Translation in the EFL classroom
Reasons to use it
Save time to understand complex instructions.
Reinforce all the skills.
It is a pedagogical resource.
Reduces anxiety
Can improve the level of the students when they search for the equivalence in their language.
Fernandez (2014) says “translation is indeed an act of communication across languages and cultures, as it is a naturally occurring activity that takes place in the real world
It occurs naturally
why not to use it
Newson (1988) argued that translation
(1) encourages thinking in one language and transferring to another, with accompanying interference;
(2) It deprives teacher and learner of the benefit of working within a single language
(3) It gives false belief of the idea that there is a perfect one-to-one correspondence between languages;
(4) It does not facilitate achievement of generally accepted aims such as emphasis on the spoken language. (cited by Mogahed M, 2011).
Artificial exercise
L1 thinking
Vocabulary taugh in isolation