Embassy English Teacher Summer Swapshop 2015

Grass Skirt Race Sarah

This could be used for anything: error correction, gap-fills, etc. Grass skirts are put up around
the room. One student has to run, rip a paper off and take it back to their partner. Together they
complete the task and then bring it to their teacher. If its correct they can take another strip, if
not, they have to try again. Its a race to be the first to complete all of them.

Speed Dating Melissa, Laura

Students are introduced to the concept of speed dating by watching a short clip from Sex and the
City. Students are divided into male and female (not necessarily matching their real gender) and
get to create a new identity. They choose a photo from a selection of laminated, somewhat
crazy-looking images of people and then write a description of themselves (who they are, what
they like, dont like). Then students sit across from each other and speed date. After 2
minutes, all the men change chairs and meet someone new. At the end of the 2-minute date,
they have to decide if they want to go on another date so they complete a form (name / do you
want to meet again? / comments). This is a lesson I often do with my own students and its
always so much fun. Its good for practicing question forms and its worked at all levels from
elementary to advanced.

Lexical Find Someone Who Laura

This is something I often do on the first day of a new class. Ive been doing it for years, but I
think I first learned it from Luke Fletcher. I give my students a Find someone who task, but
instead of only having to complete it with their classmates names, they have to complete part of
the statements with missing lexis. I adapt it in many ways for different levels or language focus.
I use it to try to draw attention to collocations and chunks, get them to notice prepositions, or
work on playing with the language to generate more examples. I use it on a first day to train
students to record lexical chunks in their notebooks and generate discussion on learning
strategies. After they mingle, I make students turn their papers over and test them in pairs to
see if they can remember everyones name and something interesting about them to help build
class rapport. Then I test them to see if they can remember some of the new expressions and
see how well they can produce them (for example, they often remember keen but not is keen
on doing). Here is the one I used with teachers in our training session.
Find Someone Who
1. ____________ has been teaching for what feels like ages
2. ____________ is r.. an interesting book at the moment

3. ____________ thinks they take a lexical approach to teaching (emphasizing chunks,

fixed expressions, collocations, etc.)
4. ____________ has . abroad
5. ____________ is in a relationship
6. ____________ is keen . going to gigs
7. ____________ is looking f.. to going .. holiday soon
8. ____________ cant stand doing paperwork
9. ____________ is fed u.. with one of their students
10. ____________ tweets about ELT or follows teaching blogs
11. ____________/ fn ju:zz fni:mks we(r) stjudnts /
12. ____________ fancies going out for a drink after this workshop

Lexical Teaching Conference

Yesterday I attended the Lexical Teaching Conference at Westminster College, a day of
teaching ideas inspired by Michael Lewiss Lexical Approach. I felt privileged to be able to hear
ideas from some of my TEFL heroes like Michael Hoey, Hugh Dellar, Andrew Walkley , Luke
Fletcher, Nick Bilbrough, and Michael Lewis himself. Here are some highlights from the
sessions.

Kate, Luke and Michael Lewis

The Lexical Approach and Lexical PrimingMichael Hoey

Michael Hoey presented three criticisms of the Lexical Approach and then showed why they are
invalid.
Criticisms of the Lexical Approach

1. It ignores how languages are learnt.

Not truethere is solid psycholinguistic research, namely semantic and repetition priming, that
backs up the idea that we store words as chunks. One word helps us access a second one faster
and more accurately (or slows down access). For example, if we see the word wing, it is
harder to access pig than swan because words are semantically linked in our mind.
2. Theres no theoretical underpinning.
Again, not truehis theory of lexical priming accounts for collocation and fluency. There are
lots of problems with existing theories of languages anyway. For example, many theories
assume a single language when in fact there are many variations (think dialects) masquerading as
a single language. Also, theories dont take into account words have multiple meanings yet we
know what is meant.
3. It only applies to Indo-European languages.
More research is needed, but his preliminary research shows that lexical priming applies also to
Chinese.
His conclusion: The Lexical Approach is safe to use.
Lexical Priming
When we encounter a word we automatically and subconsciously notice many aspects of it. Our
experience of a word primes us to expect certain associations.
Some of the things we are primed for:

collocation (e.g. eyes and ears)

semantic association (eyes and ears are body parts)

pragmatic collocation (e.g. consequence is often used negatively, result positively)

colligation (grammatical patterns)

textual collocations (Is a word likely to be repeated in a text or substituted with a

pronoun?)

textual colligation (Where does an expression occur in the text?)

