: Provides the theoretical and practical defense for reintroducing translation into materials and teacher education. Critical Reception
| Objection | Cook’s Response | |-----------|----------------| | Translation causes interference errors. | Errors occur anyway. The issue is not translation but unprincipled translation. Controlled, reflective translation can actually reduce interference by making differences salient. | | Translation is not communicative. | It is deeply communicative: it replicates real-world acts of cross-lingual mediation (EU, UN, tourism, business). CLT’s definition of “communication” was artificially narrowed to same-language interaction. | | Translation is boring and demotivating. | This is a critique of bad translation exercises (e.g., decontextualized sentences). Cook shows creative, playful, and authentic translation tasks (poetry, ads, subtitling) that are highly engaging. | | Only advanced learners can translate. | False. Even beginners can translate single words, classroom instructions, or picture captions. The difficulty can be scaled. | | Translation takes time away from L2 exposure. | Yes, but so does any other skill. The question is value. Cook argues that the metalinguistic and comparative benefits outweigh the lost exposure, especially in short sessions. | Translation In Language Teaching Guy Cook Pdf
Translation is presented as an aid to language awareness , helping students understand the relationship between their native language (L1) and the target language (L2). : Provides the theoretical and practical defense for