43 7 (1) (2022) 43-48 International Journal of Active Learning http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/ijal Translation Techniques of Culture Specific Items Found in “Of Mice and Men” Novel and Their Impact on Readability Martinda Intan Permatahati*, Abdurrachman Faridi, Mursid Saleh Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia Article Info ____________________ Keywords: translation, translation techniques, readability, CSI _________________________ Abstract ___________________________________________________________________ The main activity of translation is transferring meaning from source language into target language. The strategy is used to translate will affect to the readability level. Cultural gaps between SL and TL have always turned to be a problem that is difficult to solve in translation. This article aims at finding the translation techniques that are applied in translating culture specific items (CSI) and explaining the readability level of translated novel in Of Mice and Men, entitled Tikus dan Manusia by Ariyantri E. Tarman. This research is descriptive qualitative. Data collection was done manually from the novel. Experts’ judgment will provide comments to maintain the validity of the data. Questionnaire helps to score the readability of the text. The theory of CSI proposed by Newmark (1998), the translation techniques by Davies (2003), The Automated Readability Index (ARI) Formula to find the match age in readability process, and Readability Rating Instrument by Nababan (2009) . This research finding shows that the translator tended to use translation techniques oriented to target language (TL). Thus, the priority of the translation work is it should be read by the ideal target readers. From the result, it can the technique used can get high level of readability for college graduate readers. p-ISSN 2528-505X e-ISSN 2615-6377 International Journal of Active Learning 7 (1) (2022) 44 INTRODUCTION In translation study, translation of Culture-Specific Items (CSI) becomes problems for translators. The translator should be aware of the beliefs, attitudes, values, and rules of the source culture (SL), to understand them and to adequately translate them in the target culture (TL). The focus of this research is translation of culture of specific items, the concept of culture will be considered from the linguistic point of view. Newmark stated that culture is "the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression" (Newmark 1998: 94). To find the best equivalent for culture specific items (CSI) in translation is, thus, one of the main concerns and the hardest part for each translator. Based on Karamian’s journal stated that “translators must be both bilingual and bicultural, if not indeed multicultural” (Karamanian, 2002). It can be concluded that translator’s duty is not only to make the text readable, but also deliver the culture. It is obvious since the hardest part in translation is to find right equivalents for words with cultural implications. Besides bilingual and bicultural, translators should know the appropriate techniques to comprehend culture-specific items. A translator should be able to find some possibilities that include the diversities of translation strategies which can solve the problem of translating CSI. Molina and Albir (2002: 507- 8) distinguish translation methods, techniques, and strategies due to their essential differences. The aim of this study is to find out the translation technique applied by the translator in translating the culture specific items in Of Mice and Men which is translated into Tikus dan Manusia using Davies’ theory (2003). The elaboration of those techniques is preservation, addition, omission, globalization, localization, transformation, and creation. In literary works, the meaning of the culture-specific items is related to the culture- specific context, these items are difficult to understand by the readers. In a fiction novel, the CSI from cultures may confront, and then a certain misunderstanding of the meaning can occur due to the difference in cultures. This phenomenon emerges a clash between cultures because a reader with his or her own cultural identity reads the book from a different perspective. It is important for the translators must consider not only the two languages but also the two cultures, since there are some concepts in the SL, which do not have lexical equivalents in the TL. Finding the best equivalents for the culture-specific items in the translation becomes one of the main concerns for the translators. A readable product of translation is one of the main goals in translating. To sum up, readability is how well a text for its reader, whether it’s easy to be understood, interesting, enjoyable, can be read or not. The automated readability index (ARI) is a readability test design to assess the understandability of a text. ARI is derived from ratios representing word difficulty and sentence difficulty. The score gives an indication of how difficult the page is to read. Each score can be matched to an equivalent reading ability level. The Automated Readability Index outputs a number that approximates the age needed to understand the text. After getting the estimated age to understand the text, the researcher then used an instrument from Nababan (2009) to test the readability according to the age level that had been obtained from The ARI formula. Of Mice and Men is published in 1937 The language in “Of Mice and Men” is childlike in nature and shows education level of citizens during the great depression. There are lots of non-standard English found in the novel. This is the reason why the researcher is interested on doing research related to translation technique used in translating Of Mice and Men and analyzing the translation techniques that the translator used in translating the novel. METHOD This study was designed as qualitative research. The researcher described the data based on the existing theory. To get the data, the researcher had identified and analyzed the data from the Of International Journal of Active Learning 7 (1) (2022) 45 Mice and Men Novel for finding the culture specific items category proposed by Newmark categorization and fill them into the data sheet. After classifying the CSI, the researcher analyzed the translation techniques that were used in translating the novel. To keep the validity of the data, the researcher used expert judgement. Two experts gave comments to the data. Table 1. Sample Table of Data Collection After tabulating the culture-specific items and translation techniques data and got the revision from expert judgment, the researcher used the ARI formula to define the age match in readability process. The ARI formula was provided free of charge in https://readabilityformulas.com/automated-readability-index.php. Then the researcher gave a questionnaire to three readers according to age to measure the level of readability of this novel. The level of readability was measured by using The Readability Rating Instrument proposed