One thing he said that really struck me was that reading primes us so it is important to read in
order to learn vocabulary and subconsciously pick up all of those primings. Learning
vocabulary in turn primes us to organize text in writing. Which leads me to remember the
importance of context in teaching vocabulary. Without context students miss out on primings.
This also makes me wonder about the ongoing debate over whether its better to use authentic
material or graded. Lexical priming theory makes me think theres an argument for authentic
material because it primes students for how language is really used rather than an artificial,
graded priming. This kind of priming may also contribute to the intermediate plateau.

Working Exercises HardHugh Dellar

This followed nicely after Lexical Priming because it helped answer a question I had lingering in
my head.
How in the world can our students pick up all the priming necessary to really know a
word/expression in the short amount of time they have in class?
Hughs answer was that we need to give them this extra priming by drawing their attention to
chunks of language from their coursebook and through our boardwork.
Some helpful lesson tips:

Spend time prepping lessons, pulling out ambient language from exercises and
anticipating expressions that they may need and mapping it out beforehand. Think of
more examples of collocations to extend what is in the coursebook.

Dont pre-teach vocabulary. Instead let students get on with the exercise and spend the
time in the round-up after. The vocabulary exercise does teach the unknown words in
context; otherwise it becomes just a test.

Students need less context setting and more meaningful language analysis.

Board up whole sentences, not just single words or even chunks. Remember the longer
the phrase, the more that is primed.

Write these sentences as a gap-fill.

Do vocabulary exercises as a homework so more time can be spent on the round-up.

Love itflipped learning. (suggestion by member of the audience)

One criticism from the audience was that the amount of vocabulary was possibly lexical
overload. I suppose it would depend on level and how much the individual students could
handle. Sometimes it might be good to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks because
like Lewis said later you know what you are teaching but you can never know what they
are learning. Also, as Kerr said, if students are going to advance to the next level, they need a
lot of words (from A1 to A2 400 words, and from B1 to C1 more like 700 0r 800).

Lukes Lexical Learning

Despite what the world sometimes expects of me, I cannot actually be in two places at once, but
since I do have the good fortune of working with Luke Fletcher, I was able to attend a preview of
his fabulous presentation. It was full of useful teaching ideas and excellent IWB use.
Students will only start to record things in chunks if we write things in chunks.
So true, so true. I remember the frustration of checking my students notebooks only to find they
had written single words after Id told them time and time again to write expressions. And then I
looked at our IWB slides. What had I written? Thats rightguilty.

Students have to be trained to notice things so the teacher should highlight chunks (in bold, with
a highlighter pen, a different colour pen) when they prepare boards and worksheets.
Some ideas I would like to incorporate into my own teaching:

Find someone who.. as a gap-fill with chunks highlighted and missing words given to
the side

Use the screen tool to cover and reveal the second half of a chunk for vocab reveiw

Discussion questions involving chunks from a reading text, dictated to the class

Teacher tells an anecdote followed by a chunk gap-fill and retelling of the story

Lexical backs-to-the-board

Lexical noughts and crosses (tic-tac-toe)

Using Macmillan free online dictionary http://www.macmillandictionary.com/

Translation and Learning LexisPhilip Kerr

This was a really interesting talk for me since I did my dissertation on teachers attitudes to
students own language use in the classroom. Im looking forward to reading Kerrs new book
when it comes out next year. But in the meantime heres his blog:
http://translationhandout.wordpress.com/
He also mentioned e-books for teachers who want to get into writing.
http://www.eltteacher2writer.co.uk/
One interesting thing he said is that we need to teach less in class but facilitate learning more
because the amount of vocabulary students need to progress is a lot more than what they learn in
class. The average is 4 lexical items per hour of tuition. One useful activityflashcards.
Reverse translation
This is an old, yet effective, teaching technique where you translate a short text into another
language and then back again. So for us:
English Learners own languages English
In our mixed language classes we can pair students of the same language together or have them
work individually for the first translation stage but together to put it back into English. We can
also use google translate. Students are going to anyways and this highlights some of the issues
that could arise.
One idea I really liked, and not just because it has zero prep, is to take a text we did in class and
have students translate it into their language. Then the teacher holds on to it for a few
weeks/lessons and gives it back to them to translate back into English. Its motivating,
encourages noticing and is good review.

