Regarding the collocation (Form and content), six (6) answers (9.7%) were correct, 
forty nine (49) answers (79.0%) were incorrect and seven (7) answers (11.3%) were left. 
The majority of students understood and translated the word (content) as (محتوى), but as a 
collocation they couldn’t translate it correctly. Grammatical mistakes such as (  و القاعدة

المحتويات, المعنى صيغة, المحتويات ) were noticed, lexical and cultural mistakes such as (  قاعدة, الهيكل
المعنى صيغة, االتصال و شكل, محتوى ) were also detected.  

For the collocation (Trees rustle), only five (5) answers (8%) were translated correctly, 
forty eight (48) answers (77.4%) were translated incorrectly and nine (9) answers (14.5%) 
were left.  This indicates that this item was hard to be translated by students. Different types 
of mistakes were counted. These mistakes are grammatical mistakes such as ( , حفيف األشجار

متفرعة الشجر ), lexical and cultural mistakes such as (  صوت, األشجار جذور, األشجار غبار, العائلة شجرة
األشجار أوراق ). 

Referring to the collocation (Means and ends), it is found that all students were unable 
to translate it correctly. Fifty five (55) answers (88.7%) were incorrect and seven (7) 
answers (11.3%) were left. The provided answers were far from the intended meaning and 
different mistakes were categorized. All the incorrect answers contained grammatical, 
lexical and cultural mistakes where students provided answers such as (  معاني, النهاية في العبرًة

نهايات و معاني, نهايات و بدايات, نهاية و طريق ,النهايات ). 
For the collocation (Pass a law), it is observed that all participants were incompetent 

to translate it. Fifty eight (58) incorrect answers (93.5%) and four (4) answers (6.5%) were 
left. The mistakes were clear and reflected students’ poor understanding the target meaning. 
Their answers contained grammatical mistakes such as ( قانون ذعوا, القانون مخالف, القانون تمرير ) as 
well as lexical and cultural mistakes such as (  يكسر, منخفض تمرير, القانون عن خارج, نونقاال اختراق

القانون تمرير, القانون ). This indicates that students know the word (law) and they do not know 
the meaning of the collocation (pass a law) as one unit. The provided answers showed that 
students depended on guessing more than realizing the exact meaning of this collocation in 
Arabic.   

In examining students’ answers for the collocation (Raging storm), it is clear that this 
item wasn’t difficult to be understood by the majority of participants. It is noticed that two 

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(2) answers ( هوجاء عاصفة ) were correct (3.2%) and another thirty six (36) (58.1%) were 
acceptable because students gave nearer correct translation such as ( , عنيفة عاصفة, قوية عاصفة

شديدة اصفةع ). On the other hand, fourteen (14) answers (22.6%) were incorrect and ten (10) 
answers (16.1%) were left.  Students provided answers that contained grammatical 
mistakes such as ( عاصفة تحتدم ) and lexical mistakes such as ( الشديد الغضب, وهجاء عاصفة ) and 
cultural mistakes as ( غضب ثورة, عنيفة عاصفة, الشديد الغضب ). 

Regarding the final collocation given in the translation test (Draw a sward), it is noticed 
that only six (6) answers (9.7%) were near the correct answer where students translated 
the item as السيف يسحب) ) and no one translated it as ( سيفا ً يستل ).  This indicates that the 
participants have a cultural gap even in their first language (Arabic) where they do not know 
the word (يستل) as well as the Arabic collocation ( سيفا ً يستل ). It seems that even this item was 
difficult were forty five (45) answers (72.6%) were incorrect and eleven (11) answers 
(17.7%) were left. Grammatical mistakes such as ( سيفا رسًم, خطة لرسًم ), lexical and cultural 
mistakes such as ( سيفا ً رسم, سيفا ً ارسم ,سيفا ً يسحب ) were observed.  

Analyzing students’ translation of English phrasal verbs 

This section displays data obtained from students’ answers based on their translation 
of five (5) English phrasal verbs. These phrasal verbs were clear and common.  Table (3) 
displays students’ responses in terms of correct, incorrect, and left answers. It also shows 
the type and number of grammatical, lexical, and cultural, mistakes that were committed by 
the participant. However, students’ answers contained many Arabic spelling mistakes as it 
is shown in the comments below. 

Table 3. Analyzing Students’ Answers in Translating English Phrasal Verbs 

 

Regarding the phrasal verb (Slow down), it seems that it wasn’t hard for the majority 
of students though many of them used the word (يبطئ) in their translation which is not the 
exact meaning of the collocation.  Forty three (43) answers (69.4%) were correct, seventeen 
(17) answers (27.4%) were incorrect and only two (2) answers (3.2%) were left. Though the 
majority of participants figured out the meaning but grammatical mistakes such as (بطء, 

اهدأ ببطء، لألسفل ) as well as lexical and cultural mistakes such as ( بتأني, ببطئ ينزل, أبطا ) were found.  

