Seven Reasons to Avoid Translation when Teaching English. Noureddine Boutahar

Videos of teachers teaching English in Arabic have been mushrooming in large quantities since the closure of schools in March 2020 due to COVID-19. Many teachers built on a self-made theory that translation is the magic formula for students to improve their English language skills and to succeed in their studies. The word for word translations made my hackles rise so badly that I decided to write this post as a reaction to all the disservice some teachers are doing the Moroccan learners of English.

First, many people think only a knowledge of two languages is sufficient enough to teach one -- or both. This is not true because, on the one hand, there is no perfect one-to-one correspondence between languages, as linguists tell us, and if this were true, Google could do the job of language teachers. On the other hand, knowledge of a language is not sufficient to teach it because real teachers have special abilities to integrate their knowledge of the language with teaching strategies, techniques, and skills to structure an environment conducive to effective and sustainable learning instead of resorting to way-out methods like translation. As Bloomfield puts it: “Translation into the native language is bound to mislead the learner, because the semantic units of different languages do not match and because the student under the practiced stimulus of the native form is almost certain to forget the foreign one.”

Second, many people confine language learning to word recognition and resort to translation as a shortcut to save time and effort. However, language is more than words and vocabulary, and translation is not enough for learners to completely comprehend what they are reading for example. In addition to word polysemy, very often what is implied or left unsaid is as important as what is said because language is loaded with culture and carries more than words. Thus, learners need to develop necessary analytical skills and reading strategies and not the misconception that effective reading requires translation and comprehension of every single word.

Third, heavy emphasis on translation makes students “too examination-conscious.” and thus encourages a memorization approach to learning. This memorization approach does not facilitate the acquisition of practical skills, values, and attitudes in learners at all, nor does it help to meet the long-term objectives of learning foreign languages. It merely concentrates on passing of national examinations by students and, thus, exacerbates the “certificate syndrome” which is one of the most notorious features of our adopted education system. 

Fourth, translation does not do students any service, but rather renders them lazy language learners, dependent on teachers’ spoon-feeding. We all know from experience that students do not suddenly become active and independent on their own; it is teachers’ attitude towards learning and their teaching style that make all the difference. Too often, ordinary teachers make students dependent on them, while artisan ones allow students to be independent and critical thinkers. Besides, mollycoddling students with translations and similar crutches will certainly encourage them to take advantage of it and do as little as possible to get by knowing that teachers are there to provide whatever help they need at school. So, they never try to learn to fly on their own and may have a disadvantage for life.

Fifth, translation deprives students from thinking in the target language. Students who are used to translating every single word become less confident in their ability to make hypotheses about how language works. Their mind stops trying to guess or use language learning strategies to enable them to take responsibility for their own learning.  So, they “examine the target language through the grammar and lexis of their native language”. Also, translation makes learners less confident in their ability to communicate in the target language although communication is one of the main objectives of foreign language learning. What is even worse is that these students get stuck writing the simplest thing in English and ask for help to translate every single word and idea from Arabic into English.  As Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson put it, "Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in class listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers.”

Sixth, teachers who emphasize translation make bad use of class time which is one of the few opportunities many students have to hear and practice English. Our students rarely have a chance to use English outside the classroom, and depriving them of the opportunity to use it in class will only demotivate especially those whose objectives go beyond the walls of school. Also, Moroccan students often expect English classes to be fun and hope to have funny teachers who integrate games and role-plays into their classrooms so they can play with English and do not want a Grammar Translation drill sergeant who disregards the productive use of the opportunities given by the classroom.

Seventh, I wonder whether translation could help achieve the following objectives described in the Moroccan Pedagogical Guidelines?

1. To develop the communication competencies necessary for a variety of real-life purposes.

2. To develop knowledge and sub-skills necessary for a variety of real-life purposes.

3. To develop study skills leading to learner autonomy.

4. To develop the intellectual abilities of the learner.

5. To develop cross-cultural communication competency.

6. To enhance the learner’s awareness of, and reflection upon, global issues.

7. To reinforce values pertaining to character, civility, and citizenship.

That said, I have to admit that translation can sometimes save lives provided that it is not adopted as the main approach to teaching and learning English. I concur with using translation, for example, when visuals like PowerPoint and realia and teaching techniques like paraphrasing and clarifications all fail. However, we should always bear in mind Atkinson's caveat that “Every second spent using L1 is a second not spent using English!”