Another one is after you do a gap-fill exercise you could dictate the eight or so sentences back to
the students but instead of them writing in English, they have to write in their own language very
quickly. Then they have to translate them back to English with a partner.
(btw heres the humorous job applicant letter he showed us)
To sum up his talk: translation is a motivating, effective way for learners to memorize chunks.

Creativity and MemorisationNick Bilbrough

We need to do something to make chunks stick in our minds. We shouldnt be creative in
language production because most of what we say is made up of pre-fabricated chunks, but there
is room for creativity in remembering chunks. We need to make links between existing language
and new. Links can be through meaning but also form.
We could try linking new language to places. We have a better memory for images than any
other type of data, so if we can visualize where we put new language it helps us remember it.
One useful way is to link expressions to a route when walking.
Teaching ideas:

Jumbled sentences with chunks

Put jumbled sentences on board for students to unscramble.

Its difficult to unjumble:
smokers like heavy looks jam think traffic
because our mind is primed to notice chunks.

Poems with chunks help with memory

Put a number of chunks on the board. Students choose a number from 1-however many chunks
youve written. Then show chunks and students have to write a poem with the chunk
corresponding to their number, in this form:
By the way
I want to say
That from today
Im going to stay
By the way

Keep/Let classification activity

Teacher puts stickies of expressions around the room (e.g. fingers cross, off steam). Students
walk around and memorize them. Then walk back to desk to record in the correct column.

(answer to jumbled sentence: Smokers think traffic looks like heavy jam.)

Teaching Grammar LexicallyHugh Dellar

In this talk Hugh criticised a structural, PPP (present, practise, produce) approach to teaching
because focusing on structures in isolation distorts the reality of how language is used in
conversation. Following this kind of syllabus where grammar and vocabulary are separate
actually makes it harder for students. Students feel just because theyve seen it once, theyve
done it, but being able to speak about English is not the same as being able to speak in English.
They need less metalanguage and more real-life , frequently-used sentences like
How long have you been doing that?
or Ill see you later.
or Why did you decide to do that, then? Well, I was thinking of
rather than studying present perfect continuous, will versus going to, past continuous,
conditionals, etc. They need to experience how conversations develop, not look at structures in
isolations.
Its not grammar, but lexis, that makes someones language more advanced.
Lower levels need to learn grammar-as-lexis, whereas higher levels need practice
grammaticalising and on rare occasions looking at more obscure structures but only in clear
contexts.
Hes not saying to ignore teaching grammar but to focus more on language patterns than verb
tenses and teach the lexico-grammatical chunks that go with the grammar. For example:
Just because Im single it doesnt mean Im desperately lonely!
Do you fancy going out somewhere tonight?
I agree with him but it makes me wonder how much I actually do this in my own teaching and
how much I teach more traditional grammar because its easierits what is presented in the book
and how I first learned to teach. Its what students expect. It gives, especially lower levels,
something to build on. It makes things more manageable for the students and like he said, gives
them a feeling of progress. Ive never been a fan of PPP. I have a problem with the word
present and much prefer ESA (engage, study, activate) because it puts the emphasis more on the
student, getting them involved in the learning, but still I have trouble seeing these as isolated
stages. Surely the learners should be engaged and activating their language at all times in their
study. But maybe like grammar can be comfort for insecure newbie learners, PPP (or ESA) is
the same for novice teachers. Should teacher training be more lexically focused?

