Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes (Mar 2024)
STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS TRANSLATION IN THE LSP CLASSROOM AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Abstract
From the era of Grammar-Translation Method to the onset of Communicative Language Teaching, the role of translation in language learning has completely changed. Nowadays, the use of translation activities in the language learning classroom remains a contentious issue, namely, there are arguments for and against their use. Given that attitudes are one of the factors that affect the way students learn and the level of proficiency they achieve, the aim of this quantitative study is to find out what the attitudes of higher education students in Croatia are towards the use of translation in learning languages for specific purposes. The responses were collected via a questionnaire, which was completed by 618 students who were enrolled in eight different LSP courses, i.e. medical, maritime, business, agriculture, tourism, safety, IT and transport. The participants come from five institutions of higher education in two Croatian towns (Zagreb and Rijeka). The majority of the respondents (86.4%) claim they use translation in their LSP classroom, but the frequency in using translation varies greatly. On the other hand, translation is used in assessment less frequently, 37.4% of the participants state they have encountered translation in tests. While they believe that other more communicative methods are more beneficial for their language learning, and they only partially enjoy doing translation activities, most of them are sure that translating both from their L1 into L2 and L2 into L1 is very useful for their language learning, especially when it comes to learning new vocabulary. A statistical difference occurred between genders; namely, male students seem to be more positive towards translation. Also, statistical differences were confirmed among students of different study programs in relation to their attitudes towards enjoyment, usefulness and demand of translation activities. Future research should focus on investigating how translation activities are implemented and account for gender and study program differences.
