d bing 049712 chapter1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction

This study is concerned with investigating an Indonesian university librarians’ ability of translating journal article from English into Indonesian. These librarians assume the responsibility of translating as one of their daily activities. This qualitative case study research involves 10 selected librarians working at Indonesia University of Education. Since translating is problematic and involves intercultural spirit (Whitfield, 2007: 27)), translations produced by these librarians are worth discussing. Part of the reason is that the librarians are responsible for catering library users to various kinds of newest information including acceptable translations. Library users including faculty members and students should find the translations readable and useful. Readability here would refer to translations easy to understand on the target readers’ part. This study attempts to answer questions related to translating as the process, and translation as the product. Empirical evidence from recent research (Baorong, 2009:11; Nababan, 2003: 55; 2007:213-215; Watson, 2004; Listyo, 2007) indicates that translating is a difficult task to accomplish.

The present study investigates a university librarians’ ability in translating a selected text of English journal article on Psychology into Indonesian. Specifically, it seeks information about translations produced by the librarians, methods used, difficulties encountered, and impact the translations have on the target readers. As will be described in detail, data collected are inferred

to accommodate meanings. In translating the given text, these librarians attempt to produce near flawless translations: accurate, clear and natural (hereafter ACN). They tend to be faithful to the source text (hereafter ST) and emphasize more on the source language (hereafter SL) than to the target language (hereafter TL). They seem to find it difficult to compare and transmit two different systems of language and culture simultaneously (Balasko, 2006:59; Suh, 2006:17). This phenomenon gives room for an investigation. Analysis on their work in translating is based on four types of translation errors – pragmatic translation errors, cultural translation errors, linguistic translation errors, text-specific translation errors (Nord, 1997:75-76), the criteria of translating ability (Bell, 1999:27), and the ability (Sofer, 1996) they are supposed to acquire. Two theories of translation, namely equivalence-based and skopos are applied in the discussion. The first theory deals with faithfulness while the later deals with purpose in the TL. One particular ability, adjusting, seems to play a greater role in applying the technique of coping with the wide range of purposes which translations might serve (Hatim and Munday, 2004: 43).

As will be discussed later, translations produced by the university librarians show some inaccuracy, unintelligibility and unnaturalness. Part of the reason is that the librarians tend to apply semantic translation method more than communicative translation method. This phenomenon results in somewhat less flawless translation. As professionals, they are supposed to be responsible for catering all kinds of library users to various reliable sources of information (Seefeldt and Syre, 2003; Scepanski, 2007). Many of these sources are scholarly journal articles written in English. Meanwhile, not all library users in Indonesia can understand English well (Nababan, 2003:147-148). Drawn from this fact, the role of librarians in translating to cater the

translations produced have to fulfill the readership community’s needs. This is also in line with the Government of Indonesia’s policy that translating is mandatory for university librarians (Perpusnas RI – Indonesia National Library, 2004). Each article translated is worth 3.5 credit points. These credit points are accumulated for the librarians’ promotion to a higher rank towards their career development. As a linguistic activity, translating actually provides the librarians with an opportunity to communicate thoughts with the writers of journal articles: replacing textual material in the SL by equivalent textual material in the TL.

In translating the given text, these librarians apply procedures and methods in a way that risks flawed translations. A model of translation process should be in the hands of the translators when performing their translating ability: analysis, transfer, and restructuring (Hatim and Mason, 2004: 160). As translators, they are also supposed to call for individuals who have complete knowledge of both texts: the source text and the target text (hereafter TT, and throughout the accounts, these ST and TT are established). They should have intimate acquaintance with subject matter, effective empathy with the original author and content, and stylistic facility in the TL (Nida, 1964). The librarians’ ability in translating English into Indonesian is important to be discussed. This importance has led the researcher’s interest to investigate what happens during the process of translating, what methods are used, how acceptable are the produced translations to the target readers, and what impact the translations have on the readership. Among the issues to address in the present study include reading and writing abilities, reasonableness on the part of the target readers, and linguistic as well as cultural differences between the two languages under investigation.

