Centro de Estudios de Postgrado

UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN
Centro de Estudios de Postgrado

Trabajo Fin de Máster

THE ROLE OF
TRANSLATION IN
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
LEARNING AND
TEACHING

Alumno/a: Castro Moreno, Carolina

Tutor/a: Prof. Dña. Ana Bueno Amaro

Dpto: Filología Inglesa

Junio, 2015
 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. ABSTRACT AND KEY WORDS ......................................................................................... 3

B. STATE OF THE ART ........................................................................................................ 4
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 4
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................... 6
2.1. THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD .............................................................. 6
2.2. OPPOSING THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD: THE REFORM MOVEMENT 7
2.3. THE DIRECT METHOD ............................................................................................. 8
2.4. TEACHING BETWEEN 1950 AND 1990 ................................................................... 9
2.5. THE LEXICAL APPROACH....................................................................................... 10
2.6. BRIEF RECAPITULATION ....................................................................................... 11
3. BUT…WHAT EXACTLY IS TRANSLATION? .................................................................... 12
3.1. PROFESSIONAL VS. PEDAGOGICAL TRANSLATION ............................................... 13
3.2. OBJECTIVES OF PEDAGOGICAL TRANSLATION ..................................................... 16
4. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF TRANSLATION: ASSETS AND PITFALLS ........................ 17
4.1. FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE TRANSFER ........................................................... 21
4.2. THE CULTURAL DIMENSION ................................................................................. 24
4.2.1. LANGUAGE..................................................................................................... 25
4.2.2. CULTURE ........................................................................................................ 25
4.2.3. INTERCULTURAL LANGUAGE LEARNING ....................................................... 26
4.3. OWN-LANGUAGE USE ARGUMENTS .................................................................... 30
4.4. EDUCATIONAL ARGUMENTS ................................................................................ 32
5. TOWARDS A POSITIVE REASSESSMENT OF TRANSLATION ......................................... 33
6. TEACHING THROUGH TRANSLATION .......................................................................... 35
6.1. WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION ACTIVITIES ..................................................... 38
6.2. CLOSE TRANSLATION............................................................................................ 39
6.3. TRANSLATION AND VOCABULARY ....................................................................... 39
6.4. DISCUSSIONS ABOUT TRANSLATION PROBLEMS ................................................. 40
6.5. COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION ........................................................................ 41
6.6. SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION ...................................................................... 42

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

6.7. TRANSLATION AND CULTURE............................................................................... 43

6.8. SOME FINAL CONSIDERATIONS............................................................................ 44
7. SOME CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................. 44
C. DIDACTIC UNIT ............................................................................................................ 46
8. TITLE OF THE UNIT ...................................................................................................... 46
8.1. JUSTIFICATION .................................................................................................... 46
8.2. CONTEXTUALISATION........................................................................................... 47
8.3. TIMING ................................................................................................................. 47
8.4. DIDACTIC OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................... 48
8.5. CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ 49
8.6. VALUES AND CROSS-CURRICULAR ASPECTS ........................................................ 50
8.7. INTERDISCIPLINARY ELEMENTS ............................................................................ 51
8.8. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 51
8.9. STEP-BY-STEP PLANNING ..................................................................................... 52
8.10. EVALUATION CRITERIA ....................................................................................... 61
8.11. EVALUATION TOOLS ........................................................................................... 62
8.12. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES ............................................................................. 62
D. BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 64
9. STATE OF ART .............................................................................................................. 64
10. DIDACTIC UNIT .......................................................................................................... 65
11. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................... 65
E. ANNEXES ..................................................................................................................... 66

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

A. ABSTRACT AND KEY WORDS

ABSTRACT

Translation was severely outlawed from the foreign language classroom for a long
period of time. However, this denial overlooked the numerous benefits that its
implementation provides students with. In this sense, over the last years, translation
has started to find its place within the language classroom and it is now regarded as a
useful resource to be applied for learning a second language.
The key has been the consideration of this resource as complementary to the
four skills of language, these being those of speaking, writing, listening and reading.
For this reason, pedagogical translation is now taking a prominent place in the
different approaches implemented in second and foreign language teaching as a
further tool to facilitate language learning.
KEY WORDS: pedagogical translation, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL),
language learning, language acquisition, resources in the language classroom.
RESUMEN
Durante un largo período de tiempo la traducción estuvo totalmente prohibida
en las clases de lengua extranjera. Sin embargo, esta negación no hacía sino pasar por
alto los numerosos beneficios que su implementación aporta a los alumnos. En este
sentido, durante los últimos años, la traducción ha empezado a encontrar su lugar
dentro del aula de idiomas y hoy en día es considerada como un recurso útil para ser
aplicado a la hora de aprender un idioma.
La clave ha consistido en considerar este recurso como complementario a las
cuatro destrezas de la lengua, a saber, hablar, escribir, escuchar y leer. Así pues, la
traducción pedagógica está actualmente creciendo en importancia dentro los distintos
enfoques puestos en práctica en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras como una
herramienta más para facilitar la adquisición del idioma.
PALABRAS CLAVE: traducción pedagógica, enseñanza de inglés como lengua
extranjera, aprendizaje del idioma, adquisición del idioma, recursos en la clase de
idiomas.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

B. STATE OF THE ART

1. INTRODUCTION

The aim of the present paper is to portray the current role of translation in foreign
language (FL) teaching as well as the different stages which translation has undergone
over the last years in order to provide a renewed image of this procedure, and outline
all the benefits that its implementation within the classroom involves.
Translation is an activity that has been neglected over a prolonged period of
time owing to the major influence that the Grammar-Translation Method and its
application within the classroom had on foreign language teaching. The historical
analysis of the evolution of translation over the years allows us to identify and
understand the key elements that have marked strong stages of discredit of the
concept.
Nevertheless, the application of translation within the Grammar-Translation
Method and all the subsequent approaches that followed it offers but a footnote of all
the different ways in which translation can be exploited within the educational
context.
For this reason, this paper is focused on analyzing the role of translation within
the different approaches that have been implemented in the language classroom,
reassessing its role, as well as providing support for the arguments in favour of its
introduction within the language teaching classroom.
On a different level, it is widely believed that when we speak about translation
we are referring to a professional activity, even in the educational context. However,
the type of translation that is implemented within the classroom has little or even
nothing to do with professional translation, and it is known as pedagogical translation.
The main goal of pedagogical translation, or in other words, the type of
translation undertaken in the language classroom, consists in a didactic objective, since
it is devoted to the teacher and the students. Thus, it pursues the comprehension of
the students, and the improvement of the second language.
In this sense, the aim of this kind of translation is to facilitate the acquisition of
the new language while enjoying it at the time. In other words, it is not focused on the
creation of a good result, which is the aim of professional translation.
In this sense, this paper is also focused on explaining the existing differences
between professional and pedagogical translation and developing different types of
activities that may be implemented in the language classroom. To fulfill this purpose,
we have based ourselves on the literature review of different works dealing with this

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

issue. In this respect, and according to the gathered data, this is a soft and
non-experimental research, as it is not focused on the empirical data collection but on
the review of the theory related to this issue.
This is also an applied research due to the fact that we have devised a didactic
unit focused on the use of some translation activities in the foreign language
classroom. Finally, it is also a primary, synthetic and deductive research, as it gives an
overview of the current role of translation and the different ways to use it.
All in all, this paper tries to verify the idea that translation needs to be
reintroduced in language teaching since it can provide students with benefits that
other procedures do not.
The different sections into which this paper is divided will show how the role of
translation has changed since its inception. We shall witness how the position of
translation within the classroom has changed from its complete denial to its
undeniable reappraisal these days.
In this regard, a large number of arguments against its use will be counteracted
by listing a far larger number of positive arguments in favour of its application within
the language teaching approaches, and more specifically, within the foreign language
classroom.
Thus, the structure of this paper is divided into eleven different sections which
are organized as follows:
- The section that follows the abstract and the introduction is focused on the
literature review; this would be the second part of the paper and it is
subdivided into different sections whereby a historical review about the
role of translation is done regarding the main methods in which translation
took part.
- Likewise, whereas in the third section the concept of translation and the
arguments in favour of its implementation are explained, the fourth section
is devoted to explaining the current position of translation within the
second language classroom.
- Within the next section, which is the fifth section, some activities are
suggested to be introduced within the second language classroom
- This previous section would be followed by the conclusions and some
recommendations for further research.
- To conclude, the different perspectives, inquiry procedures and materials
reviewed in the research are put into practice in the didactic unit in terms
of activities for the second language classroom, and finally, the
bibliographical references and the annexes.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The current position of translation has been conditioned over the years by the
different methods and approaches that have been implemented in foreign language
learning and teaching. For this reason, there is no point in defining the existing
situation of translation without making a historical review of the evolution of this
concept and its place in the classroom.
First of all, it is needed to state that translation has undergone a process
whereby it has changed from being the most suitable resource implemented for
learning a language, to becoming an outlawed procedure in practically every single
teaching method.
According to this, it is crucial to understand the reasons for avoiding its use
over the years as well as to explain the advantages that this procedure can provide
learners with. Thus, the best way to put us in the picture is by describing the various
stages of the evolution of translation. In this sense, the purpose of the following pages
is to provide an overview of the main methods in which translation has taken part to a
greater or lesser extent.

2.1. THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

During the 20th century, the use of translation in the language classroom was rejected
due to the major influence that the Grammar-Translation Method had had thus far.
This was the main method implemented from the end of the 19th century until the 20th
century.
This method laid emphasis on grammar, accuracy and writing. Moreover, one
of its main objectives was enabling students to read the literary classics of the foreign
language that they were learning (Cook, 2012, p.9). Consequently, this method focused
on writing and reading skills, thus putting aside any other aspect related to
communication.
As Cook (2012) suggests, the Grammar-Translation Method was based on
teaching grammar deductively and on making word-for-word translation exercises with
large amounts of vocabulary and grammar constructions seen before; there was no
room for creativity nor fluency. The rules of the language were first explained to the
students in their mother tongue. After that, students learnt these rules by heart and
put them into practice through activities, which could contain only vocabulary and
structures previously seen. Proceeding like this, imagination was hindered.
Nevertheless, this method also had some assets. Due to the fact that it is
focused on exercises with vocabulary and grammar which had previously been
presented, there was no room for surprises. Moreover, it could be the best approach
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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

for teachers who were not proficient in the language that they were teaching, since
lessons could be planned by simply following the book (Cook, 2012, p.14).
Thus, the Grammar-Translation Method is closely related to what to teach
instead of how to teach it. Besides, the implementation of translation only consisting
of word-for-word exercises and equivalents is solely restricted to this method.
Consequently, it does not make sense to outlaw the use of translation on the whole as
if the only way to be implemented was that of the Grammar-Translation Method.

2.2. OPPOSING THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD: THE REFORM

MOVEMENT

The consequences of the implementation of the Grammar-Translation Method led to

the appearance of different methods which completely opposed the former. The
Reform Movement was the first approach that criticized the way in which a foreign
language was taught according to the Grammar-Translation Method.
The arguments were based on the grounds that it did not take into account the
communicative aspects of language, it encouraged false notions of equivalence and it
used isolated sentences rather than connected texts, so that it was based on form
rather than meaning. Translation was used as a means to enable the students to read
literary works and to learn about a language but not about how to use it.
It is also important to mention that this theoretical rejection of translation
during the 20th century had to do with the democratic and economic changes that
were taking place all over the world: immigration to the United States, the increasing
world trade and tourism, and the growing dominance of English as a global language
(Cook, 1998; Cook, 2012). This resulted in the presence of immigrants coming from
different parts of the world, so that the English lessons had to cater for people with
different linguistic backgrounds and mother tongues, making translation impossible.
People needed to learn a new language fast and to be able to communicate
properly in order to survive, prosper and get a job in their new homeland. That was the
reason why a new type of language learning institution was developed: the private
language schools, most notably the Berlitz Schools.
The ideas put into practice in this type of schools were those based on the
supremacy of native teachers, the focus on speaking and the strict following of the
guidelines of the textbook. These ideas were the main pillars of the so-called Berlitz
Method, considered as “the first true hard-line rejection of translation” (Cook, 2012,
p.6).
Following Cook (2012, p.7), it must be claimed that although it is true that the
Reform Movement and the Berlitz Method were closely related, they also had a

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

significant difference. Their focuses of attention, as well as their objectives, were

largely different. Whereas the Reform Movement focused its attention on language
teaching in secondary schools and was based on pedagogic concerns, the Berlitz
Method was developed for commercial reasons in order to cater for clients.
Nevertheless, the ideas of these two approaches, one academic and one
commercial, “merged to yield a strong and coherent new programme for language
teaching which became known as the Direct Method” (Cook, 2012, p.7).

2.3. THE DIRECT METHOD

All these oppositions to the Grammar-Translation Method led to the subsequent

appearance of The Direct Method, an approach that emerged between 1850 and 1900
and which was based on the exclusive use of the FL in language teaching, and the
proscription of the L1.
This method was characterized by changing from literary language to the
spoken everyday language, and by learning grammar inductively. It was considered the
best way to achieve native-like fluency and it was a means to overcome the
overreliance on the L1.
Taking into account the criticism towards the Direct Method, it can be
concluded that there was no room for the utilization of the L1 in the language
classroom. Consequently, translation could not be included in the classroom, for it was
regarded as damaging for the acquisition of a second language.
The Direct Method was founded on four strong pillars (Cook, 2012, pp.8-9):

 Monolingualism, which refers to language itself and, according to it, only

the FL could be used on classroom.
 Naturalism, which is about language learning. This pillar was based on the
assumption that a language is better learnt if it comes naturally, and
translation and the switch between two languages is not natural.
 Native-speakerism, based on the idea that a native speaker is the best
model for students and native-speaker acquisition is the best way to master
a language.
 Absolutism, thus meaning the only existence of this method and its unique
implementation in the classroom.
According to these four assumptions, the Direct Method was the only route to
acquire proficiency in a language, and the only useful tool in the classroom was the FL,
as the use of the first language (L1) would result in interferences between the two
languages. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that these interferences that the
Direct Method labeled as negative may not be damaging when learning a language and

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

that not only negative transfer but also positive one is present when switching
between one language and another.
Furthermore, there is a misconception about translation which arises from the
assumption of monolingualism. This pillar of the Direct Method assumes that the use
of the L1 in the classroom has to be outlawed as it damages FL learning. However,
although the rejection of the own-language use in the classroom inevitably implies the
rejection of translation, translation is only a specific type of own-language use, as the
L1 includes many other aspects apart from translation (Cook, 2012, p.53).
There are also several problems arising from the implementation of the Direct
Method. As Stern (1983) quotes:

One has been how to convey meaning without translating, and how to safeguard
against misunderstanding without reference to the first language. Another has
been how to apply the Direct Method beyond elementary stages of language
learning (Stern, 1983, p.460).

