Hermeneutics Perspective: Number and Personal Grammatical Equivalence of Google Translate

Due to translation process by Google Translate (GT) is recently common, analyzing its translation equivalence is required. Conducted as descriptive qualitative research, this content analysis study provides descriptions of number and personal equivalence aspects toward sentence meaning in hermeneutics view. There were 90 English sentences analyzed as research sample resulting 7 types of meaning equivalence phenomenon: 1) target text (TT) has number equivalent meaning and the sentence is hermeneutically accepted, 2) TT has no number equivalent meaning yet the sentence is hermeneutically accepted, 3) TT has no number equivalent meaning and the sentence is not hermeneutically accepted, 4) TT has personal equivalent meaning and the sentence is hermeneutically accepted, 5) TT has no personal equivalent meaning yet the sentence is hermeneutically accepted, 6) TT has no personal equivalent meaning and the sentence is not hermeneutically accepted, and 7) both personal meaning equivalence and sentence hermeneutics point of view cannot be identified due to clusivity of Indonesian. It is concluded that GT is able to provide 53% meaning accuracy in terms of number aspect and 86.6% of number aspect sentences are hermeneutically accepted. GT provides 53% meaning accuracy in personal aspect and 73.3% of personal aspect sentences are hermeneutically accepted. Figures show higher hermeneutical acceptance than the meaning equivalent indicate that GT in Indonesian is considered to be understandable for basic need of clause and sentence level for common information in terms of number and personal equivalence, but for detailed information especially those of number, masculine/feminine, and clusivity phenomenon in Indonesian more enhancement for accuracy is needed.Keywords: meaning equivalence, hermeneutics, clusivity

Teachers’ Involvement in Designing MERLO Items: Boundary Crossing

Meaning Equivalence Reusable Learning Objects (MERLO) items are a new kind of didactical tool that can be designed by teachers and used in classes, in tasks aimed at engaging students in deep reasoning, exploring and arguing about mathematical concepts. The interactions across communities of mathematics teachers and educators in on-line professional development were studied with attention to the phenomenon of boundary crossing of MERLO items, viewed as boundary objects in this article. The study analyseda first (international) crossing of the object that passedinstitutional boundaries (between Australian and Italian school systems), and a second crossing of the same object –inside the Australian institutional community – that passed boundaries (from static to dynamic representations) that we interpret in terms of method both for teachers and for researchers. This passage is possible due to the use of dynamic geometry software (GeoGebra) that supported a modification in the design of the item. The analysis shows boundary crossing as a process of transformation that can influence a modification (more or less stable) in the practices of the teachers involved and provides a deep research insight in relation to existing theoretical frameworks.

Penyimpangan Sintaksis dalam Penerjemahan Indonesia-Inggris: Studi Kasus di Prodi Sastra Inggris Uin Jakarta

Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui penyimpangan sintksis dalam penerjemahan tesk Bahasa Indonesia ke dalam Bahasa Inggris yang dibuat mahsiswa semester VI Prodi Sastra Inggris UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. Penelitian kualitatif ini menggunakan data verbal dalam bentuk produk penerjemahan dari Bahasa Indonesia ke dalam Bahasa Inggris. Data verbal tersebut terdiri atas 20 teks terjemahan dari Bahasa Indonesia ke dalam Bahasa Inggris yang terpilih dari 41 lembar teks yang dibuat mahasiswa. Seluruh data dianalisis secara kualitatif dengan memperhatikan tingkat keberterimaan dan kegramatikalan kalimat Bahasa Inggris. Penelitian ini memperlihatkan kalimat-kalimat Bahasa Inggris yang diterjemahkan dari teks Bahasa Indonesia ke dalam Bahasa Inggris belum memenuhi standard penerjemahan yang baik, terutama dalam aspek kesepadanan makna antara Bahasa sumber dan sasaran; serta keberterimaan dan kegramatikalan kalimat Bahasa Inggris. Mahasiswa masih membuat kalimat-kalimat Bahasa Inggris yang mengandung penyimpangan sintaksis dari kaedah Bahasa Inggris yang benar. Penyimpangan tersebut umumnya terjadi pada penyusunan frasa nomina sebagai subjek dan objek, frasa verba, dan kalusa yang disebabkan oleh keleahan mahasiswa dalam menganalisis makna kalimat dalam Bahasa sumber, strategi yang kurang tepat dalam menejemahkan, dan kompetensi gramatikal yang rendah. Oleh karena itu, mahasiswa masih perlu diberikan latihan-latihan yang mendorong mereka memamfaatkan kemampuan linguistic dan nonlinguistic dalam menerjemahkan teks dari Bahasa Indonesia ke dalam Bahasa Inggris sehingga produk penerjemahan yang dibuat memenuhi standard penerjemahan yang baik.---Abstract The research is aimed at knowing the syntactical deviation in Indonesian-English translation committed by the sixth semester students of Letters Department UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. This qualitative study relies on verbal data in the form of students’ translation product from Indonesian into English. Its unit of analysis comprises 20 Englsih texts chosen purposively from the translation products made by 41 students who were involved in the research. The data are analyzed qualitatively in terms of the acceptability and grammaticality of the English sentences. The study shows the English text the students translated from Indonesian do not meet the quality of a good translation in terms of meaning equivalence between the source language and the target language; and the grammaticality and acceptability of English sentences. The students still produce English sentences containing many syntactical deviations. These happen to noun phrases as subject and object of the verbs; verb phrases; and clauses. The syntactical deviations are caused by their weaknesses in analyzing the meaning of source language sentences to be translated; the fault strategies used in translating; and the lack of grammatical competence. Therefore, they still need more exercises in translating Indonesian into English by exploring their linguistic and nonlinguistic competence. Besides, they still need more guidance how to translate Indonesian into English that fulfills the criteria of a good translation.