Social Networking in Education Noureddine Boutahar

The internet has its good, bad, and ugly face. Social networking is undeniably a double-edged sword that should be used carefully and wisely so that students can draw educational benefits from it. So, because our students come to class with a fairly good knowledge and interest in social technology, we need to raise their awareness to its advantages and drawbacks.

However, some people would argue that social networking is just another classroom add-on like the blackboard, the whiteboard, the CD-player, and all the material that we flood our schools with. Yet, there exist many legitimate concerns about the use of social networking for educational purposes.

First, many people are not prepared for it and may get hurt by these sites. Such harm may come from the disclosure of private personal information. This can result in blackmail, sexual harassment, defamation of character, and all kinds of internet bullying.

Second, there is the problem of addiction. Many young people spend too much time at their computers doing nothing but IAM-ing and playing games. This may have a detrimental effect on students’ health as well as distract them from their studies.

Third, young people may gain access to pornographic material. This might harm them psychologically and push them to act out what they see and become sexual deviants. 

However, because computers and the internet have become an integral part of most students’ lives, many students today come to school prior knowledge of internet use. So if we deprive them of such a great learning tool while almost everyone is using it at home, we may feel belatedly sorry that we have shortchanged them and have stifled them and limited their horizons. We need to introduce these young people to the good flip side of social networking because it will serve them to learn.

Social networking helps students exchange information and ideas with peers, other students, and teachers, locally and abroad. It is a powerful tool to learn from different sources because “the best thinking comes from many not one” . It provides the learner with opportunity to select the information, compare it and thus make knowledge acquisition easier and greater.

Also, this tool makes it easy for young people to connect, socialize, and make friends with people their age and like-mind from all the four corners of the earth. It is a way to promote global learning connections between students worldwide so as to learn about other diverse cultures without having to cross the borders. This way, students will, hopefully, dispel misconceptions and develop understanding of others and respect differences.

Besides, in social networking most of the information there is cost effective or at no cost at all.  No need to travel long distances to get information. No need to buy expensive books. Everything is only a click away. It can also help defeat the cruelty of material shortage in many countries, especially the third world. One or a couple of computers in the classroom – or at school – can make up for a whole library. It’s a great tool to narrow the divide between the haves and the have-nots.

The best-selling point of social networking for me is its ubiquitous aspect. The widespread use of technology and the omnipresence of the internet have made social networking part of almost every young man’s day. Wikis, blogs, micro-blogging, and other social technology tools have become the interest of the new generation in the remotest parts of the world. Added to this is the fact that wireless and satellite connection is spreading in leaps and bounds and it will soon make these tools much more affordable and add to their universality and pervasiveness.

Micro-blogging, for example, has made life easier for many students. They can write very short paragraphs, comments, messages etc without being forced to slave away at pages without having much to say. It is also an effective way to communicate with teachers and other students in short texts. It, then, saves time and energy and relieves from the anxiety of having to write a lot. 

Our responsibility, then, as teachers is to facilitate the way our students use social networking. We need to show them the good, the bad, and the ugly face of social networking. We ought to teach young people how to use it wisely, ethically, and responsibly. We need to trust them though we have to check from time to time.

Also, fortunately enough, most micro-blogging tools today provide us with options to have some control on the users. We can, for example, control who can get in Twitter with our group and who can’t, if we want to do so.

More, teachers ought to plan in advance and work out all the details of the activity so that students get focused and stay on the teachers’ page. Unprepared teachers lose track of what they are doing and give students the opportunity to misuse the tools.

Eventually, since social networking is imposing itself as a necessary tool in our classrooms we need to get prepared for it. We need to believe that it is like every man-made tool in today’s world; it has two sides. It’s like our cars, our TV, our guns, our cell-phone, and so forth. We have to use them, not overuse or misuse them, or let them use us.

 

Dear Quarantined Italy, “Andrà Tutto Bene” Noureddine Boutahar

        I am so sad to see beautiful Italy undergo all the pain, sorrow and chaos caused by the Corona disease across at the moment. So, I thought the least I could do about a country I fell for years ago is to write a blog post to express my sympathy and solidarity with these really great Italians who are suffering so much in the most difficult crisis of their existence.

       The great Italian poet Dante said, " there is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time when miserable". I have been to Italy three times in my life and I have fallen in love with that country. It is a love that is difficult to express in words but it is a love that sprung from the warmth of the country, the graciousness of the people, the richness of culture and the majesty and pristineness of the environment. It really hurts to recall the happy times and warm memories spent with friends and family in beautiful Italy.

