Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2021

Abstract

Here we will present a pedagogical framework for the implementation of an Integrated Plurilingual Approach (IPA) to language learning that has emerged from research and observation of best practices in primary, secondary, and higher education. Researchers, teachers, and students collaborated in three interconnected projects (2012–2015; 2015–2019) whose main aims were to help teachers and learners move towards acknowledging and explicitly connecting their linguistic repertoires to reframe their current classroom practices and engage in new ones. This implied a reformulation of their pedagogical practices, including the use of translation to acquire interlinguistic, intercultural and mediation skills in contexts other than professional translator training (TOLC). Two instruments resulted: one to help the teachers transform their perceptions and, so, their performance, regarding the plurilingual paradigm, a four-phase collaborative reflective cycle; and another to guide their instructional design, the five-dimensional instructional framework (IPA-5DIF). Some classroom examples will be presented here, with special reference to a high-complexity secondary school context (118 students, 4 teachers).

Abstract

Pedagogical translation in UK secondary school language classrooms appears to have returned to favour after years of demonisation brought about by Grammar Translation pedagogy and the rise of L2-only approaches. This renewed interest is reflected in the recent inclusion of translation in the reading and writing sections of GCSE exams (taken by students in all countries within the UK except Scotland). However, there is still some uncertainty around how translation is perceived and utilised in the language classroom. What function has translation been thus far ascribed within language education? What could it be used to achieve? This article presents an overview of where translation currently sits within the secondary Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) landscape in the UK. It then examines how translation may be redefined as ‘dynamic’ and used as a communicative, creative activity to aid students with various aspects of their language learning. Examples of such activities are provided and explained. Finally, recommendations are made as to how to make Dynamic Translation accessible to students in future, namely through task-based translation projects and new forms of pedagogical translation assessment.

Abstract

The effectiveness of audiovisual translation (AVT) for language learning has been widely discussed and demonstrated by scholars in the past (cf. Lertola 2019). Nevertheless, many areas in this field of investigation are still underexplored, such as the usefulness of AVT for the acquisition of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC). This is of paramount importance in the multilingual and multicultural societies we live in, and also given the emphasis the CEFR Companion Volume (Council of Europe 2018) places on mediation and PPC. The latter has been the focus of the research project PluriTAV (2017–2019), in which the authors of this paper have taken part, aimed at developing a set of activities involving the use of AVT for the acquisition of PPC in the language classroom. This paper sets out to illustrate the theoretical framework sustaining the PluriTAV project and to reflect on the potential of AVT for the acquisition of PPC. This will be achieved by establishing links between AVT modes, transfer/mediation skills, and the descriptors developed within the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures (FREPA) (Candelier et al. 2012), as well as referring to sample and specific activities developed within PluriTAV. In line with this project, the emphasis will be on language teaching in Higher Education, yet the discussion and the activities suggested could be easily extrapolated and adapted to other educational contexts and levels of language ability.

Abstract

This empirical study focuses on the use of Spanish clitic pronouns when they function as accusative or as dative clitics in the translation tasks performed by university students of Spanish as a foreign language (SFL). The participants were 35 Belgian Dutch-speaking students of SFL (Level B2) from the Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication of Ghent University (Belgium), who are enrolled in the Translation course. They were asked to perform two tasks: (1) to create an audio description script in Spanish, and (2) to translate the English dialogues into Spanish from a sequence taken from the film The Help (Taylor 2011). The written texts they produced were compared to those written by 39 Erasmus Spanish native students, who carried out the same tasks. The results showed that the Belgian students produced significantly fewer clitic pronouns, especially in the case of dative clitic doubling, than those produced by the Spanish natives. As for the differences between the two modes of audiovisual translation, the findings revealed that the Belgians produced more accurate results in the interlingual than in the intersemiotic task. The results of our study also made it clear that more attention should be paid to the use of redundant clitic pronouns in the SFL classroom.

Abstract

While translation has recently had a comeback in language pedagogy, its applicability in classrooms with students from diverse linguistic backgrounds has been underexplored. In countries with increasing immigration and high intakes of international students, which is the case of Canada, language classrooms are intrinsically multilingual. This multilingual reality provides unique opportunities for students to use their linguistic repertoire while learning English – one of Canada’s official languages –, but teachers may be hesitant to use translation as a pedagogical tool if they do not speak the languages of their students. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study with three teachers and 40 adult learners of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in a Canadian university. All of the student participants had at least two languages in their repertoire, and 90% reported being plurilingual, that is, using several languages with varying levels of proficiency. With the exception of English, the language of instruction, the teachers did not share any of the languages spoken by the students. The study explored how the teachers used translation to engage students’ plurilingual repertoires and investigated students’ perceptions of translation practices. Data was gathered through student diaries and classroom observations. Results of deductive analyses show that translation, when used within a plurilingual approach, was helpful for making sense of English vocabulary. Moreover, students reported that translation across languages enhanced conceptual knowledge. The paper argues that translation as a process rather than an L2-L1 textual product can advance language learning in multilingual classes.

This article reviews The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Education9780815368434

This article reviews Translation and Language Teaching: Continuing the Dialogue9781527534629