Rethinking the quality of children’s bilingual story books

Submit: 26 November 2019 Accepted: 24 Desember 2019 Publish: 5 Januari 2020 Books are one of the learning media for children, in this case, specifically, bilingual books were discussed. Bilingual books are used to introduce children to the world of Indonesian and English as well, where the book is used by teachers or parents to read stories for children. Bilingual books are numerous and easily found in various bookstores and online stores. However, the quality of the books is questionable whether the English translation used in the book is correct. In this short article, the author takes the example of 7 children's bilingual story books with 376 sentences in them. The author found that the majority of translations used were wordby-word translation and with complex translation because of the use of sentences that are too long and the vocabulary was not appropriate to use in that context. In fact, story books should be books that were easily read and understood by both those who read and those who listen. With the complexity of these books, it will be difficult for teachers and parents to read and understand, let alone convey them to children. The author suggested publishers and the government to pay more attention to the quality of books by selecting competent writers in their fields.


Introduction
Storytelling is one method that can be the choice of teachers or parents to improve children's language skills, both at the level of early childhood or at the age of basic education. N. N. Hidayati / Al-Asasiyya: Journal of Basic Education 4(1) 2019, p.46-60 47 Bilingual books are one source that is used as material for storytelling. The use of bilingual books that contain versions of Indonesian and English language stories has become a trend nowadays, where children are invited as early as possible to learn languages, both Indonesian and foreign languages, in this case English. Learning foreign languages to children at an early age has many advantages, because the earlier introducing a language to children, the better language acquisition of children. Mastery is especially in the vocabulary. Language acquisition is one aspect that must be developed in children, which is mandated in Minister of Education Regulation No. 58 of 2009, that there are at least 5 aspects that must be developed in children, they are religious and moral values, language, cognition, physicalmotoric and social emotional (N. N. Hidayati, 2019b) Vocabulary is a very essential part in learning languages because when a child has rich vocabulary, he will later be easy to learn other abilities in English, for example the ability to listen, speak, write, also read. In the development of children, we know of the existence of golden ages, where the child's brain is able to absorb many things. This is where the opportunity for parents and teachers to provide stimulation so that the development of language skills can develop properly. We know that children tend to imitate what they hear or see around them. If we are used to doing storytelling, the vocabulary used by both parents and teachers will be absorbed by children. If we associate with learning foreign languages, for example English, vocabulary is a very important component to be introduced to children, because by mastering vocabulary, it will support the abilities of children in other areas of ability, for example, speaking, writing or reading (N. N. Hidayati, 2019a) Storytelling is indeed not the only method or media that can be used to develop children's language skills, but this method is considered quite good, because this method, as the saying goes kill two birds with one stone. This is because when children listen or read a story, it also absorbs more or less the moral values that are in it. Thus, not only cognitive abilities and language are developed, but also the emotional side of the development of knowledge of values can also be included.
It's not difficult to find children's story books in bilingual versions at the bookstore today. Various kinds of story books from various publishers can be found at the store.
However, what needs attention is related to the quality of the book, especially related to the choice of sentence and translation used. The author found several problems that exist in bilingual books at this time, firstly related to sentence structure that is too complex for children, as well as translations that are not in accordance with the rules of English. N. N. Hidayati / Al-Asasiyya: Journal of Basic Education 4(1) 2019, p.46-60 48 The two points above are the main points in this short writing. At an early age, children are certainly not suitable for being treated with complex sentences, should simple sentences be used. Likewise, in translation, it should use correct and simple English sentence patterns.
For example, the researcher took an example in one of the books called Katak Katak yang Mengagumi Kerbau, in the book there is a translation that must be re-examined, as follows: If we look at the example of the translation above, there are some things that are not appropriate, for example in the comparative and superlative rules, the word large consists of only one syllable, so that, if used for comparison, it is not allowed to use the most large, but the largest. Then, the translation of Among the frogs is most large frog frog body among others, deemed too complex and can be simplified, for example by simplifying the sentence into one frog has the largest body than the others.
Zhang Jing-hao this triple principle of translation advocated by Yan Fu and by many other Chinese theorists was not meant to be a key to translation theory or to translation practice. The three principles of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance should be understood not as competitive but as additive factors: first, faithful equivalence in meaning, second, expressive clarity of form, and third, attractive elegance that makes a text a pleasure to read (Nida, 20101) From what has been said by Zhang Jing-hao above, it can be said that the clarity of the text is also easy to read so that it can be enjoyed is an important point in a translation. However, looking at the example excerpt above, some things still need to be improved so that the transfer of information and knowledge from the teacher through the bilingual story book is conveyed well, by reading quality books as well. The use of story books as a learning medium for both teachers and children is important. Therefore, the quality of the book must be maintained well.

