Pendas : Jurnah Ilmiah Pendidikan Dasar
Vol. 10 No. 04 (2025): Volume 10 No. 04 Desember 2025 Published

STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATING NARRATIVE TEXT AT GRADE EIGHTH IN SMP SWASTA CINTA RAKYAT 2 PEMATANGSIANTAR

Ummi Kalsum Siahaan (Universitas HKBP Nommensen Pematangsiantar)
Sanggam Siahaan (Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas HKBP Nommensen Pematangsiantar)
Bloner Sinurat (Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas HKBP Nommensen Pematangsiantar)



Article Info

Publish Date
13 Dec 2025

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the difficulties faced by eighth-grade students at SMP Swasta Cinta Rakyat 2 Pematangsiantar in translating narrative texts from English into Bahasa Indonesia and to identify the strategies they use in the translation process. The study employed a descriptive qualitative method involving 17 students as participants. Data were collected through students’ translation tasks and analyzed based on Nida and Taber’s (1982) theory of translation difficulties and Mona Baker’s (1992) translation strategy framework. The findings reveal that students experienced linguistic difficulties particularly in vocabulary (100%), grammar (100%), and word choice (88.2%) while non-linguistic factors were not identified. Regarding translation strategies, students used six out of eight strategies proposed by Baker: translation by paraphrase using a related word (28.07%), omission (26.32%), paraphrase using an unrelated word (15.79%), more general word (14.04%), more neutral/less expressive word (12.28%), and loan word plus explanation (3.51%). The dominant strategy, translation by paraphrase using a related word, indicates students’ attempts to maintain meaning despite limited vocabulary mastery. The study concludes that insufficient linguistic competence, especially in vocabulary and grammar, remains the main obstacle in students’ translation performance.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

pendas

Publisher

Subject

Other

Description

Pendas : Jurnah Ilmiah Pendidikan Dasar is a journal published twice a year, namely in June and December that aims to be a forum for scientific publications to pour ideas and studies complemented with the results of research related to primary school education. To achieve this, basic education ...