This document discusses using translation as a teaching method for foreign/second language learning. It begins by outlining different historical language teaching methods and their use of translation. It then discusses current approaches that incorporate grammar instruction and focus on form within communicative contexts. The document presents a study on using translation activities in an advanced Japanese language class. Results showed students performed better on essay versus sentence translations and made more vocabulary than syntactic errors. The discussion evaluates teaching materials and tests used, and concludes translation can create an effective learning environment when used appropriately for advanced learners.

1. Sayuki Machida
Sara Pacheco
MILE
Oct 2011

2. A step forward to using translation to teach
a foreign/second language
 QUESTION:
 To what extent can the class incorporate translation
activities?
 AIM:
 To inform the broader question of whether translation
can be a major methodology in today’s language
teaching.

3. Translation as an old method
Grammar- L1 in L2 Focus on learning grammar Much grammar
Translation (GT) rules and vocabulary, and Few listening &
method deductive L2 learning speaking
Natural Method or L2 in L2 Oral-aural approach in the More listening
Direct Method early stage of L2 learning Less speaking
“input before output”
Audiolingual L2 in L2 Habit-forming approach Less writing
Method (ALM) based on behaviorism More speaking
Exposure to language input
Communicative L2 in L2 Meaningful input in L2 More speaking
approach Realistic situations and writing
Realia
Notional/functional L2 in L2 language as a tool of More speaking
syllabus communication and writing
functional equations
between L1 and L2 usage

4. Current post-communicative, cognitive paradigm
Ellis (1996) • Grammar can enhance learner syntactic system
Brown (1994) &
Larsen-Freeman • Grammar teaching + Communicative tasks
(1991)
Dought &
• “Focus on form” instruction
Williams (1998)
• Tradition synthetic grammar +context
Focus on form
• Negotiating meaning / metalinguistic discussion
approach • Forms in communication | Holistic activities
Constructivist • Authentic, challenging and meaningful projects
approach • Learner’s experiences into class activities

5. Current post-communicative, cognitive paradigm
No L1
Is L1 helpful in L2 learning?
L1?
Is it more beneficial than erroneous?
• Bilinguals access one common storage sys-
tem containing both L1 and L2 vocabulary.
Macaro
• L1 to assist learners’ comprehension of
(2003) L2 by creating more networks between
nodes in their long term memory.

6. L1 use in L2 instruction and translation
in an advanced L2 program
 THIS
STUDY to explore effective ways of using the ‘act of translating’ to
promote these learners' better comprehension of L2 texts
Teaching translation
Translation as a product English-speaking learners
Translation processes
Translation from L2 into L1
Reverse sentence translation
(from L1 into L2)
To show whether they understand or not.
To raise awareness of sentence
structure and part related to meaning

7. L1 use in L2 instruction and translation
 The act of translating requires understanding of the original
text, and linguistic and non-linguistic abilities and skills to
recreate the original text meaning in another language.
1) It naturally creates more opportunities for the learners to focus not
only on meaning, but also on the form of the text;
2) working back and forth between L1 and L2 can naturally bring not
only explicit attention to the form and meaning of the text, but
also discussion on linguistic and non-linguistic forms;
3) the act of translating can provide the learners with holistic
challenging projects, involving problem-solving, and integrate
linguistic, cultural, and pragmatic knowledge beyond com-
municating using language.

8. Act of translating as a method into
teaching Japanese as a second language
 Setting Taken after a core
course (4 years)
Translation Subject
activities 12 weeks over 3 months
a) further development of students’ Japanese language skills
b) learning basic differences between English and Japanese
c) in-class experiences working between two languages and cultures
 Introduction and use of act of translating for
teaching
 Part A) In-class activities  translating mostly in
pairs and groups
 Part B) Outside class  outside of the class
semester long project

9.  Part A) In-class activities (Text comprehension/translation)
Translation activities in class first six week period
1) Sentence level translation, with focus on one particular linguistic
target at one time
2) Short article translation integrated into reading exercises involving
various genres, such as newspaper, magazine, essays, and internet
media.
Assessment
translation at the end of the first six weeks
tests at the end of the semester
1st test translating one from a choice of two short essays
(approximately 350 words: L2 to L1 translation) 30 minutes
2nd test sentence level (L1 to L2) translation and essay translation (L2
to L1: two out of three choices: 300–350 characters each) two hours.
The essays were based on the topics covered Learners bilingual dictionaries but
during the six week teaching period no other references

10. Act of translating as a method into
teaching Japanese as a second language
 Learner feedback and Teacher observation
 Learners’ information •Researcher’s recording
•Questionnaires
 Learner expectations of the subject
 Activities the learners liked and disliked
 Activities the learners considered useful for their
language learning
 Teacher/researcher observation on each activity
Students quickly got bored with translating sentences.
After a few inquiries to clarify the objectives, most of
them appeared to manage the work fine.