Method
This research was a qualitative research. Qualitative research examines participant perspectives with multi-strategic, interactive strategies, such as direct observation, participatory observation, in-depth interviews, documents, complementary techniques such as photographs, recordings, and others. (Sukmadinata, 2017) In this research, the author randomly picked 7 children's bilingual story books in which the book contained two N. N. Hidayati / Al-Asasiyya: Journal of Basic Education 4(1) 2019, p.46-60 49 language versions, Indonesian and English. There were 376 sentences in total which became the author's data. The steps taken by the authors in this study are: 1) buying several bilingual children's story books at the bookstore; 2) reading one by one book while observing the use of the language used, both Indonesian and English; 3) transcribing data from books and type them into Microsoft Word; 4) classifying data or sentences into two large groups, i.e.
sentences that have translations that emphasize the source language and groups that emphasize the target language; 5) analyzing the data that has been collected and classified; 6) drawing conclusions

a. Perspective of Translation Studies
Newmark states that the main problem in translating is to choose whether to translate literally or freely. In his book, Newmark divides the two groups of translation methods, they are the translation method which emphasizes on Source Language (SL) and which emphasizes on TL (Target Language) as follows:

Word-for-word translation Adaptation
Literal translation Free translation

Faithful translation Idiomatic translation
Semantic translation Communicative translation 1) Word-for-word translation. This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with The TL immediately below the SL words. The SL word-order is preserved and the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context.
Cultural words are translated literally. The main use of word-for-word translation is either to understand the mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-translation process (Newmark, 1988) 2) Literal translation. The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context. As a pre-translation process, this indicates the problems to be solved 3) Faithful translation. A faithful Translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures. It 'transfers' cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical 'abnormality' (deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realisation of the SL writer.

4) Semantic translation. Semantic translation differs from 'faithful translation' only
in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural sounds of the SL text, compromising on 'meaning' where appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition jars in the finished version. Further, it may translate less important cultural words by culturally neutral third or functional terms but not by cultural equivalents -une nonne repassant un corporal may become 'a nun ironing a corporal cloth' -and it may make other small concessions to the readership. The distinction between 'faithful' and ^semantic' translation is that the first is uncompromising and dogmatic, while the second is more flexible, admits the creative exception to 100% fidelity and allows for the translator's intuitive empathy with the original.

