Teaching English translation to Indonesian tertiary
students with the support of online resources: A case
study of the development of translation
competencies
Rina Angraini
PhD Student
University of South Australia
August 11, 2012
If you, you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day
If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
Confucius (551-479)
Definition of terms
Translation:
Translation is to reproduce the closest natural meaning of source language information
in target language
Translation competence [Pacte, 2003]
oAutonomous learner:
the ability to take charge of one’s own learning’. To take
charge of one’s own learning means to have, and to hold, the
responsibility for all the decisions concerning all the following
aspects of learning:
1. Defining the contents and progressions;
2. Selecting methods and techniques to be used;
3. Monitoring the procedures of acquisition …;
4. Evaluating what has been acquired
•
Bilingual competence: Grammar, reexpression, problems to deviate from the
source text form.
•
Extra-linguistic competence: general world
knowledge, domain-specific knowledge,
bicultural and encyclopaedic knowledge.
•
Knowledge about translation competence:
guiding the translator through the translation
process from source text reception to target
text production.
•
Instrumental competence: use of all kinds of
documentation sources and new
technologies, knowledge of the work market
(translation briefs, etc.) and how to behave
as a professional translator, especially in
relation to professional ethics.
Strategic Competence: used to solve the
problems found during the translation
process.
Psycho-physiological competence refers to
the ability to use various psychomotor,
cognitive and attitudinal resources to
facilitate, for example, reading, writing,
cognitive functions such as memory,
attention and problem-solving.
•
•
Background of the context:
1. EFL students
2. Teacher approach
Spoon feeding
Limited resources
Dated references
Passive students
Background
For more than a decade now, web-based resources have become an
indispensable tool for both professional translators and student translators,
often replacing more traditional online and offline reference works. Given the
ubiquity of the web, with its ease of access to online data and the apparent
comprehensiveness of the resources it offers, it represents a natural choice for
translators to support their cognitive and knowledge based activity
(cf. Austermühl 2001).
Information Communication Technology (ICT) may contribute to the
development of learner autonomy especially when ICT is taken in the broadest
sense and learner autonomy as a super-ordinate term (Motteram, 1997).
Little has been reported in the literature about the utilisation of online
resources in the teaching of Translation in TESOL to foster learner autonomy
and to improve tertiary EFL students’ translation competence. This research
intends to address this gap specifically in regard to teaching setting in
Indonesia.
Literature review
Translation Competence:
Pacte, 2003
ICT in language learning:
Warschauer, 2000
David Little, 1983
Benson, 2003
Methodology:
Participants
26
students who have enrolled for Translation I in the Polytechnic Andalas University in
2010
Instruments for data collection
(1) a pre-test and
 Specialize text
(2) questionnaire
a post-test
(3)
Interview
(4) classroom observation
Data analysis:
•Use both quantitative and qualitative data analyses.
•Quantitative data analysis:
 quantitative questionnaire survey
•Qualitative data analysis:
 pre test and post test
•Thematic analysis:
 classroom observation
 interviews
Research questions:
In what ways could online resources help
students develop their translation
competence and foster their autonomy in
learning?
◦ What were the difficulties students encountered while working on
translation tasks?
◦ What were the online resources that students used to address their
difficulties?
◦ In what ways could online resources influence the development of
translation competences during the course?
◦ In what ways could online resources foster students’ autonomy in the
translation classroom?
The matrix for summarizing the data generation methods and their corresponding data analyses methods in view of the
research questions they will address:
Research questions
Data source
Tools
1.
What were the difficulties
students encountered
while working on
translation exercises?
2. What were resources that
students used to address
their difficulties?
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
3. In what ways did they use
them? What was their
reasoning?
1.
2.
3.
4) In what ways did they use
online resources? What
were their reasoning?
1.
2.
Learners’ indicators
Data analysis
Weekly questionnaire
surveys.
Post-course questionnaire
survey.
Interviews.
Qualitative.
Quantitative.
Weekly questionnaire
surveys.
Post-course questionnaire
survey.
Interviews.
Qualitative.
