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STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION ON CHOOSING TRANSLATOR SKILL AS THE ELECTIVE SUBJECT
(A Study at the Second Year English Education Department Students Of STKIP PGRI West Sumatera in 2015/2016)
Elsa Vionika1 Hevriani Sevrika2 Melati Theresia2
1MahasiswaProgram Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat
2Dosen Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat elsavionika446@gmail.com
ABSTRAK
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan informasi tentang motivasi mahasiswa pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam memilih keahlian menerjemah sebagai mata kuliah pilihan di STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif, sumber datanya adalah mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris tahun akademik 2015 di STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat sebanyak 55 mahasiswa dan memang memutuskan memilih keahlian menerjemah sebagai mata kuliah pilihan. Teknik pengambilan data yang digunakan adalah purposive sampling. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah angket dan wawancara.
Peneliti menyebar angket kepada 55 mahasiswa dan melakukan wawancara kepada mahasiswa yang lebih menonjol termotivasi baik secara intrinsik ataupun ekstrinsik untuk mendapatkan informasi yang lebih akurat. Setelah mengumpulkan dan mengolah semua data, peneliti merangkum bahwa motivasi Mahasiswa Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris lebih banyak dipengaruhi oleh intrinsik (desire, interest, personality factors, needs, and enjoyment) motivasi daripada ekstrinsik (outside factors, praise, and grades) motivasi dalam memilih keahlian menerjemah sebagai mata kuliah pilihan. Meskipun mahasiswa memiliki motivasi intrinsik dan ekstrinsik dalam memilih keahlian menerjemah sebagai mata kuliah pilihan namun motivasi intrinsik lebih dominan mempengaruhi mahasiwa dalam memilih keahlian menerjemh sebagai mata kuliah pilihan.
Kata kunci: Keahlian Menerjemah, Mata Kuliah Pilihan, Motivasi Mahasiswa
INTRODUCTION
English as an international language has been an important subject. It becomes the first foreign language which is taught from Elementary school until University. In addition, it also has its own prestige in Indonesian education and students who have good English will able have more chance in achieving better education.
Besides, English gives the students easier access to communicate with others around
the world. Even, the most of educated students should have learned it.
The students are not always enthusiastic to learn English. They need a motivation. As Brown (2001:59) states that motivation is one of principles in language learning. Thus, motivation is an important aspect for students to learn a language and motivation is crucial for students because it relates with students’ success in learning.
In determining the elective subjects, the students are supported by some reasons.
2 Every student has different reason, for example: the students choose the elective subject because they want to get a skill when they were graduated from the college.
Elective subjects in the English Education Department at STKIP PGRI West Sumatera include:Translator skill, Journalistic skill, and Entrepreneurs skill.
Based on the researcher pre observation, translator skill was a favorite elective subject that was chosen by English Education Department students in every academic year. It can be seen from 3 last academic years in 2013-2016, translator class is opened two until three classes while the other elective subject is one class. A group of students took translator skill as the elective subject in STKIP PGRI with motivating that they wanted to be a good translator. Beside the factors above, there are also a group of students choose translator skill not based on their own desire, they choose the subject because they follow their friend.
In other hand, there are two types of motivations that motivate the students in choosing translator skill as the elective subject such as intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from within individual. The students might be motivated by enjoyment of the learning process or desire to make
themselves feel better, and having competence in it. Beside intrinsic motivation, the students also have extrinsic motivation on choosing translator skill as the elective subject. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside factor. The students just follow their friends, parents’
instruction, feeling incapable and dealing difficulties in the other elective subject.
Related to the phenomena above, the researcher is interesting to find out more about students’ motivations on choosing translator skill as the elective subject at STKIP PGRI West Sumatera in 2015/2016 academic year.
The aims of this research was to describe about the students’ motivation on choosing translator skill as the elective subject, it was done by seeking the kinds of students motivation. Where, the researcher focused on the second year of English Education Department students at STKIP PGRI West Sumatera. For analyzing that question, it will be related to the theory about the student’s motivation.
According to Atkinson in Gredler (1991:436), motivation is a test variable function and individuals disposition to get the result or to avoid the failure. It means that motivation is a sign for students to success or failure in learning.
3 According to Brown (2000:115), motivation is an inner drive or stimulus, which can be like self-esteem, be global, a situational or task oriented. It means that learning a foreign language requires some of all these levels of motivation.
Furthermore, Donald in Sardiman (2016:73) defines that motivation as a energy change in a person characterized by the emergence of "feeling" and preceded with the response to their destination. It means that the motivation that led to a change of energy on every individual human being (although the motivation came from within man), sightings will involve physical activities of man.
Motivation was separated into two main kinds, they are intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. According to Marsh (1996:27) intrinsic motivation refers to motivation without any apparent external reward. Motivation for learning comes entirely for performing a particular task.