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

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.

1.4. Significance of the Study

This study is significant in that it can contribute to the literatures of translating and translation. The results of the study will eventually provide some evidence of phenomenon which in turn would inspire an academic community of the university librarians to intensify the activity of translating a journal article with some flawlessness. Theoretically, the study may contribute to a concept of encouraging potential librarians working at an academic library as one crucial human resource: identification of translating ability leading to a linguistic new paradigm of translating, especially, written expressions. From a practical point of view, the results of the study can provide information on the practice of translating, change the thinking patterns of the professionals under discussion, enhance a higher motivation, and broaden their horizons by involving themselves in a more meaningful effort to produce near-flawless translations. The audience to cater – the library users: faculty members, students, researchers – will perceive some potential value of this study to at least lessen the possibility of questioning the legitimacy of the translations produced by the librarians, and be aware of translation flaws while at the same time making use of the work.

At least an attempt to reveal a phenomenon worth-developing has been initiated. Two theories of translation, namely Equivalence-based theory and the Skopos theory are put forward. Both theories have their own strengths and weaknesses as will be identified in Chapter Four. To researchers, this case study can contribute to further studies on the same topic in a recursive mode (Preissle, 1994), that is, being able to be used again with different subjects and with probably better parameters, more logical in sense, and broader in scope.

1.5. Assumptions

The researcher of the present study believes that assumptions are statements of which truth can be accepted to be the underlying concept or reference in the process of conducting research. For that reason, some assumptions are outlined below.

1. Translation is problematic. This phenomenon is conformed by the results of a study by Baorong (2009:2), Listyo (2007), and Nababan (2003:55; 2007:213) that pragmatic, cultural and text-specific translation errors are often due to the translators’ poor awareness of the purpose of the TT. Linguistic errors are generally attributable to the translators’ inadequate language competence representing deviation from standard target language paradigms and usages (Nord, 1997:75). Consequently, the meaning and the quality of the produced translation are to be investigated.

2. There is no such thing as a perfect or flawless translation (Newmark, 1988:188-190). In this regard, Reiss (2000) suggests that a TT of a pragmatic text should transmit the full conceptual content of an ST and produce the intended response in the target reader. While a perfect translation does not exist, some relative equivalence should be acceptable regardless of the methods and strategies applied. There is no absolute translation (Alwasilah, 1991: 9-25).

3. Translating is, for many translators, cumbersome (Kaur, 2006:24). Based on the researcher’s observation in the research site, it was obvious that most librarians found translating a difficult work. Translating a text from one language to another is a difficult task (Listyo, 2007). In one way or another, linguistic and semantic analyses (Nababan, 2003) were insufficiently involved when translating. In the practice of translating, the librarians might experience many difficulties especially when it came to providing the readers with near flawless translations. This phenomenon might bring with it some impact on their audience – the target readers: faculty members, students, and researchers. Two consequences are therefore possible: being accepted and being rejected.

1.6. Clarification of Terms

To minimize possible confusion, the recurring terms are defined to refer to their specific meanings as follows.

Translation refers to a message transferred from an ST to a TL. It deals with two different cultures at the same time with equivalence as the central issue. Equivalence is a procedure which replicates the same situation as in the original, whilst using completely different wording (Vinay and Darbelnet in Leonardi, 2000). It is established at a text level (Hatim and Mason, 1994), and is achieved either through equivalence-based theory or skopos theory. It is used here with the provision that although equivalence can be obtained to some extent, it is influenced by a variety of linguistic and cultural factors and is always relative.

Librarians refers to professionals for the transfer of all types of stored information and for dealing with the important raw material ‘knowledge’ through processing books and non-books materials. Their tasks of collecting, managing, indexing and cataloging, and acting as intermediary for books and other media make them professional partners in the media and information fields. Already today, and definitely much more in the future, they are navigators in the data networks; they make electronic information accessible and ensure its quality and relevance (Seefeldt & Syre, 2003). University subject librarians, especially, assume the responsibility for establishing academic collaboration with faculty members by among others providing access to information in the form of Indonesian translated work on a specific discipline.

