Investigating the Importance of Translation Technical Abilities in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to BA Students

Abstract

The current research aims at investigating the importance of translation technical abilities in teaching foreign languages. Its main objective is to examine the extent to which translation techniques improve the foreign language teaching and learning process. To that end the current study explores the aforementioned topic through two investigative tools for two targets: a questionnaire for 35 teachers and a questionnaire administered to 54 third year BA students of English language at Ibn Khaldoun University of Tiaret. The findings reveal clearly that the foreign language teachers prefer to use translation in their teaching courses due to its positive outcomes on students. They agreed that translation enhances the language skills particularly vocabulary, style, and proficiency, it is considered as a successful technique. Hence, translation is still a teaching approach privileged by those foreign language teachers, who manifestly hold a positive attitude to the arguments in favor of using it as a technique in foreign language teaching.