TESL Undergraduate Student Teachers’ View on Translation in a Rural School

Abstract

This study was conducted to better understand TESL undergraduate student teachers‟ view of translation in ESL teaching in a rural school. The aim of this paper is then to build a bridge between two fields: translation pedagogy (the knowledge about correct decoding of the original text and idiomatic encoding into the target text) and pedagogical translation (use of translation in language classroom (Zabalbeascoa,1997). Duff‟s (1989, 1996) three qualities essential to all language learning; accuracy, clarity, and flexibility was adopted as the framework of this study. Participants in the study were 18 final year TESL student teachers who were involved in ESL outreach teaching project in a rural school. The phenomenological approach used allowed the participants to describe how they made meaning out translation in ESL classroom. Data was collected using online interview containing 7 questions, followed by focus group interview. The data were categorized and then coded based on the repeated patterns of students‟ definitions of new words and expressions and their responses to open-ended questions. This study has revealed some evidences to support the idea that effective instruction for English as A Second Language using translation in rural school context should take into considerations the following: (1) developing proficiency in natural language or conversation through understanding the meaning at word and sentence level via translation to relate to the learners' everyday experiences, (2) providing ample opportunity for learning, even over-learning, through translation via recitation, repetition, and practice toward automaticity of knowledge and skills, and (3) scaffolding for understanding and development of thinking skills through the methods of translation. Specifically, the findings from this study revealed pertinent areas to be focused on when using translation in ESL classroom i.e. learner proficiency level, scaffolding, content of the materials, relevancy to the context, and spiral learning.