Translating ability refers to understandings of words, phrases, and sentences in their complexities, by which the ability and its components are reflected through the translations produced. Demands on the translators’ part include the ability to grasp all the complexities (Schaffner, 2000:217) including, according to Nababan (2003:80), the roles the translators play (reading the ST, translating the ST, writing the ST in the TT, and reading in the TT). These roles involve skills exercised and a degree of competency as reflected by the quality of the translations. Other than ability, terms like skill and competence might be possible to be used interchangeably.

Journal refers to one kind of library collections written in English as an intellectual capital. The journal article in the field of Psychology ( Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. Vol. 14 No.2, 2003 ) used in this study is scholarly in class and relatively recent in issues (See Appendix 2)

Text refers to the words of something written (Johns, 1997). There are distinctions between texts (“discourse without context”) and discourse (“text plus context”) (Connor, 1996). In this study, text and discourse are used interchangeably, referring always to what is written. The text, as defined here, is the focus of attention for the informants (i.e. the ‘translators’, the librarians) because it is the basic unit that carries meaning. The text chosen is the whole article of a journal. Translating the text, rather than translating languages, refers to the translator’s inside view that cuts through the formal differences and deals directly with the meaning of a text to be translated. The foreign words found in the text are transformed into concepts, and these concepts become

the basis for the translators in producing essentially the same meanings in another language (Nida, 2001).

1.7. Organization of the Study

The report of the study was developed in the following sections or chapters: Chapter Two will discuss a review of related literature covering the areas of translating and translation, with emphasis on the equivalence-based and the skopos theories; Chapter Three deals with a discussion of the design and procedure used in the study, with qualitative approach; Chapter Four will discuss a report of the data collected and analyzed, with findings as the main topic of discussion; and Chapter Five will present a summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research.

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.

1.4. Significance of the Study

This study is significant in that it can contribute to the literatures of translating and translation. The results of the study will eventually provide some evidence of phenomenon which in turn would inspire an academic community of the university librarians to intensify the activity of translating a journal article with some flawlessness. Theoretically, the study may contribute to a concept of encouraging potential librarians working at an academic library as one crucial human resource: identification of translating ability leading to a linguistic new paradigm of translating, especially, written expressions. From a practical point of view, the results of the study can provide information on the practice of translating, change the thinking patterns of the professionals under discussion, enhance a higher motivation, and broaden their horizons by involving themselves in a more meaningful effort to produce near-flawless translations. The audience to cater – the library users: faculty members, students, researchers – will perceive some potential value of this study to at least lessen the possibility of questioning the legitimacy of the translations produced by the librarians, and be aware of translation flaws while at the same time making use of the work.

At least an attempt to reveal a phenomenon worth-developing has been initiated. Two theories of translation, namely Equivalence-based theory and the Skopos theory are put forward. Both theories have their own strengths and weaknesses as will be identified in Chapter Four. To researchers, this case study can contribute to further studies on the same topic in a recursive mode (Preissle, 1994), that is, being able to be used again with different subjects and with probably better parameters, more logical in sense, and broader in scope.

1.5. Assumptions

The researcher of the present study believes that assumptions are statements of which truth can be accepted to be the underlying concept or reference in the process of conducting research. For that reason, some assumptions are outlined below.

1. Translation is problematic. This phenomenon is conformed by the results of a study by Baorong (2009:2), Listyo (2007), and Nababan (2003:55; 2007:213) that pragmatic, cultural and text-specific translation errors are often due to the translators’ poor awareness of the purpose of the TT. Linguistic errors are generally attributable to the translators’ inadequate language competence representing deviation from standard target language paradigms and usages (Nord, 1997:75). Consequently, the meaning and the quality of the produced translation are to be investigated.

