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TRANSLATION USE IN ESL LEARNING.
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Examines theoretical & empirical studies on ESL strategy of translating instructional material into students' native language.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines theoretical & empirical studies on ESL strategy of translating instructional material into students' native language.
Paper Introduction:
THE ROLE OF TRANSLATION IN CLASSROOM ESL LEARNING
Introduction
The U.S. Department of Education (2000), in a report on ESL/EFL learning, noted that the need for educational services for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students has grown tremendously in the past 10 years. In this regard, census figures for 1990 were said to show that parents characterized almost one million children between the ages of five and seven as speaking English "not well" or "not at all," representing an increase of about 25 percent over the 1980 figures. More current estimates place this figure at about 2.3 million LEP students in grades K 12.
About three-fourths of these LEP students speak Spanish; the nine other largest groups, in descending order of size,
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Harley, B., Allen, P., Cummins, J., & Swain, M. (199 ). Thus, meaning isconsidered to be more important than linguistic form. Montone, C. It is best if only provided by other high achievingstudents? The approach fosters an environment that is more conducive tosecond language learning. The study used logistic regression of data to examine the performanceof inner city African-American students who began taking these classes inkindergarten. Differences instudent interactional styles and understanding of content between the twolanguage environments were noted. The communicative approach is, according to Orwig (1999)"comprehension driven" which means that language learning focuses onlearning to process messages in the target language. Thesefoundational concepts have been discussed by Montone and Howard (1997) whostate that translation is one of the key elements of "bilingual education"methods. Methods involved the pre- and posttest assessment of vocabularyacquisition. ERIC Digest, 499. It can be concluded that the efficacy of translation in ESLclasses may not be for all students, especially English speaking studentsof low socioeconomic background. Not only is it evidentthrough parental support, clear academic achievement, and promising testscores that the program is successful, but the students themselves are moresatisfied with such efforts. 985) Conclusions Based on the material viewed in this paper, the following conclusionscan be formulated: 1. Document available: www.ed.gov.----------------------- 18 Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: National Center for Research onCultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. Moreover, Montone and Howard (1997) state that this view of languagelearning also asserts that a second language is best acquired by languageminority students after their first language is firmly established. Specifically, theprogram alleviated the failure ESL students were experiencing in theiracademic courses, lessened the burden of the ESL teacher, facilitatedcommunication between the ESL department and the rest of the school, andprovided needed services both for the ESL students and the variousdepartments of the school. Ruiz, N.T. Thus, research examining the general effects of bilingualeducation programs should provide some additional information regardingwhether there is empirical support for translation in the ESL classroom. (1994). Two-way bilingualeducation: A progress report on the Amigos Program." Santa Cruz, CA andWashington, DC: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity andSecond Language Learning. These factorsinclude: the incorporation of students sociocultural background into thelanguage learning; attending to the nature of students' disabilities ifstudents are also learning disabled in some way; the use of developmentallyappropriate strategies; the use of a personally meaningful curriculum; theuse of methods that connect the curriculum to students' personalexperiences; the incorporation of children's literature into reading andwriting in the second language; and the use of parent involvement ininstructional efforts. Is concurrent-translation or preview-review more effective in promoting second language vocabulary acquisition?Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational ResearchAssociation (Atlanta, GA, April 12-16) ERIC Document Reproduction ServiceNo. In the theoretical section of this paper it was noted that bilingualeducation programs were developed based on the notion that maximal learningfor ESL students requires some sort of translation services in their ownlanguage. (ERIC DocumentReproduction Service No. Prepare for language learning. Some early research also supports the idea that at least someclassroom translation is important in ESL. What now needs tobe asked is whether there is empirical support for this theoreticalproposition? Montone and Howard (1997) also reviewed the literature on the effectsof exposure to both languages in ESL education. However, it wasfound that the Spanish-Amigos' reading skills were somewhat below that ofthe Spanish controls. Ruiz's (1991) conclusions were also supported by the Department ofEducation's (2 ) examination of effective ESL/EFL strategies. Effective instruction for language minoritychildren