Humanising Language Teaching
Year 2; Issue 2; March 2000

by Malcolm Benson

One of the great "Golden Oldie" language learning techniques was "double translation", which is generally associated with the name of Roger Ascham (1515-1568). It is one of the old grammar-translation exercises that pupils did in Tudor times, mostly between vernacular languages and Latin. Despite that, you might like to try it with your students.

What to do:

1. Select a piece of English that is not too technical and is at the students' own reading level. I find it best to take one passage and divide it up into sections of about 50 words, though it is best if each section is coherent within itself.
   
   
2. Ask the students for a translation into their native language(s). They can use a dictionary or any other help they can get (e.g., work in pairs on it), but at the end they give in the translation and the original.
   
   
3. After some time (a day, a week) give them back their L1 version, and ask them to put it back into English again.
   
   
4. The students now look at their own version side by side with the original. They may find their own version better than the original, or about the same, or worse. any case they will get out the dictionary, and probably ask the teacher for explana- tions.

Comment:

The exercise focuses the students on both language and culture, and on the general difficulty of translating. Vocabulary and structure both emerge as prominent concerns. Variations include having students re-work each others' translations, and/or having the students assemble the original piece in its entirety. The exercise could also be done orally as a form of dictation, though probably with a rather easier passage.

The old grammar-translation ways may now be passe, but they demanded great concentration and attention to detail! Try it, and you'll see.