Translation and Second Language Learning

This paper examines the useful role that translation may have in L2 learning. Most language teaching approaches discourage any appreciable recourse to translation. Nevertheless, translation serves to focus attention on structural differences between the first and second languages that composing directly in the L2 cannot do in the same explicit manner. In addition, there exists psycholinguistic evidence for certain cognitive advantages associated with the translation process. Experiments carried out with subtitling and concurrent exposure to an audio track reveal the particular effectiveness of pairing LI dialogue with L2 script. Translation may have a similar effect. It is proposed that the "elaborateness of processing" view in memory research supports the suggestion that translation may lead to a more elaborate and therefore more durable memory encoding.