This way, we can witness that there are different pitfalls of this method which
evince the need for the reassessment of translation in foreign language learning.

2.4. TEACHING BETWEEN 1950 AND 1990

There were many different methods that emerged after the appearance of the Direct
Method and influenced foreign language teaching, such as Audiolingualism,
Humanistic Methods, The Natural Approach or Communicative Language Teaching.
The purpose of Audiolingualism consisted in the achievement of native-like
fluency, so that it was focused on listening and speaking. Consequently, there was no
room for implementing translation activities within the classroom.
Communicative Language Teaching also left translation behind, since its main
aim was to develop the communicative competence and skills. In order to reach these
goals three main principles were established: the teaching should be meaningful,
task-based and communicative. Therefore, once again there was no room for
translation.
In Humanistic Approaches such as Community Language Learning or
Suggestopedia, translation was regarded as a further tool that may be used within the
classroom. Regarding Community Language Learning specifically, translation was used
by the teacher in order to facilitate the students’ understanding. Therefore, translation
played an important role.
With the implementation of Suggestopedia, the students learnt the language
through relaxed processes of activation of the whole brain. Its main goal was the

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

creation of comfort and self-confidence within the classroom. In this regard,

translation was used when considered necessary to assure understanding.
Concerning other Humanistic methods, such as The Silent Way or Total Physical
Response, translation was not used. The main goal of The Silent Way was to maximize
the active participation of the students within the classroom. Therefore, the teacher
remained quiet the majority of the time. Likewise, Total Physical Response was
focused on the repetition of commands and their subsequent performance. Thus,
translation did not play a crucial role in these methods, but it was not outlawed either.
Therefore, whereas there were methods and approaches which followed the
line of The Direct Method and within which translation was not implemented, there
were also some Humanistic Approaches in which this procedure had its space, such as
Community Language Learning or Suggestopedia. However, it was only with the
appearance of the Lexical Approach that translation grew in significance.

2.5. THE LEXICAL APPROACH

The last significant approach which is going to be mentioned in this paper is the Lexical
Approach, which has had a significant influence in the use of translation in the
classroom. This method became very popular in the 1990s as a post-communicative
approach and it considered the study of a language through lexis (words and word
combinations), rather than through grammar.
This approach was devoted to making the students aware of their own learning
process by creating an operative environment in which the teacher explained how
language works. It focused its attention on the “lexical chunk”, which may be defined
as a group of up to eight words that are learned and used as single items, such as
collocations, idioms or real expressions, among others.
Consequently, the main focus of this approach had little to do with grammar
and rules about a language. Quite on the contrary, this method may be regarded as a
revolutionary approach insofar as it considered the lexical chunk as the best suited tool
to be exploited in language learning. This way, grammar is given a lesser priority and
does not play a crucial role in language learning.
What was prioritized in this method was input, but it was also a
teacher-centred approach, since the teacher was considered the best model to provide
input to the students –input that must be comprehensible in order to be effective for
the students–. According to this approach and contrary to any other previous method,
the receptive skills were more important than the productive ones. This fact
constitutes a small but significant shift that must be regarded as the first revolutionary
attempt to detract from the significance of grammar.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

2.6. BRIEF RECAPITULATION

Needless to say, the approaches that appeared against the Grammar-Translation
Method began to focus their attention on the communicative aspects of the language.
All of them have in common the importance of achieving proficiency and ability to
communicate properly and be understood, rather than learn the rules or even the
grammar of a language, that is, learning about language itself.
Despite communication being the most important goal of language learning,
this does not mean that any other aspect can be overlooked, since mastering a
language must join every single skill and component that a language contains.
Successful communication implies well-structured sentences with appropriate
language regarding the context. For this reason, translation should be incorporated in
language teaching as an aiding resource to reinforce some aspects of a language for
which it is especially beneficial.
Furthermore, following the ideas of Cook (2001), this attitude against the L1
was undeniably a clear mainstream element in 20th century language teaching
methodology. As aforementioned, almost every method was based on achieving
native-like fluency, and all of them were in favour of the avoidance of the L1, but the
most important point to take into account is that these methods were more focused
on avoiding the use of the L1 than in using the FL. They rejected every single strategy
related to the use of translation in second language teaching, relating its use to that of
the Grammar-Translation Method.
Although there were many methods against the use of translation, such as The
Reform Movement, the Berlitz Method and the Direct Method, there were others,
such as The Lexical Approach, which began to reveal little nuances of the favourable
use of translation and positive aspects of this procedure in foreign language
acquisition. Thus, translation began to make a space for itself in the classroom and to
overcome the negative aspects associated with it.
Moreover, almost every criticism to translation took for granted that it was
going to be implemented as in the Grammar-Translation Method, ignoring the
different ways to take advantage of this useful tool in foreign language teaching, and
overlooking the different types of translation that exist (Cook, 1998).
This seems to have changed during the last years since translation seems to be
making a name for it among the procedures used in foreign language classrooms. This
may be the result of the wide range of possibilities that translation can offer and the
positive aspects that its implementation implies, as we will try to show throughout this
paper.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

3. BUT…WHAT EXACTLY IS TRANSLATION?

First of all, if we are going to speak about translation, we must give a definition of what
translation really means. The popular view of translation is that it is a process whereby
a transfer of meaning takes place between two languages.
However, this definition has some pitfalls, since not everything in one language
has an exact equivalent in another. For this reason, translation has to be regarded not
only as a transfer of meaning, but also as a transfer of cultural knowledge. When there
is no equivalent for one concept, we have to understand it and explain its meaning, so
that translation is far from a simple transfer of word meanings.
Additionally, it is necessary to consider that speaking about translation is
closely related to dealing with concepts that some people may not be familiar with. It
is important to know that when translation takes place, there is always a “source
language” and a “target language”. The source language may be defined as the original
language that takes part in the process, whereas the target language would be the
language into which the source language is translated.
Following this line, we can encounter some other new concepts such as
“source” and “target text”. If we bear in mind how the concepts of source and target
language defined above, we can assume that when we speak about source text –often
abbreviated as ST– we refer to the original text, and that the target text –or TT– may
be defined as the product of the translation of the source text into another language.
Therefore, translation deals with two languages that interact and that are
related to each other, because, at the time of learning a new language, there is always
an undeniable connection with previous knowledge.
Finally, it is important to understand that when we speak about translation, it is
widely accepted that we refer to professional translation, which is in fact considered
by many as the only way to translate. Translation in this sense is regarded as the
process whereby a professional translator conveys the meaning of one text into a
different language in order to enable the audience to experience the same feeling than
the original does with the audience of the source text.
Therefore, professional translation is devoted to maintaining the feeling that
the original text creates, and for this reason it needs to take into account the context
in which it takes place, and the audience to whom is intended. All in all, it is mainly
focused on the creation of a polished perfect product, this meaning a polished and
perfect translation.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Nevertheless, we need to highlight that there are different types of translation

and that pedagogical translation, which differs greatly from the former, is the one we
are talking about.

3.1. PROFESSIONAL VS. PEDAGOGICAL TRANSLATION

In an educational environment, students are expected to acquire a number of skills

which will allow them to transmit and understand messages or, in other words, to
communicate.
Nowadays, the widespread rejection against translation in education is due to
the assumption that it is completely disconnected from communication. Nevertheless,
translation could be considered as yet another skill along with those of speaking,
listening, reading and writing (Witte et al., 2009, p.33). A person who masters a foreign
language has the capability to interpret messages in this language and to produce
them into his/her mother tongue, to understand and to adapt them depending on the
context. All in all, this person has the capability to translate.
Following the ideas of De Arriba (1996), it is worth noting that when we speak
about translation in language teaching, we are not thinking about professional
translation, but pedagogical translation, which differs significantly from the former.
Pedagogical translation is the translation that takes place in the language classroom,
and it has specific characteristics that are inherent to it. The goal of this type of
translation is mainly didactic, and it is primarily intended for the students and the
teacher.
Whereas professional translation is focused on the transmission of one
message from the source language to the target language, pedagogical translation is
based on the comprehension of the students, and the improvement of the foreign
language. Therefore, the purpose of pedagogical translation consists in making the
students understand rather than making a reader or listener understand, which would
be the objective of professional translation (De Arriba, 1996, pp.275-276).
In view of this, although pedagogical and professional translations share some
similarities, we can state that their nature differs from each other. As the table below
shows, their objectives are rather different: pedagogical translation is nothing but a
means to transmit the language, irrespective of the quality of the translation itself,
whereas professional translation is focused on the product which will be given to the
receivers.
Furthermore, the context of both types of translation is also highly different.
Pedagogical translation does not take into account so deeply the situation or the
environment in which translation takes place; its aim consists in letting the teacher

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

know to what extent the student has understood. Although it is important to consider
the context in which the text takes place so as to understand it, it is not as essential as
in professional translation.
On the contrary, a translation made in the professional scope is devoted to
having the same impact on its audience than the original text. For this reason, it has to
be intrinsically related to the parameters of the situation in which it appears, to the
type of receiver, to the type of vocabulary or to the type of text, among others.
Additionally, the text does not have to be entirely understood in the case of
pedagogical translation; having grasped the gist of the text is enough. On the other
hand, a professional translator is expected to understand the text completely in order
to create a good product.
Thus, to summarize all these ideas it is worth including the following table
which compares these both types of translation:

Pedagogical Translation Professional Translation

It is a means to learn the It is an end in itself, since its

language, to control purpose is that of
Objectives comprehension and to explain transmitting one message
words or structures that may which has to be understood
be difficult for the students by its audience

Translation only takes place

Translation takes place for the
when the parameters of the
Situation of teacher. It is also possible to
situation are known: where
communication translate a produced text,
should the text appear? For
“neutralized”, without context
which type of readers?

Sometimes we translate
without understanding at all Translation is not possible if
Nature of the
since the purpose of the the text is not perfectly
translated text
exercise partly consists in understood
checking this understanding

It only occurs in the sense

Sense of translation Version or theme
language 2 language 1

Table 1. Pedagogical vs professional translation. (Grellet 1991, p.13, in De Arriba, 1996,

p.276. Translation by author).

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Therefore, it should be clear that introducing pedagogical translation in the

classroom has nothing to do with the type of translation that a professional does. The
rationale for pedagogical translation is that of communication. Thus, it cannot be
related to professional translation, which is focused on creating a target text as similar
as possible to the source text. As we shall strive to demonstrate later on, pedagogical
translation can add many advantages as far as language teaching is concerned.
In addition to this, special attention must be given to the taxonomy that De
Arriba (1996) offers about the different types of translation that can be exploited in
the classroom as a means to facilitate foreign language learning. We include them
below, in the order in which they typically take place:

 Explanatory translation: used by the teacher in order to make students

understand meanings, instructions or explanations and whose main
objective is pedagogical. Occasionally, the teacher can demand its use from
the students in order to check their understanding.
 Interiorized translation: students understand the FL by translating into their
L1, either consciously or unconsciously. Especially in the early stages of
learning new languages, learners tend to translate instantaneously in their
minds to interiorize new knowledge and associate it with previous one.
 Translation of texts: this third type of translation is based on providing
students with reading and writing skills, by translating different texts into
the L1. This type of translation offers learners the possibility of working with
essential aspects of language such as grammar, structures or even
vocabulary.
In addition to these three types of translation that De Arriba suggests, we must
include that of inverse translation, or in other words, translation into the FL. This type
of translation may be quite useful for students in order to let them know how the
structures between the two languages differ and it also provides them with skills to
paraphrase and overcome linguistic difficulties.
In view of this, we can distinguish different ways whereby both students and
teachers can benefit from introducing translation in the language classroom. All these
uses of translation offer distinct advantages depending on the context, but all of them
are devoted to facilitating FL learning. Furthermore, not only does pedagogical
translation embrace linguistic aspects but it also takes into consideration cultural
issues, as we shall explain later on.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

3.2. OBJECTIVES OF PEDAGOGICAL TRANSLATION

Having explained the four different types of translation that can be introduced within
the language classroom –explanatory, interiorized, translation of texts and inverse
translation-, it is essential to enumerate which the purposes of translation are.
De Arriba (1996, p.281) provides different reasons for which translation ought
to be introduced within the classroom. These reasons include the following:

 To improve comprehension: translation is a means to enhance

comprehension, since by means of translation the teacher and even
students can check if they have understood an utterance, either written or
oral.
 To enhance the FL: as long as the FL deals with the previous knowledge of
the L1, translation may help the teacher to take advantage of both
languages to improve the learning of the new language.
 To cope with difficulties of interference: translation can be exploited in
order to overcome problems of interference between languages, since it
provides the students with different strategies for dealing with expressions,
structures or words that do not work in the FL in the same way than in the
L1.
 To reflect upon the L1: as we have mentioned before, the FL shares space
with the L1; therefore, when translating, not only do students learn about
the FL, but they also reflect upon their own language. Translation opens up
doors to the functioning of the L1 and consequently, the improvement of
the mother-tongue results in the mastering of the FL.
 To acquire the skills of translation: the introduction of translation within the
classroom also offers the students the opportunity to learn how to
translate. Nowadays, translation takes place in almost every daily situation
(please, refer to section 4.4. for more information on this). For this reason,
more and more students think about it as a possibility to earn a living.
Teaching them how they can translate messages or texts, will give them
insight into how professional translation works.
Additionally, following the ideas of Pintado (2012), we must not forget that the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages also mentions translation
as a useful skill for communication.
We cannot forget the inclusion of this ability in the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which although obliquely, it does
mention translation as a communicative skill. (Pintado, 2012, p.343. Translation
by author).

