Wednesday afternoon’s #eltchat was on the use of translation. Over my teaching career this has been a topic that has often come up in development session. As a teacher as I have got more experienced I think I have gone from the draconian ‘no use of l1’ to a more tolerant approach but nevertheless I was blown away by Guy Cook’s revelation (in a talk I saw at the weekend) that there is no research to support the ‘banning’ of translation. I tend to agree with the point made that translation is a skill (the fifth skill as it was referred to yesterday) but we need to be careful and ensure we draw a line between L1 use in the classroom and the use of translation.
As a language learner I have always needed translation as a crutch and as one tweet said:
“Show me a beginner learner who is NOT trying to translate at some stage”
And our learning experiences seem (for the most part) to hold this view:
Teachers reflecting on their learning and translation:
- Comparing structures is often quite useful – what crosses over between L1 and L2 and what doesn’t
- I learnt through translation as well but must say it was when I ABANDONED translating that my acquisition took off
- I need translation skills all the time (live with an Italian)
- Translation is what helped me realise how uniquely different the two systems are, on multiple levels.
- As a learner, I noticed a sequence (in myself) of translating from words to chunks…
In the summary of below I have tried to categorize the main points of chat, the topic headings are my own, I hope they reflect the chat as a whole.
Why is translation ignored?
- There is no research to suggest translation is a bad thing yet it is generally ignored
- It’s the effects of the Direct Method still gripping all other later approaches IMOHO
- I think it’s a general feeling that translation is ‘old-fashioned’ but it’s not
- What I remember most about my CertTESOL course is the icy stare I got from lecturers when I told them I actually enjoy translation
- Perhaps the problem is that many still look at translation from a grammar translation point of view, which takes us back to those boring lessons.
- Some schools actively ban L1 completely
Plus points of translation:
- It can be great at empowering learners when they’re feeling overwhelmed by English speaker at front!
- Translation can be useful for highlighting specific differences between L1 and L2, but should we be using it for other things too
- Translation can be a great tool for students to grasp real meaning of what they’re saying
- Students also seem to feel secure with some translation of vocabulary items. Maybe as you know a language more you need it less.
- Just yesterday a student of mine said he felt much more comfortable doing his homework and using an online translator
- Students find it very difficult to understand come concepts without translation
- Just as some students are visual learners, etc, some will benefit more than others from translating
- It can help convey a cultural concept from one language which does not transfer to the other
- Translation is handy with monolingual groups when we can’t get meaning of a lexical item across after attempts: translate! Quick & effective
Some issues:
- It’s a tricky thing for a teacher to manage or use in a multilingual class.
- As any other tool in the language classroom, translation has to be used carefully, but it may be useful if used properly
- Translation perpetuates the myth that the native English teacher is always best or the NEST perpetuating myth
- It is widely used in mainly state education systems and often in “boring” grammar-translation” lessons.
- Is there a danger of students becoming dependent on translation, if allowed more freely? The problem of overreliance.
- It’s important that we are encouraging students to speak English rather than banning them from using their L1
- how does L1 culture affect attitude to using translation? Issues of identity, politics all play a part.
- Allowing students to use L1 will prevent them from acquiring important features of pronunciation, for instance
Some way to use translation:
- Translation can be used in multilingual classes as personalised exercise
- The lexical approach is a big advocate of translation
- Mixing translation with pronunciation. Sentences written in phonemic script
- Translation and contrastive analysis are important teaching tools
- Does the teacher need to be in control or is it a way of handing over learning to the students?
- Have multilingual classes translate poems etc into their own language
- It can be extremely useful especially in ESP courses.
- Get multilingual classes to translate into their L1s, then give ‘literal’ translations back into English
- Fixing a bad translation into English is a great activity
- Learners’ conversation are much more natural if they think about what they would say in L1 in the context before thinking about L2
- Translating songs
- Writing subtitles in L1 for a TV clip
- Scraps of paper: L1 one side, L2 the other. Put in circle. Roll dice, say translation (works for very clear direct equivalents)
- Getting students to translate L1 newspaper stories into L2 in summary and then present – works in reverse too
- L1 can also be used for input or conversation trigger. For instance, a newspaper article in L1, but discussion in L2.
- Drama activity: Students act out scene in L1 then watch it in L2 – great for cultural and paralinguistic features
- For business lessons replicating real situations useful, e.g., getting students to explain menu, news headlines, signs, etc.
- Translation great for practising reported speech as it should be practiced
- Students can build list of troublesome false cognates
- Find a badly translated menu and get students to improve it – mostly food vocabulary but a real task
Links
Guy Cook’s recent talk on translation
Links for Translators and Translator trainees
