“THE NEGATIVE TRANSFER OF INDONESIAN GRAMMATICAL ASPECTS ON THE INDONESIAN-ENGLISH TRANSLATION WORK BY THE FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH PROGRAM OF FKIP UNTAN IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2007/2008”
II. RESEACH BACKGROUND
Many experts believe that in acquiring a second language, a learner is really influenced by his/her first language. Learners generally bring their pervious competence of language in performing the second language (L2). The clearest support for this belief is the finding of "foreign" accents in the second language speech of the learners as cited in Ellis (1985: 19). When a Frenchman speaks English, his English sounds French. In addition, when a Malay person speaks Indonesian, the Indonesian sound is also influenced by Malay accents. In translation, the students also often use the knowledge of their first language in constructing the second language. For example, when they want to translate Indonesian into English, they often use the rule of Indonesian language in writing the English language. When the rule is the same, the Indonesian rule will support them in writing the correct English sentences, but if the rule is different, the Indonesian rule will cause the interference or negative effects toward the English language.
What is negative transfer from one language to the other language? Negative transfer or Interference occurs when the L1 or the mother tongue of the learner disturbs the process of the L2 or target language Acquiring. It is because the differences of the L1 and L2 the greater the difference between L1 and L2, the more the difficulty and the more numerous errors will be. The L1 learners' L1 does not only influence the pronunciation, but also affects the other language aspects, such as the lexical and the grammatical aspects of the L2.
The interferences also often happen to the students of English program of FKIP Untan. When they want to translate an Indonesian sentence into English, they often use the rule of Indonesian language in writing the English sentence even though they have learned English Grammar. The example of the interference such as: they write "My father think of me every day" to translate “ayah ku memikirkan ku setiap hari” or " they look at the two girl" in translating “mereka melihat pada dua orang gadis itu”, or even the more complicated ones such as: " we put all the equipments on the beach" to translate “kami meletakkan semua peralatan itu dipantai”, " I live in Jalan A. Yani number 6", for translating “saya tinggal di jalan A. Yani nomor 6” or "neither I or My father watched the film last night" to translate “tidak saya ataupun ayah saya menonton film tadi malam”.
At the first sentence, that is "My father think of me every day" the mistake is about the agreement between the subject and the verb. In the second sentence that is "they look at the two girl", the error is about the insertion of –s. In the third sentence "we put all the equipments on the beach”. the error classification is the insertion of the plural marker –s because equipment is an uncountable noun and does not require the plural marker –s In the second sentence “I live in Jalan A. Yani number 6", the error is about the choosing of the correct preposition. And in the last sentence, "neither I or My father watched the film last night" the error here is about the conjunction, it should be "neither I nor My father watched the film last night".
In Indonesian grammatical aspects, we will not find the insertion of –s in the verb if the subject is the third singular, or the insertion of –s in noun if the noun is plural. In using preposition that shows an address, whether it is a complete address or just the name of the street, Indonesian uses only one form that is –di, but English uses on and at. Those all differences between Indonesian grammatical aspects and the English grammatical aspects are able to affect the students in translating their first language (Indonesia) into English (as their L2). The examples above imply that where there are differences between the L1 and L2, the learner’s L1 knowledge will interfere with the L2, and where the L1 and L2 are similar, the L1 will actively aid the L2 learning.
The process that is responsible for this called language transfer. When the previous item is correctly applied to present subject matter in L2, the process is known as positive transfer, and the transfer is considered negative (interference) when the previous performance disturbs the performance of the second language. In this case, the first language gets in the way or interferes with the learning of the second language.
Previously there were a number of researchers attempting to discover the correctness of the belief above, whether the first language really affects the performance of the second language, and how significant the first language interferes with the second language. In Indonesia, especially in Pontianak, Isnardi (1999), Nining Ismayani (2004), Fransafer (2005), and Syarifah Nurhaya (2007) had conducted the previous researches that focused on the interference.
In his research, Isnardi (1999) investigated the interference of the student’s first language, Indonesian lexicon with their second language lexicon in writing. Meanwhile Nining Ismayani (2004) focused on interference of the mother language (Malay) on the pronunciation of the target language (English). Fransafer (2005) chose to focus on Hakka speaking students in transferring the Hakka sentences into English (the grammatical aspects). And then Syarifah Nurhaya focused on the negative transfer (grammatical aspects) of The L1 (Indonesian) with the L2 (English) in paragraph writing.