5)
Adaptation. This is the 'freest' form of translation. It is used mainly for plays (comediesl and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture converted to theTL culture and the text rewritten. The deplorable practice of having a play or poem literally translated and then rewritten by an established dramatist or poet has produced many poor adaptations, but other adaptations have 'rescued1 period plays.
6) Free translation. The original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original, a so-called 'intralingual translation*, often prolix and pretentious, and not translation at all (Newmark, 1988) 7) Idiomatic translation. Idiomatic translation reproduces the 'message' of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the original-(Authorities as diverse as Seteskovitch and Stuart Gilbert tend to this form of lively, 'natural' translation) (Newmark, 1988) 8) Communicative translation. Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a wav that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership. That morning all the frogs were gone in search of foods, only a tiny frog who is still living, he jumped up and down in the edge of the lake.
See a very large body of water buffalo than her, the little frog in awe made.
After the buffalo had gone, little frogs want back to the lake to meet her friends she wanted to tell her what he had seen earlier. 9. Setelah sampai di danau, ia segera menemui teman-temannya termasuk Pak Big.
After arriving at the lake, he soon met his friends including Mr. Big.
"Emmm…I also do not know his name, which he clearly is very large, even Mr. Big just lose big with him" He says eagerly. 13. Pak Big yang penasaran dengan apa yang diceritakan oleh katak kecil, langsung menyahut "Benarkah? Sebesar apakah dia?" Mr. Big is curious as it is reported by a small frog, immediately replied "Really? How big is he?" 14. "Pokoknya besar sekali" Jawab katak kecil.
Big pack more curious, he did not want to match. 16. Pak Big langsung menghirup udara sebanyak mungkin dan menggembungkan tubuhnya.
Big pack directly inhale as much air as possible and inflating its body.
"Is he as big as this?" Ask Mr. Big.
Pak Big directly inhale as much air as possible and inflating its body. "Is he as big as this?" Ask Mr. Big. "Mr. Waahh still less dispersive. Big…" Said the small frog. The other frogs were surprised.  Suddenly in the middle of the road was bloacked by a wolf Dobi great. 6. "Hai domba kecil, mau lari kemana kau?" tanya serigala itu.
"Oh good lord wolf, I'm just a poor little lamb, if you want to eat me please, but please sing me a song with your flute, because I wanted to dance before you eat." Said Dobi shaking.
Great wolf was immediately complied Dobi, dan began to play with melodious flute, and Dobi lope merry dance.
Great Wolf was not aware that his flute voice heard by a group of shepherd dogs immediately following the direction of the sound flute wolf.
Big wolf how surprised when he saw a group of shepherd dogs.
Another reason not to be it is a working sheep, but even now it would be fine shepherd dogs is.
Dobbies has now been re-assembled with the mother and his entourage. 15. Ia merasa tenang dan nyaman berada di samping ibunya.
He felt at ease and comfortable next to his mother.  Mr. Big is curious as it is reported by a small frog, immediately replied "Really? How big is he?" The author found inconsistencies in using tense. One example in Mr. Big is curious as it is reported by a small frog. The use of is indicates inconsistencies in translation, especially in the use of tense. The word is should be changed to was. This was because story should be written in past tense.
2) Passive Voice He always called Mr. Big. The basic formula for using passive voice is the formula of subject + to be + V3. From the translation above, it should be translated as He was always called Mr. Big. The use of to be in the form of was because the book is a story book that tells a story of the past.  Source Language Target Language Siang itu, Bu Dara sedang membaca buku, tapi sebenarnya matanya sudah Lelah, Riri si burung kenari yang memang rajin mengingatkan temantemannya menghampiri Bu Dara "Kalau mengantuk jangan dipaksa membaca bu." Nasihatnya.
That afternoon, Dara was reading a book, but in fact his eyes were tired, Riri canary bird that is diligently reminding his friends over to Dara "If drowsiness not be forced to read" counsel.
If we look at the table in the Source Language, we will find the expression Bu Dara, which shows that Bu Dara is a female animal. However, when we looked at the translation, we found the pronoun "His" in the sentence Dara was reading a book, but in fact his eyes were tired. The word of His in the sentence should be changed to her. "Good doctor" Answer Titi. The word Baik, in the example above, should not be translated into the word good, but can use the word choice in the form of alright.

5) Comparative
One example of a mistake in translation in relation to comparability is the use of most large which is not commonly used in English. The most frequently used is the largest because the word large consists of only one syllable. Because bilingual books involve a translation process, the way to translate a story for children must be considered. This is as stated by Hadaway & Young who stated that we point out that the quality of translation is an important consideration.
Literal translations may not maintain the integrity of a story; the ways that idioms, humor, culture, and syntax are expressed across languages require special attention so that the intent of the story is communicated as naturally and accurately as N. N. Hidayati / Al-Asasiyya: Journal of Basic Education 4(1) 2019, p.46-60 57 possible. (Hadaway & Young, 2014) From what we have found above, if we associate it with the theory put forward by Newmark, the current translation word in the bilingual book tends to focus on the source language, namely Indonesian, so that the results there are rigid and inflexible translations and comfortable to read.

b. Perspective of Education Studies
In the global world as it is today, mastering English can be said to be very important because the information we have access to is mostly in English. So, this language investment in children is considered very important. One way that can be used is to read English stories to children.
The Asian Parent Indonesia states that a child's brain works hard enough to develop in the early days of his life when he absorbs the meaning of everything that happens around him. He learns and remembers how all the things in the world work through the 5 trusted senses, consisting of sight, hearing, smell, touch and feel.("The Asian Parent Indonesia. "Memahami Perkembangan Otak Anak," 2019) Nancy Verhoek-Miller, a child expert from Mississippi State University, stated that it is never too early to read a child to a book, and some other experts also say that parents can start reading books while the child is still in the womb. At that time, reading a book can be done in a voice loud enough to be heard by the child. The following are some of the benefits of reading books to children (Walipopo,  12) When reading, children can know the rhythm and melody of the language before they can even understand the words spoken or written.
13) From what has been mentioned above, it can be seen that reading story books provides tremendous benefits for children. When telling a story, parents or teachers need material for the story, and the material comes from story books, one of which is a bilingual children's story book. Bilingual books, also known as dual language books, are available across genres and age groups, including classics and picturebooks in fiction and nonfiction. (Semingson & et al, t.t.) Quoting from Anneke Forzani's writings specifically mentioning the 5 benefits of bilingual books as follows (Forzani, 2019): 1) Improving language skills 2) Enhancing reading enjoyment 3) Encouraging literacy 4) Promoting quality writing

5) Valuing both language
Something that is almost similar to Anneke Forzani's is that Freudenstein mentioned that there are three advantages when learning a foreign language at an early age, consisting of (Freudenstein, 1991): 1) Intellectual improvement; children who learn foreign languages appear to have a higher mental level; they are better than monolinggual children at both verbal and non-verbal abilities at the same age.
2) Mother tongue improvement; incorrect to say that learning a foreign language will interfere with the development of the mother tongue or even interfere with its acquisition. Learning it will help children to understand their mother tongue system better. basic development of a child's mother tongue will end at the age of four or five years. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that bilingual or multilingual children throughout the world have no difficulty as a result of knowing or using several languages effectively in their daily communication.
3) Cultural gains; learning foreign languages can support the growth of individual character quality and it has an important role in character development.
When the benefits of reading and reading a story to a child are very influential both in terms of cognitive and emotional children, it is definitely necessary to have a quality book to read. The same thing was also mentioned by Botelho & Rudman that High quality books written for children can lead to cross-cultural understandings, and can foster empathy and new perspectives. (Semingson & et al, t.t.) From what was mentioned in the previous sub-chapter, that the quality of bilingual books in Indonesia which is not yet good enough to be a source of reading references for teachers and children, it is better to have special attention given by the government, teachers, and parents themselves.
When no improvements are made to maintain the quality of reading books, especially bilingual books, the teacher and parents who become the "environment" of children to absorb information, while the information obtained is not right, it will also affect the children. Because, we know that children always imitate what is around them, both from the teacher, parents and friends around him.
Slattery and Willis said that teachers who teach foreign languages, in this case English must understand that children: (1) only acquire/learn the features they hear from their environment; (2) it is necessary to listen to English as often as possible; (3) they assume that their teacher is their third parent; (4) listen to you and try to understand you, (5) they will talk in the same way as those around them).( niswatin N. Hidayati, t.t.) From what is mentioned, we know that the teacher has a very big role in the learning process of children, so that the teacher must also have a good reading source.

Conclusion
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that there have been many bilingual books issued by publishers. However, the quality is not well preserved, making some bilingual books show subtle translation errors, ranging from tense errors, inconsistency in using pronouns, passive voice, superlative, and even errors in choosing diction. The translation also tends to be word-by-word translation, so that it seems very rigid when read.
In fact, a good translation is a translation that is easy to read, especially to be read to children.
In addition, when the above phenomenon occurs and bilingual books which are a source of reference for teachers and parents to be read to children, have less qualified quality, then the information absorbed by the teacher and parent will also be affected because that will also be conveyed to the child. We realize that not all teachers and parents understand good and correct English grammar, so the government, publishers, and authors of bilingual books for children begin to maintain the quality of books produced so that the quality will keep future generations so that they have good capability in mastering Language.