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Likewise, all the reasons that have been previously displayed offer different
goals whereby pedagogical translation can provide a large number of advantages
within the language classroom. Overlooking these advantages would do nothing but
minimize the possibilities that translation adds to language learning.
To conclude, it is worth highlighting that the type of translation used in the
classroom is not focused on the product, that is, a perfect and polished text which
reflects the same idea as the original, and which tries to be as accurate as possible to
maintain every single nuance present in the source text. Contrary to professional
translation, pedagogical translation is entirely based on the process.
According to this, translation is regarded as a means through which students
can master their language. Whether they can make an accurate and faithful translation
of the text is not important. What matters is that they learn from the process.
In this sense, pedagogical translation has to be regarded as an authentic task
that can be implemented within the classroom, since translation takes place beyond
educational contexts and allows people all over the world to communicate with each
other. Translation cannot be separated from communication but rather it constitutes
an integral part of it. In other words, pedagogical translation contributes to
communication.

4. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF TRANSLATION: ASSETS AND

PITFALLS

As shown in the previous sections, the historical review of translation provides proof of
the existence of so many approaches against the use of the L1 in the foreign language
teaching. All these approaches were regarded as supporters of a communicative
approach, focused on the communicative aspects of a language rather than the rules
and the grammar that shape it. All of them advocated fluency and native-like
communication over everything else.
After all the methods that emerged against the Grammar-Translation Method
and which did not regard grammar as a crucial aspect of language learning, a large
number of specialists considered the revaluation of grammar as required when
learning a language, since the communicative aspects were not the only elements
necessary to master a new language; by knowing grammar and by creating
well-structured utterances with appropriate vocabulary learners can enhance their
accuracy.
In view of this, we can assume that the subsequent approaches to the
Grammar-Translation Method have started nowadays to be regarded as incomplete
since all these methods and approaches overlooked the importance of grammar.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Several linguistic specialists do not agree with the unique implementation of

communicative approaches and they have tried to look for solutions.
Grammar must be regarded in the second language classroom as an essential
part of learning a new language; otherwise, the acquisition of the new language will
not be complete.
At the time of looking for solutions, translation may seem to be a helpful
resource not only for teaching grammar, but also for including aspects related to the
four skills of language learning.
As a consequence, translation starts to be reassessed and its incorporation
starts to be regarded as appropriate in language teaching. All the arguments against
translation seem to have a reappraisal, since the introduction of translation contents in
the classroom would add grammatical features and would compensate for the lack of
syntactic knowledge, thus enhancing language learning.
However, although there have always been arguments against the use of
translation, what is needed here is to highlight the current claims against its use in
order to analyze and counteract them. We shall explain them below, together with
the advantages that its resource implies.
According to Pintado (2012, pp.342-343), the general rejection against the use
of pedagogical translation centres around the following statements:

 It breaks the monolingualism aimed at the second language classroom;

 It is not a communicative task;

 It is not a natural method;

 It is not motivating and engaging;

 It is not an advantageous activity to be used in class since it requires of a vast

knowledge of the language;

 It provides a wrong conception of equivalence;

 It uses decontextualized texts which are not appropriate;

 It implies a return to the Grammar-Translation Method since it is focused on

the form rather than on the content;

 It is a skill independent of those of reading, writing, listening and speaking;

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

 It involves dependence on the first language and interference;

 It is not the objective of language learning;

 It hinders or restricts people’s way to think in the foreign language;

 It has nothing to do with the manner in which we learn our own language.

Table 2. Arguments against translation.

On the other hand, these arguments are contradicted by the following
statements in favour of the inclusion of translation:

 It is a communicative task since interlinguistic communication is a

communicative act;

 It is a resource which allow students to develop interlanguage awareness;

 It is a beneficial contrastive task;

 It associates form with meaning;

 It is an useful tool in the classroom;

 It requires accuracy and it provides new experiences;

 It uses authentic material and it allows students to practice subabilities;

 It involves a better comprehension of one’s mother tongue and culture;

 Its analysis provides students with positive aspects;

 It is a further approach in language learning;

Table 3. Arguments in favour of translation.

Besides all these counter-arguments that Pintado (2012, p.343) provides in
support of translation, we must also include those of Witte et al. (2009, pp.34-38).

 Translation is needed, especially with beginners, in order to make them

understand what they are listening to.

 Translation promotes the learners’ ability to expand their range of

expressions and vocabulary.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

 Translation provides an understanding of texts and consequently, of

language, since it makes necessary for the reader to develop deeper reading
and comprehension strategies.

 When translation is used as a cognitive tool, it can counteract the tendencies

to transfer structures from the first language.

 It implies improvement of the mother tongue.

 Translation is an integrative resource which includes different difficulties in

various levels of language. Consequently, it makes of translation “an activity
which is much closer to real life language use” (Witte et al., 2009, p.38).

Table 4. More arguments in favour of translation.

In this regard, we can assume that all the negative aspects that translation
might involve are counteracted by those positive aspects that we have shown above.
Therefore, although there are several solid arguments against the use of translation,
they become somehow neutralized by those thoroughly convincing arguments in
favour of translation.
We have been explaining some positive aspects that go hand in hand with the
implementation of translation within second language teaching. In order to clarify
which are the assets of the introduction of translation within the classroom, it is
necessary to summarize the main claims against the use of translation in comparison
with the positives aspects which undermine them.
Against the argument that translation breaks monolingualism it is needed to
highlight that monolingualism is indeed necessary in order to clearly understand
instructions, or grammar, among others; thus, translation is a tool to facilitate the
complete understanding of the language.
Furthermore, translation cannot be labeled as a non-communicative activity
because, as we shall explain in section 6, there are different translation activities in
which communication is the main goal.
When learning a new language, students use translation either consciously or
unconsciously. Thus, using translation within the classroom is a natural way to deal
with new languages. In this sense, it is a very motivating activity, not only for the
appealing aspects of language it deals with, such as wordplays or idioms, but also
because if students are allowed to use it within the classroom, they will feel more
confident and relaxed.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Against the argument that translation provides a wrong conception of

equivalence, it is worth noting that through translation students can learn how the
different languages work, and consequently, they are able to understand different
views of the same concept. This way, students learn the language consciously, which
implies comparison between languages. All in all, if they are capable of understanding
and comparing the L1 and the FL, they reflect upon languages and cultures, and they
will not be likely to follow the tendency to transfer structures from the L1.
Translation is an activity which involves dealing with authentic texts and
materials, and which mimics real situations, since these days students are likely to take
part in different sorts of situation in which translation might be required. For this
reason, it cannot be argued that the implementation of translation involves a return to
the Grammar-Translation Method, since it is an integrative resource which introduces
difficulties in various levels of language.
On a different level, translation may not seem to be as important as the four
skills of languages, but it is essential to understand that it allows students to practice
different subabilities; thus, it does nothing but improve the development of these four
skills.
Finally, there is no need to claim that translation hinders and restricts people’s
thinking in the foreign language. Translation has to be considered a further step in
language learning, devoted to connecting two languages and two cultures in order to
make students understand different perspectives of the world and to promote their
ability to expand their knowledge about the new language.
All the previous arguments reinforce the assumption that translation is an
activity which cannot be regarded as detrimental in terms of language teaching.
Indeed, avoiding the implementation of translation within the class could not do
nothing but minimize the possibilities of the learners.

4.1. FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE TRANSFER

There is always transfer when translating from the source to the target text, but most
people immediately associate this concept with negative transfer, also known as
“interference”. It is worth noting that negative transfer is one of the most widely used
criteria against translation: having the L1 in mind will only lead to error. But it is indeed
not the case. What is necessary to understand is that, even if there is always transfer
between languages, that transfer can be either positive or negative.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Arabski gives a definition of transfer including both conceptions of positive and

negative transfer:
Transfer is a process described as the automatic, uncontrolled, and subconscious
use of past learner behaviours in the attempt to produce new responses. In this
sense, transfer may be of two types: ‘negative’ and ‘positive’. ‘Negative transfer’
refers to those instances of transfer which result in error because old, habitual
behaviour is different from the new behaviour that is being learned […] In
contrast, ‘positive transfer’ results in correct performance because the new
behaviour is the same as the old (Arabski, 2006, p.12).

From this definition it follows that the process of transfer between the L1 and
the FL is always conditioned by the previous knowledge that students possess of their
mother tongue. This knowledge can facilitate the learning of the new language, thus
resulting in positive transfer; or it can hinder it, leading to errors, or in other words,
leading to negative transfer.
In applied linguistics, “transfer” is a term that refers to the “process in foreign
language learning whereby learners carry over what they already know about their
first language to their performance in their new language” (Arabski, 2006, p.12). In this
sense, we could understand that positive and negative aspects may arise from it.
Although it is true that positive transfer is more likely to take place between languages
coming from the same linguistic family, negative transfer may also appear between
languages which are proximal to each other.
Additionally, it is important to highlight that transfer is not always a
consequence of native language influence: when people master two languages, the
acquisition of a third one is affected by the knowledge of the other two languages
(Cook, 2010). Therefore, transfer depends on many other aspects besides the L1
influence.
Following this line, the occurrence and intensity of transfer between languages
depends on different factors (Arabski, 2006, p.13); the most important of them include
the knowledge of the L1 and FL, the proximity and the type of contact between two
languages, and the age of learners.
Following this, more transfer would take place for example between Spanish
and French than between Spanish and Arab, and we could assume that this transfer
would facilitate the foreign language learning. Likewise, transfer is more likely to occur
with students at early stages of learning because they do not have so much knowledge
about the new language and they always tend to compare with the L1.
In this sense, teachers must be aware of the potential areas which might lead
to positive and negative transfer, so that they encourage the first and minimize the

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

effects of the second. Transfer is irremediably present in language learning, and

teachers need to know how to cope with it.
At this point it is worth mentioning that transfer in language learning may
affect different levels of language including those of syntax, phonetics, phonological
and writing systems, discourse and semantics. However, this transfer must be
understood in both terms of positive and negative transfer. These levels are explained
more clearly in the following table.

LEVELS OF LANGUAGE IN WHICH TRANSFER MAY OCCUR

SYNTAX PHONETIC, PHONOLOGY DISCOURSE SEMANTICS

AND WRITING

Word-order Pronunciation Coherence “False friends”

Negation Sounds Politeness

Spelling

Table 5. Levels in which transfer may occur.

Both positive and negative transfer may occur with regard to syntax, including
the levels of word order or negation. Word order varies between languages in terms of
rigidity, and negation in English cannot be simply regarded as a question of word
order. In this sense, errors may arise if there is not a full understanding of the FL, since
English possesses a rigid word order and negation implies knowledge about auxiliary
verbs or contracted forms among others.
Transfer also affects phonetics, and the phonological and writing systems.
When learning a new language, there are many cases in which people do not know
how to pronounce some sounds because they are non-existent in the L1. If we also
consider that in English sounds are not related to the spelling of words, the difficulty of
writing a word whose sound is new is even more difficult.
Problems may also appear when two words sound equally in two languages but
they differ in writing, as would be the case of comfort in English and confort in Spanish.
Moreover, non-native speakers tend to categorize foreign language in terms of the
phonemes of their mother tongue.
Regarding the writing system, English pronunciation does not correspond to
spelling, which may result in errors. Furthermore, conventions in the native language
may influence the writing of the FL, either between cognates which share linguistic
similarity or between unrelated words.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

A further level in which transfer may occur is that of discourse. In this regard,
differences of coherence and politeness between languages may lead to great
problems for learners when reading and listening to the new language.
Finally, transfer also appears in terms of semantics. Despite being widely
accepted that a large lexicon common to two languages has many advantages, there
are also some disadvantages in terms of the well-known “false friends”. Therefore, a
word in the L1 which is rather similar to another word in the FL but which does not
mean the same is a great difficulty that students learning a new language must not
forget.
Thus, having taken into account all these levels of language in which transfer is
present, it is essential to consider the significance of this process when learning a new
language, and also when translating.
In this respect, translation has to be taught in such a way that it makes students
aware of the existence of both positive and negative aspects between language
relationships. Translation should become a means to overcome the difficulties that
negative transfer implies, and to benefit from positive transfer between languages. It
also goes without saying that, when required, students must forget the features of the
L1 to assimilate those of the FL without influence from their mother tongue.

4.2. THE CULTURAL DIMENSION

The educational context is increasingly having more and more learners coming from
countless different backgrounds and possessing very distinct cultures. Therefore,
children have to share their classroom with people from many different nationalities
and who are likely to speak a different language.
Translation plays a crucial role in the learning of culture, which is not only
focused on the traditions and customs, but also on the way we conceptualize the
world. Language is a reflection of culture and by using translation we work directly
with it. As a result, translation from one language into another will evince the
differences between them and, consequently, the various ways in which we see the
world.
In view of this, translation has to deal not only with linguistic aspects, but also
with culture. If we want learners to understand the different ways in which the world
is understood by different people, they need to acquire knowledge about how cultures
work behind new languages. Teachers must deal with cultural differences within the
second language classroom and they must facilitate tools to acquire this new
knowledge. This way, students will be able to reflect upon their own language as well
as the new one, and many misunderstandings will disappear.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Therefore, we consider that intercultural learning –meaning the understanding

of our own language and culture in comparison with another– is an issue that must be
taken into consideration not only in language teaching, but also in any other subject of
the curriculum. However, it plays an essential role within languages because this is the
main means to establish relationships.
In order to communicate, learners must know firstly the language and secondly
the culture of those who do not share theirs. Therefore, if we consider that translation
is part of language teaching, it can be assumed that translation and intercultural
learning are also closely interlinked and interdependent.
Although it is notoriously difficult to summarize in few paragraphs what culture
and language mean, we have mentioned these words as concepts which are
interrelated and interdependent from each other. Consequently, it is essential to know
what they really mean in order to comprehend why they cannot be separated.
We shall refer to the general definition that Liddicoat et al. (2003, p.45) provide
of these concepts and the way they are related to each other.

