Translation: four reasons to use translation in language learning
We’ve all seen how bad translations can be when they’re done word-for-word. Signs posted around the world give us messages like ‘If you are stolen, call the police at once’ and ‘Please do not empty your dog here’. Menus are full of mistranslations offering delicacies such as fresh crap (in a seafood restaurant); Pope stuffs (papa rellena); grilled aborigines with parsley (aubergines); and delicious roasted husband (no idea).
Banning the mother tongue
Many language schools around the world forbid translation and the use of the native language altogether. They are taking their cue from the views of Maximilian Berlitz, founder of the Berlitz chain of language schools. A century ago, Berlitz wrote that translation wasted too much time and led to a ‘defective’ and incomplete knowledge of the second language.
There are other valid reasons for avoiding the mother tongue in language classrooms. Author and teacher trainer Steve Oakes points out that some teachers and students like to see the classroom as a kind of ‘English island’. This helps them to discipline themselves to use only English.
Others say translation encourages dependence on L1 (first language), which hinders a learner’s ability to construct an independent L2 (second language) system.
Another reason is more practical. In multilingual classrooms, which are the norm in countries like the UK, Australia and the US, the principled use of translation is usually impossible. The teacher most likely doesn’t know enough of the students’ native languages and therefore cannot facilitate translation into or out of those languages.
Here are four good reasons to use translation in class.
-Awareness raising: conceptual metaphors and other parallels
In the 1980s, George Lakoff popularized the term ‘conceptual metaphors’ to describe how different languages sometimes use the same imagery. Across several languages, time is money (we run out of both); ideas are buildings (we construct them); and love is a journey. In Spanish, No creo que esta relación vaya a ninguna parte means ‘I don’t think this relationship is going anywhere’. In French, Nous sommes à la croisée de chemins means ‘we’re at a crossroads’. In Italian, siamo bloccati means ‘we’re stuck’.
Translation allows us to see these and other parallel structures between L1 and L2. It also allows us to see differences between languages: false friends, differences in word order, syntactical differences, etc.
-Efficiency
Translating simply saves time. Simon le Maistre, of Reallyenglish, says the company uses translation to make learning more efficient. It helps students get into activities as quickly as possible via translated instructions, and they learn from these activities via translated explanations for correct/incorrect answers. Although actual learning content – texts and questions/answer choices – are all in English, the type of support that translation provides is an expectation in the Japanese market.
Le Maistre adds that the company allows learners to choose which version of support they would like: English only or English and the student’s language.
In the classroom, where words in L1 and L2 have a simple one-to-one correlation, as in objects like cars, trees, and the sky, translation is by far the quickest way to establish meaning.
-Real life activity and strategy
Another reason to use translation is that it’s a real life skill that we practise all the time. We decode notices and signs in foreign languages, help our monolingual friends and family with instructions, and translate menus. According to Alan Duff (1995), language competence is a two-way system; we need to communicate into and from the target language.
Translation is also a key strategy in language learning. Chamot and O’Malley (1985) write that using L1 as a basis for understanding L2 makes up over 30% of all strategy use. For Beginners, this percentage is higher. Should teachers then persist with the idea that their students are using only L2 in their minds, or should translation become an overt tool for teaching language?
-A workout for the left side of the brain
Translation need not be tedious drudgery. Anyone growing up in Britain in the 1980s probably remembers struggling to stay awake while translating long literary texts from Latin or French. There are more useful and communicative ideas for language classrooms these days.
For example, we can take very short texts – a couple of lines – in English and ask students to translate them into the mother tongue. They then work with other students who had a different text and try to translate the mother tongue sentences back into English. It’s a type of ‘Spot the Difference’ activity which is short and enjoyable.
For example, we can take very short texts – a couple of lines – in English and ask students to translate them into the mother tongue. They then work with other students who had a different text and try to translate the mother tongue sentences back into English. It’s a type of ‘Spot the Difference’ activity which is short and enjoyable.
When teaching grammar, we can write an English model sentence as a series of boxed words. The students write the equivalent sentence in the mother tongue. They box the words and try to match the words in English to the words in the mother tongue. This helps students to see the differences in sentence structure between L1 and L2.
We can get students to translate menus and brochures or we can show short video clips in English and ask them to write subtitles in their language.
All of these are left-brain activities, asking students to analyse language and make detailed choices. This type of intense language practice, done in small doses, can be of enormous benefit to learners of all levels.
Conclusion
For language learners, translation is as natural as a flower in a field. To learn anything efficiently, we apply new information to what we already know. And the one thing all second language learners already know is their mother tongue.