by Nababan (2009). Table 2. Sample of Questionnaire Page Number English Novel Translation Novel Readability High Readability (3) Medium Readability (2) Low Readability (1) 1 Of Mice and Men Tikus dan Manusia V RESULT AND DISCUSSION The Culture Specific Items in Of Mice and Men After identifying and analyzing the data, the researcher found 423 Culture specific items in Of Mice and men. Those culture specific – items were divided into 5 categories based on Newmark’s categorization. Those are: ecology, material culture, social culture, organization, gesture, and habits. Table 3. Culture-specific items Category Total Percentage Ecology 124 29,3% Material Culture 178 42,1% Social Culture 56 13,2% Organizations 36 8,5% Gestures and Habits 29 6,9% English Novel Translation Novel CSI item Translation Technique Revision of comment Comments Category Item in Category the narrow pool penggalan sungai yang dangkal Ecology plains localization high degree pool is a small and rather deep body of usually fresh water (Merriam Webster) International Journal of Active Learning 7 (1) (2022) 46 Based on the research results, the highest frequency was from material culture with 178 out of 423 (42.1%). In comparison, the lowest frequency was from gestures and habits with 29 out of 423 (6.9%). The category of CSI divided into several sub-category, for example on material culture category. The first sub-category in material culture was food. Food was the most sensitive terms since there were many terms for a kind of dish. As an example, from Bahasa Indonesia, “Odading” has different name or terms in different area. It was called “Bolang-Baling” in Semarang, Central Java, “Galundeng” in Yogyakarta, “Kue Bantal” in Jakarta, “Roti Goreng” in Surabaya, West Java, “Oliebollen” in Netherland and many different names. In this study, it was found 17 food sub- categories out of 178 material culture categories. For example; ST : The one that his old lady used to make hot cakes for the kids TT : yang ibunya sering bikin panekuk buat anak-anaknya Translation Techniques in Translating the Culture – Specific Items They were seven techniques based on Davies’s theory used in this novel, they were preservation, addition, omission, globalization, localization, transformation, and creation. All of the techniques were found in the novel. Based on the result, the highest techniques used in the novel was localization (70,32%) and the lowest was omission (0,23%). One of the examples was; ST : he’s handy TT : - On the example above, the translator did not translate the word ‘handy’ which was categorized as gesture in CSI. Omission technique appeared when a problematic CSI was left out in the translation, so the readers had no idea of CSIs existence. Next, localization was done by replacing the CSIs of the SL with TL reference which was equivalent in meaning to the source culture reference. Localization was a technique that was widely used in the translation of Of Mice and Men novel. There were 308 or 70.48% CSIs translated using this technique. The elaborations of some examples were as follow; Datum number 12; ST : sycamores TT : pohon ara The sycamores were kind of Pohon ara in Indonesia. In the bible, sycamore tree translated into sukamorea. For Indonesian people, this word was unfamiliar in the target language and culture. In KBBI (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia), pohon ara means ficus type trees that have a lot of sap, while in Cambridge dictionary online 4th edition a tree with leaves divided into five parts and seeds that turn around slowly to the ground when they fall. Based on Wikipedia, Pohon ara and sycamores almost the same species. The translator used localization to make it easier for readers to understand according to their cultural reference. The readability of the CSIs Translation To assess the readability of the CSIs translation, the researcher used The Automated Readability Index (ARI) to get the approximates the age needed to understand the text. Grade level needed to comprehend the text. Based on the ARI, the grade level or the readers age should be college graduate. From the result, it can be concluded that the best age for reading this translated text was college graduate or 18-24 years. Readability Rating Instrument was applied by the respondents as the parameter. This instrument consisted of three scales namely readable, less readable, and unreadable. The translation of CSI was included readable if it was easily understood by the target readers; the usage of specific items was familiar in the target language and culture; and the respondents gave score 3 for readability scale. On this research findings there were 416 or (98.3%) International Journal of Active Learning 7 (1) (2022) 47 CSI were considered readable. There were six techniques were considered readable, they were addition, preservation, localization, globalization, transformation, and creation. Almost 368 items were scored 3 or high readability by the respondents whereas 49 items were scored 3 by two respondents and were scored 2 by one respondents. ST : like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, TT : seperti anjing terrier yang tidak mau membawa bola kembali ke tuannya Datum number 71 was translated using preservation and addition. This was considered readable to the target readers. The research findings discovered 6 items or 1.4% among 423 CSI considered less readable. Preservation, localization, and creation were techniques that contributed in this part. For instance; ST : the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green, TT : Sungai Salinas mengalir merapat ke tepian sungai di sisi bukit dan merembah dalam dan hijau Datum number 4 was translated using preservation technique. It was included less readable because the respondents did not familiar with the place in SL. This research discovered only 1 item or (0.2%) was included unreadable. This item was translated using omission technique. This word was not translated so the respondent cannot judge their readability, so all the three respondents gave score 1 for this datum. CONCLUSION Translator is always faced by cultural problems. Consequently, besides having the language competent, the translator should have knowledge of the source text culture. The choices of translation techniques are based on many reasons. Translation techniques used reflects the social and cultural trend in the society. From the data we can say that English speaking readers are still not welcome to many culture-specific items from other culture. That is why, the translator tends to use the techniques that is target text oriented such as localisation, globalisation, omission, transformation, and creation. However, there is a tendency for the target text reader, the English speakers, to welcome unfamiliar culture-specific items as globalization leads people to interact one another. In the novel, preservation and addition are applied to culture-specific words which are crucial and be the central attention. 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