P
articip

an
ts

 

Phrasal verb 
Correct Arabic 

Translation 

Participants’ answers Type of problem 

Correc
t 

incorre
ct 

Left 
Gram

matica
l 

Lexica
l 

Cultura
l 

 
 
 
6
2 

  

Slow down 17 16 8 2 17 43 تمهل /تأن /السرعة خفف 
Think up 46 46 8 4 46 12 فكرًة كون - اخترع 
Figure out حل-قرر - اكتشف-

 يستنتًج -ستخرجا
7 50 5 9 46 48 

Go on  9 10 4 1 11 50 استمر / تابع 

Come up 
with 

 فكرة يقترًح - ابتكر – أدرك
 حل او خطة او

6 48 8 8 45 48 

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Though the phrasal verb (think up) wasn’t difficult, many students translated it as an 
infinitive verb (يفكر).There were twelve (12) correct answers (19.3), forty six (46) incorrect 
answers (74.2%) and four (4) answers (6.5%) were left. Students did some grammatical 
mistakes such as ( أعتقد,التفكير أرفع ), lexical and cultural mistakes such as ( التنبؤ, خمم, بفكرك ارتقي ). 
These mistakes indicated that students were able to translate the verb (think) but they were 
unable to translate the phrasal verb (think up) as one unit.   

In analyzing students’ answers of the phrasal verb (figure out), it is noticed that this 
phrasal verb was harder than other phrasal verbs included in the test. Only seven (7) 
answers (11.3%) were correct, fifty (50) answers (80.6%) were incorrect and five (5) 
answers (8.1%) were left. Grammatical mistakes such as ( اكتشاف, معرفة, يشير, بتعرف ), lexical and 
cultural mistakes such as ( يتعرف, فكر, مدة ) were detected. 

Considering the phrasal verb (go on), it is observed that this item wasn’t difficult 
because it is a part from students’ language use in class where teachers and lecturers use this 
phrasal verb regularly. Fifty (50) answers (80.7%) were correct, eleven (11) answers 
(17.7%) were incorrect and only one answer (1.6%) was left. However, grammatical 
mistakes such as ( ابتعد, بعيدا ً يذهب ), lexical and cultural mistakes such as ( ابتعد بعيدا ً يذهب, ينفذ, تجاوز ) 
were identified.  

As it can be clearly seen, the phrasal verb (Come up with) was hard to be translated. 
Only six (6) answers (9.7%) were correct. On the other hand, forty eight (48) answers 
(77.4%) were incorrect and eight (8) answers (12.9%) were left. Grammatical mistakes such 
as ( شيء ابعاد, مرافقة, اتفقا ) which are far away from the exact meaning were noticed. Further, 
lexical and cultural mistakes such as ( معه تعال, مع اتفق, مع تعال, مع أنجز ) were also observed. This 
phrasal verb reflected how students depend on the literal meaning and their lexical 
competence is poor.  

Analyzing students’ open- ended questions 

Based on the data extracted from students’ answers from the translation test part two  
which  consists of three open-ended questions, data revealed that students have their views 
about English colocations and phrasal verbs.  Data obtained from the first question in part 
two: Do you think that translation of English collocations and phrasal verbs is a difficult task? 
Why? The majority of students, fifty nine (59) of them, answered with (Yes) and only three 
students said (No). Moreover, to justify their answers, students provided and reported 
different reasons such as, “...many English words have multi meanings and they can’t be 
translated easily and literally”, “English collocations and phrasal verbs are complex because 
they have different and difficult meaning”, “Collocations are difficult because we don’t use 
them in class and we don’t know the real meaning of expressions” and “Collocations need 
practice and experience because they are not easy”. The study participants also claimed that 
they didn’t study English collocations and their use in the vocabulary development subject 
and they don’t have sufficient knowledge and background about English collocations and 
phrasal verbs. Students are aware of the fact that English collocations are related to English 
culture and need to be understood to be translated properly. They reported that 
collocational expressions need special knowledge and must have solid language and culture 
background. 

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Regarding the second question in part two of the test: What kind of problems do you 
usually face when you translate from English into Arabic and translation of English 
collocations and phrasal verbs specifically? Students reported many problems such as, “The 
English word may have a specific meaning but it has different meaning in the collocation 
expression and I cannot use the exact meaning efficiently”, “I face difficulty in finding the real 
meaning of the English words and understanding how native speakers use them in their life”, 
“I have a problem in recognizing and understanding compound words and phrases”.  
Additionally, students also stated that they can’t find the intended meaning of collocations 
easily, they don’t use collocational expressions a lot in their daily life, collocations cannot be 
found in standard dictionaries, collocations and phrasal verbs are unpredictable, it is difficult 
to find the exact  equivalent meaning for some collocations, they find difficulties in 
understanding the meaning of some collocations and phrasal verbs, and  lack of background 
in terms of the real meaning of collocations in a foreign language and other’s culture. 

