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Translation as an English Language Learning Aid

Author: ZhangZuo
Tutor: PingHong
School: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Course: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Keywords: World of English (WE) source language (SL) target language(TL) source text (ST) target text(TT) first language (L1) second language (L2) foreign language learning pedagogical translation
CLC: H315.9
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2005
Downloads: 253
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Abstract

This thesis integrates theories of both second language （referred to as L2 hereafter） learning and translation studies to revaluate positively the role of translation in L2 learning, by making a survey on World of English, the history-longest and most popular English-learning-oriented magazine in China.There has been a long history of L2 learning and teaching, and various methodologies have evolved in the course. Whatever their differences, they can be basically categorized into two contrastive camps, which are intralingual and intraccultural versus crosslingual and crosscultural. The former refers to those teaching techniques which remain within L2 and use it as the sole frame of reference, while the latter is used to describe the group of techniques which use L1 or another language as points of comparison or reference. Translation is the principal technique of this strategy, while the absence of translation is a criterial feature of an intralingual strategy. In the recent one hundred years of time after L2 learning approaches were officially termed, they have generally undergone four historical periods, each of which is dominated by a leading method, which correspondingly represents people’s common understanding of L2 at that time. However, at the turn of the 21^St century, this knowledge has also developed, resulting in a more reasonable and comprehensive thinking that since there exist differences among many learning factors, a "sensible middle view" shall be taken to revaluate various learning approaches and adopt appropriate one/ones in consideration of the variables in the L2 learning process.Based on this, the writer of this thesis adopts an active and tolerant attitudes to trace back the history that translation was employed in L2 learning, and reviews positively its role as an aid to be applied in L2 learning process. The writer of this thesis firstly tries to justify using translation in L2 learning on account of the generative transformation theory, which regards L2 learning as learning another parameters to realize the Universal Grammar （UG）, and thus translation, as an effective means to expose learners of L2 to the linguistic structures and culturalparticularities embedded in the target language text by adopting the learner’s L1 as a reference system to compare and contrast the two languages - the L1 and L2. Some researches have confirmed that translation can be such a helpful method leading to improved L2 skills, including listening, speaking, writing and reading and translating. Moreover, translation as a bridge to gap both the L1 and L2, it can also be a valuable medium to familiarize the learners with the L1 cultural characteristics. Then the writer of this thesis takes the English-learning-oriented magazine the World of English （referred to as WE hereafter） as its study object, examining the translation strategies taken in the magazine from perspectives of both L2 learning and translation studies. It argues mat the pedagogical translation adopted by the magazine, by using a documentary translation approach and following a bottom-up procedure based on the unit of lexis, with adequate translationese, redundancy and notes, successfully represents the inter-linguistic and extra-linguistic features of the source text to readers/learners, and consequently helps realize the purpose set by the magazine and also the goal of pedagogical translation to enhance target language skills and world knowledge.

Translation as an English Language Learning Aid

Abstract

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