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!”