4.2.1. LANGUAGE

First of all, language has to be understood as a communication system which cannot

be abstract nor decontextualized. In linguistics, language tends to be seen as a static
system made up of words whose functioning depends on general conventions of rules
of syntax. Nevertheless, although it is possible to describe a language in terms of such
structural features, this definition does not fit when understanding the language as a
system for communication.
As a communicative system, it is greatly influenced by such aspects as context,
receivers, culture and even interpretations of people. Thus, an utterance gains its
meaning not simply from the structural rules of language, but also from the
interpretation and the context in which the utterance takes place.
For this reason, we as language teachers cannot understand a language as an
abstract system, but rather as a dynamic system which is related to social and cultural
contexts. As a result, the conceptualization of language as a static system made up of
grammar and lexicon is not appropriate for language learning and that is why
translation becomes so useful, since it gives students insight into the language
functioning.

4.2.2. CULTURE
Secondly, Liddicoat et al. (2003, p.45) define culture as the number of rules, customs,
traditions, ways to behave, and manners of interpreting the world that a cultural group
shares and considers the appropriate for living.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Culture is necessary when learning a foreign language in order to understand it

and to be aware of the different perspectives to see the world. In relation to language,
it is essential for successful communication, since when we speak to someone, we
need to understand what s/he is saying. The first step in doing so is learning the
language, which is irremediably conditioned by culture.
Thus, understanding a language requires knowing the culture behind it. This
way, communication will be successful, and language will be employed consciously.
Language and culture evolve over the years, which is yet another insight to realize that
they cannot be considered as static systems.

4.2.3. INTERCULTURAL LANGUAGE LEARNING

All these previous definitions lead us to the concept of intercultural language learning,
which is based on understanding one’s own culture and language in comparison with
new ones. Consequently, it is focused on the relation between two languages and
cultures and its main objective consists in reaching a negotiation when learning the FL,
by understanding this new perspective to see the world and abandoning the way in
which the world is seen in the L1.
In this regard, it is essential to mention that intercultural language learning is
intrinsically related to the concept of interculturality. Nevertheless, it is worth noting
that interculturality does not involve identifying with another cultural group or
adopting its cultural practice. Interculturality means understanding other cultures and
being able to reflect on matters usually taken for granted, acting as mediators and
evaluating one’s own patterns of perception, behaviour and thought.
“Intercultural language learning involves developing with learners an
understanding of their own language(s) and culture(s) in relation to an additional
language and culture. It is a dialogue that allows for reaching a common ground
for negotiation to take place, and where variable points of view are recognized,
mediated, and accepted” (Liddicoat et al., 2003, p.46).

According to this definition, it can be assumed that through intercultural

language learning students acquire a reflective perspective towards the different ways
in which the world is seen, interpreted and understood. Culture and language are
interdependent and these two concepts determine our interpretation of the world.
For this reason, there can be as many interpretations of the same utterance as
people around the globe. If students are given the knowledge to accept and respect
other people’s points of view, they will broaden their minds and they will be able to
admit that any different interpretation of the world can be at least equally acceptable
as theirs.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Thus, it is necessary to include the goals of intercultural language that Liddicoat

et al. (2003, p.46) consider at global level. These objectives are the following:
• to understand and value all languages and cultures;
• to understand and value one’s own language(s) and culture(s);
• to understand and value one’s target language(s) and culture(s);
• to understand and value how to mediate among languages and cultures;
• to develop intercultural sensitivity as an ongoing goal.
It is obvious that culture must be included in language teaching, and one of the
motivations to include it consists in capturing the interest of learners in learning the
new language (Liddicoat et al., 2003).
By explaining cultural concepts, students can enjoy the process while acquiring
knowledge which goes beyond simple words. Students will be able to approach
different cultures, respect them and mediate between them. For this reason, reflection
upon language and culture is necessary when learning a new language: this involves
understanding it and learning it consciously.
However, it must be noticed that when teaching a language, the cultural
elements in which the language is focused on are usually those which are relevant in
comparison with someone’s own culture, so that the cultural elements are not
explained for its significance in the target language, but in the source language
(Liddicoat et al., 2003). Thus, for learning culture without any kind of delimitation, it is
necessary to experience it, because, otherwise, culture would be also delimited.
Regarding the role of translation on this scope, it must be stated that
translation is a bridge which connects not only two languages, but also two cultures,
and as it happens with any connection between different environments, some pitfalls
may arise.
Cook (2012, p.55) quotes that “translation is necessary to communication
between languages, and loss is inevitable”. Even when a good translation is done,
there is a loss between languages, either the word order, the inexistence of
equivalents or the sound patterns.
What is crucial for this paper is to point out that translation is a tool to connect
both languages and cultures. Translation tries to convey meanings not only by means
of words but also by means of knowledge about the language, since this knowledge is
the only way to compensate the loss that always takes place between languages.
Should there be any loss because of cultural concepts, the best solution to
overcome this problem would be the explanation of these concepts in order to offer

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

the receiver the central idea conveyed initially. Consequently, knowing the culture also
means knowing the language.
Furthermore, the implementation of translation in English Language Teaching
(ELT) could offer a wide range of possibilities including the explanation of the
mechanisms of Translation Studies for those interested in it. In this sense, it is
necessary to highlight the significance of culture within Translation Studies.
Translation Studies deals not only with the process and product of translation as
a linguistic phenomenon, but also with translation as a form of intercultural
mediation taking place in a specific social and cultural context (Gile, Hansen &
Pokorn, 2010, p.29).

Following the ideas of Gile et al. (2010, p.38), the aim of Translation Studies is
not that of biculturalism, but a focused cross-cultural awareness in order to take into
account all the aspects which influence the creation of a good translation.
In this regard, translation stands as a means to provide intercultural awareness
to the students, which is the capacity to experience cultural otherness and use it
beneficially. Consequently, it is a means to approach the different cultures behind
languages, understand them and accept them.
All in all, translation gives students the opportunity to realize the different ways
in which the world is conceptualized as well as to see the various ways in which they
work.
Furthermore, in most professional contexts, translators are regarded as
specialists not only in language management but also in cross-cultural understanding.
As Gile, Hansen & Pokorn (2010, p.29) suggest, translators are being portrayed as
cultural mediators who possess a vast knowledge of linguistic skills but who have also a
high degree of intercultural competence, so that they are also experts in non-linguistic
skills. They must master these two scopes of language if they want to be efficient and
to create a good product.
Putting aside the role of translation in ELT, it is worth noting that, usually,
professional translators tend to stay close to the original text when the topic is
unfamiliar or when they consider that the text is important. One of the reasons to
create close translations may be the lack of cultural background and cultural
knowledge of the target language (Gile, Hansen & Pokorn, 2010, p.35). For this reason,
the use of translation as a means to reflect upon languages and understand the culture
behind them is but a beneficial strategy to learn a language.
However, since we are referring to the educational context, we are not
speaking about professional translators. Still, it goes without saying that if a
professional translator must possesses cultural knowledge and intercultural

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

awareness, when teaching translation culture must be introduced, since the main goal
is that learners learn how to interpret languages and how to understand the cultures
behind them.
Teachers must introduce cultural insights of the language that they are
teaching. This way, students will feel engaged with the history behind the language:
they will discover customs, traditions, different patterns of thought and behaviour, and
they will be able to reflect upon daily routines and issues that are usually taken for
granted and which can differ from those of different cultures. Thus, teaching culture is
also an appealing way to draw students’ attention to how the language works and how
people use it.
In this sense, thanks to translation, students may enjoy the process of learning
the culture of the language they are learning by means of the existing differences
between such alluring aspects of languages as puns, wordplays or idioms. Whereas
English speakers would use the expression “as cool as a cucumber”, Spanish speakers
use other distinct words to transmit the same idea: “más fresco que una lechuga”. The
knowledge of all these aspects may be rather interesting at the time of learning a new
language, and it is likely to catch the students’ attention.
As a result, learning cultural issues will provide learners with knowledge about
both their own culture and the culture behind the new language. Without a shadow of
doubt, students who know different cultures will understand how other people see the
world and, consequently, they will be able to internalize the new language better.
Therefore, teaching culture through translation will provide students with a better
understanding of the language, which will result in a better mastery of it.
According to Kramsch (1993), teachers must realize that foreign language
classrooms are composed of learners with very different backgrounds, so they are
forced to take into account differences such as gender, status or ethnicity. The
strategies which are appropriate when teaching in one culture cannot remain the same
in other educational situations, so that teachers must adapt their techniques
depending on the context. The pedagogic effectiveness of one language culture cannot
be judged in terms of another.
This is one of the main problems of culture within language classrooms and for
this reason the teacher cannot take for granted that two students will share the same
level of knowledge, even if their linguistic knowledge is the same. Each student will
interpret a message in a different way from others, and each of them will create their
own cultural context depending on his/her interpretation of the utterance.
In light of the above arguments, culture has to be considered as important as
language itself. The implementation of translation within the language classroom

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

would guarantee contact with cultural issues of the FL and, by translating texts,
students would need to take into consideration the context in which this text is
produced, and the receivers of the translated text. Thus, students would reflect upon
languages and would broaden their minds, which is one of the reasons why translation
plays a crucial role in terms of language learning.
As a result, students may encounter concepts which do not have equivalents in
other languages and they are expected to solve them; but how? When it has to be with
cultural concepts which do not exist in all languages, an understanding of them is
needed in order to be able to transmit these concepts in other languages. Thus,
knowledge about culture is essential and at this point, translation comes into play as a
means to achieve this knowledge.
In this regard, knowledge about culture provides solutions to cope with the
untranslatable. If students know how a concept is interpreted in one language
different from theirs, they will be able to transmit the gist of the concept, even if it
does not have an equivalent in their mother tongue.
Therefore, culture is an aspect of language that cannot remain hidden when it
comes about translation. There are always going to be differences between the ways
of interpreting the world; the understanding of these different ways to conceptualize
the same world provides students with the opportunity to reflect upon different
languages and to internalize the new language consciously. Thus, culture and
translation go hand in hand.

4.3. OWN-LANGUAGE USE ARGUMENTS

It is only when the mother tongue finds its place within the classroom when the
resurgence of translation takes place (De Arriba, 1996, p.277). For this reason, it is
necessary to explain why the use of the own-language must be implemented within
the language classroom, and which advantages it may imply.
All the theories based on the communicative aspects of language have in
common their rejection of the L1. Despite all the arguments that exist against the use
of one’s mother tongue in ELT, we are going to enunciate some of the assets of the
introduction of the L1 in the classroom, since its use is directly related to the one of
translation.
According to Cook (2012, pp.47-49), the ubiquity and the inevitability of
code-switching between languages is one of the benefits of teaching the students how
and when to use the L1. Since it seems impossible to avoid translation and
relationships between languages, the teacher must take advantage of this situation
and s/he needs to consider its positive influence. The teacher has to guide the students

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

and give them steps for using the L1, as well as strategies for implementing translation.
In this way, the students will be able to acquire the new language more confidently
and to acknowledge their process of learning.
Some of the assets of L1 introduction include its use “as a means of
explanation, comprehension checking, classroom organization, maintenance of
discipline, forming relationships, and testing” (Cook, 2012, p.49). Students will
understand better what they are expected to do in a task if it is explained in their
mother tongue; they will be aware of a situation in which they are not behaving
correctly if the teacher reprimands them in the L1; the teacher will be able to check if
the students have understood the gist of a text if they are asked to explain it in their
mother tongue; and they will feel more comfortable with it.
The L1 is also helpful to make them feel relaxed, as a way to break the routine
of the classroom, and it engages them in the different tasks that they must perform.
Thus, the implementation of the L1 is beneficial for educational and
pedagogical reasons. As we have mentioned before, it allows students to go beyond
monolingual identity, it fosters cultural awareness, it promotes appropriate
relationships between teachers and students, and it provides students with more
confidence when using the FL (Cook, 2012, p.52).
Furthermore, it seems clear nowadays that foreign languages cannot be
acquired independently from the mother tongue, so that a better command in the first
language will result in a better learning of the second language (De Arriba, 1996,
p.277).
The different theories that are against the use of L1 have in common the
assumption that translation produces detrimental effects on second language
acquisition. Such effects could be those which affect communication –as students are
considered to produce utterances by first thinking in their own language and then
translating them into the FL– and those related to systematization of language –in the
long-term, translation would damage the way in which students use the FL–.
Nevertheless, there is no evidence to claim that, and what is more important, the
existence of successful interpreters undermines any argument about detrimental
effects of translation on communication and fluency (Cook, 2012, p.93).
Even if translation would have the effect of slowing down communication, it
could not be considered a negative aspect. Cook (2012, p.101) claims that translation
can be useful for students when formulating what they have to say, precisely because
it slows them down. It allows them to consider carefully what they have to say.
Furthermore, students tend to translate automatically by using the knowledge that

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

they already possess in their own-language, so that a better knowledge of the L1

means a better knowledge of the FL.
Thus, we cannot understand the reappearance of translation without regarding
the implementation of the first language in the classroom. They must be directly linked
to each other, and they must also be regarded as interdependent.

