ESSAY

ESSAY

Translation has been an important part of English language teaching for a long time, but it has been abandoned since communicative methodologies became dominant. Interestingly, although translation was out of favor with English language practitioners, it has rather stubbornly refused to die in the teaching of languages other than English.

A revival of interest to using a mother tongue in the English classroom is caused by the necessity to improve language accuracy and fluency, Therefore, the use of mother tongue and translation can serve as a tool for improving language skills.

There are opinions that students’ first language should not be allowed in a second language classroom due to L1 interference. A learners’ mother tongue has been negatively viewed because of linguistic transfer. However, there appears a widespread assumption that language transfer is an important characteristic of second language acquisition. Cross-linguistic similarities and differences between L1 and L2 can produce positive transfer or negative transfer such as underproduction, overproduction, production errors, and misinterpretation. Both negative and positive transfer between the L1 and L2 is important for development of the complex system of the learners’ L2.

According to J. Harmer, students use the mother tongue in class if they are linguistically incapable of activating vocabulary for a chosen task. Another reason is that translation is a natural thing to do in language learning, and code-switching between languages is regarded as naturally developmental.

It is highly probable that L2 learners will always think most often in their L1, even at the advanced level.

Major objections to using translation in language teaching can be summarized as follows. First, translation does not help students develop communication skills. Second, it encourages to use L1 instead of L2. Third, translation activities may be suitable for students who prefer analytical or verbal-linguistic learning strategies. Finally, translation is a difficult skill which is not always rewarding.

The benefits of translation activities include practice of all language skills, i.e. reading, writing, speaking and listening. In terms of communicative competence, accuracy, clarity and flexibility can be developed. Translation is a

real-life, natural activity which many learners use on a daily basis either formally or informally. Translation is a common strategy used by many learners even if teachers do not encourage it. Discussion of differences and similarities between languages help students understand problems caused by their native language. Developing skills in translation is a natural and logical part of improving language proficiency.

Over 20 years ago teachers and students started to use translation to teach / learn English language. Some ideas for classroom approaches and activities are suggested in the online source quoted above. Translation is sometimes referred to as the fifth language skill alongside the other four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing: it holds a special importance at an intermediate and advanced level: in the advanced or final stage of language teaching, translation from L1 to L2 and from L2 to L1 is recognized as the fifth skill and the most important social skill since it promotes communication and understanding between strangers. If students are aware of the differences, language interference, or transfer, and intervention from their own language are likely to be reduced.

Native language use in the English classroom can cause students to think that words and structures in English have a L1 correspondence, which does not exist. Therefore, raising students’ consciousness of the non-parallel nature of language allows learners to think comparatively. The important question is how to reach a balance of the L1 usage in the learning processes. It is thought that four factors should be considered, namely, the students’ previous experience, their level, the stage of the course, and the stage of the individual lesson.