Q & A with Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis was truly brilliant making us all laugh.
Changes he said we should all make:
1. get grammar out of our headsstudying structure is an inefficient way to learn language

2. get individual words out of our headsits all about chunks

3. students should stop practising grammar to get it right. They need to get it wrong to
learn. We dont learn by practising what we already know.
4. dont ignore Teacher Talk Timestudents need the correct input teachers provide
5. stop breaking language down
6. teach examples rather than rules
7. if you have to teach from a structural syllabusdump it.
8. teach longer utterances because phrases have tunes but words dont. Its easier to
remember a tune.
9. teach less material but more thoroughly
10. just because students like rules doesnt mean its good for them. We dont go to the
doctor for the doctor to say what you want to hear, but to tell you whats wrong.
Language learning is much messier than teachers and learners want to think. He used the
analogy of watering a plant. We have to water it for it to grow but we cant say which leaf it is
were watering. We know were helping the plant grow, but we dont know how. Peoples
lexicons are like that.

Further reading:
Hoey, M. (2005). Lexical Priming: A new theory of Language. London and New York:
Routledge.

Lewis, M. (ed.) (2000). Teaching Collocation: Further Developments in the Lexical Approach.
Hove: Heinle Language Teaching Publications.
Woolard, G. (2013). Messaging: Beyond a Lexical Approach in ELT. e-book available on
kindle
Posted in Teaching
Tagged Collocation, Lexical Approach, Michael Hoey, Michael Lewis, Vocabulary
7 Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niW83epFdtw

The return of translation

Translating, wrote Guy Cook (2010) recently, should be a major aim and means of language
learning, and a major measure of success [] This argument is a major break with tradition.
(Cook, p.xv) The postings in this blog all support Cooks first statement, but his suggestion that
this is a major break with tradition is questionable. In 2003, Widdowson wrote that translation
has been too long in exile. V. Cook and L. Cameron (both in 2001), Gabrielatos in 1998, Paul
Nation in 1997, Medgyes in 1994, H. H. Stern in 1992, Rinvolucri in 1990, D. Atkinson and
Julian Edge in 1987, Ian Tudor in 1986, Rod Bolitho in 1983 and Wilga Rivers in 1975 (among
many others) all echoed this sentiment. In short, there is a long and healthy academic tradition of
arguing for the use of L1 in the foreign language classroom. For an excellent survey of the field,
check out Hall & Cooks state-of-the-art survey article, Own language use in language teaching
and learning in Language Teaching, 45, (2012) pp 271 308.
Despite my quibble, Cook has a point. As he points out, it has been treated as a pariah in almost
all the fashionable high-profile language teaching theories of the 20th century so much so that
towards the end of that century, other than at university level, it was no longer discussed in the
academic literature as a serious candidate for aiding the learning of a new language. It continues
to be ignored in many teacher training courses and its potential as a resource has been cramped
and distorted by the guilt and prohibitions that have accompanied its use (Luke Prodromou,
intro to Dellar & Rinvolucri, p.5).
Classroom translation practices have often been held up for ridicule, referred to as dull and
demotivating. Nord (quoted by Zojer in Witte et al, p.42) has coined the phrase And now who
will take the first sentence to describe the bundle of bad practices involving translation that are
cited to show us how things should not be done.
But there are plenty of alternatives to such bad practices as I hope to show below.

Comments11 Comments

CategoriesFurther reading, Theory

Translation and translating

14Nov

Traditional approaches to translation have usually focussed on the product of the translating
process: the final, correct translated text. In more contemporary approaches (including mine),
the focus is on the process of translating itself. In some ways, the correct answer is not really
important: much more relevant are the learning opportunities that may be provided along the
way towards an appropriate translation.
At its most minimal, translation may simply entail the glossing of an L2 word with an L1
equivalent, or a teacher repeating instructions in L1. It may involve the use of bilingual
dictionaries or bilingual grammars. It may involve activities where L1 is used in some way and it
may mean translation of longer texts. I have conflated these in some of the posts that follow a
less than satisfactory shortcut, but one imposed by constraints of space and time. Sorry.

CommentsLeave a Comment

CategoriesPractical, Theory

Did translation ever go away?

