The definition of translation has not been clearly defined in teaching, and to most it means something different. The term translation is defined; to express or use the sense of words or text in another language. There can be physical translation, complete translation, word translation, reading translation, and more. But in the classroom we need to be more specific. Translation as a method in the classroom refers to pedagogic translation as defined at Petrocchi (2014) as a “tool for teaching a foreign language” (Petrocchi. 2014). But when reviewing the work it is referring to teaching a group of students a new language, not specifically teaching students the language that is native to the school and its surrounding area. I am specifically looking at the population that we see in New York, which is students speaking foreign languages in an English speaking setting. Therefore the strategies need to be redone, re-vamped, and changed from what have been studied and known before because of the heavily increasing numbers of immigration to the surrounding area.

There is a controversy of pedagogic translation of language in the classroom for many reasons,Arguments can be summarized; “IT has been claimed that translation is unhelpful to learning, unable, full, authoritarian, unpopular, artificial, and slows students down” (Cook, 2010, pg.25).The restriction on the learners' expression in their new language that helps them grow. By allowing the students to speak their mother tongue we are also “holding back learners from taking the leap into expressing themselves freely in the second language” (Carreres, 2006, pg.1). This is true in most classroom settings. When we are translating and not restricting the language spoken in the classroom students result in speaking their first language to others that speak the same language and expressing themselves, or worse, they are not expressing themselves at all during the day to anyone. Translating is seen to be a simple fix for the here and now in the classroom and not a tool to help the students succeed and learn new ways to communicate for the future. Is this because of a lack of translating methods or applications? Is this true? Or is this ignorance?

The next argument that is often found and most forefront in The Challenges of Teaching and Assessing Technical Translation in an Era of Neural Machine Translation is how it is impacting the teacher and the day to day flow of the classroom. The time it takes to make sure the translation is correct for each student, if the cultural references are touched upon, and if the quality is up to the standards of the learning exercise. A live translation device will make technical mistakes. There are “cultural borrowings to the use of functional or cultural equivalents, as direct, work-for-word translation of these lexical items, or even nonsense”(Tavares, 2023)). When translating words sometimes do not translate, sayings do not make sense, and some words are taken the wrong way. Teachers are not equipped to screen everything that is translated while teaching the entire class. Most do not have the time and some do not have the ability. The study done by MDPI Publishers found that the post corrections, screening, and editing was always done in a majority in their tested students at an education level that tended to be higher than a Bachelor's student.

This figure does show that there is definitely a need for corrections and post-review of translations when they are being used live. But with the speed of production of translating devices they will improve the accuracy.

Although the studies above are very solid and make great points as to why a live translation can be very difficult and challenging for many reasons in the classroom, I believe that the positives and the opportunities it creates for students outweighs the critiques I have found and brought forward that will come in my next update; “Live Translations in the Bilingual Classroom”.

Works Cited

Careers A. (2006, December). Strange bedfellows: Translation and language teaching. 6th Symposium on Tranlations, Terminology and Interpretation in Cuba and Canada, Havana, Cuba,. Retrieved April 16, 2019, from http://www.cttic.org/ACTI/2006/papers/Carreres.pdf

Colina, Sonia (2003): Translation teaching, from research to the classroom: a handbook for teachers. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Cook, G. (2010). Translation in language teaching: An argument for reassessment. Oxford University Press. [A plea for the rehabilitation and restoration of translation in the teaching of German as a foreign language]. Journal of Languages for SpecificPurposes, 6, 193-207.

Petrocchi, V. (2014). Pedagogic translation vs. translation teaching: A compromise between theory and practice. ITALICA, 91(1), 95-109. https://www.jstor.org

Tavares, C., Tallone, L., Oliveira, L., & Ribeiro, S. (2023, May 24). The challenges of teaching and assessing technical translation in an era of neural machine translation. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/13/6/541