EXPLORING THE USE OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES BY ESL LEARNERS IN ENGLISH HINDI TRANSLATION

Translation strategies can be both conscious and unconscious methods used to resolve translation challenges. While much research has explored translation strategies in professional contexts, less attention is paid to how ESL learners navigate these challenges. This study investigated the translation strategies employed by ESL students in a Hindi-medium school in Patna, Bihar, when translating sentences between English and Hindi, using Chestermans taxonomy (2002) of translation strategies and think-aloud protocols. The findings indicate that while some strategies are applied appropriately, others reflect comprehension errors or target language deficiencies. The direction of translation significantly impacts strategy use, with fewer strategies employed in Hindi-to-English translation compared to English-to-Hindi. These insights provide directions to teachers of English in identifying difficulties faced by ESL learners in Hindi-medium schools while they translate sentences from and into English, and suggest targeted pedagogical interventions including explicit instruction in translation strategies and contrastive analysis of language structures to improve translation competence.