       I do love my country a love that, in Dante's words "moves the sun and the other stars". But while I love my country, I have fallen in love with Italy too because it feels like home. Elvis Presley said that “Home is where your heart is” and my heart is at the moment in Italy where hundreds of good Italians and non-Italians, friends and relatives are dying everyday of this horrific and devastating corona virus.

       The people I met in beautiful Italy were some of the kindest anyone could ever hope to meet: they treated my family and myself like they had known us their whole lives. They treated us like dear guests and we felt absolutely welcome in their presence. We felt welcome and home and accepted and never felt any hassle or exclusion or hostility. 

      These hospitable Italians lived their life to the fullest and had plenty of joie de vivre. They loved and believed in life of happiness, and of service to others. This begs the question, is it too much to love life and enjoy it before it is gone? 

       Today, my family and I feel sad at what is happening in Italy because we have always considered Italy our second home: We visited and admired her historical landmarks in the beautiful cities like Venice --“the city of mirrors and mirages” , Milan -- the moral capital, Rome -- the Caput Mundi, and others. Italy is also a second home because many of my relatives live there in peace, safety, and security, and without discrimination.

      Today, my family and I feel sorry for Italy which has to put up with all this chaos and uncertainty, because Italy has become part of our family culture. We often shopped and asked our relatives there to shop for us at Italian supermarkets: The bed I sleep on is from Italy, 90% of my kitchen utensils were made in Italy, my iPhone and my family members iPhones and other electronic devices are all from Italy, my first Fiat car was imported from Italy. Italy is part of us that no one will ever take it away from us.

      I am so sad that Italy, the land of such luminaries like Dante, Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, Guglielmo Marconi, Leonardo da Vinci, Galilei, Michelangelo, Lorenzo Bernini, Enrico Fermi, and many, many more has to endure such hardship alone and forsaken.

      I am grief-stricken that my beloved Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Atalanta BC, SSC Napoli, and others have to stop giving us joy and happiness. I am grief-stricken that the virus has shredded the Calcio and deprived fans from the passion the sport makes them feel.

      I am heartbroken for the closure of Italian restaurants that have always served the best cuisine worldwide. The cuisine of Spaghetti, Lasagna, Verdura, Ribollita, Focaccia and so on, which most of the world has loved and copied usually ungratefully. It is hard to imagine what the world would be like today without Italian cuisine which gave it Mozzarella, Parmesan, Mortadella, Salami, Ravioli, Nottellete and more.

      Also, today, I am most disappointed to hear that EU countries have abandoned Italy in her hour of need and failed to help her cope with Covid-19 pandemic as they had failed to help her cope with the wave of migrants across the Mediterranean earlier in 2018. I am most depressed to hear that EU bros had been very slow to answer Italy’s urgent appeal for medical supplies and protective masks. Real friends can do more than just say "God bless you" when you sneeze and then let you drown when the flood comes. It is time for action; not just tea and sympathy.

      It is hard to be positive in times of uncertainties. However, I am glad at the way these life loving quarantined Italians face the crisis with their distinct knack for creative improvisation to turn pain, struggle, and uncertainty into beauty. I am glad they are united in isolation and believe that ease and relief come after hardship, and turn to their strong culturally-rooted values of bravery, care, compassion, generosity, hope, and playfulness. What a lovely sight to see them sing popular songs to each other from their windows in a spine-chilling display of unity. I blinked back my tears.

      Dear Italy, I am certain “andrà tutto bene” (everything will be alright). So, scratch your itch yourself, and remember that Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.” I believe your people's resilience and solidarity, their zest and zeal for life and their humor and humanity will conquer in the end, and Italy will come out stronger than ever.

Moroccan Youth Issues Noureddine Boutahar

I don’t believe I am the only one to think that the tempest of despair is shaking the ground beneath the Moroccan youth due to the fact that our successive governments’ anemic efforts have failed to properly invest in youth asset . This article seeks to explore the main problems facing the Moroccan youth which have been engendered by defective and deficient policies although a full treatment of the issues is beyond the scope of this post.

