Translate & Teach
I read a really good article tweeted by the English Blog the other day discussing not the usefulness, but the need for translation within the language classroom.
I would agree that this is indeed the case, especially when looking at some of the strange sentences my students produce and the issues those signify.
One of my favorite lessons from Jamie Keddie’s TEFL Clips is Lesson 9 – Teaching Get. It’s from a great series of videos made by Lev Yilmaz (which sounds like a Turkish last name). The one Jamie uses is Procrastination (my personal favorite is the one on mothers).
In this lesson the students are asked to translate some sentences into their L1 and then back into English. This activity is extremely useful because:
1) It helps students notice gaps between the languages and gaps in their understanding.
2) It brings an attention to focus on chunks of meaning.
3) It helps establish connections between the languages.
4) It gives students the often welcome chance to use their L1.
5) It challenges the teacher.
Here are three of the sentences Jamie asks students to translate.
1) When I got home, I didn’t feel like cereal anymore.
2) When I got back, it was getting late.
3) I just need to make sure to get to bed early.
Here is how a large percentage of upper level and TOEFL students from my classes consistently (mis)translate them into Turkish:
1) Eve geldigimde kendimi daha fazla misir gevregi gibi hissetmedim.
2) Geri dondugum zaman gec oluyordu.
3) Ben sadece erken yataga girmekten emin olmak zorundayim.
The problem with the first example is that, among other things, students have translated “feel like” literally and produced nonsense in Turkish.
In the second example they literally translated a grammar structure that no one would ever use.
In the third one they are attempting to translate the sentence word for word. In the end, the sentence can be said to be grammatically correct in Turkish, but no one would ever say such a strange thing.
Here’s a much better translation for all 3:
1) Eve geldigimde artik misir gevregi yemek icimden gelmedi.
2) Geri dondugum zaman gec olmustu.
3) Erkenden yatmaliyim.
Notice the differences?
In each case high level students have made the false assumption that languages are translated literally word by word. As my students tell me, a major reason for this is that this is what they were taught to do in school. This has major repercussions on how students are understanding English in the classes and points to a lack of awareness of a need to focus on meaning. It also reflects on how a purely L2 classroom can lead to possible misunderstandings.
It’s also quite fascinating to me that students would translate something into nonsense in their own L1 and shows the depth to which misperceptions can go.
I use to run into this problem all the time when I’d ask people to help me learn Turkish. They would constantly give me the English translations for things as word and grammar crossovers rather than what people actually said or what the phrase actually meant.
This is just one of many examples I have of translation issues that crop up in my classes. I have found it incredibly fruitful to do such activities and get students to start being aware of differences, similarities, and the complexities of translation.
After all, most students will have to do large amounts of translation at some point. Many job interviews in Turkey ask candidates to translate documents rather than speak English at the interview because the manager probably can’t. Additionally, many companies often use their English speaking employees as cheap translation services.
While there are many good reasons to limit the use of L1 in the classroom, translation remains a very necessary part of the English classroom both as an aid to understanding and as a skill most students will need.
What are your thoughts on translation? Have you used similar types of activities? How valuable are they? How much doubt does this cast on the usefulness of monolingual English teachers in monolingual classrooms?
Related Posts:
Using Turkish in the Classroom
Tags: L1, Mistranslation, Translation
ELT Basics, Teaching Strategies | turklis1 | 
July 16, 2010 11:32 am
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By Darren Elliott, July 21, 2010 @ 7:08 am
I’ll tell you this much. I live in Japan, and I’ll bet that that game was called ‘Breast Chaser’ in Japanese too.
No monotheistic hang-ups about sexuality here!
By turklis1, July 21, 2010 @ 7:39 am
Lol
By Leslie Burns, July 27, 2010 @ 4:44 am
Heya, Nick
Interesting post.
Firstly,… if iiiii were a Transformer, I would definitely be THAT one!
And more sensibly… *ahem*… I’m fascinated that your students rendered the sentences from English into nonsensical or pragmatically inaccurate versions in their L1.
I’m kind of surprised/not surprised by that, in a way.
You mentioned that that’s what they’d been taught to do in school (i.e. translate things word for word) — which is the not surprising part.
What’s shocking to me (in a not-especially tolerant, “grow a brain!” kind of way) is that they would, as adults, unquestioningly render something that doesn’t make sense in their L1! Good God! Why is it so difficult for people to understand that language is about communicating our intended MEANING and not simply about the mechanical manipulation of FORM?
Your story about learning Turkish and people “helping” you by translating something literally instead of the equivalent chunk or phrase or expression was REALLY telling.
I loved your comment about the managers and written/translation tasks! Ha ha!
Re: doing translation work in class, you rang the big old bell when you referred to “awareness.” Sorely, sorely lacking in learners (not just of English, incidentally).
Oh! And great links, too, by the way.
Hope you’re well over there in your new gig!
Best,
Leslie
By turklis1, July 27, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
Thanks Leslie, yes, that’s what really surprised me as well. And this happens class after class with very high level students. Asking the students about it, they say that it’s a result of school. Teachers made them translate word by word on exams, so I guess they just are reversing it here. I think it does point to a major lack of internalization on the principle of translating meaning over form though. Quite interesting all around.
Thanks for the cheers. Things are going well over here although I’m definitely working too much
By Teresa Bestwick, August 2, 2010 @ 5:13 pm
Hi Nick,
I definitely think there’s a place for translation in the classroom. It’s a great tool to point out the differences (and similarities) between English and L1.
Everything in moderation is what my mum always said!
T