Concerning the third question in part two: How can Libyan EFL learners overcome 
translation problems that related to collocations and phrasal verbs? Students reported some 
ways to overcome the collocation and phrasal verbs problems for example, “...reading 
different English sources can help in understanding English expressions and culture.”, 
“Focusing on using idioms, collocations and phrasal verbs regularly in class.”, “We need to 
practice how to use dictionaries that explain the meaning of collocations.” Likewise, most of 
the participants insist on “practice” as a key to overcome the translation problems. They 
emphasized the fact that collocations need to be practiced as possible as they can. Students 
reported other solutions as intensive reading, exposure to different types of texts, translating 
stories, magazines and legal contracts. In addition, some students said that collocations 
should be listed and learned by heart to memorize them. They also said that they are in need 
for specialized dictionaries which deal with collocations, phrasal verbs and idioms. Students 
were aware of the importance of collocation use where they emphasized that they should 
use them in their daily life by communicating with foreigners to learn their culture. They also 
highlighted the importance of the role of teachers where they said “instructors should pay 
more attention and give more time for collocations and phrasal verbs use in teaching”. 

DISCUSSION 

Based on the data analysis section, it is clear that Libyan undergraduates who 
participated in this study encounter various problems in understanding the real meaning of 
English collocations and phrasal verbs.  Since the meaning is the target element of the 
translation process and students ignore the meaning and actual use of these collocations, 
they commit various mistakes in their translation outputs of the given collocations and 
phrasal verbs items.  Data obtained to answer the research question what kind of problematic 
areas do Libyan undergraduates at the University of Tripoli encounter in translating English 
collocations and phrasal verbs?, indicates that students encounter different serious problems 
where their answers contained many mistakes. Moreover, many answers were left without 
any translation trials.  This indicates that these expressions were hard for students who 
confronted challenges in translating the provided collocations and phrasal verbs. As 
indicated earlier, these mistakes were classified as grammatical, lexical and cultural which 

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caused incorrect translation production, (see figure 1). In addition, many answers contained 
Arabic spelling mistakes which affected the quality of the translation output. 

 

 

Figure 1. Types of the Participates’ Translation Problems  
 

Data gained from the translation test has shown that the majority of students have poor 
competence in translating English collocations and phrasal verbs. Hence, in inspecting the 
question what are the factors that affect students’ collocation translation performance? and 
how students can be assisted to overcome these problems? It can be stated that there are many 
reasons that affect students’ poor translation competence and performance. These factors 
are due to; first, the misunderstanding of collocational meanings which is mainly affected by 
the huge negative interference and transfer of students’ native language (L1) which is Arabic 
on L2 (English). This matches the study that conducted by Huang (2001), Koya, (2003) and 
Fan (2009), which indicated clearly the L1 interference in collocational production of EFL 
students.  Accordingly, the major reason of Libyan students’ erroneous production of 
language lies in their L1 knowledge and ignorance of collocation meaning and use. Therefore, 
the majority of them translated the collocations literally and others ignored totally the 
equivalents. Second, it is obvious that the main problem in translating collocations and 
phrasal verbs is due to the lack of practice and use of these expressions. Many Libyan 
undergraduates do not know the collocational use because they do not learn and use them 
in their both productive contexts (spoken and written) regularly.  
This results in deficiency in real use of language in general and the use of collocations in 
particular.  

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Hence, Libyan learners cannot achieve the native like competence of language and their 
miss-collocational use still represents a constraint from expressing and using of these 
expressions. Third, it is observed that participants’ instructors neglect teaching collocations 
neither in translation texts nor in vocabulary development courses. It has been noted that 
there was no methodology implemented to teach vocabulary regarding collocations to enrich 
students’ knowledge about word combinations and phrases. However, it is clear that 
translating phrasal verbs was easier than collocations due to two reasons; first, students 
studied phrasal verbs in grammar subject, second: phrasal verbs were easy to be guessed in 
meaning because students know the meaning of the first part (verb). For example they know 
that think means (يفكر) and think up as a phrasal verb can be inferred. Hence, this lack of 
emphasis on teaching collocational use in vocabulary course leads learners to make 
unlimited mistakes in translation because they depend on guessing and literary translation 
to create the meaning instead of using the real target meaning of collocations.  