Quantitative.
Weekly questionnaire
surveys.
Post-course questionnaire
survey.
Interviews.
Qualitative.
Quantitative.
Post-course questionnaire
survey.
Interviews.
Qualitative.
Quantitative.
Six translation competences proposed by
PACTE (2003)
Benson (2003)
Little (1983)
Six translation competences proposed by
PACTE (2003)
Translation competence
Six translation competences proposed by
PACTE (2003)
Benson (2003)
Little (1983)
Six translation competences proposed by
PACTE (2003)
Benson (2003)
Little (1983)
Six translation competences proposed by
PACTE (2003)
Benson (2003)
Little (1983)
5) In what ways did online
resources influence the
development of translation
competences during the
course?
1. Weekly questionnaire
surveys.
2. Post-course questionnaire
survey.
3. Interviews.
4. Pre and post-test
Qualitative.
Quantitative.
6) In what ways can online
resources foster students’
autonomy in the translation
classroom?
1. Weekly questionnaire
surveys.
2. Post-course questionnaire
survey.
3. Interviews.
4. Classroom observation.
Qualitative.
Quantitative.
Benson (2003)
Little (1983)
Six translation
competences
proposed by PACTE
(2003)
Benson (2003)
Little (1983)
Pre-test result
No.
Error categories
Number of errors
from English Text
to Indonesian
Text
Number of errors
from to Indonesian
Text English Text
1.
verb
367
278
2.
Noun and noun
phrase
168
157
3.
pronoun
47
-
4.
preposition
78
98
5.
article
78
114
6.
Word order
134
166
The total number of errors
872
813
Identification of the reported causes of errors:
•
•
•
•
•
Insufficiency in bilingual competence
 Lack of vocabulary
 Lack of grammar
 Lack of lexical competence
Insufficiency in extra linguistic competence
 Lack of background knowledge
 Lack of cultural knowledge
Insufficiency in knowledge about translation competence
 Difficulties in re-expression
 Difficulties in de-verbalization
 Difficulties in choosing translation method
Insufficiency in instrumental competence
 Limited resources: limited range of dictionary
 unable to maximalised the use of resources which can support their translation work: grammar
correcting tools, translation tools (CAT)
Insufficiency in strategic competence
 deficiencies in four sub-competencies cause students difficult in identifying translation
problems and applying procedures to solve them.
Post-test result
No.
Error categories
Verbs
Number of errors
from English Text to Indonesian
Text
47
noun and noun 36
Number of errors
from to Indonesian Text
English Text
98
34
phrase
pronoun
2
-
preposition
14
23
article
37
45
Word order
28
46
164
246
The total number of errors
•70% solved:
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Lexical
•60%solved
• Background knowledge
• Cultural knowledge
Bilingual
competence
Extralinguistic
competence
Strategic
competence
Instrumental
competence
•50% solved
•Correcting the grammar
•Correcting the spelling
•Word consistency
•Effective work
Knowledge
about
translation
competence
• 55% solved
•Understand the text
•Find the way to solve the
problem
The effect of online resources on the improvement of
translation competence

Students’ impression on the role of online resources in developing
students’ autonomy in learning
Strongly
agree
agree
disagree
Online resources stimulate my interest in learning
translation.
46%
30%
24%
Using online resource materials helps me to learn on
my own.
37%
42%
21%
Using resources of information is a more meaningful
method for my own progress
48%
32%
20%
Using resources of information is relevant to my needs
in this course
68%
24%
8%
When translating a text, it is easier to get information
from online resources than from traditional resources
like books and dictionaries.
Through using online resources, I could have a better control
the time to spend on each translation activity
89%
11%
-
58%
34%
8%
Materials offered in online resources are relevant to
my needs in translation.
46%
42%
12%
Strongly
disagree
 From
the data, it is indicated that
students
improved
their
translation
competence significantly after utilizing
online resources as the aids to help them
overcome their translation problems in
five translation competences . The
findings also showed online resources had
made the learning experience more
interesting, engaging and exciting.
Thank you
Comment and suggestion are most
welcome