with mild disabilities. Tothis end, the paper reviews to the literature related to whether languagelearning theory supports in- class translation and whether empiricalinvestigations of the strategy have shown it to be effective. Students in the program were compared by Cazabon, Lambert, and Hall(1992) with two separate groups of students in the Cambridge PublicSchools: (1) the English-Amigos were compared with native English speakers)from an all-English public school program and; (2) the Spanish-Amigos werecompared with native Spanish speakers in a standard ESL program. Model strategies in bilingualeducation. Should translation be provided by the teacher or only byteacher aides? Department of Education, Office of Educational Research andImprovement. The foregoing statistics highlight the importance of developingeffective ESL practices. Cazabon, Lambert andHall (1992) conducted an evaluative study of The Amigos Program, abilingual ESL effort implemented in Cambridge, Massachusetts that nowserves over 3 students. ESL: From theory to practice.Document Available: http://www.cal.org/public/cc14/ttp4.htm Orwig, C.J. Thedevelopment of second language proficiency. According to the authors,these programs were associated with improved language learning and improvedknowledge of content area subject mater. The additive bilingual environment supports development of bothlanguages and enhances students' self-esteem and cross-culturalunderstanding. (p. It is only by examination of the particular parameters withinwhich translation activities work best, that it will it be possible to knowthe amount, frequency and kind of translation most needed to optimize ESLlearning. The paperends with the formulation of conclusions and recommendations for futureresearch in the area based on the reviewed material. Examination of the literature was said toshow that the most effective schools were those who provided some type oftranslation services for students during classroom instruction despitewhether the translation was provided by the teacher or by an aide. Monolingual and bilingual tutor mixes: Aninnovative design for the junior high school. All subjects had the sameteacher in order to control for differences in language learning associatedwith differences in instructional effectiveness. Students were assessed for their individual understanding ofthe content taught in Spanish and content taught in English. According to Akigbe (1977), analyses indicated that the bilingualtutor program was highly successful in several ways. It was felt that severalfactors were responsible for the increased effectiveness of bilingualtutors such as similar sociocultural backgrounds and so forth. Thus examination of the Amigos program showed strongly positiveresults: Students achieved academically and socially and were pleased withthe program. However, what needs to be seen here is thatboth methods involved translation of some sort, indicating that translationitself can be highly effective in terms of ESL learning. A series of tests were given to the Amigos and to the comparisongroups in order to determine the students' achievement in both languages.Students were also give several other tests to measure achievement andachievement-related processes. What the foregoing review shows is that there is sound theory forholding that some form of translation in the classroom can operate toeffect improved learning of English as a Second Language. In other words, like the communicative or functional view oflanguage learning, this perspective of ESL emphasizes meaning. Two-way ESL immersion programs have been designed based on conceptualframeworks and theories of language learning that emphasize meaning. A comprehensive review of the bilingual approach to ESL learning wasprepared by the U.S. This paper examines the theoretical and empiricalliterature on one ESL strategy to determine its effectiveness; this is thestrategy of teacher translation of instructional material (some or all)into the student's native language. Rather, in order for translation to be ofoptimal benefit, several other factors must be in place. (Eds). & Pucci, S. (1999). (1977). Inthis regard, census figures for 199 were said to show that parentscharacterized almost one million children between the ages of five andseven as speaking English "not well" or "not at all," representing anincrease of about 25 percent over the 198 figures. 3. Two-way bilingual education programs in practice: Anational and local perspective. TheDepartment of Education (2 ) further states that demographic projectionsindicate that this diversity will continue with all groups growing largerthroughout the twenty-first century. Studies also show that schools widelyrecognized as having a climate that facilitates ESL learning tend to beschools that offer translation services. Language Learning Theory: Role of Translation Orwig (1999) states that language learning theory may be defined as aconceptual account of the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involvedin learning a language as well as of the conditions that need to be met inorder for these processes to take place. Ulanoff, S. For example, should translation only be used for homeworkassignments? She stated that the programshould be critically re-examined to determine why African American childrenand other English-speaking children of low socioeconomic backgrounds werenot attaining the adequate levels of Spanish language proficiency needed toaccess grade level curriculum delivered through the medium of Spanish,pointing out that: