Analyse d’erreurs en traduction des étudiants : étude de cas à University of Education, Winneba au Ghana

This article examines translation errors made by students of French as a foreign language in a public a Ghanaian University. In this study, we discussed translation errors in exam papers, as well as many critical reflections and questions that may have arisen from these errors. Exam papers from 100 third year students were used and sorted according to the degree of errors made. Those with captivating errors were targeted and the responses were analysed using exploratory research approach. The research has highlighted various errors as follows: misinterpretation, misleading, omissions, etc. These different errors are put into perspectives in terms of the level of comprehension and language competencies showcased in the responses. The analysis showed that these errors are mainly due to negative transfers and lexical interference with the spelling similarities between English and French words (false friends) and demonstration of inappropriate language use. In conclusion, language students need to be made aware of the fact that translation is not an automatic means of communication, but rather a systematic way of making sense in another language.

Keywords: error, translation, misinterpretation, misleading, omission