14Nov

To suggest that something is staging a return implies that, at some point, it went away. Did
translation in language teaching ever go away? Its highly unlikely, but impossible to get hold of
any hard facts. We know that teachers consistently underreport their L1 practices (Copland &
Neokleous, p.271); we also know that translation remains the norm at university-level teaching
(Cook, p.xv). My guess is that in primary and secondary schools, it is also the norm. Private
language schools are another matter.
But irrespective of what teachers do or want to do, translation is something that takes place
anyway (Hentschel, in Witte et al, p.23). It is intrinsically inherent in foreign language teaching
(Witte et al, in Witte et al, p.4) because it forms a part of the preferred learning strategies of most
learners in most places. (Atkinson, p.242). This is hardly surprising if we acknowledge that the
L1 is the language of thought for all but the most advanced L2 learners (Turnbull & DaileyOCain, p.5). So, even when translation is banned in the classroom, learners will be using it
covertly. It makes sense, then, to use it as an overt tool (Gabrielatos).
The reasons for using translation
Epistemological

For many years, the discourse (but not necessarily the practice) of English language teaching was
dominated by UK-based private language schools (e.g. the British Council, International House),
the teacher training courses (e.g. CELTA) they ran, the coursebooks their teachers and exteachers wrote, and the university departments that they maintained close links with. Even now,
take any well-known ELT writer and the odds are they have very close connections with this
world. The context of this world is multilingual and therefore problematic for translation
practices. These institutions are also closely connected to the nexus of private language schools
around the world, often staffed with large numbers of native-speaker teachers (who are not
necessarily competent in the students own languages), that market themselves as different from
the traditional grammar-translation approaches of state school teachers.

This dominance is beginning to shift, however. With a massive growth in English language
teaching provision around the world and with a growing awareness of the global nature of
English as a lingua franca, native-speakers are starting to lose their authority over both the
language and methodologies for teaching it. The experiential knowledge base has shifted, with
an unsurprising refocussing of interest on translation.

Cognitive

Widdowson (2003, p.160) and others have argued that the neglect of translation has little to do
with any considered pedagogic principles. As scholars have turned to the pedagogic principles,
they have discovered that there is an array of recent evidence and argument in favour of
reincorporating students own languages into language teaching, and a corresponding disquiet
that they were ever excluded (Cook, p.51). Strict English-only learning environments may
actually be detrimental (Turnbull & Dailey-OCain, p. 186)! Why? For the simple reason, as
Costas Gabrielatos succinctly puts it, that new knowledge (e.g. of the L2) is constructed on the
basis of existing knowledge (e.g. of the L1). Prohibiting L1 is to deprive learners of their most
valuable resource.
It has often been suggested that the use of translation techniques in language learning can lead to
negative transfer from the L1. Researchers are now suggesting that, when used appropriately,
translation can actually counteract learners tendencies to transfer structures from their mother
tongue (H. Zojer in Witte et al, p.38)

Intercultural and Humanist

With the growing interest in intercultural aspects of language learning has come an awareness
that the business of translating between languages and cultures must assume a central place of
relevance for anyone involved in the complex project of interculturality, including, and foremost,
foreign language learners. (Witte et al, p.6-7) Whats more, referencing the learners L1
validates their linguistic and cultural identity, while proscribing it might be considered a form of
linguistic imperialism (Gabrielatos).
We also know that the more a learner believes in their possibility of success in the language
learning enterprise, the more successful they are likely to be. If teachers attempt to ban one of
most learners preferred learning strategies (i.e. translation), they are unlikely to be doing much
good for the learners confidence. Judicious use of L1 may also reduce anxiety so important
for lower-level learners.
A final point worth making here is that it is generally agreed that it is important that learners can
express personal meanings in the classroom. Bolitho (1983, quoted by Atkinson, p.242) points
out that an important role of the mother tongue is to allow students to say what they really want
to say sometimes (surely a valuable humanistic element in the classroom). Clearly, once it is
established what the learners want to say, the teacher can then encourage them to find a way of
expressing their meaning in English or, if necessary, help out.

Technical

Online translation technologies (e.g. Google Translate) and apps for handheld devices have
radically transformed the world for anyone involved in negotiating meaning in another language.

Our students will use these technologies, whether we like it or not. We need to help them make
use of these resources critically and intelligently.