However, none of the researchers investigated the interference of the Indonesian Grammatical Aspects on the Indonesian-English translation work. In this study, the Indonesian – English translation work is the English paragraph(s) as the result of the Indonesian – English translation process of the students. Where, later on the paragraph(s) will be analyzed sentence by sentence. The researcher chooses the grammar because it has important role in learning language. People will have difficulty understanding the foreign language especially with the ungrammatical structure. In this study, the researcher chooses the student’s Indonesian-English translation work in written form.
The investigation of the main of Indonesian grammatical aspects which transfer the negative effects on the target Language (English) on Indonesian-English translation work is very important both for the teachers and the students especially in translation class.
Firstly for the teacher, after knowing the negative transfer of Indonesian grammatical aspects, he / she could focus on the grammatical aspects that often transfer the negative effects when the students translate Indonesian sentences into English. Also, after knowing the main Indonesian grammatical aspects which interfere with the English grammatical aspects on the students’ Indonesian-English translation work, the teacher will be easier to apply certain strategies or ways in teaching translation in order to prevent the error which the students make as the negative effects of the Indonesian grammatical aspects. Furthermore, the teacher will be able to prepare a more systematical material when they teach translation, therefore, the students’ mistakes are able to be minimized.
Secondly, for the students of translation class, after knowing the main Indonesian grammatical aspects that interfere with the English grammatical aspects when they translate Indonesian text into English, they will be able to be more careful and give more attention to those grammatical aspects; therefore the mistake can be minimized.
The researcher is interested in analyzing the grammatical aspects as the focus of this research because he wants to prove the hypothesis about the main grammatical aspects of Indonesian that transfer the negative effect when the students translate an Indonesian text into English. It is based on Ellis (1985:7) who explains that the grammatical rule differences between Indonesian (as the first language of Indonesian people) and English (as the foreign on target language) will affect the acquisition of the target language process. Some researcher had proved it, but, the writer wants to find the main Indonesian grammatical aspects that interfere with the English grammatical aspects on the students’ Indonesian – English translation work by the fourth semester students of English Program of FKIP Untan in the academic year 2007/2008 especially the students who take Translation class.
III. RESEARCH PROBLEM
The problem of this research is
"What are the main Indonesian grammatical aspects which transfer the negative effects on the Indonesian-English translation work by the fourth semester students of English program of FKIP Untan in the academic year 2007/2008?
IV. RESEARCH PURPOSE
The purpose of this research is to investigate the main Indonesian grammatical aspects which transfer the negative effects on the Indonesian-English translation work by the fourth semester students of English program of FKIP Untan in the academic year 2007/2008
VI. SCOPE OF RESEARCH
In conducting the research, the scope of the problem is stated in order to acquire the clarity of the research as well as to avoid ambiguity and misinterpretation. The scope of this research consists of the rule of using part of speech except the Interjection. Greenbaum (1996: 88) explained that word classes (or parts of speech) are either open or closed. Open classes are by far the largest because they readily admit new words. The open classes are noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. The closed classes are auxiliary, conjunction, preposition, determiner, pronoun, numeral, and interjection. Furthermore, Faidlal (2007: 2) resumed those parts of speech into eight parts of speech namely: noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. He explained that auxiliary belongs to verb, and both determiner and numeral belong to adjective. So, the scope of this research consists of the rule of using noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, adverb, preposition, and conjunction.
1. Research Variable
Sudjana and Kusumah (1992:9) defined variable as the characteristics of an object which are able to be measured, and the values or the result can be assumed fluctuate. Variable can also be defined as the logical grouping of each attribute. In this research the researcher used a single variable that is the negative transfer of Indonesian grammatical aspects to the English grammatical aspects (L2) such as the rule of using noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, adverb, preposition, and conjunction.
a. Second language acquisition is the subconscious or conscious process by which a language other than the mother tongue is learnt in a natural or a tutored setting and accepted lingua franca used for education, government, or business within the country.
b. Negative transfer is the interference of one’s first language on the target language.
c. Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language.
d. Indonesian – English translation work is the English text as the result of the translating process from Indonesian.
e. L1 (Mother tongue). Dardjowidjojo (2005: 241) defined L1 or mother tongue as the first language that one learns as a child. A number of Indonesian people take Indonesian as their mother tongues and most as their second languages.
f. Foreign language is a non-native language in one’s own culture with immediate and widespread opportunities to use the language within the environment of one’s own culture.
g. Indonesian grammatical aspects are a number of grammatical rules of Indonesian pattern as the previous language that influence the performance of the English language.
VII. METHOD OF RESEARCH
Silverman (2000: 79) defined “methodology defines how one will go about studying a phenomenon . . . and method of research is a specific research technique”.
