Translation as a pedagogical tool in the foreign language classroom: A qualitative study of attitudes and behaviours

Abstract

A review of the literature on language teaching reveals predominantly negative attitudes towards the use of translation in language teaching (TILT) (Cook, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of whether this negativity is reflected in the attitudes and behaviours of university lecturers engaged in language teaching as well as to consider the background and contextual factors associated with these attitudes and behaviours. A case-study of one Irish Higher Education Institution was conducted and qualitative interviews carried out with six lecturers in Japanese and six in German in conjunction with a review of the relevant documentation including course outlines and module descriptors. The results indicated widespread support on the ground for the use of TILT in some form suggesting a need for further research on the impact of the use of TILT on the language learning process. KeywordsTranslation, language teaching, L1, Grammar Translation I IntroductionCriticisms leveled against translation have had a negative impact on academic opinion regarding its use in language teaching (Cook, 2010). Most notable is the association of Translation in Language Teaching (TILT) (Cook, 2010) with the Grammar Translation approach to language teaching.The insidious association of Translation in Language Teaching with dull and authoritarian Grammar Translation, combined with the insinuation that Grammar Translation had nothing good in it at all, has lodged itself so deeply in the collective consciousness of the language-teaching profession, that it is difficult to prise it out at all, and it has hardly moved for a hundred years. The result has been an arid period in the use and development of TILT, and serious detriment to language teaching as a whole (Cook, 2010, p. 156). However, as Schjoldager (2004), Cook (2009 and Lems, Miller and Soro (2010) point out, TILT continues to be used in practice in many parts of the world. This paper uses a case-study approach to begin to address the following research questions:1. What are the attitudes of university language lecturers towards the use of TILT? 2. What behaviours in terms of the use of TILT are associated with more positive or negative attitudes towards its use? 3. What background factors are associated with more positive or negative attitudes towards its use?In order to frame these questions, the following section reviews the pertinent literature, outlining the events that led to the demise of translation in the classroom, and presents the case for and against the use of translation as a language learning tool. II Literature review 1 The demise of TILTDespite the widespread popular assumption that translation should play a major and necessary part in the study of a foreign language, recent theories of language teaching and learning have at best ignored the role of translation, and at worst vilified it. From the end of the nineteenth century onwards almost all influential theoretical works on language teaching have assumed without argument that a new l...

Promises and Obstacles of L1 Use in Language Classrooms: A State-of-the-Art Review

“…Kelly and Bruen's (2015) findings show two things. First, learners and teachers have already begun to question the longstanding belief that monolingual languages classrooms are more effective than bilinguals ones.…”

“…A number of studies have been carried out to investigate language teachers and learners' towards L1 use in language classrooms (e.g., Brooks-Lewis, 2009;Edstrom, 2006;Kelly & Bruen, 2015;Rolin-Ianziti & Varshney, 2008). Rolin-Ianziti and Varshney (2008) is a study that investigated L1-English, L2-French learner's attitudes towards the use of L1 in language classrooms.…”

“…In other words, they attributed that the most significant function L1 use can serve was to transmit content related to L2 knowledge. Kelly and Bruen (2015) too investigated the attitudes towards translation and L1 use but, this time, those attitudes held by language teachers rather than learners. In their study, Kelly and Bruen (2015) surveyed twelve language teachers (i.e., six German teachers and six Japanese teachers) about their attitudes towards L1 use, particularly translation, in their language classrooms.…”

“…Kelly and Bruen (2015) too investigated the attitudes towards translation and L1 use but, this time, those attitudes held by language teachers rather than learners. In their study, Kelly and Bruen (2015) surveyed twelve language teachers (i.e., six German teachers and six Japanese teachers) about their attitudes towards L1 use, particularly translation, in their language classrooms. They found that the teachers investigated held strongly positive attitudes towards translation and L1 use in language classrooms.…”

“…The teachers stated that the most immediate function translation can serve in language classrooms was to clarify the meanings of lexical items and to facilitate the instruction of grammatical structures. The following are two excerpts from the teachers in Kelly and Bruen's (2015) study:…”