4.4. EDUCATIONAL ARGUMENTS

It is important to consider that, nowadays, we live in multicultural, multilingual

societies in which translation is needed to communicate in everyday situations. For this
reason, translation has nothing to do with a specialized activity but with an activity
that every person does for keeping in touch with other people.
Translation is a necessary activity in many situations and for many people. It is
needed for personal and professional lives of many individuals; it is essential for the
economic survival of many organizations and for communications in international
issues (Cook, 2012, p.109). Translation is present in every level of life, and for many
different aims such as travelling, jobs, relationships or trade.
For these reasons, it cannot be argued that its implementation in ELT is
damaging for the FL, since developing translation skills is necessary in order to take
part in all kinds of daily situations.
According to Cook (2012, pp.109-112), translation takes place in any type of
personal and social situations. It occurs between people of different status, such as
immigrant families or people with different backgrounds, and it is present when
performing all types of activities, such as listening to a song, writing an e-mail, reading
the instructions of a new device or watching a TV series.
Translation is also related to international communication. It takes place in
news reporting, films subtitling, in technology or even in translating books. It is
necessary in international affairs such as summits, treaties or any other negotiation
between different countries.
Furthermore, nowadays technological developments have facilitated the
availability of information in electronic form, and they have also contributed to
spreading the information and the news in such a way that people sometimes need to
translate the information in order to understand it. The speed with which information
is spread makes it necessary to learn new languages to keep up to date with
international issues: all too often information arrives in its original form, i.e., in
another language.
Therefore, people who develop translation skills acquire strategies to meet any
kind of necessities that may occur in their lives. Not only does translation provide

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

knowledge about a language, but it also allows people to perform a wide range of
activities in many levels of life.
Concerning the arguments in favour of translation, we can state that its
implementation in the classroom will provide students with the knowledge to develop
new skills necessary in their daily lives.
Translation is a means to make students aware of the diversity of languages
and cultures that exist, and that may be present in the classroom. Activities of
translation would be helpful to preserve the different identities of students and, this
way, pupils would enjoy learning a new language.
Providing cultural awareness and knowledge about languages is a way to
enhance relationships between people who come from different backgrounds and who
can take for granted issues that are different in other communities. “It is an important
element in a social reformist education which seeks to overcome mutual ignorance
and inequality between speakers of two languages” (Cook, 2012, p.119).
Finally, all these positive aspects of translation counteract the arguments
against it. Due to the strong influence of the Grammar-Translation Method, translation
has been regarded as focused on accuracy, writing and invented language. However,
while these are the features of the aforementioned method, they do not necessarily
have to be related to those of the use of translation as a whole (Cook, 2012, p.121).

5. TOWARDS A POSITIVE REASSESSMENT OF TRANSLATION

These days, more and more specialists tend to overlook the arguments against the use
of translation as they are starting to see it an aiding resource as far as language
teaching is concerned. Translation begins to be regarded again as necessary when
teaching a language and, despite all the reasons against its use, in these days a growing
number of specialists contemplates its undeniable reappraisal.
Furthermore, the rejection of the use of translation and the avoidance of the L1
in the classroom cannot do anything but minimize the possibilities of the FL; there is no
reason for avoiding translation in communicative tasks, no matter what the
advantages of explaining real English through the FL are (Cook, 2001). As we have
mentioned before, translation contributes to communication and offers insights into
how the different languages work so that there is no reason for not using it in
communicative situations.
In this regard, special attention must be given to the fact that, even when
teachers have implemented approaches based on the outlawing of translation,
students have still used it mentally, because “from the very first encounter with the

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foreign language, the process of translating is activated” (Witte, Harden & Ramos de
Oliveira Harden, 2009, p.82).
Following this line, we can claim that, nowadays, almost every person with
some knowledge of a foreign language has taken part in some sort of translation
activity, whether in school or in his/her personal and/or professional life (Gile, Hansen
& Pokorn, 2010, p.257). Therefore, why not take advantage of this resource?
If the L1 and the FL co-exist in the same mind, the mother tongue can be
helpful at the time of the creation of utterances in the FL (Cook, 2001). Furthermore,
the coexistence of both languages allows learners to compare how these two
languages work. This way, the use of translation would not only be beneficial for
broadening the students’ minds but also for reflecting upon languages. Students could
become aware of the differences existing between languages, with translation being
the means to achieve it.
On a different level, one of the key concepts of second language learning is that
of bilingualism. It is widely held that bilingual people must have a perfect knowledge of
two languages and that they must be capable of working in both of them, thus having
the same level of the L1 and the FL. Nevertheless, the real meaning of bilingualism
must be understood differently.
Bilingualism has to be understood as the capacity for being communicative in
two languages, no matter the level of each language. In addition to this, it is worth
noting that nowadays, not only does bilingualism refer to the mastery of two
languages, but it also has to be related to the capacity for understanding two cultures
(Pokorn, 2005, p.30).
In this sense, we must not forget that the common perception of bilingualism
also involves the ability of translating, this meaning the ability to express in one
language the utterances conveyed in another (Arabski, 2006, p.210). Thus, translation
takes part in bilingualism and, consequently, in the second language classroom.
A person who masters a language will be capable of translating in and out of it,
consciously or unconsciously. For this reason, the consideration of translation as a
natural attribute of bilingualism offers a wide range of opportunities to delve into
aspects of language relationships (Arabski, 2006, p.211) and, consequently, plays a role
in the process of language learning.
Nowadays, translation is an activity that students do constantly in their daily
lives and for this reason it cannot be regarded as a damaging resource which interferes
between two languages but rather as a bridge to switch from one to another. Its
implementation in the classroom will enable students to develop the skills of an
activity they will have to face in a not too distant future.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

In view of the above arguments, we can assume that not only does the
implementation of translation in the classroom convey meanings, but it also provides
knowledge about the language which is being learnt and the culture behind it. One of
the main problems of teaching foreign languages is the assumption that it only exists a
unique “national uniform way of behaving” and that the students, when learning this
new language, want to be insiders rather than outsiders (Cook, 2012, p.62).
The most recent approaches have followed opposite directions from that of
above. In order to overcome this assumption, ELT lessons nowadays include cultural
elements which try to draw students’ attention and explain the different uses of
English (Cook, 2012, p.63).
The introduction of these types of elements in the classroom accommodates a
reappraisal of translation in ELT classes as an aiding resource. The uses of translation
as a means will ensure the process of learning the new language and will make
students feel more confident when using it.
Following Cook’s suggestion (2012, p.79), “a person who has successfully learnt
a new language will at the end of their studies not only be able to speak and write the
new language but also to translate in and out of it”. As a result, it cannot be claimed
that translation is damaging for languages, since it occurs either consciously or
unconsciously in the mind of almost every speaker of a FL.
We, as teachers, have to guide the students and teach them how to use
translation rather than avoiding it, because, even when it is proscribed, translation
takes place in the students’ minds.
On the whole, throughout this section, we have tried to demonstrate that
translation is regarded in these days as an important resource that has to be
implemented within the classroom. It must be taken into account, since it provides
countless different positive aspects, such as understanding about various ways to
interpret the same world, and reflection upon languages and the way they work. It
may be even regarded as a complementary skill which goes along with the four skills of
language (Witte et al., 2009, p.33) and which do nothing but benefit the second
language learning.

6. TEACHING THROUGH TRANSLATION

Over the last years, translation has been associated with form rather than meaning;
with accuracy, artificiality of language, and with teacher-centred teaching. These
associations have been the result of the influence that the Grammar-Translation
Method had on foreign language teaching.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

However, as we have argued throughout this paper, translation is a resource

which may introduce a large number of benefits within the foreign language classroom
and which may facilitate the process of acquisition of a new language at the same time
that it makes students feel engaged with it. Thus, along the next pages we shall explain
some possible activities that may be implemented within the language classroom,
following Cook’s (2012) suggestions.
First of all, when we speak about foreign language teaching we need to take
into account that there is a difference between the way in which children and adults
learn this new language. In this sense, it is important to note that many specialists
have suggested that the best way to learn a language is by acquiring it naturally, as
children learn their mother tongue.
According to this, it may not seem appropriate to use translation within the
classroom, since it has been labeled as unnatural. However, it must be said that “child
language development and adult foreign language learning are in fact fundamentally
different” (Pokorn, 2005, p.15).
These differences between both children and adults’ language learning result in
the appearance of two terms for naming them: language acquisition and language
learning. According to these terms, we can assume that children are going to acquire a
language instead of learning it –in other words, they are going to internalize it
naturally and use it in communicative situations–, whereas adults are going to learn it
consciously.
This conscious learning of the language makes a significant difference in the
way that adults approach new languages, due to the fact that they already have a
formed and solid knowledge of one language, which will determine their
foreign-language learning (Pokorn, 2005). This conscious learning of the language
would make it more suitable to implement translation in higher levels, since adults
would have a better knowledge of the L1 and a corresponding metalanguage.
In view of the above arguments, we can recognize that translation may not be
as useful in one level than in another. Teachers must adapt the way in which
translation is implemented in the classroom depending on the students’ level of the FL
and even the L1. Thus, it follows that in upper levels, translation can be exploited more
properly than in lower levels. Adults’ knowledge of their own language makes it
possible to discuss language differences, comparisons and in-depth translations.
Nevertheless, although translation may be more appropriate for one level than
for another, in general, it can be used in every level if its use is adapted to the context
and the situation in which it takes places. As we have explained in section 4.3, for
lower levels, translation may be used as a means to explain grammar, to give

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instructions, to check students’ understanding, to break the routine or to allow

learners to express their thoughts and feelings. For higher levels, translation can
contribute to reflecting upon syntactic and semantic issues, or to discussing translation
problems. Be that as it may, translation takes part in language learning and it must not
be forgotten.
However, translation in advanced level foreign language learners is even more
feasible and students overall welcome it willingly; students in higher levels usually
enjoy activities of translation and feel motivated when dealing with cultural issues;
they also like to overcome problems when they encounter concepts that do not have
equivalents in their mother tongue. This way, students acquire strategies for
paraphrasing and for expanding their potential of expression in the L1 and in the FL.
Nevertheless, there are some activities that they do not enjoy as much, such as
translation of sentences, be it because of the direction of translation or even the topic
(Machida, 2008). However, the use of translation in language teaching is useful to
examine to what extent the students have understood texts, vocabulary or even
syntactic elements of the language.
In this sense, we must bear in mind that translation is an activity not only for
learning the FL but also for being aware of the differences between one language and
another, for acquiring reflection upon one’s language and for mastering the L1
(Machida, 2008).
Furthermore, it is worth highlighting the necessity to take into consideration
that translation has to be developed as a means to improve the language and that it
has to be regarded as a whole. Consequently, the implementation of translation within
the classroom is not focused on the creation of a good result, but on learning through
the process of doing it.
A good translation is the main goal of professional translation, but pedagogical
translation has little to do with it. Still, professional translation skills can be taught in
specific sections of a lesson or even in some lessons, although this type of skills of
translation as a specialized activity cannot condition the implementation of translation
as a general activity.
Having taken into consideration all these points it is necessary to show different
types of activities in which translation can provide students with benefits that are
lacking in other procedures.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

6.1. WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION ACTIVITIES

There is widespread belief about the implementation of translation as implying

word-for-word techniques. However, this assumption is undermined if we take into
account that a good translation is seldom word-for-word (Cook, 2012, p.97).
Nevertheless, word-for-word translation activities can be introduced within the
classroom, since they also provide students with some benefits as far as language
learning is concerned. These word-for-word activities have nothing to do with the
world outside the classroom, but they must be considered a useful exercise for
language learners.
The reason for this is that word-for-word translation activities focus their
attention on each component of the language, so that students may better understand
the mechanics of the language as a whole (Cook, 2012, p.139).
In this sense, these types of activities are not based on learning how to
translate following the same word order or structure than the original text, but on
learning how these order and structures work within the language and how they may
differ from other languages.
As Cook (2012, p.139) exemplifies, if the French sentence “S’il vous plait” is
understood word-for-word (if it pleases you), it allows learners to generate new
utterances such as “si le jardin vous plaît” (if you like the garden). Thus, this kind of
activities can make students learn some structures which will allow them to create
new utterances.
Although it may not seem a useful activity for learning about the real world, it is
indeed quite helpful for the students, since it gives insights about the language as a
whole by enabling them to understand the language from the minimum units that
shape it, namely, the words. Consequently, they will learn the new language
consciously, which will result in a better knowledge of the language and how it works.
Let us conclude this first type of activities by highlighting what Cook states
about word-for-word translation and its benefits: “Conversely, the inability to reduce
units to their components, which can be a consequence of pragmatic translation not
only prevents such generation of new utterances, but can also produce errors” (Cook,
2012, p.139). If the teacher knows how to deal with this type of activity,
word-for-word translation must have its space within the classroom and the students
will enjoy it and learn a lot through it.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

6.2. CLOSE TRANSLATION

Another type of activity that may be introduced within the language classroom is that
of close translation. This type of activity consists in creating texts as close as possible to
the original. It may not be regarded as appropriate if we consider the text as a whole,
but as we shall explain later on, it also provides students with advantages in the
process of learning a new language.
First of all, we must take into account that there are different types of
translations, these including free and literal translation as the most important types.
Whereas free translation does not take into consideration the original text at the time
of translating, literal translation tries to follow exactly the source text.
Close translation would be somewhere in between those two previous types.
Therefore, were the students asked to carry out a close translation, they would be
expected to follow the original text as closely as possible, although they would be able
to freely interpret some sections.
However, we must be careful with this type of activity due to the fact that,
since translation is understood as the interpretation of utterances of one language into
another, we must assume that these interpretations may be as numerous as varied.
All in all, close translation is an activity which also offers advantages when
learning a new language. Asking students to produce utterances in which they must
keep as close as possible to the original allows them to confront difficulties and
prevent them from simply bypassing and ignoring them (Cook, 2012, pp.136-137).
If students are free to interpret the text they are given to translate, they may
opt for the easiest option and ignore the concepts or structures that they might find
difficult to translate. By asking them to create a close translation, they have to deal
with these pitfalls and struggle to overcome them.

6.3. TRANSLATION AND VOCABULARY

It goes without saying that translation plays a crucial role in vocabulary learning. As
many of us may have experienced along the years, and although learning new
vocabulary by heart was a dreary task, the use of lists of vocabulary and equivalents
has always been a traditional but effective implementation of translation as a means
to introduce new vocabulary.
Despite the assimilation of the words in a given context being considered the
best way to learn new vocabulary, the introduction of lists of equivalents can go
beyond it. They can compensate the lack of understanding that may occur by only
assimilating the new concepts.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

In other words, if the students are asked to translate words into the L1 or the
FL, or even if the teacher gives translation equivalents for ambiguous concepts when
assimilation is not successful enough, students will be able to understand these
concepts and internalize them, rather than ignoring them.
Thus, they will broaden their minds thanks to the understanding that they will
acquire about the new language and its vocabulary. Moreover, they will be able to
create better utterances since they will possess a great degree of knowledge about the
vocabulary of the language.

