Journal of Humanities and Social Studies
Vol. 4 No. 02 (2026): MAY 2026

EXPLORING EFL WRITING PROFICIENCY THROUGH TRANSLATION OF A SHORT STORY: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS

Achim Napuleon Beis (Universitas Persatuan Guru 1945 Kupang)
Rudolof J. Isu (Universitas Persatuan Guru 1945 Kupang)
Deby Marisa Malelak (Universitas Persatuan Guru 1945 Kupang)



Article Info

Publish Date
15 May 2026

Abstract

This research aims to describe the ability of twelfth-grade students at SMA Penabur Plus Teas in writing English through translating a short story from Indonesian into English. The research question is: How is the ability of twelfth-grade students of SMA Penabur Plus Teas in the academic year 2025/2026 to write in English by translating an Indonesian short story? A descriptive quantitative approach was used. The data consist of students’ translation texts analyzed based on five writing aspects from Jacobs et al. (1981): grammar, vocabulary, mechanics, fluency, and form. The data collection technique used was a translation test. The data source was 23 twelfth-grade students of SMA Penabur Plus Teas. The theories applied are translation theory and writing theory. The research findings indicate that students’ ability in writing through translating a short story is categorized as “Good” with an average score of 73%. A total of 4 students (17.39%) achieved the “Excellent” category, 9 students (39.13%) achieved the “Good” category, 5 students (21.74%) achieved the “Average” category, and 5 students (21.74%) fell into the “Poor” category. Students encountered two main categories of problems: (1) lexical problems (limited vocabulary, difficulty with word meaning and distribution, and literal translation), and (2) syntactical problems (incorrect sentence structure and grammatical errors).

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Journal Info

Abbrev

HJ

Publisher

Subject

Religion Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry Humanities Economics, Econometrics & Finance Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences Other

Description

JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL STUDIES is a journal that uses a double-blind peer review model that can be accessed online. The purpose of HUMAS JOURNAL is to publish a journal containing quality articles that will be able to contribute thoughts from a theoretical and empirical perspective in ...