Use of translation in the classroom

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Do you make use of translation in your classroom? And if so, to what extent?

Translation became marginalized for a prolonged period of time, largely as a reaction against the Grammar-Translation Method.  This method, derived from the Classics and Latin and Greek, involved translation as a key component. Students were occupied in memorizing lists of vocabulary and grammar rules and translating literary texts into English. This method was very teacher centred and made extensive use of L1. It fell out of fashion for its failure to focus on context or communication. The main emphasis was on reading and writing and it was often seen as extremely boring and unmotivating.

The decline of the Grammar-translation Method led to approaches such as the Direct Approach and Audiolingualism and subsequently to more Humanistic approaches. These placed more emphasis on communication and instruction was predominantly in the target language, with limited or no use made of L1. 

Guy Cook talks in 2012 at an International House conference in London about there now being, after a period of forty or fifty years, a movement towards more of a bilingual education, including practices like translation. He cites reasons for this, such as the new position of English in the world, new modes of communication and new technology.

There has been a lot of stigma surrounding the use of translation activities, and this is to a certain extent justifiable, as there can be a tendency for overuse of L1 in the classroom and a loss of valuable opportunity to utilise L2 if translation is used. Additionally, it is seen as a difficult skill and one which may not suit every learner. The teacher requires to have a knowledge of L1 and L2 for many of the activities and it is widely believed to demand a large amount of preparation. Many translation activities are viewed as being unmotivating and not in accordance with the principles of the Communicative Approach. Many teachers view translation as being a bad tool to use, in that it gives the false impression to the students that there is one-to-one correspondence between languages. Furthermore, it has been seen as being a pointless exercise which bears little relation to anything required in real life – people do not tend to translate into a foreign language but rather into the native language.

However, this cannot really be justified. As Duff 1989 states, ’Translation happens everywhere, all the time, so why not in the classroom?’ (Duff 1989:17). More recently is has become increasingly obvious that it was not so much a case of translation being an inherently bad tool, but rather the way in which it was used that required to be rethought.

Due to the fact that translation is happening every day and all around the students in their lives, it can be a highly communicative activity and very relevant. Translation is being incorporated into learning in new ways today, such as app-based learning, bilingual flashcards and Duolingo for example, and many students are very used to learning like this.

The two main uses for translation in the classroom are as a teaching tool and as an activity in itself.

 As a teaching tool translation can be helpful for providing quick and accurate clarification of a problematic word or concept. In this way it keeps the lesson moving along, without unnecessary delay.  This helps to ensure that students do not lose interest or motivation. It is also beneficial in facilitating participation of low-level students who might otherwise face barriers to understanding. A quick translation by the teacher or scaffolding from a peer is very useful.  If the teacher is able to make use of translation to engage with the learners in their L1 it can be a very powerful way of establishing rapport in the classroom and showing that you value and respect their language and  their culture.

Duff (1989) sums up five main reasons for and benefits of using translation, saying that it helps students to understand the influence of languages on each other; it is a natural and necessary activity; it is useful to translate both into and out of L2; the material should be authentic; it helps with accuracy, clarity and flexibility. He also adds that translation is now used to learn rather that to learn translation.

Translation activities in the class are a good way of developing learner autonomy. This is a skill they will need to use on a daily basis.

Here are two differ
ent ways I have used translation in my classes:

The first activity is for higher level classes (B1 +), either monolingual or a class where there are groups which share the same L1, is reverse translation. This is an activity which is over 500 years old but it is very effective still.  The way in which I use it is to have groups of students search for an interesting news item online in their L1 and to come to a consensus over this. Then they work together to translate it into English and present it to the rest of the class. The next stage is for them to translate it back into their L1 on a subsequent occasion. This is a very productive exercise and very simple. It involves communication and a gap, as the students work together to help each other. It involves all four skills and a discussion of meaning at a deep level.  When the students translate the article back into L1 they have to analyse the differences and to offer explanations as to why some parts have changed. They will be able to better appreciate problems caused in English by interference from their L1 as well as features such as idioms, differences in register and style and structures which are different in each language. In terms of efficiency, it requires little preparation and does not require the teacher to share the students L1.  With the students having the choice of material it is more motivating and relevant for their lives.

The second activity which is extremely useful is one suggested by Hamman, Beck and Donaldson in A Pedagogy of Translanguaging (2018) in their work in developing a framework for integrating flexibility into a bilingual classroom in Spain. This activity can be useful for lower level students and supports literacy. The students are involved in the joint construction of a bilingual information text.  They are told that it will have to be completely bilingual as the will be taking it home to let their family members who do not speak English read it. The students are given a topic and have to research this in groups, for example animal habitats, ecological issues, or as in the research carried out, ecosystems. The topic can be co-negotiated with the learners, if this is seen to be appropriate. They will work together to complete information on various aspects of their topic and alternate pages – one in English and one in L1 (the groups should all share L1 for this activity). When they are finished this part, they then proceed to translate each section into the other language. This results in the end product being completely bilingual. They then go back to the original texts and edit them. Hamman, Beck and Donaldson state that this process, ‘enabled the students to use their full linguistic repertoire, strengthened students’ writing and enriched their second language learning’ (Hamman, Beck and Donaldson 2018). The process of accessing the initial information in the language of their choice provides additional support for lower level learners, especially for their writing skills.

This activity is very motivating, as the students are, even at low levels, aware that this is a skill they will be using on a regular basis when translating for members of their families who do not speak English. As in the first activity the students reach a better awareness of differences and similarities between the two languages. The revision process forces the learners to think more deeply about structure of the two languages and to enhance and make their writing more sophisticated. In terms of efficiency, this activity is neither quick nor easy to set up, but the time spent completing the activity justifies this. In terms of efficacy, the students are highly motivated. This activity, if carefully set up with appropriacy for the individual students in mind, satisfies the criteria set out by Hamman, Beck and Donaldson as being Purposeful, interactive and inclusive and enriching (PIE).

Do you have any good activities that use translation?