Our work is based on didactic innovation and the application of innovative and high-quality advanced technologies in education that promote the inclusion of students with disabilities. For this reason, I would like to propose a reflection on the use of translation in language teaching, through the implementation of Universal Design for Learning. This methodological contribution aims to solve all the problems inherent in the use of translation in the language class, prioritizing, above all, the well-being of the students. This apparently insignificant issue is important, since the use of translation in language teaching has been a hotly debated aspect in recent years. Translators usually face the problem from the Contrastive Linguistics approach, while language teachers flatly refuse to accept translation in their classrooms. The Universal Design for Learning didactic method provides us with a series of useful pedagogical guidelines to carry out inclusive teaching from a flexible and innovative perspective that puts the demands of all students first, including students with special educational needs. Today the methodology of language teaching cannot be based on the so-called Grammar-Translation Method, which ceased to exist in the middle of the last century. All the studies analyzed follow this same line, although with nuances, because, although they do not admit that language teaching is based on translation, they consent to its sporadic use. Foreign language acquisition scholars such as Titone, with his Holodynamic Model, and Balboni, with his humanistic-affective vision of language teaching, accept the use of translation only if it is part of highly motivating activities. In the same way, most of the studies that we have consulted point out that it is practically impossible to avoid internalized translation in the student, therefore, the best thing to do is to accept it and guide our students, supporting them in their difficult learning process with all means what we have. Universal Design for Learning admits the use of explanatory translation in the language class when the student needs it. Therefore, in language teaching, explanatory translation must be proposed, since we must provide our students with access to the contents. Since the ideal is to present the material in different formats so that each student can choose the most appropriate way to access that material, translation, if the student needs it, can also be an option. In summary, these are the coordinates for using translation within the framework of Universal Design for Learning by language teachers: 1.-Use of explanatory translation when the student needs it. 2.-Sporadic use of pedagogical translation and only in highly motivating activities. 3.-Use of new technologies for explanatory and pedagogical translation. 4.-Sporadic use of the translation as a control test of the student's language level and only if it is accompanied by other exercises. By following these guidelines, we will make our students feel more confident and motivated, that they access the contents of the tasks more easily and that they are more autonomous and aware of their own learning.
«Translation in the language class in the field of Universal Design for Learning» / Teran, Villagra. - (2023). (Intervento presentato al convegno Meeting Internazionale Progetto SUCCESS tenutosi a La Sapienza di Roma).
«Translation in the language class in the field of Universal Design for Learning»
Villagra Teran
2023
Abstract
Our work is based on didactic innovation and the application of innovative and high-quality advanced technologies in education that promote the inclusion of students with disabilities. For this reason, I would like to propose a reflection on the use of translation in language teaching, through the implementation of Universal Design for Learning. This methodological contribution aims to solve all the problems inherent in the use of translation in the language class, prioritizing, above all, the well-being of the students. This apparently insignificant issue is important, since the use of translation in language teaching has been a hotly debated aspect in recent years. Translators usually face the problem from the Contrastive Linguistics approach, while language teachers flatly refuse to accept translation in their classrooms. The Universal Design for Learning didactic method provides us with a series of useful pedagogical guidelines to carry out inclusive teaching from a flexible and innovative perspective that puts the demands of all students first, including students with special educational needs. Today the methodology of language teaching cannot be based on the so-called Grammar-Translation Method, which ceased to exist in the middle of the last century. All the studies analyzed follow this same line, although with nuances, because, although they do not admit that language teaching is based on translation, they consent to its sporadic use. Foreign language acquisition scholars such as Titone, with his Holodynamic Model, and Balboni, with his humanistic-affective vision of language teaching, accept the use of translation only if it is part of highly motivating activities. In the same way, most of the studies that we have consulted point out that it is practically impossible to avoid internalized translation in the student, therefore, the best thing to do is to accept it and guide our students, supporting them in their difficult learning process with all means what we have. Universal Design for Learning admits the use of explanatory translation in the language class when the student needs it. Therefore, in language teaching, explanatory translation must be proposed, since we must provide our students with access to the contents. Since the ideal is to present the material in different formats so that each student can choose the most appropriate way to access that material, translation, if the student needs it, can also be an option. In summary, these are the coordinates for using translation within the framework of Universal Design for Learning by language teachers: 1.-Use of explanatory translation when the student needs it. 2.-Sporadic use of pedagogical translation and only in highly motivating activities. 3.-Use of new technologies for explanatory and pedagogical translation. 4.-Sporadic use of the translation as a control test of the student's language level and only if it is accompanied by other exercises. By following these guidelines, we will make our students feel more confident and motivated, that they access the contents of the tasks more easily and that they are more autonomous and aware of their own learning.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