Unemployment: The meltdown in economies worldwide has not spared Morocco. Significant layoffs have caused the unemployment rate to remain high, primarily among young people aged 15-24 years. These future parents and breadwinners are unable to find a productive place within the Moroccan society for myriad reasons: inadequate supply of skills by the education system, rapid population growth beyond the economy's capacity to create jobs, automation of many human jobs, and government’s inability to implement job-creating economic development programs and projects, to name a few. As a result, unemployment takes a toll on Moroccan youth whose lives become blighted by social and emotional evils like drug addiction, crimes, dishonesty, immorality, low self-esteem, self-deprecation, and frustration.

Illiteracy: The strategy of near-total elimination of illiteracy in Morocco by 2015 has not been reached despite government efforts, and the scourge still affects 32 percent of the population. Although illiteracy is more common among adults over 50 years old, it is still widespread among the youth, especially in rural areas, with girls carrying the heaviest burden. And if we add the more than 400,000 students who drop out of school every year without obtaining any school certificate, the number of illiterate and semi-illiterate young people swells to huge numbers. Of course, the causes of this curse include mainly poverty, ignorant parents, and depletion of infrastructure. However, its causes are as wide as they are deep and harm and hinder the life of young Moroccans in a number of ways: unemployment and underemployment, low self-worth, transmission of inter-generational illiteracy, and it makes young illiterates fall easy prey to extremist and terrorist groups.

Poverty: The three major complex issues Morocco actually struggles with are illiteracy, unemployment, and poverty. In 2017, 15 people were killed and 40 others injured in a stampede during the distribution of food by a local organization in a village in the province of Essaouira. The disaster highlights the gravity of the problem of poverty in the country where over 9 million people are poor, and where children and youth are the first to bear the brunt. This scourge denies the victims their rights as human beings, deprives them of education, affects their mental and emotional well-being, and leads to poor physical and behavioral health. These poor young people live in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty, crime, and violence, and leads them to be caught up in cycles of drug abuse, crime, unemployment and underemployment. A combination of factors has contributed to the persistence of poverty in Morocco and they run the continuum from socio-economic disparities to lack of access to quality education to rentier economy; all of which are exacerbated by corruption, unaccountability, impunity, and favoritism –or “Your dad’s my friend” as Moroccans mockingly refer to it. It is worth mentioning, in this regard, that billions of dollars have been spent on programs to alleviate poverty. But who has benefited from these programs?

Lack of Quality Education: Of the 95% of school-aged children in Morocco who enroll in primary school, only 53% make it to high school. School dropout, however, is not the only obstacle faced by Moroccan students as other challenges soon pop up in the way of pupils’ academic achievements. One such hindrance is poor quality education: the World Economic Forum report for 2016/2017 ranked Morocco among the worst countries in terms of students’ achievement (119^th out of 137). Quantitatively speaking, Morocco has made giant steps in the ratio of child enrollment but, qualitatively speaking, our education has been steadily decreasing. This frustrating state is the result of multilayered reasons: top-down approaches in decision making, hasty emergency reforms, lack of qualified teachers, lack of teacher motivation, hunger and poor nutrition which affects the child’s cognitive abilities, near-extinction of school libraries, multilingual environment at school which contributes to the low literacy rates, and poor adjustment to advanced technology. Inevitably, poor education has devastating effects on the Moroccan economy as it begets ignorance, unemployment, poverty, violence, and so on. In Nita Ambari’s words, “Education empowers and emboldens the youth to chase their dreams.” I am sure she means quality education, and it is this quality education which creates a domino effect on other pathway opportunities. Without it, there would be no development breakthrough in this country and no poor would be lifted to prosperity.

Substance Abuse: Over 800,000 Moroccans are addicted to drugs. These include cannabis 4%, cocaine 2%,  psychotropic drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and glue-sniffing, mostly by homeless kids. Worse still is that 1.2% of boy students and 0.4% of girl students use drugs, which does not augur well for the future of youth and the country as a whole. Young Moroccans, like young people worldwide, do not take drugs to feel worse, but because they are unhappy with the quality of their lives. The reasons certainly vary from young person to young person. It can be because of failures at school, boredom, rebellion, peer pressure and the desire to fit within a group. For other people, drugs can be a means to reduce or avoid psychological pain of poverty and misery. The effects of substance abuse are many and varied and run the gamut from health and mental issues to financial issues to relationships to legal issues.

In Nelson Mandela’s words, “Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future. Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nation.” However, youth will not be able to play any important role in the development of our society unless the government invests in their health, education and safety.