These results would suggest a critical examination of the two- way model itself, and of specific methods used within the model. & Howard, E. In two-way or bilingual language learning settings,students learn language while learning content because there is a real needto communicate while engaged in content-related tasks. These factors were: incorporating student's socioculturalbackground into language learning; taking into account the nature ofstudents' disabilities; using developmentally appropriate strategies;making the curriculum personally meaningful to students; connecting thecurriculum to students' personal experiences; incorporating children'sliterature into reading and writing in the second language; and involvingparents as active partners in students' instruction. Ed 333 621). It can be concluded that there is empirical support for usingtranslation in the ESL classroom. 3. The next section of this paper examines the pertinent researchin this area. It isfurther noted that research supports this assertion showing that languageminority students with strong oral language and literacy skills in theirfirst language tend to achieve greater levels of second languageproficiency than students with limited native language ability. It initiallyemphasizes the receptive skills (listening comprehension and readingcomprehension) rather than the productive skills (speaking and writing).The assumption is that speaking will eventually emerge on its own, and thatpronunciation and real creative use of the language will be better ifcomprehension comes first and is emphasized more. In an extensive review of the research, Ruiz (1991) sought todescribe the optimal learning environment for Spanish speaking, mildlydisabled students learning ESL. (1992). ED 148 181. For example, as early as 1977,Akigbe noted that tutors who were most effective in working with bilingualhigh school students studying ESL were those who were bilingual themselves-- as compared to those who only spoke English. There are different kinds oftheories of language learning; however, the one theory that is perhaps mostrelevant to the subject of classroom translation is the communicative, orfunctional view of language which is the view that language is a vehiclefor the expression of functional meaning. Krause, E. ED 36 831. In particular, the paper attempts to determine whether there can befound theoretical and empirical support for the argument that there is ause for at least some limited translation activities in the ESL class. However, it was noted that the Spanish Amigos felt:equally competent in both languages; that their writing in Spanish wasstronger than their writing in English (particularly in the older grades);confident that they could understand nearly everything presented in Spanish media; and were comfortable translating "most things." The English amigos felt: their English was stronger (particularly inthe younger grades); that their reading skills in Spanish were strongerthan their listening, speaking, or writing skills; they could get the mainidea of Spanish media but not specific details; comfortable translating"some things, but not many"; that they are not at all behind in English butlikely ahead. However, it was specifically noted by Akigbe (1977) that one of theareas where bilingual tutors were most effective was in terms of providingESL students with translation of classroom rules, regulations, homeworkinstructions, and similar information. The number of students involved in completing thesequestionnaires was small leading the authors to conclude that findings mayonly represent trends. Department of Education. Students' views of the AmigosProgram. Further, both groups felt confident about their ability to teach bothEnglish and Spanish to their peers; favored speaking English over Spanishin any given social situation (especially the older students); revealed noethnic or linguistic bias in their choice of close friends; perceivedHispanic Americans as they would other Americans; favored bilingual classesover monolingual classes; and demonstrated confidence in themselves and theAmigos Program with Spanish-Amigos being even more emphatic on this point. It was also found that the Spanish-Amigos scored above the norm andhigher than the Spanish controls on the same test. ERIC Digest (ERIC Document ReproductionService No. U.S. The bilingual approach is effective not only in the teaching oftwo languages to both language groups but also in the general developmentof academic excellence (e.g., such as in math learning or sciencelearning). 5. 4. Other supportive factorswere said to be needed in order to optimize the effects of the translationvariable. It can be concluded that there is theoretical support for the useof translation in the ESL classroom. The authors also note that research in the area of bilingualeducation has strongly indicated that content knowledge learned through onelanguage paves the way for knowledge acquisition in the second language andcontent knowledge of course comes from translation and related activities.More specifically, the authors point out that this area of languagelearning theory holds that when native language instruction is provided tolanguage minority students along with balanced second language support,students can attain higher levels of academic achievement in the secondlanguage than if they had been taught in the second language only. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. The findings of Cazabon et. Onestudy pertinent to this question was conducted by Ulanoff and Pucci (1993)who investigated the effectiveness of two English second language (ESL)teaching methodologies commonly used in bilingual classrooms. Dissertation Abstracts International, 6 (4-A), p. (1991). This support is derived from thecommunicative view of language learning which emphasizes the importance ofcomprehension as a key element of language learning. Further, it was found thatbilingual classrooms using translation as an ongoing part of ESL learningare associated with strong levels of achievement in both languages, stronglevels of achievement in academic areas general, long-term academic gains,and enhanced self-esteem and cross-cultural understanding. Further, Lambert and Cazabon's (1994) also showed thatparents, too, were satisfied with the program an committed to keeping theirchildren in the two-way approach for an extended period of time. (1999). The second group(n=21) was taught using concurrent translation, and the third group (n=23)was taught using the preview-review method. 5. According to Krause (1999) the findings of the study suggested thatthis two-way immersion program was not meeting the needs of AfricanAmerican children or the needs of other ethnic native-English speakingstudents from low socioeconomic backgrounds. About three-fourths of these LEP students speak Spanish; the nineother largest groups, in descending order of size, are: Vietnamese, Hmong,Cantonese, Cambodian, Korean, Laotian, Navajo, Tagalog, and Russian. Thestudies can be seen to shed at least some new light on ESL programs thatutilize translation as an element of instruction. Lambert, W. With respect to the communicative or functional theory of languagelearning, the semantic and communicative dimensions of language are moreemphasized than the grammatical characteristics, although these are alsoincluded. THE ROLE OF TRANSLATION IN CLASSROOM ESL LEARNING Introduction The U.S. Rather, the translation methods work bestfor students who truly are learning English as a second language. Department of Education (2 ), in a report on ESL/EFLlearning, noted that the need for educational services for Limited EnglishProficiency (LEP) students has grown tremendously in the past 1 years. The program served LEP students as well as English-speaking studentstrying to learn Spanish. This view is supported by a studyconducted by Krause (1999) to investigate for the effects of a two-wayimmersion bilingual education program given to both native English speakersand native Spanish speakers. (1993). Paper presented at theannual meeting of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages(March). Empirical Research on Translation Does the existing research support at least some translation as aneffective strategy for the acquisition of English as a Second Language? Recommendations The key question examined in this paper was: Is there theoretical andempirical support for at least limited use of translation in ESL classes?The reviewed literature clearly offered support for the notion thattranslation can operate to produce some positive gains in ESL learning.Based on these findings, it is recommended that future researchers begin tomore fully investigate the effects of introducing various levels oftranslation in ESL classes. In other words, while concurrent translation works moreeffectively in the short-term, its effects are not as long-lasting as thatof the preview-review method. Available at:LinguaLinks Library, Version 3.5, published on CD-ROM by SIL International. The two most popular of these programs, according to theDepartment of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement(1994) are the "5 /5 " model, in which the students receive instruction forequal amounts of time in the two languages, and the "9 /1 " model, in whichabout 9 percent of the instruction is in the target language with about 1 percent in English in the early grades, gradually moving toward 5 /5 inthe upper grades. 2. Obviously,translation activities and efforts assist in helping students to derivemeaning and as such would be an important element of ESL. Or should it be used in some minimal way to summarize materialjust presented? These benefitsincluded: 1. Subjects in the study were 6 native Spanish-speaking third-gradestudents of mixed Spanish and English reading skills who were divided intothree groups. This type of program is said to be knownby different names including: bilingual immersion programs, two-wayimmersion programs, developmental bilingual programs, and dual languageprograms. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress. On the other hand, despite the benefits of translation associatedwith bilingual educational programs such as the Amigos programs, it shouldbe noted that these programs and their associated translation efforts andactivities perhaps work best for students who are truly ESL students andnot necessarily for English speakers. References Akigbe, A.B. Thesecontrol groups were equated with Amigos students on social class backgroundand a non-verbal measure of intelligence (Raven's test). 