Furthermore, it is obvious that students’ responses to the test items reflect the misuse 
of cultural expressions not only in English but also in Arabic where students in many answers 
understood the meaning of collocational expressions and provided similar meanings but 
their production had many mistakes in terms of lexical and cultural mistakes due to their 
poor background not only in English but also in the formal Arabic expressions. Though many 
students guessed some words’ meaning but lexical and cultural choice of Arabic words 
caused problems in translation. Students’ answers contained compound mistakes where 
many answers contained grammatical and lexical mistakes or lexical and cultural ones. 
There is a correlation between lexical and cultural mistakes. In other words, students make 
mistakes because of lexical misunderstanding as well as poor cultural background in their 
mother tongue. Collocations such as (snakes hiss and trees rustle) cannot be classified as 
hard collocations to be understood or translated but the problem is that students do not 
recognize the exact meaning of sound in Arabic. This is a huge cultural problem which effects 
the translation production. 

CONCLUSION 

It is apparent that Libyan students encounter challenges in translating English 
collocations and phrasal verbs where they commit enormous language mistakes due to 
various factors and influences. Lack of translation interest, misunderstanding and misuse of 
collocations can be regarded as a core cause of translation problems among Libyan students’ 
which affects their translation competence and performance.  The majority of Libyan 
students depend on guessing and the use of literal translation which affects negatively their 
cognitive translation capability. Additionally, there is a clear cultural gap in both English and 
Arabic because even when students got the meaning of collocation they couldn’t provide the 
correct expression in their mother tongue. Consequently, the problematic areas refer not 
only to their incapability in translation and understanding of English collocational 
expressions, but also to their poor performance in choosing the Arabic words where many 
test answers contained mistakes in Arabic grammar and spelling. There is an urgent need to 
find solutions that will assist students to improve their language use ability.  

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It seems that when students got the meaning of the collocation, they can give the 
equivalent in their mother tongue which emphasizes the important role of culture in 
translation. When expressions are bounded to culture, this will facilitate the translation 
process. The majority of students' cultural background and experience in translation are 
poor and require more attention and follow-up. There is a huge gap in understanding and 
applying of   the translation methods and techniques where many students used the literal 
translation method. Some of them even left some collocations unanswered, and this indicates 
their incapability to translate these collocations. 

Furthermore, translation teaching methodology affected students’ performance where 
they reported that they are still in need for using dictionaries in translation. Many Libyan 
EFL instructors and teachers neglect teaching collocations as a part of translation and 
vocabulary courses and they allow their students to use dictionaries in the translation tasks. 
Therefore, students find difficulties in translating collocational expressions since they have 
specific meaning and they cannot be found in standard dictionaries. Thus, students are in 
need to know the meaning and how to use collocational expressions by recognition and 
memorization of them within a context.  

To conclude, Libyan students find the translation of collocations and phrasal verbs a 
hard task and in fact, their ignorance of real meaning and use of collocational expressions 
hinders them from achieving the translation product competently. 

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Collocations and phrasal verbs are important parts in vocabulary and translation 
subjects.  Learning how to use them efficiently helps in enhancing students’ language 
knowledge, cognitive ability and use. Thus, some suggestions may be provided:  

Libyan instructors, researchers and language curriculum designers in higher education 
need to pay more attention to collocations for the sake of diminishing collocational errors 
among Libyan EFL learners and enhancing collocational and vocabulary learning and use. 
Due to the complexity of translating collocations and phrasal verbs, lecturers and teachers 
should facilitate the teaching of translating phrasal verbs and collocations. They need to 
come up with some new ideas and techniques to teach collocations, phrasal verbs and other 
idiomatic expressions properly. Learners' awareness and cognitive ability should be 
developed and activated by practicing translation of word combination, idioms and 
phraseological units. Thus, posters, videos, films, spoken dialogues novels, stories, 
advertisements, news, cards, drawings, transcriptions and peripheral learning drawings that 
are well designed  need to be presented with an emphasis on new vocabularies, phrases, 
clauses and sentences that  emphasize the language use (chunk or context) rather than  
words or forms or sentences in isolation. Therefore, collocation expressions and phrasal 
verbs will become part from students’ vocabulary knowledge and use.  

Cognitive ability and memory are important elements in the field of translation; hence, 
students should be encouraged to read different texts and literary works where they will 
meet different collocational expressions and phrasal verbs that are used in real written or 
spoken contexts by native speakers. More importantly, learners need to be taught at early 
stages how to be creative and teachers and instructors ought to search for different idiomatic 

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and collocational expressions to make them as a part of their students’ knowledge and 
culture.   

Finally, translation and Arabization should be emphasized among Libyan learners 
because of their importance in enhancing language teaching and learning. When students 
practice translation and Arabization, they will meet different texts and their competence in 
comparing between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) will be enriched and then 
the translation process will become easier and more enjoyable. Thus, further research can 
be conducted to enhance areas of translation teaching and learning to enhance the use of 
cultural bound expressions and to help students to overcome the misuse of collocational and 
idiomatic expressions. 

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http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689
http://u.lipi.go.id/1593190689