Students will be motivated to undertake to a certain task because of some personal factors. They might include needs, interests, curiosity and enjoyment. Thus, the activity in itself is the reward in these circumstances.
Then, Harmer (2001:51) describes that intrinsic motivation as motivation which comes from within the individual.
Thus a person might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by desire to make themselves feel better.
In addition, Moore (2005:372) says that intrinsic motivation is what learners themselves bring into the learning environment, like attitudes, needs, personality factors, and values. Therefore, intrinsic motivation concern with individual behaviors when the students learned the learning activities.
According to Sardiman (2001:87), extrinsic motivation is a kind of motivation that driven by external factor or the environment of someone, like praises, good grade, and rewards.
Then, Harmer (2001:51) states that extrinsic motivation is the result of any number of outside factors, for example is need to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward or the possibility of future travel. It means that extrinsic motivation is which derives from the influence of some kind of external incentive, as distinct from the wish to learn for its own sake or interest in task.
In addition, Moore (2005:372) defines that extrinsic motivation originates in the learning environment, where persons are offered the right incentives for doing certain things. It means that extrinsic motivation give bad influence to someone to do
4 something because people will do something if there are prices or reward.
Translator skill is an elective subject for English Education Department students in STKIP PGRI West Sumatera. Students must take the elective subject to meet minimum number of required credits. As an elective subject translator skill consists of ten credits and the students begin to take the subject from fourth semester until sixth semester. According to Nida and Taber (2004:12), translation consists of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. According to Catford in Muchtar (2013:7) defines that translation as the transfer of the discourse in the source language (SL) with its equivalent in the target language discourse (TL).
Then, there are some indicator of students motivation on choosing translator skill as the elective subject, they were desire, interest, personality factors, needs, enjoyment, outside factors, praise and grades.
RESEARCH METHOD
The researcher conducted this research into descriptive research. The researcher implemented descriptive research. According to Gay and Airasian
(2000:275), descriptive study determines and describes the way of things are. It means that descriptive research just described the phenomena that happened in the field. The researcher wanted to analyze the students’ motivation on choosing translator skill as the elective subject by the second year of English Education Department students at STKIP PGRI West Sumatera.
The participant was an important aspect in the research. According to Gay and Airasian (2000:281), the selected participants of a research must be able to provide the detail information as well as willing to provide it to the research.The researcher got the data based on phenomena that happen in the field and it information or data was given by the participant. In this research, the researcher took 55 of English Education Department students whose choosing translator skill as the elective subject. The researcher used purposeful sampling as technique in choosing the sample.
Instrumentation was a way to collect the data or information that researcher needed to analyze. Gay and Airasian (2000:145) state that instrument is a tool or something that is used to collect the data.
The researcher used questionnaire and interview as instrument.
5 The technique of data collection used in this research was questionnaire and interview. The researcher distributed the questionnaire sheets to participant and explained the instruction to answer the questionnaire. Then, the researcher met the students to arrange the schedule of interview. The researcher used semi structure interview.
In analyzing the data, the researcher followed some steps based on the theory from Gay and Airasian (2012:467). They states that there were four steps in analyzing the data, those were reading, describing, and classifying.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The researcher conducted this research by using questionnaire and interview as instrumentation. The data had been gotten by researcher from those items would be analyzed based on indicators of students’
motivation on choosing translator skill as the elective subject. The result of the research is about students’ motivation on choosing translator skill as the elective subject.
There were two kinds of students motivation, first is intrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation includes desire, interest, personality factors, needs, and
enjoyment. The extrinsic motivations were outside factors, praise, and grades.
The result of Questionnaire a. Intrinsic Motivation
Desire. The indicator of own desire to choose the subject, there were 96% students answered yes and only 4% answered no for the question, desire to be good translation, there were 96% students answered yes and 4% students answered no, desire to know about translation, 92% students answered yes because they really want to know about translation and only 8% students answered no, desire to add insight and knowledge in English, there were 94% students agreed with this statement and 6% students answered no, desire to be a tour guide 53%
students answered yes and 47% answered no for this question.
Interest. The indicator of the students like English translation, there were 78%
students answered yes and 22% answered no. It more than half students chose translation because they like translate in English, all about translation is interesting not all the students interested about translation. There were 61% students answered yes and 39% answered no, translation is the favorite subject, from 51 English students 55% students stated that
6 translation is their favorite subject and 45%
answered no.
Personality factors. The indicator of the subject can improve students skill in translation, there were 80% students agreed with this statement and 20% students no, the students motivated to work in the field translator abroad, there were 61% students answered yes and 39% answered no, the students have more ability in translation, there were 84% students answered yes and 16% students answered no, the students have good ability in translation, There were 84% students agreed with this statement and 16% students no.