6.4. DISCUSSIONS ABOUT TRANSLATION PROBLEMS

If we want to implement translation activities within the second language classroom,

we have to bear in mind that an important section of translation must be that of
translation problems.
Teachers must teach the students how to deal with difficult concepts,
structures or situations that they may encounter when translating. For this reason,
teachers have to offer them different activities whereby they work with translation
problems in order to understand the real complexity that this activity involves.
In this regard, Cook (2012) introduces another interesting type of activities in
which translation may take part, which is that of discussing the different problems that
may occur when translating.
Some of the activities about translation problems may consist in comparing
different translations of the same text, thus assessing the different ways in which a
text may be interpreted and deciding which one is the best. Furthermore, students can
discuss problems of mistranslations and can express why they think these translations
are not correct. Students can also reflect upon translation dilemmas, such as racist or
sexist language, and acknowledge the different strategies used in order to cope with
untranslatable concepts, thus also enabling the acquisition of the skills necessary to do
it.
By introducing activities about translation problems, students will feel
motivated and engaged since they will discover interesting aspects of the language and
will have to reflect on different options of translations. Likewise, they will be expected
to recognize and criticize other people’s translations as well as having to argue their
reasons for thinking in this way.
Thus, all these activities allow students to reflect upon the language they are
learning and acquire critical thought at the same time as they are learning the new
language. Moreover, since they will be learning the language consciously, they will be

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

able to compare the different ways in which the languages work, this resulting in
benefits for both the L1 and the FL.
All in all, this type of activities gives students the opportunity to realize that
translation indeed entails a very complicated process. Besides, when translating, we do
not only focus on words or grammatical structures, but also cultural concepts must be
transferred from one language into another. Translators must deal with such difficult
situations by using given strategies and skills which teachers can explain to students.

6.5. COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION

Aforementioned, due to the major influence of the Grammar-Translation Method over

the lasts years, it was practically unthinkable to conceive translation as a
communicative task.
Translation could be only used to introduce lists of vocabulary and equivalents,
and to convey the meaning of the classic literary works. In this regard, translation
could not go hand in hand with any communicative task within the classroom.
Nevertheless, the situation is rather different these days. As we have explained
in section 4, translation is a communicative activity since interlinguistic communication
is a communicative act. For this reason, translation can indeed be used in
communicative contexts.
Cook (2012) suggests the introduction of activities in which students in groups
are given a text which they have to translate for the rest of the class.
By introducing this group activity, students have to respect other people’s
points of views since they are expected to create a translation cooperatively. Once
they have translated the text, the students have to report their translation to the rest
of the class. This way, students are enabled to develop public speaking skills, which are
certainly communicative.
This kind of tasks allows students to interact and negotiate when translating
the given text in order to come to an agreement. Likewise, students as translators
need to discuss problems together; they have to explain their (lack of) understanding
of the text, and they have to answer the questions that the rest of the class may ask
about their translation.
Therefore, this type of activities clearly fosters cooperative work and enhances
the relationships between students since they learn to accept points of view different
from theirs. All in all, they have to work in groups, discuss and negotiate, thus
mimicking real world situations.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Nevertheless, whereas in large classes group work could be an appealing way

to make all the students work and be motivated, in a class composed by a small
number of students, individual work may be more suitable. This kind of activity can
also be developed individually if the teacher considers the text too easy or too short to
be translated in group, or simply if s/he considers this option as the most appropriate
for the class. All in all, the type of grouping will depend on the context in which it takes
place.
What we need to bear in mind is that this type of activity can be adapted
depending on the needs of the teacher, the students or the classroom, but in all cases
students will have to deal with texts as translators and face problems which will make
them learn about the language.

6.6. SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION

Apart from the previous kind of communicative translation of a text, we can also
introduce discussions about translation in film-subtitling, dubbing or interpreting.
Teachers can give the students different strategies to interpret messages in
different languages so that they may be able to take part in communicative activities
of dubbing or simultaneous interpretation.
Although film-subtitling may not seem as communicative as the other activities,
it is essential to mention that the introduction of an activity in which students have to
listen what other people say in one language and write it into their mother tongue is
an entertaining activity which makes students improve their ability to interpret
messages in different languages, their listening skills and their capacity to think in both
the FL and the L1. Consequently, their ability to speak also improves.
Dubbing or interpretation activities also contribute to this improvement of the
speed of interpretation of messages. Despite depending on the level, this type of
activities should be developed from the FL into the L1, given the difficulty of inverse
interpretation.
One practical example could be the following: one student says one sentence
or speaks freely in the FL, while the other student has to say the same in his/her
mother tongue. The rest of the class can assess the interpretation of the student in the
L1 and can ask questions.
Any other type of simultaneous interpretation could be developed within the
foreign language classroom: interpreting an advert, a scene of a film, a conversation;
all these kinds of activities would involve a large number of benefits for the students.
This type of activity also allows students to acquire skills for being focus on
their work and concentrated when there is noise, since they have to translate at the

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same time as another person is speaking. Consequently, they realize how much effort
interpreters and translators have to make to fulfill this task.

6.7. TRANSLATION AND CULTURE

The previous taxonomy of activities shows different ways in which translation can be
implemented within the language classroom in order to improve the knowledge about
the language, the acquisition of new vocabulary, the improvement of listening and
speaking skills, and the understanding of the functioning of new languages. However,
what has been ignored so far is the importance of translation when it comes to cultural
knowledge.
Translation activities which include cultural concepts which do not have an
exact equivalent in other languages are an appealing way to teach cultural background
to the students. They will feel attracted, since they are learning curiosities and new
things, in comparison with their own culture and language.
On many occasions, it is taken for granted that everybody shares the same
patterns of thought or behaviour and consequently, that everybody interprets the
world in the same way. Nevertheless, the real situation could be further from the
truth: there are a huge range of interpretations of the world, and a wide range of
expressions and cultural concepts which do not exist in all cultures and languages.
The existence of so varied cultural concepts and the necessity to understand
them makes translation a means of transmitting not only words, but also knowledge
about the culture behind these words.
For this reason, introducing texts or activities in which students have to deal
with cultural concepts makes them get to know better the culture behind the language
they are learning and understand it.
Furthermore, if students acquire cultural awareness and they deal with
ambiguous concepts that they must understand, they will be able to look for
compensatory solutions rather than taking the easiest option of ignoring them.
Thus, translation is a means to learn about language and culture, and reflect
upon them as well as to broaden students’ minds. Providing learners with this kind of
activities allow them to accept and respect other people’s culture, not only inside the
classroom, but also outside it. All in all, translation is such a valuable tool to open up
doors to the rest of the world, and both students and teachers must make the most of
its benefits.

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6.8. SOME FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

In the epigraphs above we have focused on suggesting different types of activities in

which translation may take part, and which may be introduced within the second
language classroom. Although there may be a larger number of activities in which
translation can be introduced, we have tried to highlight those which may be the most
significant and appealing for the students.
These activities have been recommended in order to provide insights into how
translation can be taken advantage of within the classroom, thus offering varied
alternatives to familiarize the students with a wide range of translation tasks that they
may enjoy while learning a new language.
It is important to highlight that translation provides students with the
possibility of learning to learn and acknowledging all the effort that they must make to
perform successfully.
Furthermore, translation can be very flexible: it may be adapted depending on
the students, the class, the context or the situation; translation activities may be
communicative or not communicative; they may focus on vocabulary, grammar,
cultural concepts; the work can be developed individually or in group.
Thus, translation gives teachers the opportunity to implement appealing
activities to draw students’ attention to the new language they are learning, and to
make them feel engaged with the work they are doing.
This resource and its introduction within the second language classroom offer a
wide range of options and activities that can be developed by the students and that
are very innovative and alluring. What is more important, these activities evince the
different ways in which translation can be applied, which are far more numerous than
those of the Grammar-Translation Method.
By and large, teaching the students how to translate and how to interpret
messages gives them the opportunity to compare two languages, to deal with
problems between them, to understand the new language and to internalize it. On top
of that, these entire aspects take place while enjoying the process of learning, so, why
not make the most of translation?

7. SOME CONCLUSIONS

In these pages we have tried to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of
the growing role that translation has undergone in language teaching during these last
years and the need to reassess its utility as an aiding resource in foreign language
learning.

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The anti-L1 attitude present throughout the 20th century within the foreign
language teaching classroom was a clear mainstream element of the different
methods focused on the communicative aspects of learning a second language. The
main idea that needs to be highlighted is that all these methods were more
concentrated in avoiding the use of the L1 than in using the FL (Cook, 2012).
Almost every method was influenced by the strong preference of
communication and meaning rather than form, and all of them were in favour of
outlawing the L1 in the classroom, on the assumption that it was a detrimental
resource in the process of learning a foreign language.
As a result, translation was neglected for a long time by condemning it as if its
only application within the classroom was that used in the Grammar-Translation
Method. However, throughout this paper this idea has been undermined by
introducing a wide range of arguments in favour of this resource, which show all the
possible ways in which translation can be applied in the classroom, as well as all the
benefits that this activity provides students with.
In these days, language teaching is based on the achievement of many varied
goals, not only external goals, which are related to actual language use outside the
classroom –this meaning to be able to communicate with other people by means of
the FL– but also internal goals, which refer to the acquisition of different skills in the
classroom.
Taking into account these both goals, it is needed to state that the use of
translation primarily helps the internal goals related to the educational aims of the
classroom itself, for example by conveying the meaning of the words. Nevertheless, it
is also an aiding resource when dealing with the external goals, since the students
must understand the words and the grammar in order to become competent when
using the FL (Cook, 2001).
Therefore, translation contributes to enhancing the new language both inside
the classroom and outside it, and to improving the four skills of languages. Translation
is a means to reflect upon languages and it constitutes a way to understand how
languages work differently and to analyze the various characteristics of these
languages in comparison with theirs.
As all we know, the communicative competence overturned the second
language teaching by focusing on the pragmatic scope of languages. With its
appearance, the communicative aspect was regarded as the backbone of the different
approaches to language teaching and it led to wide-ranging changes within the
classroom.

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However, communicative realities change over the years so that linguistic

approaches must change too. In this sense, linguistic approaches need to keep up to
date and every single approach to language teaching must change for fitting in new
communicative realities and for guaranteeing successful results in communication.
What is needed now is to take into account that pedagogical translation and
the teaching of a second language have the same objectives, and that any method
implemented within the classroom should incorporate aspects dealing with the four
skills, but should also introduce translation as part of learning and as a means to
improve these four skills. At the end of the day, translation always occurs when using a
language.
Following this line, I would like to conclude by highlighting the words of Cook
concerning this issue:
In the recent years, a reappraisal of translation is appearing, seeing it as a matter
of expediency and as a theoretically justified activity aiding acquisition. The
methods based only on communication imply a formal inaccuracy and the
awareness of it is growing, whereas the use of translation can develop accuracy as
well and many other advantages, so this outlawing may be coming to an end
(Cook, 1998, p.118).

New materials would have to be created and old materials would have to be
adapted; new linguistic research would have to be done and new elements would have
to be included within the classroom.
However, although too much work is still pending to shed light on the issue of
the introduction of translation within the language classroom, it seems clear that its
reappraisal is already a fact, and both teachers and students should be willing to take
advantage of it.

C. DIDACTIC UNIT

8. TITLE OF THE UNIT

IT’S TRANSLATION TIME!

8.1. JUSTIFICATION

Organic Law of Education 2/2006 of May 3rd defines a didactic unit as a short-term
planning unit containing different series of activities and tasks designed for a particular
group of students. It must include a final goal, objectives, contents, methodological
orientations and evaluation.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

The present didactic unit contributes to the development of General Objectives

of Stage and Area that will be included afterwards. Furthermore, these contents are
directly related with those of the different content blocks of the second grade of
Non-Compulsory Secondary Education and it is aimed to attain objectives and
competences included in Royal Decree 1467/2007 and Decree 416/2008.
The aim of this didactic unit is devoted to showing the different activities in
which translation may take part within the second language classroom. In this regard,
it goes without saying that translation is an appealing activity whereby students are
enabled to compare the different ways to interpret the world so that it contributes to
learning the language consciously.
Furthermore, as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(CEFRL) suggests, it is worth noting the increasing role that translation is playing in the
foreign language teaching approaches, since it is both a resource which provides
students with a large number of benefits and a useful skill for communication. For this
reason, its introduction within the classroom cannot do anything but enhance the
possibilities of foreign language learning.

8.2. CONTEXTUALISATION

This lesson plan has been devised for a group of the 2nd grade of Non-Compulsory
Secondary Education students in a bilingual high school in Jaen. The class is composed
of thirty pupils, thirteen boys and seventeen girls. The general level of the students in
the class is rather homogenous, with a level ranging from B1 to B2.
The level of the students has been measured not only through diagnostic
testing, but also through informal observation and the way in which they perform the
different tasks and activities that take place in class. The students respond well to
highly communicative activities and task-based lessons, and they are are motivated
towards getting to know new countries and being in contact with foreign cultures and
languages. Furthermore, it is a very cooperative group and the students like to be
involved in discussions and group work.
Within the English classroom, the students are sitting in pairs in order to
develop social interaction and to create a good atmosphere. The pairings are chosen
by the own peers in order not to leave any student alone. However, depending on
what activity is going to be done, the class will be organized differently.

8.3. TIMING

This didactic unit is included in the third term of the year and is divided into four
sessions of approximately 50-55 minutes each. In this way, there is some time left for
explanations, questions, doubts or any other aspects that might come up over the
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course of the lesson. All the sessions except for the first one will take place in the
language laboratory.

DIDACTIC UNIT It’s translation time!

LEVEL 2nd Grade of Non Compulsory Secondary Education

TOPIC English-speaking cities and translation

SEQUENCING 3rd Term

NUMBER OF SESSIONS 4

FINAL TASK Project: a touristic brochure

Table 6. Main ideas of the didactic unit.

