چکیده:
Translation is a widely appreciated tool in foreign language teaching; however, its role is surrounded by continuing controversy. Translation as a key teaching and learning tool first came into use in Grammar translation method. However, its use has been frowned upon disapprovingly in the subsequent language teaching methods and approaches. In spite of perpetual debates over the use of translation in teaching English for general purposes, it is commonly used in teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) context. However, the issues concerning the role and status of translation in ESP textbooks published by Iran’s Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities (known as SAMT in Iran) have not been sufficiently elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed at examining the role and status of translation in Iranian official ESP textbooks. To this end, using a checklist developed by the current researchers, translation activities in 30 sampled textbooks were examined in order to see whether they were intended to serve developing, more, language ability or teaching translation ability. Further, the frequency and space allocation of translation activities were scrutinized. The results suggested that there are variations in terms of both frequency and space allocation of translation activities in ESP textbooks. Moreover, translation activities are at the service of teaching language ability in SAMT ESP textbooks to larger extent.
خلاصه ماشینی:
To this end, using a checklist developed by the current researchers, translation activities in 30 sampled textbooks were examined in order to see whether they were intended to serve developing, more, language ability or teaching translation ability.
Introduction The use of translation in teaching English dates back to the emergence of Grammar Translation Method (GTM), which was based on using the first language to gain a comprehensive understanding of the reading passages.
According to Cook (2010), translation as a means can assist students in maximizing their confidence and accuracy and helps them with memorizing vocabularies and learning the structure of foreign language.
Yet, to the best of our knowledge, a dearth of studies could be observed on the role and space allocation of translation activities in official ESP textbooks in Iran.
Further, the question on the role of translation activities in ESP textbooks (either as a means to help translation ability (TA) or language ability (LA)), has remained yet unexplored.
Translation is a highly acclaimed strategy to learn ESP (Hyland, 2006; Kavaliauskiene & Januleviciciene, 2002) and numerous studies lend support to the place of translation in teaching ESP courses.
Discussion Translation activities along with other activities in ESP textbooks help students to learn about the academic language of their field of study.
The current study aimed at investigating the space allocation, frequency and the role of translation activities in ESP textbooks published by SAMT.
Further, translation activities in these series of textbooks assist ESP students to learn language ability (LA) .