11. Act of translating as a teaching method
 Test Results Errors
1) extra meaning added by the reader
(example: 市民 was translated as ‘innocent people’ instead of
‘civilians’ in a war article)
2) missing words
3) loan words
(example ニーズ was understood as ‘news’, not as ‘needs’)
4) Voc-synonym
(example; AFP通信 was understood as AFP communication,
instead of AFP correspondence)
5) voc-antonym (they chose an opposite word)
6) voc-wrong (word choice completely out of context)
7) expression-wrong
(collocation wasn’t understood properly such as in 腰をすえる)
8) syntactic misunderstanding
(e.g. subjects of clauses were changed due to not understanding
the sentence structure).

13. Results
 The large proportion of the errors stemmed from
vocabulary problems (61% in total)
 More or less every student’s work included some
vocabulary errors despite their being allowed to use
dictionaries.
 Syntactic errors appear to be more detrimental to their
translation quality.
 Students who performed better in their translation
work tended to interpret further, whereas the
translation of lower performing students contained
missing parts or misunderstanding of some
expressions.

14. Results
The students
performed better
with the essay
translation than
sentence level
translation.

15. Discussion
 Assessment of the first introduction
 Understanding learners’ general
attitudes/perceptions toward the new methodology
The students generally liked using
translation as a teaching methodology
for the large part of the subject About half of the learners (48%) found the
materials challenging but manageable,
and a few (10%) found them too easy
How to assess the students’ learning assisted
by act of translating to be acceptable to both
teacher and students needs further study
Inquiry into teaching and assessment
materials for the subject is required.

16. Discussion
 Evaluating the introductory teaching
 A) Teaching materials & tests
 Sentence level translation
The L1 into L2 translation prevented them from utilising a large part of their
knowledge, enabling them to access only ideation available in both L1 and L2
 Passage level translation
The test analysis revealed that syntactic errors caused more damage to their
translation than vocabulary errors.
 Test
Students with less grammatical skills did not perform as well as those who
possessed good grammatical skills.
 Semi-independent vocabulary learning:
Those who were able to connect vocabulary to area knowledge appeared to
enjoy the activities.

17.  B) Approach
Discussion
The fundamental premise of the approach was that positive inclusion of L1 in
classroom instruction creates a potentially powerful learning environment for
already advanced L2 learners to further their reading and writing skills in L2.
Analysis shows the following points need to be taken into account and
certain aspects explored further in order to advance the effectiveness of
using translation as a method in such classes:
1) Translation between L2 and L1 includes not only L2 language skills
but also L1 literacy and background knowledge on the topics to a
large extent. Therefore, materials which can absorb a range of learner
variables need to be developed. Alternatively, class activities should
be structured so that learners can adjust their translation task to
their level.
2) Students demonstrated insufficient interest towards the exercises
using sentence level translation. Before including sentence level
translation in future, the possible causes of the negative response
need investigation to discover whether the problem is due to: a)
irrelevant topics and content of the sentences used; b) direction of
the translation; and c) formats for the exercises.

18. Discussion
3) Students showed very different knowledge and interest in the current topic,
whereas they more commonly were interested in the social topics. It is not
certain whether the difference in current or social topics, or their familiarity
with the contents or sentence style, resulted in the different reception of the
two areas. Further research into how to grade the difficulty of translation tasks
on articles should be undertaken.
4) Semi-independent project work also demonstrated substantial variation in
students’ vocabulary learning. The spread between successful and
unsuccessful learners was wider in this task than in the other two types of in-
class translation practice. This suggests that semi-independent work can assist
good learners better. However, it can also result in leaving weaker learners
further behind, so the optimal amount of semi-independent work in the
course needs further investigation.
5) The test analysis showed that every student had some sort of vocabulary
problem even when using dictionaries and a reasonable amount of
background knowledge. It also showed syntactic errors had more impact on
the quality of their translation. In an L2 class where ‘act of translating’ is used
as a teaching method, vocabulary, syntax and their relation could be learned
effectively by focusing on where the learners have demonstrated insufficient
understanding by failing to translate appropriately.

19. Discussion
 Next step to improve the use of translation as a
teaching method for L2 class
Feedback from the students and teacher observation show a definitely
positive attitude towards developing act of translating as a major method.
The results of the study suggest that the following are the potential
strengths of the method for raising students’ Japanese text
comprehension:
a) developing information networking in the brain;
b) developing learner self-assessment of appropriateness of their L2
tagged information;
c) encouraging utilisation of available resources (e.g. Færch & Kasper,
1983: interlanguage based achievement strategy use);
d) providing opportunities to focus on form;
e) making available input likely to become intake through interaction
between L1 and L2;
f) widening the scope of language learning: inclusion of own cultural
context and the sociolinguistic nature of the original text; and
g) providing a hands-on approach which expands L2 learning,

20. Source:
Machida, S. (2008). A Step Forward to Using Translation
to Teach a Foreign/Second Language. Electronic
Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 5, 140-155.