Practical

Translation is one of the most authentic activites imaginable as it is done constantly in real life
outside the classroom and in many cases is the only activity connected with the foreign
language that our students will be involved in later on. (Grellet, p.11)
Translation can also be the most time-efficient way of dealing with some classroom problems
(e.g. false friends); it requires little or no preparation and lets be honest the
recommendation that foreign-language classes be taught exclusively in the foreign language
remains aspirational in [many] real life classroom situations, especially if the class in question is
still at the beginning of its long path to linguistic perfection, or where the level of target language
required to follow instructions is not as yet adequate (Zojer in Witte et al, p.36).
Conclusion
There is a very strong research-based consensus that the use of L1 and translation in foreign
language classrooms has much to offer. The onus of responsibility now rests with those who
continue to argue the contrary to support their arguments with more than anecdotes, hunches and
feelings.
Addendum
Going through my files today, I found a copy of an article from 2002 by Luke Prodromou. Since
it may not be easy to find in libraries, I thought I would put it up here.


Practical ideas I
Here, and in the other Practical ideas section below, I am assuming a monolingual class where
the teacher shares the students language. Guy Cooks book (pp. 151-153) offers some very
useful suggestions for adapting activities for contexts where classes are multilingual or where the
teacher does not speak the students language.

Students are presented with a text in which they are asked to underline the passages
which they think will be challenging to translate. They also have to explain why they
have marked certain passages. Also, all necessary information relevant to the translation
(i.e. information regarding specific local, cultural customs, traditions, etc.) is discussed
and, if necessary, provided by the teacher. In the next step, small groups of three students
translate the text. (Zojer, p.43)

Students have to translate a text, but key words are given in translation (without, perhaps,
any indication of their referents in the other text).

And if youre a native speaker, get the students to translate stuff that interests you for
you!

Students listen to a lecture and take notes in their own language.

A phrase is whispered to a student, who mentally translates it into L1 and says it in L1 to

the next student who translates it into L2 and passes on to the next student, etc.

Students translate a text into L1. The texts collected in. They are redistributed another
day, when they have to translate it back into English. They then compare their version
with the original.

A good variation of reverse translation (see the previous 2 bullet points) has been
suggested to me by Roger Marshall. This technique is especially useful for students
taking examinations. Take a model composition (these can often be found on the websites
of the exam boards) for one of the writing tasks in an exam (e.g. FCE). Translate it into
L1 and give this to the class. They work together at translating it into English, before
being asked to compare their versions with the original. Another suggestion by Roger
Marshall is to get students to write part (or all) of an examination writing task in L1, and
then pass it on to other students for translation into English.

Students discuss word-for-word translations and mistranslations (hundreds of fun

mistranslations can be found online: Google Chinglish)

Tell the students a lateral thinking puzzle. Students must ask yes / no questions to solve
the puzzle. They can ask these Qs in MT (perhaps limit the number of MT Qs that can be
asked), but someone, a stronger student, say, will translate these into English and write
them on the board. (this activity is taken from Dellar & Rinvolucri, p.32)

Modify roleplays and other speaking activities by having one person speaking MT, and
one person translating. (e.g. tourist / student as go-between)

In discussion tasks, sts work first in MT, before summarising their points, then translate
them into English, and presenting their idea to other groups / sts. Or tell students to codeswitch in the middle of an activity.

In speaking activities, one student has to write down anything that is said in MT. This is
then worked on later.

Students compare two translations of the same text without seeing the original.

Give students two or more different syntactic translations (from MT into English) of a
sentence from a text. Their task is to decide which is most appropriate.

Different groups work on translating the same short text. They then compare and decide
which versions they prefer perhaps compiling the versions to make one collectively
improved version.

