An Analysis of English Language Department Students’ Translation Quality and Error in Translating Scientific Article (SDGs) From Indonesian into English

Authors

  • Muhammad Wira Rizki Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia
  • Havid Ardi Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Sumatera Barat, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i1.10703

Keywords:

Translation quality, Translation Error, SDGs

Abstract

Translating global sustainability discourses like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires highly precise scientific communication, yet research on how student translators navigate such specialized texts remains limited. This study aims to analyze the translation errors and quality of English majors in translating SDGs texts from Indonesian into English. Utilizing a descriptive qualitative design, this research involved 17 second-semester English literature students at Universitas Negeri Padang selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected via a translation test and analyzed using Dulay’s Surface Strategy Taxonomy alongside a percentage formula. The results revealed 120 structural and lexical errors: 15 omissions (12.5%), 52 additions (43.3%), 51 misinformations (42.5%), and 2 misorderings (1.7%). Despite the prominence of addition and misinformation errors, the students' overall translation quality is categorized as good. These findings suggest that while undergraduate students demonstrate stable syntactic positioning, explicit pedagogical interventions are required to curb over-generalization and lexical inaccuracy in policy-oriented translations.

References

Abdah, R., Chandra, N. E., & Al-Arief, Y. (2022). Problems In Translating Indonesian News Article Into English For English Language Education Students Batch 2017. Lingua Educatia Journal, 4(1), 35–48. https://jtam.ulm.ac.id/index.php/gej/article/view/2497

Amalia, N., & Yunus, M. (2024). An Error Analysis in Translating English Narrative Text into Indonesian Through Google Translate Application. Journal of English Language Teaching Development, 3(2), 256–264. http:/jurnal.fs.umi.ac.id

Anderman, E. M., & Murdock, T. B. (2007). Psychology of Academic Cheating. Elsevier.

Balqis, N., Rahwani, S., Matondang, N. A., Lubis, Y., & Kunci, K. (2025). Common Mistakes in Translating Indonesia-English. Invention: Journal Research and Education Studies, 6(2), 375–388. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.51178/invention.v6i2.2548

Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford University Press.

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Pearson Education.

Crystal, D. (2008). Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (6th ed.). Blackwell.

Dulay, H., Burt, M., & Krashen, S. (1982). Language Two. Oxford University Press.

Ellis, R. (2003). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.

Fadaee, E. (2011). Translation Techniques of Figures of Speech: A Case Study of George Orwell’s “1984” and “Animal Farm.” Journal of English and Literature, 2(8), 16–24.

Fitria, T. N. (2015). Translation Technique of English to Indonesian Subtitle in “Doraemon: Stand By Me” Movie. Register Journal, 8(2), 145–159.

Furwana, D., Muin, F. R., Zainuddin, A. A., & Mulyani, A. G. (2024). Unlocking the Potential: Exploring the Impact of Online Assessment in English Language Teaching. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 12(1), 653-662.

Hambali, R. (2025). Analysis on Student’s Grammatical Errors In Translating at SMAN 2 Bangkinang Kota. Culture Education and Technology Research (Cetera), 2(1), 100–111. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31004/ctr.v1i4.102

Hartati, Z., Kardena, A., Sakti, G., & Syahrul, S. (2023). An Error Analysis of Students’ Translation from Indonesian into English Text at the 6th Semester Students of English Education Study Program in UIN Sjech M. Djamil Djambek Bukittingi. ARZUSIN, 3(3), 341–357. https://doi.org/10.58578/arzusin.v3i3.1135

Herdiany, G. Y. (2021). Translation Quality Differences Between Students and Online Machine Translation. JURNAL PENERJEMAHAN, 8(2), 71–81. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.64571/ojp.v8i2.77

House, J. (2015). Translation Quality Assessment: Past and Present. Routledge.

Husnaini, H. (2022). Development of Self Esteem-Oriented Micro Teaching Materials for IAIN Palopo English Education Students. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 10(1), 538-560.

Jones, P., Hillier, D., & Comfort, D. (2015). The Sustainable Development Goals and the Apparel Industry. International Journal of Sales, Retailing & Marketing, 4(6), 13–20.

Krisetyawati, B. F. (2016). An Error Analysis on the Translation of English Noun Phrases into Indonesian of the Fifth Semester Students of the English Department of Teacher and Education Faculty 2015.

Larson, M. L. (1984). Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence. University Press of America.

Millah, A. (2019). An Error Analysis on the Use of Simple Past Tense in Students’ Recount Text Writing.

Muchtar, M., & Waty, F. R. (2016). Basic Theory of Translation. Penerbit Mitra.

Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Pearson Education.

Rosyana, N., Baihaqi, Y., & Prasasti, I. H. (2022). An Analysis of Students’ Problems In Translating Report Text From English Into Indonesian. International Journal of Social Health, 1(1), 8–13. https://doi.org/DOI:10.58860/ijsh.v1i1.2

Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Durand-Delacre, D., & Tekuoğlu, K. (2016). SDG Index and Dashboards - Global Report. Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

Samsiasih, E. (2017). Error Analysis on the Students Writing of Descriptive Text.

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2017). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Sitepu, J. B., Abdulloh, A., & Sarsono, S. (2021). An Error Analysis on Students’ Translation: A case Study at College Students In West Jakarta. Journal of English Language and Literature (JELL), 6(2), 21–30. https://doi.org/10.37110/jell.v6i2.132

Sugiyono. (2021). Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R&D. Alfabeta.

United Nations. (2015). Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UN Publishing.

Volkova, T. (2014). Translation Model, Translation Analysis, Translation Strategy: An Integrated Methodology. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 7(6), 950–961.

Windari, M., & Al Hafizh, M. (2021). Error Analysis on Students’ Translation News Item Text from English to Indonesia. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Languages and Arts (ICLA 2021), 128–133. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Wirentake. (2022). An Analysis of Students’ Error In Translating Indonesian Sentences Into English. NUSRA: Jurnal Penelitian Dan Ilmu Pendidikan, 3(1), 121–130. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55681/jige.v2i2.115

Yusuf, A. M. (2017). Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif & Penelitian Gabungan. Kencana.

Downloads

Published

2026-06-30

Citation Check