8.4. DIDACTIC OBJECTIVES

In what follows we show the different objectives that this didactic unit contains in
relation to the general objectives of stage, and the foreign language objectives (Table
7). Table 8 includes the specific objectives according to skills:

DIDACTIC  To promote the use of translation to complete the

OBJECTIVES different assigned tasks.
 To develop cooperative skills and use them to
complete the tasks.
 To foster the students’ autonomy in their learning
process.
 To promote the digital literacy of students.
 To approach different English-speaking countries and
customs.
 To perform a dubbing of an extract of a film.
 To compare and reflect upon the L1 and the L2.
 To use the creativity to design a touristic brochure.
 To learn vocabulary related to tourism.

STAGE OBJECTIVES A, b, e, f, g, k, n (RD 1467/07)

A, b (D 416/08)

FL OBJECTIVES 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 y 10

Table 7. General Objectives.

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Specific objectives according to skills

LISTENING, SPEAKING AND READING AND WRITING

INTERACTING

 To exchange information with their  To read a text about the differences

partners in class and presenting it to between English and Spanish.
them.

 To recognize the speaker’s intentions  To read information about different

in oral messages. geographical, historical and cultural
aspects of various monuments and
cities.

 To work in groups with their  To write in English the information and

classmates to gather information on different aspects of various cities.
different cities.

 To listen to their classmates and to  To translate into Spanish the

the teacher. information of the different cities.

 To listen to different videos and to a  To write the words they say when
recorded extract of a film. performing the dubbing.

 To interact with their classmates and

the teacher to discuss and share
information.
Table 8. Specific objectives.

8.5. CONTENTS

The different contents included within this didactic unit are directly related to the
previous objectives. They are divided into different blocks:

LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE
GRAMMAR FUNCTIONS
 Revision of different tenses: present  Gathering information on cultural,
perfect vs. past simple. geographical and historical elements.

 Asking, giving and translating

VOCABULARY information about different cities.

 Related to tourism and geographical  Performing a dubbing.

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aspects.  Assessing of their own and everyone’s

work and performance.
 Related to history and cultural issues.
 Discussing differences between
 Related to travelling.
languages.

PRONUNCIATION
DISCOURSE
 Speaking aloud in class.
 Creation of a close translation.
 Speaking with other classmates.
 Creation of a touristic brochure.
 Recording their speaking for a dubbing.
 Text organization.

LINGUISTIC AWARENESS AND INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS

REFLECTION UPON THE LANGUAGE

REFLECTION UPON ONE’S LEARNING  Appreciation of the foreign language as

means of communication.
 Being aware of the different steps and
skills needed to be able to translate texts  Approaching different cultures and
and utterances. countries.
 Participating in pair and group work.  Becoming aware of the existence of a
 Fostering autonomy and reliance on own culture behind the foreign language.
capacities to produce oral and written
messages.
 Taking part in self and peer corrections.
Table 9. Contents.

8.6. VALUES AND CROSS-CURRICULAR ASPECTS

As far as the cross-curricular issues are concerned, this didactic unit is aimed at
fostering three of the different aspects that every didactic unit must take into
consideration. These aspects include the following:

 The development of Multicultural Education, since the students will get to

know the location, culture and customs of other countries;

 Moral and Civic Education (rights & duties of democratic societies), since
our students will work in groups and pairs, they will have to work
cooperatively and, consequently, they will have to accept and respect other
people’s opinion;

 Education for Peace, due to fact that they must solve problems peacefully
when working together.

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8.7. INTERDISCIPLINARY ELEMENTS

It is worth noting that this didactic unit is also undoubtedly related to the
interdisciplinary areas of History, Geography, Technology and Drawing. The
cooperation between these different areas and our didactic unit is necessary in order
to comply with the different objectives and contents included in it.
The table below shows the different ways in which this didactic unit is
interlinked with the aforementioned subjects:

History and Geography Students look for information about other countries and
cultures, and the location and history of different
monuments of them.

Drawing Students are tasked with the design of a touristic

brochure.

ICTs Students use the new technologies to find the needed

information, and to perform the different tasks and the
recording.

Table 10. Interdisciplinary elements.

8.8. METHODOLOGY

Regarding the methodology, this didactic unit is based on the development of critical
thought, cooperative work and participation among students in order to achieve a
suitable performance of the different tasks that they must fulfill.
This unit is based on the implementation of translation within different tasks in
order to show how this resource may make students reflect about the language, and
to leave proof of all the benefits that its use provides students with. Furthermore, this
unit is focused on task-based learning as a means of allowing the students to develop
the skill of learning to learn and to be aware of their own learning process.
In order to attain the previous objectives and contents, this didactic unit strives
to demonstrate how students may perform a wide range of activities in order to
enhance their learning acquisition. For this reason, the activities that have been
devised in this didactic unit are devoted to combining pair work, group work and
individual work. Proceeding like this, students learn both how to hone their individual
skills and how to negotiate and respect other people’s opinions.
Furthermore, it is one of the main goals of this unit to make the students feel
engaged with translation, and for this reason the activities included in it have been

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designed to draw students’ attention, in such different ways as the introduction of

videos, the creation of a touristic brochure or the presence of discussions.
At all times the teacher is at the disposal of the students in order to guide and
help them; however, his/her role in the students’ learning process is secondary since
the students are expected to cope with the problems they may encounter in order to
learn how to learn and to develop self-confidence.
Consequently, with all these different tasks students may develop all the
previous skills that we mention at the beginning of this section and they will do it by
enjoying and acknowledging their process of learning.

8.9. STEP-BY-STEP PLANNING

SESSION 1: “English vs. Spanish”

(Please, refer to Annex I for the materials of this session).

Step 1: Pre-reading
Pair work (5’)
As a warm-up activity, the students have to think about three main differences
between English and Spanish and they have to compare and discuss them with their
partner.
After that, they have to decide which would be the most difficult aspect of learning a
new language.

Step 2: Reading of a text

Individual work (10’)
The students are given a text about the differences between English and
Spanish, and some of the difficulties that Spanish speakers may encounter when
learning English. They have to read it carefully and understand it. If they have any
question, they can ask the teacher.

Step 3: Post-reading – Discussion of the text

Pair work (15’)
Once the students have read the text, they have to answer different questions
in pairs in order to talk about personal experiences with the language, and to express
their opinion about the text: if they do agree or do not with the information and why.

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When they finish their pair discussion, the teacher asks for whole-class
feedback.

Step 4: Follow-up 1 – Grammar revision

Whole-class work (10’)
While answering the questions, the students are expected to use the past
simple and the present perfect. The teacher reminds the uses of these two tenses.

Step 5: Follow-up 2 – Discussion of photos

Whole-class work (10’)
The teacher divides the class into 5 groups of 6 people, and s/he projects
different photos of significant and characteristic monuments or icons of one of the
following cities: London, Liverpool, New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles.
After that, each group has to discuss and decide which photo they like the most
and explain why.
If there is no more than one group who likes the same photo, the teacher gives
the photo that each group has decided as favourite. If not, the teacher distributes
them as appropriate.

SESSION 2: “Close translation”

Step 1: Warm-up activity: Preparation phase
Whole-class work (5’)
During this part of the session, the teacher reminds the students their photos and s/he
explains to them that they must search for information on the monuments, parks,
museums, food, attractions or any other relevant information from their city by using
the laptops and the Internet.
Furthermore, the teacher explains the next part of the task, which consists in a
translation in pairs of the information gathered, and a correction of the translation of
the other members of the group.
The translation that students are going to develop is a close translation. For this
reason, during this part of the section the teacher explains to students what a close
translation is.

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Step 2: Search for information on the Internet

Group work (15’)
The students will look for information about their monuments and cities on the
Internet by using the laptops in the language laboratory.
The teacher gives the students a number of links where they can find relevant
information about the different cities and s/he also tell them that they can expand
their search by looking for information in some other websites.

Exercise 1. Take your photo, see it carefully and think about which city it comes
about. Then, use the laptops to look for all the information about this city with your
group. After that, tell it to the rest of your group.

The links of the different cities are the following

London: http://www.visitlondon.com/es
http://www.hrp.org.uk/

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/houses-of-parliament

Liverpool: http://www.visitliverpool.com/
New York: http://www.nycgo.com/es

Washington DC: http://washington.org/

https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/

Los Angeles: http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/

http://lacity.org/for-visitors

Step 3: Writing a text

Pair work (10’)
Once the students have gathered relevant information about the monuments
and the cities of their photos, they have to write a summarized text in English.
The groups are made up of 6 students, and they will be divided into 3 pairs.
Each pair will focus on a different aspect, thus being the weather, food, history,
customs and monuments.

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Exercise 2. Once you and your group have gathered the information, divide the
group into 3 pairs and distribute the different information you have gathered. With
your pair, write a text in English about one of the different aspects:

 The weather
 Food
 History
 Customs
 Monuments

Step 4: Text correction

Pair work (5’)
The three pairs in the group exchange their texts and check them for mistakes
(peer-correction). The teacher is observing the students and s/he is around in order to
help them if they need it.

Exercise 3. Once all the pairs of your group have finished the text, give yours to a
different pair and they will correct it.

Step 5: Close translation

Pair work (15’)
After the three texts have been revised, they exchange them again and they
carry out a close translation. This way, the text has been written by one pair, corrected
by another pair, and translated by the third pair in the group. In other words, each pair
will have worked with the three texts, either composing, correcting or translating it.
The translation will be a close translation; therefore, the students must be as
close as possible to the original information. Then, when each pair has its translation
finished, they give their translation to a different pair of their group and they have to
correct it.

Exercise 4. Now translate your text into Spanish and once all the pairs of your group
have finished the translation, give your translation to a different pair and they will
correct it.

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 The Role of Translation in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

REMEMBER!
You have to write a close translation, so you have to stay as close as possible to the
original text.

Step 6: Follow-up activity – Discussion of translation problems

Whole-class work (5’)
During the 5 remaining minutes and once the students have finished their
translation, there will be a whole-class discussion about the relevant problems they
encountered at the time of translating. The teacher will guide the discussion by
bringing up potential problematic areas s/he observed.
The different questions that students will have to discuss are the following:

Exercise 5. Think about the problems you have found when translating and discuss
them with your classmates.
What have you found difficult to translate?
What has been surprising to you?
What have you enjoyed the most? And the least? Why?

SESSION 3: “My language is not the same as yours”

(Please, refer to Annex II for the materials of this session).

Step 1: Warm-up activity – Quiz

Group work (15’)
In order to refresh the information the students gathered about the different cities, at
the beginning of Session 3 they will do a short quiz. Divided into the same groups of 6
people, the teacher projects a quiz asking them some questions about the monuments
and cities they have worked on in the previous session. They have to answer them in
groups; the group which obtains more correct answers wins.

Exercise 1. Let’s play!

Pay attention to the different questions that will be shown on the screen and
discuss each of them with your group. Once all the members of your group have
decided the final answer, raise your hand and tell it to the teacher.

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The group who answers more quickly wins the round!

Step 2: Pre-watching
Whole-class work (5’)
As a warm-up activity before the watching of the video, the teacher asks the
students if three sentences in English (containing similar mistakes to those of the
video) are correct or not, and why, and if they think they may be problematic for
Spanish speakers.

Step 3: While-watching
Individual work (10’)
Activity 1: the students watch a video of two English teachers talking about
typical mistakes that Spanish speakers make when learning English.
The teachers of the video suggest different sentences in Spanish which the
students have to translate it into English.
Activity 2: after the teachers in the video suggest each sentence, the students
have approximately 1 minute to translate it.
Then, the teachers show the typical mistake that Spanish people make and the
correct answer.
Students check if they have also made the mistake or if their translation is
correct. After that, they continue with the following sentence.

Step 4: Follow- up 1
Individual work (10’)
In this step we will show a video in which an English speaker makes mistakes
when speaking Spanish; this way, students realize that the Spanish are not the only
ones having trouble when learning a language.
The video features the well-known singer Jennifer López. They have to write
down the mistakes they think she has made and why they think she has made them.

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The different videos may be found in the following links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj23Q5MjEUo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IZ_mx_x4ys

Step 5: Follow-up 2 – Discussion

Whole-class work (10’)
Once the students have watched the two videos, the teacher starts a discussion
about the comparison of the two languages.
The teacher asks them if they usually make the mistakes of the first video, why
they think they make them and how they would face them; s/he also asks them why
they think the errors of English speakers take place and how they would solve them.

Exercise 2. Discuss the videos with your partners.

Do you usually make the mistakes of the first video?

Why do you think you make or you do not make them?

How would you face them?

Which errors have you found when Jennifer López has spoken in Spanish?

Why do you think Jennifer López makes these mistakes?

SESSION 4: “Dubbing a film”

(Please, refer to Annex III for the materials of this session).

Step 1: Warm-up activity / Pre-watching

Whole-class work (5’)
The teacher asks the students whether they know what “simultaneous interpretation”
is. Do they think it is difficult?

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Step 2: While-watching
Whole-class work (5’)
The teacher projects a video of a simultaneous interpretation to let the
students know what it consists of, and also show them a model of what they will have
to do later in the session.
The video lasts about 8 minutes, but we will only play up to minute 2. After
they have watched the video they can ask questions or doubts.

The video may be found in the following link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_tLrN504XQ

Step 3: Task: Dubbing a film

Pair work and individual work (20’)
The students watch an extract of the film Match Point in Spanish, which lasts
about 3 minutes. They watch it by using their laptops and their headphones. Then,
they have time to prepare their dubbing.
Students work in pairs and discuss how they would translate it into English.
They can use the Internet for information about structures, vocabulary, idioms, etc.
that are difficult.
Once they have prepared their dubbing in written form, they record their
performance of the extract, making sure that the length of the sentences and the
speed of the speech match the movement of the lips (for slow-learners we might want
to opt for subtitling instead of dubbing).

Step 4: Report phase

Individual work (10’)
The teacher and the students walk around listening to and assessing how the
other groups did.

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Step 5: Self-evaluation
Individual work (5’)
The teacher distributes a self-assessment grid to complete at home in order to
make the students reflect upon their performance of the speaking activity. The grid
includes aspects about content, understanding, vocabulary and expressions, grammar,
fluency and register used during the activity.

