International Journal of Social Science Studies Vol. 3, No. 6; November 2015 ISSN 2324-8033 E-ISSN 2324-8041 Published by Redfame Publishing URL: http://ijsss.redfame.com 167 The Perceptions of EFL Jordanian University Instructors of the Process of Teaching/Learning the Translation of Idioms Amal Alrishan 1 1 Assistant Professor in TEFL, Department of English, AlBuraimi University College, AlBuraimi, Oman Correspondence: Amal Alrishan, Department of English, AlBuraimi University College, Oman Received: April 27, 2015 Accepted: May 11, 2015 Available online: October 26, 2015 doi:10.11114/ijsss.v3i6.1170 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v3i6.1170 Abstract The study aimed at investigating the perceptions of EFL Jordanian University instructors of the process of teaching/learning the translation of idioms. The participants of the study were six M.A translation instructors at the University of Jordan and Yarmouk University who were selected purposefully. The total number of the instructors was 6. The instrument of the study was an interview with the translation instructors. The instructors indicated that teaching students how to translate idioms is not an easy task, especially when talking about opaque or peculiar idioms. Thus, some of them ask students to give the literal translation of the idiom if it conveys the meaning. Based on the findings of the current study, the researcher presented some recommendations and pedagogical implications. Keywords: EFL translation instructors, perceptions, teaching idioms. 1. Introduction It is noticed that idioms are used frequently in everyday situations and therefore need to be addressed by teachers. Therefore, idiom comprehension requires learners to go beyond a simple word-by-word comprehension strategy and to integrate figurative meaning. Idioms are very common in both written and spoken language. Lundblom and Woods (2012, p.203) write that idioms “appear in conversation, print (magazines and newspapers), and media (movies, radio, and television)”. Cooper (1998,p.255) claims that “when idioms occur on TV-shows, for example, in order to even understand the plot, the viewer often needs to be able to comprehend the idiom in question. Furthermore, idioms are the most frequently encountered in discourse”. Since idioms are part of the language system, students should learn them in order to be fluent in the target language. Burke (1998, p.1) claims that there is “absolutely no way a nonnative speaker of English could fully understand an American movie, TV show, news broadcast, or even a typical conversation without help because our language is loaded with nonstandard English, i.e., slang and idioms”. He explains that if nonnative speakers do not understand idioms, they will never be able to completely integrate and, instead, they will always be outsiders. Cooper (1998, p.259) believes that “sooner or later, imprecise idiomatic usage will cause difficulties even for a student with an excellent knowledge of grammar and a high level of vocabulary attainment”. Thus, the fact that students most definitely will encounter idiomatic expressions on a daily basis (whether in a country where the native language is English, or just through TV shows and movies) is definitely a main reason as to why their idiom awareness needs to be developed during their language learning. Cooper (1998, p 255) states that “idiom acquisition research has uncovered a number of findings that have pedagogical implication for idiom instruction”. He mentions three competing hypotheses regarding how idioms are processed and these are developed into a systematic plan for teaching idioms in the classroom. 1. The literal first hypothesis which consists of two modes: one that processes the literal meaning and one that processes the figurative meaning of an idiom. The former is normally the active one while the latter comes into play when the literal meaning does not fit into the speech context. 2. The simultaneous processing hypothesis claims that idioms are stored and retrieved in the mental lexicon as chunks. Literal and figurative meaning interact and the interpretation that best fits the context is sorted out. 3. The direct access modelmakes use of the figurative meaning of an idiom. This proposes that a literal analysis of an