The dangers of overuse

In a nutshell:
We do not equate the use of the first language in the second or foreign language classroom with
passing out a license to overuse of the first language, that is, to become so dependent on the first
language that teachers and learners cannot function in a second or foreign language classroom
without it. Whatever benefits first language use may bring, it is clear that the ultimate goal of a
second or foregin language classroom remains the learning of the target language; practices that
undermine this ultimate goal must be avoided. (Turnbull, M. & Dailey-OCain, J. 2009 p.2)
Atkinson (ELTJ 41/4, 1987 p.246) lists the following dangers of overuse:
1. The teacher and / or the students begin to feel that they have not really understood any item
of language until it has been translated. 2. The teacher and / or the students fail to obersve
distinctions between equivalence of form, semantic equivalence, and pragmatic features, and
thus oversimplify to the point of using crude and inaccruate translation. 3. Students speak to the
teacher in the mother tongue as a matter of course, even when they are quite capable of
expressing what they mean. 4. Students fail to realise that during many activities in the
classroom it is crucial that they use only English.
It would not be too hard to add to this list!

Practical ideas II
The suggestions in this group all make use of online technology. In some cases, the students will
also need access to this technology.

This activity is a valuable way of looking again at a text that you have already studied in
class, perhaps four or five lessons previously. But it can also be used with any text that

has intrinsic interest (e.g. current news). Type a text into an online translation tool (see 25
October posting: Web resources) and convert it into your students mother tongue.
Distribute this to the students, whose task (in groups) is to edit the translation to make it
acceptable. To help them, you may underline the bits that need attention.

Google Translate offers translations that are usually riddled with errors. However, if you
point the cursor over the offered translation, it breaks it down into shorter phrases which
you can then click on to be offered alternative translations. Students can usefully work in
groups going through the alternatives that are on offer, selecting the best or rejecting
them all, and replacing with their own versions.

Find a movie clip in original English with subtitles in the students language. Show the
students the clip with the sound down. Their task is to work out what was actually said.
Once done, they can compare their versions with the original. If you think your students
would enjoy this kind of work, check out http://levis.cti.gr/ levis stand for learning
via subtitling.

Translating video clips (from English) is often more motivating than using a paper-based
text. If your students work with movie extracts, they will also be focusing, inevitably, on
dialogue. They will enjoy seeing their own subtitles appear on screeen, and this is easily
achieved. See http://www.ehow.com/how_4784602_own-subtitles.html for easy-tofollow instructions.

Chuchotage (or lectoring) is a voice-over simultaneous translation that is still used on TV

in some countries. Find short clips that you want your students to work on (or, perhaps,
they can select their own). In groups, the students prepare a mother tongue voice-over
script to accompany the clip. It usually works best if the students must do this orally,
without taking written notes. They then practice delivering their mother tongue voiceover so that it is synchronised with the clip. Finally, they present their work to other
groups of students.

Translation and teacher education

If language teachers come across translation during their training as teachers, it is most likely to
be as part of their university language studies when they attend classes that tackle a literary text
using a Who-wants-to-take-the-next-sentence methodology. It is unlikely that they will be
asked to build reflective bridges between the language and pedagogical modules of their courses.
For the (predominantly native-speaker) teacher trainees following courses like the Cambridge
CELTA or DELTA, translation will be largely ignored and, most often, frowned upon.
Im not sure that adding to training courses a seminar or two devoted to translation and mother
tongue use would be especially fruitful. Trainees learn much more by example than anything
else, so a training course that wants to encourage trainees to make the most of the opportunities
that translation offers needs, in advance, to work out what its own approach to code-switching
will be.
Theres an activity in Dellar and Rinvolucris book (p.15), however, that can be easily adapted
for use in teacher education contexts. The trainer dictates a series of questions. These include the
following examples:

How much do I translate inwardly when someone is speaking to me in English? I am reading an

English text and theres an unknown word. Do I want an English definition of the word or an
accurate translation into my own language? When I write English, what happens in my head?
Trainees discuss the questions in groups. It would seem to me that a logical way to conclude this
discussion is to shift the focus on to the relative uses of English and mother tongue in the
training course itself.
The first presentation on this subject that I will give is in Istanbul (at Dou University) and I
hope to learn more about dragomans while Im there. Dragomans (or dragomen) were official
translators in Ottoman Kostantiniyye (as Istanbul was then known) and some of them lived
extraordinary lives. The one in the picture here (1809) is busy negotiating meaning between a
British ambassador and a Turkish Kaymakam.
David Bellos illustrates the kind of language required when speaking to the Ottoman
functionary:
Having bowed my head in submission and rubbed my slavish brow in utter humility and
complete abjection and supplication to the beneficent dust beneath the feet of my mighty,
gracious, condescending, compassionate, merciful benefactor, my most generous and openhanded master, I pray that the peerless and almighty provider of remedies etc etc
What, one wonders, were the original words of the British milord wanting to enlist Turkish
support against Napoleon?
OK, tell him this, but say it nicely, OK? And well pay lots of money.
Translation is by definition an intercultural activity: dragomans knew it better than anyone.

