Beyond Textbook-Based Translation Exercises: After-Class Children's Book Translation Project Integrated with 21st Century Skills

摘要

Although translation has been reintroduced into the language classroom as a useful communicative pedagogical tool within the recent decade, it appears that its potential function of facilitating students' general learning skills, especially outside of the regular classroom, has not been thoroughly practiced and examined. Based on the fact that traditional textbook-based translation exercises are used by teachers as the major form of translation activity in the language classroom, I conducted an empirical study focusing on an after-class children's book translation project among upper-elementary level heritage language learners of Chinese at Binghamton University to examine the new role and function of translation in foreign language pedagogy. The goal of this paper is threefold: 1) to compare students' self-reported effectiveness of an after-class children's book translation project which is innovatively designed with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to that of textbook-based translation exercises; 2) to analyze the potential of integrating the translation project with the essential skill set which includes but is not limited to problem solving, decision making, creativity, and self-direction in order to nurture 21st century learners; 3) to identify the larger structural problems commonly existing in foreign language programs that await to be solved to achieve the full benefits of translation projects in CLT design.;This paper suggests that translation activities can be innovatively designed to be compatible with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which releases the use of translation from the most criticized grammar drills in today's field of foreign language education. Moreover, a translation project in CLT design goes beyond the traditional textbook-based translation exercises by not only facilitating learners' communicative competency but also equipping them with 21st century skills essential to success in work and life in the future. This paper further suggests that, to tackle the problem regarding the misalignment between language learning, teaching, and assessment, a backward design model can be implemented to ensure the benefits of translation projects, tasks, and activities to be fully achieved under the CLT framework.