Step 6: Project explanation and brainstorming

Whole-class work (10’)
The teacher explains to the students that they will do a touristic brochure in the
same groups of 6 people, working on the same city as in Session 1 and departing from
the information they gathered in that same session. The brochure will have to be
written both in English and Spanish, and must be colourful and attractive.
To start with, the students will do a brainstorming of ideas to consider which
main aspects they should include in their touristic brochures; e.g. remarkable places to
visit, the weather or typical food. The teacher writes down all the aspects that
students suggest and if necessary adds those that s/he considers important too.
The teacher shows different touristic leaflets that the students can use as a
model to design their own brochure. S/he also gives the students the link with the
digitalized template they will use at home to create their touristic brochure.

The template that the students will use for their design of the touristic brochure may
be found on the following link

http://www.brother.com/creativecenter/en_ca/business/brochure/travel/ENCA_CO
LORFULWORLD-BRO_3.htm

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8.10. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Evaluation is the process whereby both, the students and the teacher, analyze the
success of the different activities performed in class. For this reason, it is considered as
a dual system since it covers, on the one hand, the learning process, and on the other
hand, the teaching process.
The evaluation criteria enable the teacher to examine to which extent the
different performances carried out in class have been successful or not. Consequently,
the evaluation criteria of this didactic unit, which are directly related to the previous
objectives, are the following:

 Whether or not the students can use translation to complete the different
assigned tasks;

 Whether or not they can develop cooperative skills and use them to complete
the tasks;

 Whether or not the students’ autonomy in their learning process is promoted;

 Whether or not they are able to use the Internet in order to look for
information about different cultures and countries;

 Whether or not the students are able to approach different English-speaking

countries and customs;

 Whether or not they can perform a dubbing;

 Whether or not they compare and reflect the L1 and the L2;

 Whether or not they are able to use their creativity to design a touristic
brochure;

 Whether or not they learn vocabulary and contents related to the topic of
tourism.

 Whether or not they exchange and present information to their partners.

 Whether or not they understand oral messages.

 Whether or not the students can interact with their classmates and the teacher.

 Whether or not they read a text and information about different languages and
countries.

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 Whether or not the students can write in English.

 Whether or not they can translate different information.

Table 11. Evaluation criteria.

8.11. EVALUATION TOOLS

It is also crucial to include the different instruments whereby evaluation will be carried
out. In this case, the instruments include the following:

 Self-evaluation sheets for students (please, see Annex III);

 Evaluation grids for the teacher about cooperative work and oral activities.
(Please, see Annex IV).
The different percentages that will be allotted to each part are as follows:

 Activities performed in class: 20%

 Participation: 10%

 Dubbing: 30%

 Final project (Touristic brochure): 30%

8.12. MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

It is also essential to take into consideration the various materials that enable students
to develop the different task carried out within the language classroom.
Thus, the different materials that have been used within the classroom in order to
attain successful results through the development of this didactic unit include the
following:

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Computers The Internet Videos An extract of a Headphones

film

The projector Quizzes Realia: Travel Handouts Dictionaries

guides and
leaflets

Table 12. Materials.

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To conclude, it is important to say that this didactic unit constitutes but a mere
declaration of intentions with respect to the teaching process. It is necessary to take
into account that each didactic unit must be adapted to the different characteristics of
the groups and needs of the students. It has to provide the students with a means of
learning according to what they are capable of doing.

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D. BIBLIOGRAPHY

9. STATE OF ART

PRIMARY SOURCES

Arabski, J. (2006). Cross-Linguistic Influences in the Second Language Lexicon.

Cleveland, England Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.
Cook, G. (1998). Use of Translation in Language Teaching. In M. Baker (Ed.), Routledge
Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, 117-120. London: Routledge.
Cook, G. (2012). Translation in Language Teaching: an Argument for Reassessment.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cook, V. (2001). Using the First Language in the Classroom. The Canadian Modern
Language Review, 57 (3), 402–423.
Cook, V. (2010). The Relationship between First and Second Language Learning
Revisited. Retrieved April 26, 2015 from
<http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Writings/Papers/L1&L22008.htm>.
De Arriba, C. (1996). Introducción a la Traducción Pedagógica. Barcelona: Universidad
de Barcelona.
Gile, D., Hansen, G, & Pokorn, N.K. (Eds.) (2010). Why Translation Studies Matters.
Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Company.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Machida, S. (2008). A Step Forward to Using Translation to Teach a Foreign/Second
Language. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 5: 1, 140-155.
Pintado, L. (2012). Fundamentos de la Traducción Pedagógica: Traducción, Pedagogía y
Comunicación. Sendebar, 23, 321-353.
Pokorn, N. K. (2005). Challenging the Traditional Axioms: Translation into a Non-
Mother Tongue. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub.
Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Witte, A., Harden, T. & Ramos de Oliveira Harden, A. (Eds.) (2009). Translation in
Second Language Learning and Teaching. New York: Peter Lang.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Krawutschke, P. W. (Ed.) (2008). Translator and Interpreter Training and Foreign

Language Pedagogy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Co.

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Liddicoat, A., Papademetre, L., Scarino, A., & Kohler, M. (2003). Report on intercultural
language learning. Retrieved April 28, 2015, from <http://
ww1.curriculum.edu.au/nalsas/pdf/intercultural.pdf>.
Richards, J. C., Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tejada, G. Pérez, M. L., Luque, G. (2005). Current Approaches and Teaching Methods.
In N. McLaren et al. (Ed.), TEFL in Secondary Education (pp.155-209). Granada:
Universidad de Granada.

10. DIDACTIC UNIT

Brook Hart, G. (20152). Student’s Book with Answers for Revised Exam From 2015.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
deBourcier, A. et al. (2004). Classroom Assessment. In A. deBourcier et al. (Ed.), Grade
7 to Senior 4 Spanish Language and Culture: a foundation for implementation
(pp.3-26). Manitoba: Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth.
Nicholson, J. (2005). Spanish and English. Retrieved June 2, 2015 from
<http://spot.pcc.edu/map/span_eng_essay.html>.

http://learnengish.britishcounci.org.en/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learninglish/
http://www.toptenz.net
http://www.youtube.com
https://creativecenter.brother.eu/?rd=1
https://www.flickr.com/
http://pixabay.com/es/

11. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

Decree 416/2008, of July 22nd, which establishes the arranging and the teachings
corresponding to Non-Compulsory Secondary Education in Andalusia.
Law for Education in Andalusia (LEA) 17/2007 (Dec, 10th).
Order of August, 5th, 2008, which regulates the evaluation and the curriculum of the
learning process in Non-Compulsory Secondary Education.
Organic Law of Education (LOE 2/2006 May, 3rd).
Royal Decree 1467/2007, of November 2nd, whereby the minimum teachings
corresponding to Non-Compulsory Secondary Education are established.

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E. ANNEXES

ANNEX I: Materials for Session 1

Exercise 1. Read carefully the following text about the main differences
between English and Spanish. Ask your teacher if you have any questions or doubts.

Differences between Spanish and English

Most students say Spanish is an easy language and English is a difficult language
to learn. This may or may not be true, but they are certainly very different languages.
Some of the biggest differences between Spanish and English are spelling, grammar
and vocabulary.

English is famous for strange spelling. Even native speakers regularly encounter
new words or names they don’t know how to spell. It is even worse is when you add
pronunciation to the mix. English spelling does not look like the pronunciation. Look at
these words: Barry, berry, bury; or good, food, flood. What about dough, though,
enough, bough, cough? Not a lot of logic there. On the other hand, Spanish spelling is
phonetic. That means every letter represents one sound, always. There are very few
surprises or exceptions as in English. Contrary to English, Spanish is logical and
consistent: if you hear a word, you know how to spell it, and if you see a word, you
know how to pronounce it.

Spanish and English also have very different grammar. Spanish has masculine
and feminine, for example, but English uses no gender, except for personal pronouns,
thus being he, she, his, her and hers. In Spanish, you need to know if a noun is
masculine or feminine, and any article or adjective must agree in gender. A feminine
example is “La Isla Bonita” (a popular song by Madonna: The Pretty Island) and a
masculine example is “El Burrito Loco” (The Crazy Burrito, a popular fast food
restaurant in Portland).

In the English, the adjective comes before the noun. In Spanish, it follows. In
addition, verbs are very different. English has three forms for the present of the verb
to be: am, is, are; two forms of other simple present affirmative verbs: do, does, work,
works; and only one form in the past tense: did, went. However, Spanish verbs must
agree with the subject, which means many different forms in every tense. For
example, work/works in Spanish is trabajo, trabajas, trabaja, trabajan, or trabajamos.
Worked is trabajé, trabajabas, trabajó, trabajaron, or trabajamos.

One more difference in grammar is how to say you. There is only one way in

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English, but many in Spanish. There is a different form for familiar (tú) and formal
(usted). These are singular forms, but there are also plural forms (vosotros and
ustedes). This makes English look simple.

For vocabulary, English is probably more difficult because it has more words.
The English language, throughout its history, has mixed with many different languages
and borrowed their words. Spanish, for the most part, has remained a purer language.
Whereas most Spanish words are Spanish, many English words are not English.

For example, if you are describing a king in English, he could be a kingly, royal,
regal and sovereign monarch. There are usually many different words for the same
thing in English because we have the original Old English word (king) but also a Latin
word (regal) and maybe a French word (royal). Sometimes there are multiple words
from Latin (sovereign). English also borrowed words from Spanish: cargo, embargo,
siesta; Arabic: zero, nadir, sofa; and Russian: sputnik, perestroika and Bolshevik.
Spanish has a rich vocabulary, too, but the vast majority of its words come from Latin,
from which Spanish originated. If you look at complete, unabridged dictionaries, the
English will have many more entries than the Spanish.

Whether you are learning Spanish or English, you will notice many things that
are different. English has more difficult spelling and punctuation, but Spanish probably
has more complicated grammar. Don’t let that stop you! They are both very important
languages in the world today, and you should be very happy if you can speak and read
them both. (Adapted from Nicholson, 2005).

Exercise 2. Once you have read the text, answer these questions to your
partner.

 Do you agree with the text?

 Do you think English is easier than Spanish? If so, why?
 Do you go along with the assumption that Spanish grammar is more difficult than
English grammar? Why?
 Did you notice these differences between English and Spanish?
 Have you ever been to any English-speaking country?
 Did you have any problems when communicating with the English speakers?

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REMEMBER!

The Past Simple is used to speak about:

 actions or events in the past: I went to the park yesterday.
 things which happened for a long time in the past: She lived in Spain for 15 years.

The Present Perfect is formed with the present tense of the verb have and the past
participle of a verb. E.g. I have eaten two pieces of cake.
It is used to talk about:
 something which started in the past and continues in the present: She has lived there
all her life.
 something which happened in the past but is connected to the present: I cannot use
my dictionary for the exercise. I’ve lost it.
 something we have done several times in the past and continue to do: I’ve been
reading this book every week.
 an experience up to present: My last birthday was the best day I’ve ever had.
 someone who has gone to somewhere and has returned: I’ve been to England twice.

The photos the students will be given are the following

LONDON LIVERPOOL

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NEW YORK

WASHINGTON DC LOS ANGELES

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ANNEX II: Materials for Session 3

The different questions projected during the quiz will be the following
 What is the name of famous district where Central Park is located?
 Where can we find the Fifth Avenue?
 Where is the famous Walk of Fame located?
 Where can we find the famous Palace of Westminster?
 If we talk about the Beefeaters, to which monument are we referring to and what is
their function?
 What is the name of a famous street in London where was the recording studio of
The Beatles located?
 Which is the name of the city which The Beatles come from?
 Which city is the capital of the United States?
 Where is the United States Capitol located?
 In which state is the city of Los Angeles located?

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Annex III: Materials for Session 4

The extract of the film they will watch is that of Match Point

Self-assessment Grid: Assess your performance from 1 to 5. 5 would be fantastic; 4

very good; 3 good; 2 not bad; 1 bad.

Content
 I have included all the contents.
The ideas have been well organized.
Understanding
My classmate could understand what I wanted to
express.
My teacher could understand what I wanted to express.
Vocabulary and expressions
I have used expressions recently learnt.
I have used new vocabulary recently learnt.
Grammar
I have used challenging grammatical structures.
Fluency
I have spoken enough time.
I have spoken clearly without stops.
Register
I have used the correct expressions (informal or formal)
depending on the context.
Table 13. Self-assessment grid. (Developed by Karen Jogan, Albright College, Reading,
PA. Translation by author).
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This would be the template for the touristic brochure

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ANNEX IV: EVALUATION TOOLS

EVALUATION GRIDS FOR THE TEACHER

EVALUATION GRID FOR COOPERATIVE WORK

4 3 2 1
EQUAL Totally equal Rather unequal Unequal Unequal
DISTRIBUTION distribution of distribution of workload: very workload: only
OF THE WORK the task the task few students one student
work works
FOCUS ON THE All the time The majority of Sometimes Never
WORK the time
IINTERACTION Exchange of Some Few exchange No exchange
ideas exchange of of ideas; s/he of ideas; s/he
ideas often get always get
distracted distracted
Table 14. Evaluation grid 1. (Adapted from deBourcier, A. et al., 2004).

EVALUATION GRID FOR WRITTEN MATERIAL

4 3 2 1
GRAMMAR Excellent Good Insufficient Inadequate
VOCABULARY Wide range of Vocabulary in Some current Minimum use
vocabulary keeping with vocabulary; of the current
the current there are key vocabulary;
level of study words missing incorrect use
of words
ORTHOGRAPHY Excellent Very few errors Some errors Too many
errors
CREATIVITY Creative and Some creativity Little creativity No creativity in
original the materials
Table 15. Evaluation grid 2. (Adapted from deBourcier, A. et al., 2004).

EVALUATION GRID FOR ORAL ACTIVITIES

YES NO
Correct Pronunciation
Correct Grammar
Fluency

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Varied and new

vocabulary and
expressions
Table 16. Evaluation grid 3. (Adapted from deBourcier, A. et al., 2004).

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