Practical ideas III

25Oct

Just the day-to-day business of managing classroom activities Theres no reason why there
should be a translation phase of any lesson. Here are some ways of experimenting with
translation / L1.
Sandwiching
When you are speaking to the class in English and you use a word or a phrase that you think they
are unlikely to know, provide a quick gloss of it in the students own language, repeat it in
English, and then carry on. Butzkamm and Caldwell suggest that this should be a central
technique of any foreign language teacher.
Speaking activities
When learners are involved in a speaking activity, you may be relieved if theyre speaking at
all. One way of making speaking activities less intimidating is by allowing a certain amount of
mother tongue. When a learner really feels the need to express themselves in their mother
tongue, another students job should be to translate and write down the challenging words /

expressions. Exactly how you fix the rules is up to you! (Thanks to Sheelagh Deller and Mario
Rinvolucri for first putting this idea my way.)
Allow groups of students to prepare their ideas for a discussion task in their mother tongue. Then
get them to summarise these ideas in English. They then move into a different group to do the
discussion itself.
Experiment with code-switching in the middle of, or at various moments during, an activity.
Add an extra dimension to roleplays by including a third person who interprets for the other two
(one of whom only uses mother tongue, the other English).
Dictionaries
During some activities, allow some students to use a bilingual dictionary and others to use a
monolingual English one. At the end of the activity, encourage them to discuss the relative merits
of these tools. This is a lot more fun if the dictionaries are apps on a handheld device, rather than
a great clunky book.

Comments1 Comment

CategoriesPractical

The Babel fish

25Oct

Douglas Adams came up with the idea of a Babel fish in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
You stick a Babel fish in your ear and you can instantly understand and be understood by all. But
such technological wizardry comes at a price because, by effectively removing all barriers to
communication between races and cultures, it has caused more wars than anything else since the
beginning of history.
You can watch a 2 minute Youtube clip if you want
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5mWQFGF7w8

Yahoo! picked up on this idea when they named their online translation tool Babelfish.

Comments2 Comments

CategoriesMiscellaneous

Web resources
25Oct

[Translation] is learners preferred strategy [and] an inevitable part of second language

acquisition (Atkinson 1987). In other words, like it or loathe it, its going to take place. At the
same time, our learners are going to be familiar with online short-cuts to translation (in fact, Id
argue that they need to have an informed opinion about the relative merits of online translation
tools). Increasingly, theyll have these available on their smart phones. We can do quite a lot with
these tools in the classroom.
There are quite a lot of options available, but the starting point must be
http://translate.google.com/
Then, there is the Bing / Microsoft tool and Yahoos Babelfish (not such a wide choice of
languages)
http://www.microsofttranslator.com/
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
Compare them for yourself. Cut and paste the first paragraph of this post into one of these
translating tools and decide which you prefer.

Comments2 Comments

CategoriesResources

Suggestions for further reading

25Oct

If youre a language teacher and have any kind of interest in translation, Id recommend two
books. Guy Cooks Translation in Language Teaching (OUP, 2010) is rightly recognised as the
dernier mot on the subject. He knows his stuff and he has a sparkly writing style. David
Belloss Is that a Fish in your Ear? (Penguin, 2011) deals with more general issues related to
translation, but makes for a fascinating read. I enjoyed it a lot, at any rate.

There isnt much that is terribly useful for practical suggestions. One of the best books, by
Franoise Grellet is out of print and only available in French, anyway. Another one that stands
out is Maria Gonzalez Davies book. Some are too literary for my taste; others very academic.
Heres a fuller list of what I referred to and what you may find useful: