The impact of contextual understanding on neural machine translation accuracy: A case study of Indonesian cultural idioms in English translation

Abstract

The translation of Indonesian idiomatic expressions into English using Neural Machine Translation (NMT) systems presents significant challenges due to the intricate nature of idiomatic language. Idioms are culturally embedded constructs conveying meanings different from their literal interpretations. This study explores the effectiveness of NMT systems in capturing and translating Indonesian idiomatic expressions into English. Using a qualitative approach, 150 diverse Indonesian idioms were evaluated through Google Translate and DeepL. Each idiom was assessed for semantic accuracy, syntactic coherence, and contextual fidelity. Qualitative analysis provided a comprehensive evaluation of translation quality. Findings reveal significant challenges for NMT systems in translating idiomatic expressions. Both Google Translate and DeepL show strengths in some areas, but also have limitations. While they generally capture literal meanings, they often miss metaphorical nuances and cultural connotations. Syntactic errors such as incorrect word order and tense inconsistencies are common, especially in complex idioms. In addition, contextual fidelity analysis shows that NMT systems struggle with contextual appropriateness and pragmatic usage, resulting in translations lacking cultural sensitivity and relevance. These challenges highlight the need for improved algorithms to better interpret and translate idiomatic language across cultural contexts. Accurate idiom translation is crucial for language learners to understand cultural nuances and idiomatic usage. Enhancing the capabilities of NMT systems requires refining algorithms, developing context-aware models, and expanding training datasets with diverse idiomatic expressions. Overcoming these challenges will advance machine translation capabilities and improve cross-cultural communication and language learning experiences.