Investigating Grammatical Errors in Translation

Main Author: Hambali, Muslih
Format: Article PeerReviewed application/msword application/pdf
Terbitan: , 2011
Subjects:
Online Access: http://eprints.unsri.ac.id/314/1/Seminar_Internasional_(CYPRUS).doc
http://eprints.unsri.ac.id/314/2/Seminar_Internasional_(CYPRUS).pdf
http://eprints.unsri.ac.id
http://eprints.unsri.ac.id/314/
Daftar Isi:
  • One of the language aspects required in translating English text is grammar. In addition to word-choice for example, whether or not a product of translation is good can be identified by its grammatical structure of sentences. Wrong or incomplete grammar in writing may sometimes cause readers to get confused in understanding the message. This study aims at investigating grammatical errors made by the students of English Study Program Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sriwijaya University in translating first language into the target language, English. The major types of errors made by the students were related to incomplete clauses having no either subjects, verbs, or neither both, subject verb agreement and the absence of subordinators and plural nouns. Out of the six types of identified grammatical errors, incomplete plural nouns ranked number one followed by the absence of verb, and subject-verb agreement. The highest number of students making mistakes on using plural nouns was 22 (73%), and the lowest one on the absence of subject and verb was 5 (17%). Meanwhile, the highest average number of mistakes was 2.3 on subject-verb agreement type, and the lowest one was 1 on the absence of subject and verb. From the error analysis, it could be generalized that the students were probably influenced by their native language system which does not exist in English. Therefore, differences of the language system especially in grammar should be introduced to the students during translation studies.