4. (1994). Analysis of data were said to indicate that the childrenlearned and retained far more vocabulary with the preview-review method.However, students taught with the concurrent translation method who took adelayed posttest performed better than those with a posttest immediatelyafter treatment. Thesemethodologies were: (1) concurrent translation, which the authors noted hadoften been criticized but remained widely practiced, and (2) dual languagepreview-review, which combines introductory and follow-up exercises in thefirst language and lesson teaching in the second language. preview/reviewversus concurrent translation). Cazabon, M., Lambert, W., & Hall, G. It can be concluded that the literature indicated that thepositive effects of incorporating translation into the ESL classroom arenot independent of other factors. Inparticular it was stated that national statistics showed that (in regularstudent populations) comparisons of the achievement of LEP students withthe general student population indicated that the highest achieving LEPstudents are those who have available to them a number of services andresources including those of classroom translation services with theseservices sometimes being provided by the teacher and sometimes beingprovided by teacher aides or even a more English proficient student.Indeed, it was noted by the Department of Education that in those schoolswhere all recommended services were provided to LEP students, they wereperforming at levels equal or above their peers. It should be noted here that most ESL classes that use somemethod of translating at least teacher homework instruction or otherimportant assignment material assert that they use translation in order tomake sure that students comprehend what is being stated (Harley, Cummins &Swain, 199 ). Based on the literature, it was concluded by the U.S. More current estimatesplace this figure at about 2.3 million LEP students in grades K-12. In this research, Krause used interview andobservational data to compile snapshots of inner city, English dominant,elementary school students from families of low socioeconomic status asthey engaged in this particular two-way immersion program. 2. In a later study conducted to examine ongoing effects of the program,Lambert & Cazabon (1994), Spanish-Amigos and English-Amigos were asked tocomplete a questionnaire about their self-perceptions as developingbilingual speakers and about their perceptions of the program and itsgeneral effectiveness. Department ofEducation 's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (1994) thatseveral benefits were associated with the use of two languages (one ofwhich served a translation function) in the ESL classroom. Two-way bilingual education analysis of an innercity program. Finally, the authors point out that for all students, language islearned best when it is the medium of instruction rather than the exclusivegoal of instruction. al's (1992)study showed that English-Amigos performed generally better on theCalifornia Achievement Test than the English controls. Also, it is noted by the authorsthat these programs enable language majority children (those who are nativespeakers of the high status language of the society, i.e., English in thecontinental U.S.) to develop second language proficiency without having tocompromise their academic achievement. While students are in the process of becomingfunctionally bilingual, they are also forming friendships with studentsfrom other ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and learning to appreciate thediversity that is historically characteristic of American society. Student progress wasevaluated through standardized tests and portfolio assessment. Students often show increased learning achievement in bothlanguages. & Cazabon, M. On Spanish language tests, both English-Amigos and Spanish-Amigosdemonstrated grade-level progress in reading and math. The first group (n=16) served as a control. In other words, theprogram actually increased the achievement levels of native Englishspeakers. (2 ). In particular, this support comes fromstudies showing that translation can: alleviate the failure ESL studentsoften experience in their academic courses; lessened the burden of the ESLteacher, facilitated communication between the ESL department and the restof the school; provide needed services both for the ESL students and thevarious departments of the school; increase English performance (Englishperformance is greater when classrooms use at least some form oftranslation with certain forms being better than others e.g. ED 379 915). (1997). In general, these bilingual programs are said to provide studentswith ample exposure to the two languages, allowing them to progressacademically in both languages as well as gain an appreciation of anotherculture. It can be concluded that the LEP population has been and isgrowing, making research aimed at understanding factors that operate tofacilitate ESL increasingly important. However, it was also noted that translation, by itself, was notsolely responsible for effective English learning. Department of Education 's Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement (1994). While progress may be slow at first, students in bilingualprograms experience more long-term educational gains than students in otherESL programs. Both English-Amigos andSpanish-Amigos scored higher on English-based math tests, showing theSpanish-Amigos' ability to apply English to another subject area. 985. Perhaps the best way to understand the many benefits associated withESL learning in classes where there is translation of instruction into thenative language is to look at a one specific program. These translation activities weresaid to increase students' understanding of what they were required to knowand do in order to learn English. It used the 5 /5 model. U.S. Each class consisted of aSpanish-speaking teacher and an English-speaking teacher who maintainedseparate language environments for the students.
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