The Impact of Coherence Shift on the Acceptance of Translation of the Textbook ‘Principles of Language Learning and Teaching’

Abstract

Coherence shift as strategy in translating the unknown concept on target culture have an impact on various level. The objectives of this study was to figure out (1) the dominant level of coherence shift found in the translation [English – Indonesian] in the textbook ‘Principle of Language Learning and Teaching’ (PLLT); (2) the dominan category changes in coherence shift type and (3) the impact of reader-focused and text-focused coherence shift on the translation acceptance. The researchers used the descriptive-qualitative method with embedded case study. Purposive sampling was used to collect the data. Two types of data were used in the study. First included the translated text exemplifying coherence shift in the form of words, phrases and clauses. The second included affective data from inter-raters-reliability. They were asked to fill the questionnaire following which an in-depth interview was conducted. The results revealed that (1) the dominant coherence shift in Principle of Language Learning and Teaching textbook was reader-focused: 88.84% shifts. The least was text-focused coherence shift: 11.15% shifts. (2) Category of phrases becoming phrases was dominant in both types of coherence shifts. Reader-focused coherence shift had a positive impact on translation acceptability, while text-focused had a negative impact on the translation. It is concluded that reader-focused, with the changes from phrase to phrase, is better strategy to attain better translation of the Principle of Language Learning and Teaching textbook.

Keywords

• Acceptance
• Coherence Shift
• Translation
• Reader-Focused
• Text-Focused