Teachers’Perceptions towards the Effectiveness of Using Translation Tasks in Improving EFL Learners Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract

For a long time, there has been a negative attitude toward translation as another pedagogical means in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) (Cook,2010). Nonetheless, many theorists and linguists agree on the importance of using translation activities in foreign language teaching and emphasize their beneficial effects on vocabulary expansion (Schäffner,1998). The purpose of this study is to investigate Teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about the effect of translation tasks in improving EFL learners’ vocabulary. A descriptive study was carried out to achieve this goal. It was based on an analysis of data gathered from a questionnaire to thirty middle school teachers of English in the province of Jijel, as well as an interview which was administered to three middle school teachers of English. Both research tools investigated teachers’ attitudes toward the utility of translation in vocabulary instruction. The investigations’ findings confirmed the importance and the effectiveness of translation in improving EFL learners’ vocabulary.