1. Form of Research
In line with the purpose of the research that is to describe the main Indonesian grammatical aspects which transfer the negative effects on the Indonesian-English translation work by the fourth semester students of FKIP Untan in the academic year 2007/2008, descriptive method is considered as the most appropriate method to be applied. According to Ary et al (1982: 415), descriptive research aims at describing and interpreting the situation which exists now. It is designed to get information about the status of an indication when the research is being conducted. It is directed to decide the characteristic of a situation while the experiment is being conducted.
2. Population and Sample
According to Sukadji (2000: 24) population is the group in which the researcher is able to generalize the result of the research. In this study, the population is the whole fourth semester students of English Program of FKIP Untan who take Translation class in the academic year of 2007/2008.
Wiersma (1986: 263) defined a sample as a subset of the population to which the researcher intends to generalize the result.
3. Technique and Tools of Data Collecting
a. Technique of data collecting
Nawawi (2001: 94) states that in research, it can be distinguished into six techniques which can be applied in collecting the data, namely direct observation technique, indirect observation technique, direct communication technique, indirect communication technique, measurement technique, and documentary study technique. The technique that is appropriate to be applied to this research is documentary study technique.
b. Tools of data Collecting
The tool of data collecting in this research is the students’ Indonesian English Translation work (as the document). Nasution (1996: 85) explained that documents consist of the personal writing and formal documents. In this study the researcher chooses the students’ formal document that is the students’ Indonesian-English translation work as their final assignment in translation class. Moreover in using documentary study technique, the best tool of data collecting which can be used is the document of students’ Indonesian – English translation work by the fourth semester students of English program of FKIP Untan in the academic year of 2007/2008.
4. Technique of Data Analysis
Considering the problem of this research, contrastive analysis and the error analysis are collaborated here to describe the negative transfer of Indonesian grammatical aspect on the Indonesian-English translation work. In general, there are three main steps to analyze students’ Indonesian – English translation work.
1. Comparing it with the Right form
After collecting the students’ Indonesian-English translation work, the researcher identifies the sentences that contain the mistakes and errors by comparing them to the right form. The mistakes and errors are underlined / highlighted words/phrase/clauses. The researcher uses caret ^ to indicate omission (if any) also.
2. Classifying the Errors
Afterward, the sentences that consist of errors are compared to the English correct form separately. Then the classification of errors type is conducted. The classification of error type is narrowed down to the use of the following terms:
a. Omission error
b. Addition Errors
c. Malformation Errors
d. Disordering Errors
The investigation will be put into table as below:
The error analysis
Identification Of Error Definition of error type Classification of Error Type
Ex. We have two car. Noun Omission
To count the total errors of the data easily, the researcher makes a table as below:
The Error Categories
No Stud. Code Category of Error Total
Pronoun Adj. Noun Con. Adv. Verb Prep Other
1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Finding the negative transfer
The next step is identifying whether the errors are caused by the negative transfer of Indonesian grammatical aspects or not. The sentences that contain the error will be checked to discover whether it is affected by the Indonesian grammatical rule or not. To make the counting of the negative transfer of the data easily, the researcher makes the table below. When the negative transfer has been collected into the table, the dominant error will be known.
The Negative Transfer Categories
No Stud. Code Category Of Negative Transfer Total
Pronoun Adj. Noun Con. Adv. Verb Prep Other
1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
After collecting the data, the researcher counts the data into percentage. In this research the formula which is used to measure the percentage of the negative transfer of Indonesian grammatical aspects with the English grammatical aspects as follows:
NI x 100
NI = total of negative transfer
NE= Total of Errors
To know the proportion of the negative transfer which causes errors in the Indonesian – English translation work, the researcher measures it by using the formula below:
XI x 100
XI = number of negative transfer
NI = total of negative transfer
Then, the negative transfer score of Indonesian -English translation work is categorized into following criteria:
80% - 100% : very high frequency of negative transfer
60% - 79% : high frequency of negative transfer
50 – 59% : middle frequency of negative transfer
26% - 49% : low frequency of negative transfer
0, 01% - 25% : very low frequency of negative transfer
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THE NEGATIVE TRANSFER OF INDONESIAN GRAMMATICAL ASPECTS
ON THE INDONESIAN – ENGLISH TRANSLATION WORK
BY THE FOURTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH PROGRAM
OF FKIP UNTAN IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2007/2008
Yanti Sri Rezeki, S.Pd., M.Ed. WALS
NIP. 132302462 THE CHAIRPERSON OF ENGLISH PROGRAM
Sumarni, S. Pd., M. TESOL
THE HEAD OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION DEPARTEMENT
Bukan Pelit Nilai
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