Conscientia - Journal on Language, Literature, and Culture

EVALUATING POLITICAL SPEECH TRANSLATION: A CAN-BASED COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DONALD TRUMP’S INAUGURATION ADDRESS INTO INDONESIAN

2026-01-04T05:19:34+00:00

Political speeches are high-stakes institutional texts in which ideology, agency, and evaluative stance are strategically organized, and their translation constitutes an integral part of political meaning-making rather than a neutral transfer. This study investigates how political meaning is recontextualized in Indonesian translations of Donald Trump’s 2017 Inauguration Address. The study aims to identify recurrent translation problems, examine how these problems pattern across linguistic and ideological layers, and explain their consequences for political accountability and stance reconstruction. Adopting a qualitative critical-comparative design, the research applies a CAN-based (Critical Analogy Network) framework that integrates Critical Discourse Analysis, appraisal theory, and lexico-grammatical analysis. Multiple Indonesian translations of the address were aligned and analyzed to trace shifts at textual–constructional, interpersonal–evaluative, and contextual–ideological levels. The findings reveal systematic and non-random translation problems, notably the de-agentivization of political action through passivization and nominalization, the moderation of interpersonal stance via modal weakening and appraisal recalibration, and the attenuation of populist antagonism through ideological reframing. These shifts operate as interconnected networks rather than isolated deviations, cumulatively transforming explicit political commitments into more neutralized and institutionally restrained narratives. The study demonstrates that political speech translation functions as ideologically consequential recontextualization shaped by constrained translator agency. By operationalizing translation problems as patterned networks, this research advances critical translation evaluation and offers a replicable framework for analyzing political discourse translation in mediatized contexts.

TRANSLATING THE PROSECUTOR INTO A LEGAL ATTACHE IN INDONESIAN DIPLOMATIC LEGAL TEXTS

2026-03-26T05:12:14+00:00

This article examines legal attaché as a borrowed term operating within Indonesian diplomatic legal discourse. It traces the gap between established international institutional referents and the nationally specific concept the term is used to designate, namely Atase Kejaksaan, the prosecutor seconded to an Indonesian embassy abroad. The study draws on a corpus of primary documents from December 2025, including the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) record of Indonesia's application for membership dated 4 December 2025, an English-language report by the Indonesian National Police (INP) on 150 Indonesian nationals facing capital punishment in Malaysia dated 3 December 2025, and the statutory and regulatory corpus of the Indonesian prosecution service. The analysis traces how the borrowed term behaves across three institutional registers: U.S. federal law enforcement, international organisational administration, and Indonesian diplomatic practice. Drawing on Newmark's (1988) translation procedures, Šarčević's (1997) account of institutional non-equivalence, Tiersma's (1999) analysis of legal language, and Prieto Ramos's (2021) inter-systemic incongruity framework, the article argues that legal attaché is terminologically underdetermined as a rendering of Atase Kejaksaan. The borrowed term imports institutional associations drawn from the FBI's law enforcement attaché programme and from international organisation practice that are structurally incompatible with the Indonesian official's prosecutorial identity, appointment mechanism, and normative mandate. The December 2025 documents supply concrete evidence of this terminological slippage. The article proposes descriptive and qualified rendering strategies for legal translators and diplomatic drafters handling Indonesian prosecutorial titles in formal bilateral and multilateral instruments.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF FIRST LANGUAGE TRANSFER TO ENGLISH SENTENCES STRUCTURE AMONG SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

2026-05-11T03:32:50+00:00

This study explores how first language (L1) transfer affects English sentence structure among five first-year students of the English Literature Study Program at Sebelas April University when translating Indonesian texts into English. Using Robert Lado’s theory of language transfer, the study identifies common structural errors caused by negative transfer, such as incorrect word order, misuse of articles, verb tense errors, and subject–verb disagreement. The data were collected through a translation task involving five Indonesian sentences and analyzed using a descriptive qualitative method. The findings show that most errors made by the participants reflect direct influence from Indonesian grammatical structures, while only one participant demonstrated evidence of positive transfer. These results indicate that L1 plays a significant role in shaping learners’ English sentence construction and highlight the importance of contrastive grammar instruction in second language learning.

THE REPRESENTATION OF POWER AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN “THE BEGGAR AND THE KING”

2026-05-11T03:26:46+00:00

Literature is widely recognized not only as a form of artistic expression, but also as a medium that reflects social realities, including issues of power, inequality, and class relations. In many literary works, especially drama, these issues are presented through characters, dialogue, and conflict, allowing readers to see how social structures operate within a narrative. Drama, in particular, offers a direct representation of human interaction, making it an effective medium to explore how authority is exercised and how marginalized voices are portrayed. Therefore, analyzing drama can provide a deeper understanding of how social conditions and power relations are constructed and represented in society.

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS' PREFERENCES IN LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY THROUGH DIGITAL APPLICATIONS

2026-05-11T03:38:29+00:00

The rapid growth of technology has significantly influenced language learning, particularly in the acquisition of English vocabulary through digital tools. While EFL learners often struggle with vocabulary due to the sheer volume of core words and the complexity of word mastery, the continuous evolution of modern technology provides innovative ways to tackle these difficulties. Consequently, students could enhance their word knowledge through various digital platforms, ranging from mobile applications and web-based communication tools to electronic glossaries and interactive gaming. This study aimed to describe the preferences of students at STBA LIA Yogyakarta in learning English vocabulary using digital applications, identifying the specific tools and features that provide for their needs. A descriptive quantitative methodology was employed, involving 20 students selected through purposive sampling who have experience using digital vocabulary tools. Data were collected using a systematic questionnaire and analyzed through descriptive statistical techniques, focusing on frequency and percentage distributions. The findings reveal a significant preference among students for specific digital applications, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. Duolingo emerged as the most dominant application, used by 55% of respondents, followed by Quizizz (25%) and Kahoot (15%). In terms of usage patterns, 65% of students utilize these applications 1-2 times per week, indicating a moderate but consistent integration of digital tools into their study routines. The study concluded that the interactive and gamified features of applications like Duolingo are highly valued by learners. These results suggested that educators and developers should focus on user-friendly, engaging designs to optimize vocabulary learning strategies and cater to diverse student habits.