The Utilization of Balinese Cultural Terms by EFL Students in Their English Writing

Abstract

This study investigates the utilization of Balinese cultural terms in the writing of English as a foreign language (EFL) students. It is intended to identify how the lexicons containing local values are used considering the translation procedures in the student’s mind. This qualitative research was conducted with ATLAS.ti software to visually present the connectedness of each lexicon with one another and to report the procedures of translation the students chose. When inserting the Balinese lexicons into their writing, the students involved in this study were still influenced by the concept of translation. With the translation procedures in mind, they applied transference, literal translation, functional equivalent, descriptive equivalent, and the combination of two and three procedures, namely, couplet and triplet, to be able to communicate their ideas involving the Balinese lexicons in their English writing. This study sheds some light on the application of translation procedures when students use local language terms in their foreign language writing. The students borrowed the local lexicons and gave an additional explanation to clarify their values. This finding indicates that having the concept of translation, and particularly the procedures of translation, can assist EFL students in broadening their knowledge of the existence of Balinese cultural terms as well as utilizing them by applying translation procedures to clarify the meaning of the terms in their writing to create communicative writing.