Purpose of the study Research Questions

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1.2. Purpose of the study

The general purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of university librarians in preserving the meaning of an original English text when it is translated into Indonesian. The methods used and the difficulties encountered during the process of translating are other interesting issues to investigate. Process and product are of the main concern of the study incorporating both the theories approached namely the equivalence-based and the skopos or scopos theories. The present study is to identify and describe the experience of comparing and transmitting two different systems of English and Indonesian languages and their cultures simultaneously, and the impact it has on the readers. This linguistic activity of translating – communicating thoughts with writers of articles – brings with it some consequences. When providing the users with the information they need, these subject librarians have to give access to various sources of information – one form of which is Indonesian translated work of articles on a specific discipline. Although these professionals have some similarity in terms of their background, the translations they produce may differ from one another Nababan, 2007:213. The communication which may result in accuracy, clarity and naturalness CAN in the form of translated texts is worth discussing. This ACN is one essential element since the prospective readership should find the written translation useful and eventually benefit from it.

1.3. Research Questions

Components of translating abilities Sofer, 1996; Bell, 1999 will be used to explore the produced translations House, 1997. Discussions that follow will include: 1 observing the 5 efforts the librarians made to transfer written expressions found in the ST as an independent entity; 2 describing the procedures and methods employed in coping with the untranslatability on the part of the text; 3 identifying how the methods work to achieve equivalences – cultural risk-free reproduction in the TT; 4 categorizing the difficulties when producing the translations; and 5 describing the overall performance of the librarians in translating through the informants’ profiles – communicative competence, and the impact on the target readers’ part. To meet the research goals outlined above, the following questions have guided the inquiry: 1. How closely did the librarians preserve the meaning and quality of the ST? 2. Which translation methods were used to achieve relative equivalences? 3. What difficulties did the librarians encounter in translating the text? Research Question 1 focuses on three main features of acceptableness namely accuracy, clarity and naturalness. It also deals with translatability, untranslatability and the effects of adding or removing without distorting the message transmitted on the readership. Research Question 2 focuses on equivalence theory and how it is achieved as compared with the skopos theory . Research Question 3 deals with identifying difficulties when attempts to produce flawless translations take place: readability on the target reader’s part, reasonableness, and acceptableness. Impact on the audience will discuss the acceptableness and reasonableness on the target readers’ part: the expectation of the readers to understand and eventually benefit from the translations. 6

1.4. Significance of the Study