Need. The indicator of the subject help the students to communicate, the students chose translator as the elective subject because the subject can help them communicate with other language speakers.
There were 73% students answered yes and 27% students answered no for this statement, the subject provides more job opportunities, there were 82% students agreed with this statement and only 18%
students answered no, want to focus on translation for the future, there were 41%
students answered yes and 59% students answered no. It less than half students chose translator skill as the elective subject wanted to focus on translation for the future.
Enjoyment. The indicator of the students enjoy the subject, there were 78%
students answered yes and 22% answered no, proud of choose translation, not all of the students who chose translator as the elective subject feel proud because they choose the subject. There were 37%
answered yes and 63% answered no, enjoy translating the text, there were 24%
students answered yes and 76% answered no, enjoy to help friends in translate a text, there were 55% students agreed with this statement and 45% students answered no, enjoy the translation task, there were 69%
students answered yes and 31% answered no.
In conclusion, almost of all English students choose translator as the elective subject based on their own desire to be a good translator, they want to improve their skill in translation and they interest about translation because they have ability in it, and also they hope translation subject can provides job opportunity to them for the future.
b. Extrinsic Motivation
Outside factors. the subject more easier researcher found that several students chose translator as the elective subject because they thought the subject easier than the other elective subject. There were 27% agreed with this statement and
7 73% disagree, the subject more advantages, there were 31% answered yes and 69%
answered no, forced to choose the subject from 51 English students only 6% students chose translation as the elective subject because they compulsion to choose translator as the elective subject, follow parents’ instruction researcher found that only 20% students chose translation as the elective subject because they follow parents’ instruction and 80% answered no, follow friends from 51 English students only 20% students chose translation as the elective subject because they follow friends who took the same subject, follow closest friend only 18% students chose translation as the elective subject because of their close friend also choose the subject and 82%
students answered no for this statement, many friends choose the subject, there were 29% students answered yes and 71%
students answered no.
Praise. get praise from others, from 51 English students in 2015/2016 academic year, researcher found that a few students chose translator skill as the elective subject with hopes to get praise from their parents and their friend. There were 25% answered yes and 75% answered no for this statement.
Grades. The indicator of to complete credit semester, there were 29% students
answered yes and 71% answered no, not burden with the task, it only 14% students answered yes for this reason and 86% no, incapable in the other elective subject, there were 29% answered yes and 71% answered no, easy to get mark, there were 18%
answered yes and 82% answered no. It only several students agreed with this statement.
The result of Interview
The interview was done to five participants. The result of interview with the first participant, the researcher found that there some factors that motivate her on choosing translator as the elective subject.
Such as; desire (she had desire to be a tour guide), interest (she interested about translation because the subject can improve her knowledge in English), needs (she wanted to focus on translation for her future career), personality factors (she had more ability in translation), enjoyment (she feel proud to choose translation subject, she enjoy the learning process in translation class).
The result of interview with the second participant, the researcher found out there some intrinsic factors that motivate her on choosing translator skill as the elective subject, they were; interest (she interests in translating), desire (she had desire to be good translator, she wanted to be a tour guide in order to can communicate
8 with native speaker), enjoyment (she enjoy the learning process in the class, she proud of herself because of chose translator skill as the elective subject, she enjoys about the task was given by the lecturer), needs (she hopes this subject provided more job opportunity
The third participant stated that she chooses translation subject because she want to get a job in other country. She had own desire in choosing translation subject, she enjoy the learning process in translation class, and then she hopes this subject can improve their skill in English.
Next, the result of interview with the fourth participant. The researcher found out there some outside factors that motivate him; he stated that he chooses translation subject because of his friend took the subject. Almost of all his classmate chose translation as the elective subject. Thus, he chooses translation not based on his own desire. Between the other elective subject, he thought that translation is easier so that he choose this subject, besides this subject is not burden with the task, he feel incapable in the other elective subject.
The last participant, the researcher found out there some intrinsic factors that motivated her. She stated that she chose translator skill as the elective subject based on her own desire, she wanted to add
insight and knowledge in translation. She enjoy the learning process in translation class, she thought that translation can give many opportunity to get a job, she feel proud in choosing translator skill as the elective subject.
Based on the result of questionnaire and interview above, the researcher can conclude that, almost of English student of STKIP PGRI West Sumatera in 2015/2016 Academic year choosing translator as the elective subject supported by intrinsic motivation more than extrinsic motivation.
CONCLUSION
English Education Department students had a different motivation in choosing translator skill as the elective subject because each English students had a different goal and reasons why choosing translator as the elective subject. The reasons consist onto two categories such as intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. In this research the researchers found that English students stated more about intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation.
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