Rhetorical Loss in Translating Prepositional Phrases of the Holy Qur’an

Translators of the Holy Quran confront many quandaries in their attempt to transfer the Qur’anic verses from Arabic into English. One of these quandaries is how to rhetorically communicate the intended meanings (implicatures) of the prepositional phrases in the Holy Qur’an. The translation of Arabic prepositional phrases in the Holy Qur’an as a source text (ST) may lead, in some Qur’anic verses, to a rhetorical loss in communicating their implicature in the target text (TT). That implicature or implicitly communicated meaning other than the explicature is the one intended to be expressed and required to be faithfully translated. In rendering the preposition into the target language (TL), translators bring into home only the explicitly stated meaning unaware of the implicitly stated meaning created as a result of the application of this specific rhetorical device. This study investigates the problem of the rhetorical loss encountered in the translation of prepositional phrases of the Qur’anic verses and identifies the cause of this problem. It also attempts to suggest a mechanism that is, to some extent, helpful and insightful in coping with the difficulties of translating Arabic prepositional phrases in Qur’anic verses. This research adopts a descriptive qualitative content analysis of the Qur’anic verses and their English translations that are relevant to the focus of the research. The source of failure of the English translations of the verses in conveying the rhetorical meanings of prepositional phrases has been identified in terms of the Relevance Theory and the distinction between explicature and implicature of these phrases. The study concludes that meaning equivalence in translation requires translators to be aware of not only the explicitly stated meanings of prepositions but the implicitly communicated ones as well which are recoverable through referring to Arabic heritage resources and interpretation books dedicated to exploring the rhetorical purposes of prepositions alternation in Qur’anic verses. The results of the analysis and the new suggested mechanism have been verified by an Arabic language and Qur’anic sciences expert who is a proficient speaker of English as well.

High Order of Conceptual Thinking

This chapter describe a novel pedagogy for conceptual thinking and peer cooperation with meaning equivalence reusable learning objects (MERLO) that enhances higher-order thinking; it deepens comprehension of conceptual content and improves learning outcomes. The evolution of this instructional methodology follows insights from recent developments: analysis of patterns of evolving concepts in human experience that led to the emergence of concept science, development of digital information, research in neuroscience and brain imaging showing that exposure of learners to multi-semiotic problems enhance cognitive control of inter-hemispheric attentional processing in the lateral brain, and increase higher-order thinking. The research on peer cooperation and indirect reciprocity document the motivational effect of being observed, a psychological imperative that motivates individuals to cooperate and to contribute to better common knowledge. Teaching courses in History and Theory of Architecture to young architecture students with pedagogy for conceptual thinking enhance higher-order thinking, deepen comprehension of conceptual content, and improve learning outcomes; it allows one to connect analysis of historic artifact, identify pattern of design ideas extracted from the precedent, and transfer concepts of good design into the individual's creative design process.

Production of Evidence-Based Informed Consent (EBIC) With Meaning Equivalence Reusable Learning Objects (MERLO)

Apparently, during an informed consent, patients remember little of the information given and their comprehension level is often overestimated by physicians. This study measures level of understanding of informed consent for elective cesarean surgery using an evidence-based informed consent (EBIC) model based on six MERLO assessments. MERLO recognition and production scores and follow-up interviews of 50 patients and their partners were recorded. Statistical comparison of scores within couples was performed by weighted kappa agreement, t-tests, and Ward's hierarchical clustering. Recognition score means were high for patients and partners with low standard deviation (SD), while production scores means were lower with higher SD. Clustering analysis showed that only 70% (35/50) of couples were assigned to the same cluster and t-test yields significant difference of scores within couple. Kappa yields moderate agreement levels on all items except for items D and C, which are lower. Follow-up interviews show that participants consider MERLO assessments to be helpful in improving comprehension.

Teachers Involved in Designing MERLO Items

This chapter looks at an in-depth application of meaning equivalence reusable learning objects (MERLO) to mathematics education and teacher professional development. The study has been conducted during professional development courses for in-service teachers and is focused on mathematics teachers' praxeologies, namely their didactical techniques and theoretical aspects embraced to accomplish a task. Specifically, the task given to the teachers consists in designing MERLO items to be used in their classrooms, working in groups or individually, after having been trained by researchers in mathematical education. The chapter presents two case studies with data, one dealing with secondary school teachers in Italy and one concerning primary teachers in Australia. One of the main aims of the study is the analysis of the praxeologies of these teachers when they are engaged in designing MERLO items during professional development programs. The chapter demonstrates, with these examples, the generalizability potential of MERLO items and that they can be used in different cultural and institutional ecosystems.