2. There is no such thing as a perfect or flawless translation (Newmark, 1988:188-190). In this regard, Reiss (2000) suggests that a TT of a pragmatic text should transmit the full conceptual content of an ST and produce the intended response in the target reader. While a perfect translation does not exist, some relative equivalence should be acceptable regardless of the methods and strategies applied. There is no absolute translation (Alwasilah, 1991: 9-25).

3. Translating is, for many translators, cumbersome (Kaur, 2006:24). Based on the researcher’s observation in the research site, it was obvious that most librarians found translating a difficult work. Translating a text from one language to another is a difficult task (Listyo, 2007). In one way or another, linguistic and semantic analyses (Nababan, 2003) were insufficiently involved when translating. In the practice of translating, the librarians might experience many difficulties especially when it came to providing the readers with near flawless translations. This phenomenon might bring with it some impact on their audience – the target readers: faculty members, students, and researchers. Two consequences are therefore possible: being accepted and being rejected.

1.6. Clarification of Terms

To minimize possible confusion, the recurring terms are defined to refer to their specific meanings as follows.

Translation refers to a message transferred from an ST to a TL. It deals with two different cultures at the same time with equivalence as the central issue. Equivalence is a procedure which replicates the same situation as in the original, whilst using completely different wording (Vinay and Darbelnet in Leonardi, 2000). It is established at a text level (Hatim and Mason, 1994), and is achieved either through equivalence-based theory or skopos theory. It is used here with the provision that although equivalence can be obtained to some extent, it is influenced by a variety of linguistic and cultural factors and is always relative.

Librarians refers to professionals for the transfer of all types of stored information and for dealing with the important raw material ‘knowledge’ through processing books and non-books materials. Their tasks of collecting, managing, indexing and cataloging, and acting as intermediary for books and other media make them professional partners in the media and information fields. Already today, and definitely much more in the future, they are navigators in the data networks; they make electronic information accessible and ensure its quality and relevance (Seefeldt & Syre, 2003). University subject librarians, especially, assume the responsibility for establishing academic collaboration with faculty members by among others providing access to information in the form of Indonesian translated work on a specific discipline.

Translating ability refers to understandings of words, phrases, and sentences in their complexities, by which the ability and its components are reflected through the translations produced. Demands on the translators’ part include the ability to grasp all the complexities (Schaffner, 2000:217) including, according to Nababan (2003:80), the roles the translators play (reading the ST, translating the ST, writing the ST in the TT, and reading in the TT). These roles involve skills exercised and a degree of competency as reflected by the quality of the translations. Other than ability, terms like skill and competence might be possible to be used interchangeably.

Journal refers to one kind of library collections written in English as an intellectual capital. The journal article in the field of Psychology ( Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. Vol. 14 No.2, 2003 ) used in this study is scholarly in class and relatively recent in issues (See Appendix 2)

Text refers to the words of something written (Johns, 1997). There are distinctions between texts (“discourse without context”) and discourse (“text plus context”) (Connor, 1996). In this study, text and discourse are used interchangeably, referring always to what is written. The text, as defined here, is the focus of attention for the informants (i.e. the ‘translators’, the librarians) because it is the basic unit that carries meaning. The text chosen is the whole article of a journal. Translating the text, rather than translating languages, refers to the translator’s inside view that cuts through the formal differences and deals directly with the meaning of a text to be translated. The foreign words found in the text are transformed into concepts, and these concepts become

the basis for the translators in producing essentially the same meanings in another language (Nida, 2001).

1.7. Organization of the Study

The report of the study was developed in the following sections or chapters: Chapter Two will discuss a review of related literature covering the areas of translating and translation, with emphasis on the equivalence-based and the skopos theories; Chapter Three deals with a discussion of the design and procedure used in the study, with qualitative approach; Chapter Four will discuss a report of the data collected and analyzed, with findings as the main topic of discussion; and Chapter Five will present a summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations for further research.