An Analysis of Vocational High School Students' Difficulties in Translating English Descriptive Texts into Indonesian: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Translating English texts into Indonesian is essential for Vocational High School (SMK) students' professional communication readiness. However, many students still face significant difficulties, especially with descriptive texts. This systematic literature review (SLR) identifies and analyzes the difficulties and causal factors SMK students face when translating English descriptive texts into Indonesian, drawing on publications from 2016 to 2026. Using a qualitative-synthetic approach based on the PRISMA framework, the study analyzed 20 accredited empirical articles from Google Scholar, ResearchGate, ERIC, and Garuda. The findings reveal that translation difficulties stem from linguistic and non-linguistic factors. Linguistic factors include limited vocabulary, weak grammar, and syntactic differences between English and Indonesian. In contrast, non-linguistic factors involve reliance on literal translation, low self-confidence, and limited use of translation tools. Lexical errors dominate, followed by omission, grammatical, syntactic, and addition errors. These findings highlight the need for targeted pedagogical strategies to improve SMK students' translation competence.